Jairam Valjee Chouhan,

Rai Bahadur Rai Bahadur (in North India) and Rao Bahadur (in South India), R.B., was a title of honour bestowed during British rule in India to individuals for outstanding service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. From 1911, the title was accompani ...

, MBE (1892–1956), better known as Rai Bahadur Jairam Valjee, was a Kutchi railway contractor, mill-owner, miner &

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 ...

, who established himself at Jairamnagar and

Raigarh Raigarh is a city in northern Chhattisgarh known as the 'Cultural capital of Chhattisgarh'; Raigarh is famous for its dance form “SUWA” (as Raigarh Gharana) and classical music; Raigarh is also known as Sanskritidhani. It is also known for ...

, India.

Birth

Jairam was born to Valjee Vira Chouhan, who belonged to Mestri community of Kutch, who are noted for their architect skills and contributions in Railway. He was born in 1892 in his native village Kumbharia in Kutch. His father worked as a railway contractor.

Career

Jairam Valjee carried on his father's legacy and earned a name as a railway contractor, especially working for

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

completing several bridges and doubling of railway lines. In years 1921–29, he camped near Paraghat for construction of railway bridge over

Arpa river The Arpa (; ) is a river that flows through Armenia and Azerbaijan. Originating in Armenia's Vayots Dzor province (''marz''), it is a left tributary of the Aras. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Bilaspur-Raigarh section. He used to work as railway contractor with his main office at

and there is a colony named after him called Jairam Valjee Colony at Raigarh.''Diary of Golden Days at Jharia : A Memoir & History of Gurjar Kashtriya Samaj of Kutch in Coalfields of Jharia'' - written by Natwarlal Devram Jethwa, co-auth. Raja Pawan Jethwa of Calcutta. (1998). Life sketch of Rai Bahadur Jairam Valji Chouhan. Page: 24. In many railway and civil contracts he worked in syndicate with fellow

Mistri Mistri, or Mistry, is a term for a master-craftsman, foreman or supervisor of manual workers in India. Mistri is being replaced with terms "supervisor" and master craftsman with "Senior Technician" by the Indian Railway who replaced the designati ...

railway contractors like Jagmal Gangji Sawaria, Rai Saheb Mulji Jagmal Sawaria of Bilaspur and Shamji Gangji Sawaria and Rai Saheb Harilal Shamji of Raigarh. He was also one of the Class - A contractor for government's public works department of C. P. & Berar. He also started a large brick kiln on banks of Arpa river at Jairamnagar to manufacture on large scale bricks needed by railways and other construction works.

Ramgarh Cantonment Ramgarh Cantonment, usually referred to as Ramgarh Cantt or just Ramgarh is a cantonment town, belonging to the Ramgarh district of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Historically, a subdivision of the larger Hazaribag district, Ramgarh was ...

works were one of major works done by him. He ventured in to dolomite and limestone mining business in beginning in 1918 and soon became owner of several dolomite and limestone mines in erstwhile

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the ...

. He was sole proprietor of whole of Jairamnagar. Among the limestone and dolomite mines he owned were Bhilain and Bhadeswar quarries near Jairamnagar. He also owned a large Latia quarry at Latia village (near Akaltara) the total area of which was 67.53

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s and dolomite mines near Jairamnagar, Barpali and at Kalunga in

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

. He held certificate for approval of all minerals in Central Provinces and Berar and also whole of

Eastern States Agency The Eastern States Agency was an agency or grouping of princely states in eastern India, during the latter years of the British Raj. It was created in 1933, by the unification of the former Chhattisgarh States Agency and the Orissa States Agenc ...

. He also owned ice-factory at Bilaspur and two rice-mills at Jairamnagar. Further, he founded a sugar-factory at Jairamnagar, foundation of which was laid on 10 February 1940, where the chief guest of honor was the Governor of C.P. & Berar, Francis Verner Wylie. He used his farm lands in Jairamnagar for large scale production of sugarcane, required as raw material for his sugar factory.The Indian Year Book, Volume 23; Volumes 25-28, Bennett, Coleman & Company, 1941. A jaggary making unit and rice-mill were also started by him at Jairamnagar. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of both the District and Provincial War Committees of CP. and Berar.

Philanthropy

Further, he was also known for his philanthropy. He is accredited to have built a primary school named Valjee Primanry School with teachers quarter at Jairamnagar, Kunwarbai Charitable Dispensary, weekly markets, wells and roads. He also built a

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

temple and several wells, markets, roads, hospitals &

Dharamshalas A dharamshala, also written as dharmashala, is a public resthouse or shelter in the Indian subcontinent. It also refers to Sikhism, Sikh places of worship before the introduction of Gurdwaras. Just as Caravanserai, sarai are for travellers and ...

in Jairamnagar. He also donated money to build

Town Hall. In 1940, to commemorate the visit of Governor of C.P. & Berar, on occasion of founding of sugar factory at Jairamnagar, he donated a fully equipped Ambulance car to

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Honors

British authorities had given him title firstly Rai Saheb, which was elevated to

in 1941 for his achievements in business and philanthropic works. The local British government changed the name of village from Khaira to Jairamnagar in his honor. The railway station which was earlier known as Paraghat was named Jairamnagar railway station after him on 1 September 1939 by Bengal Nagpur Railway authorities being the only Railway Station in the whole of India to have been named after an individual businessman.It was originally known as Paraghat and was re-named Jairamnagar by Mr. A. Duncan, Agent & General Manager, B.N. Railway...on 1 September 1939
/ref> He was made

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

on 1 January 1945 by British authorities.

Death

He died in 1956 at his Raigarh bungalow survived by wife and several sons and daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauhan, Jairam Valji People from Kutch district Businesspeople from Chhattisgarh Indian people in rail transport 1956 deaths Founders of Indian schools and colleges 1892 births Rai Bahadurs Indian businesspeople in mining Members of the Order of the British Empire Indian sugar industry businesspeople Businesspeople in agriculture Gujarati people People from Raigarh People from Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh 20th-century Indian philanthropists