Merchant, landlord, philanthropist, world traveller
Sir Jehangir Hormasji Kothari, OBE (Urdu: ﺳﯾﭨﻬ جهانگیر هورموسجی کوٹهاری; 9 November 1857 – 1 November 1934), was a Parsi businessman, merchant and a prominent philanthropist from Karachi during British colonial rule. Today, he is best remembered for the Jehangir Kothari Parade, an elevated sandstone walkway used to walk to Clifton Beach, in Karachi, Pakistan, on the Arabian Sea.[1]
Ancestry
Kothari's grandfather, Hormusji Sohrabji Kothari (d. 1876), accompanied General Sir Charles James Napier as a commissariat agent during the conquest of Sindh Province in 1842-3[2] and subsequently emigrated from Surat to Karachi, Gujarat in 1846 where he was eccentrically philanthropic.[3]
Life
Kothari was born on 9 November 1857,[2][4] in Karachi.[5] He was educated at home and in the Karachi High School.[2]
Kothari demolished his house on Clifton Hill in 1907, and at that site he built a magnificent pavilion, parade and pier, which he bequeathed to the people of Karachi to enjoy. Inspired by this generosity, Kavasji Hormusji Katrak built and gave to the people of Karachi the grand bandstand which looms over the cliff.[12] He also established a school for the blind and sanatorium in Karachi around this time.[9]
Kothari was awarded the gold Kaisar-i-Hind Medal (first class) on the occasion of the Delhi Durbar to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. He enjoyed sailing and was a member of the Ripon Club and Willingdon Sports Club of Bombay, the Zoroastrian Club and Parsi Institute of Karachi,[2] founding member of the Lloyd's Polo Club of Poona and member of the Circumnavigators Club.[5][13]
Kothari contributed to World War I by investing 2,550,000 rupees or £175,000 in the Third War Loan raised in January 1917, and acting as honorary secretary and treasurer in India for the Imperial War Fund. He performed numerous other honorary duties for the British Government for which he maintained a large staff at his own expense.[9]
Kothari and his wife Goolbai visited Bangalore during a trip around South India in 1923. She suddenly became ill and died, and was subsequently interred in the Parsi Aramgah or burial ground.[5][17] Kothari built a memorial, the Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall, to his wife in the Bangalore Cantonment in 1931/2.[17]
Kothari commissioned the Jehangir Kothari Building or Mansion on the corner of Napier and Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road in Karachi during 1934. It was designed with balconies, pillars, spiral staircase and clock tower after the Gothic style with certain features indigenised in the old Karachi style by subsequent additions. Today it is an eclectic mix of shops and offices in a deteriorating condition.[18]
Kothari was an ardent believer in the imperial ideal of the British Empire, for whom he acted as an unofficial world ambassador,[7] and was a member of the British Empire Club.[5] He was convinced that "the British love of sport is the strongest tie for peace", and promoted unity and peace in India through sport, especially cricket.[9]
Kothari died on 1 November 1934[19] in Trieste, Italy.[4]
His estate was administered by Messrs. Barrow, Rogers & Nevill of 26 Budge Row, London in 1937.[19]
Kothari, Jehangir Hormusji page 176 in Supplement to Who's Who in India - Containing Lives and Photographs of the Recipients of Honours on 12th December 1911, Together with an Illustrated Account of the Visit of Their Imperial Majesties the King-Emperor and Queen-Empress to India and the Coronation Durbar by Prag Narain Bhargava, Newul Kishore Press, Lucknow 1912.
The Life History of Sir Jehangir H. Kothari, Times Press, Karachi 1922.
^"Charity Galore". Journal of Informal Religious Meetings. 5 (8). October–November 2004.
^ abThere is said to be a tombstone in the main city cemetery of Trieste, Italy bearing the inscription "Sir Jehangir H. Kothari, Kt., O.B.E., K.I.H. Born 16 November 1855, Died 1 November 1934". This contradicts the date of birth but confirms the date of death.
^ abcdeWho Was Who – A Companion to Who's Who containing the Biographies of those who died during the Period 1929-1940, Adam and Charles, London 1941, pp 767b and 768a.
^The Zoroastrian Diaspora by John R. Hinnells, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005
^ ab"Sir Jehangir Kothari – Noted Indian Philanthropist", Sydney Morning Herald, 4 August 1932, page 8g
^ abcd"Great Traveller – Sir Jehangir Kothari – Distinguished Imperialist", Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 1930, page 13e
^"To Visit Brisbane – Sir J.H. Kothari", Brisbane Courier, 27 July 1932, page 12f
^The Navy League of Great Britain, often referred to as the Navy League, was merged with The Marine Society and responsible for the Sea Cadet Corps and later the Girls' Nautical Training Corps in the United Kingdom.
