Sir Adamji Peerbhoy (13 August 1845 – 11 August 1913) was an Indian business magnate,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and member of the

Dawoodi Bohra The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. They number approximately one million worldwide and have settled in over 40 countries around the world. The majority of the Dawoodi Bohra community re ...

community based at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

Biography

Adamji Peerbhhai was born in 1846 in

Dhoraji Dhoraji () is a town situated on the banks of the River Safura, a tributary of the River Bhadar. It is a municipality in the Rajkot district in the state of Gujarat, India. History Dhoraji was acquired by Kumbhaji II of Gondal State from ...

, Princely State of Gondal,

(now

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

), in a very poor Dawoodi Bohra family to Qadir bhai and Sakina Banu Peerbhoy. Adamji Peerbhai started his career at age of 13, as a street vendor in Bombay, selling match boxes but in one of the "rags to riches" stories being helped by two persons in his early life, one Seth Lukmanji and other an Englishman, Lt. Smith. Later by his untiring efforts and ability by the turn of the 19th century, became one of India's largest cotton manufacturers and wealthiest men. At one point he employed more than 15,000 workers in his

cotton mills Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a wikt:boll, boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almo ...

and supplied the

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

used for the tents and khaki uniforms of the British soldiers during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. He established several factories manufacturing thousands of tents and shoes for British soldiers and was also the owner of the Western Indian Tanneries, one of the largest

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

in Asia. It is thought that he first made his money from shipbuilding, and then diversified into trade and commercial interests. Adamji Peerbhoy became appointed as the

Sheriff of Mumbai The Sheriff of Bombay is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Bombay. The sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the or ...

in 1897 and was also appointed as Justice of Peace. Later, Peerbhoy became the first president of the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

for a time, presiding over its first session in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in December 1907. In 1900 he was honoured by the title of ` Qaisare-Hind'. In 1907 he was made a knight and given the title of `Sir’ by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. Though an illiterate, Sir Adamji was honoured by Mohammedan Educational Conference to be its first president. He was also known as 'Rafiuddin' in the Bohra community, the 49th Dai,

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin Mohammed Burhanuddin (6 March 1915 – 17 January 2014) was the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras from 1965 to 2014. He led the community for 49 years in a period of social, economic, and educational prosperity; strengthened and re-institu ...

had conferred title of `Rafiuddin’ on him. In 1884, Adamji Peerbhoy had built several properties,

Masjid A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

, sanatorium,

kabristan A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, and Amanbai Charitable Hospital on

Charni Road Charni Road (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃəɾniː ɾoːɖ is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Mumbai. It is served by Charni Road railway station. Geography and Location Charni Road is strategically located along the western coastli ...

opposite the railway station. The property was built for the benefit of the poor and the needy. He wanted to provide a safe haven for the travelers, poor, or needy to rest, use the Masjid for prayers, or the hospital if they needed it. In the year 1892, plague hit numerous parts of the

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

. Peerbhoy appointed doctors, arranged for vaccines & medicines from abroad and treated the public free of cost at the Amanbai Charitable hospital, for the sake of the nation. Among his other philanthropic works were distribution of grain during drought of

in 1877 and 1897, relief works at

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

in 1866, relief works in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, building of rest houses in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

, starting orphanage in

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

, starting at least 27 schools and funding establishment of Prince of Wales Science Institute at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

, to name a few. Mumbai 03-2016 21 Saifee Hospital

Peerbhoy financed his son, Abdul Hussein Peerbhoy's construction of the

Matheran Hill Railway The Matheran Hill Railway (MHR) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India, which is administered by the Central Railway zone. It covers a distance of , connecting Neral, India, Neral to Matheran in the Western Ghats. The MHR is o ...

which linked

Matheran Matheran is a partially automobile free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat, Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropo ...

and Neral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peerbhoy, Sir Adamji Businesspeople from Mumbai Sheriffs of Mumbai 1845 births 1913 deaths Businesspeople from British India Indian Knights Bachelor Indian Ismailis Dawoodi Bohras Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal Indian philanthropists Founders of Indian schools and colleges Gujarati people People from Rajkot district Indian businesspeople in textiles All-India Muslim League politicians Indian people in rail transport Indian justices of the peace