Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1856–1926) was an Indian businessman who played a pivotal role in the growth of the

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

in India. He was the first-cousin of

Jamsetji Tata Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (3 March 1839 – 19 May 1904) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate. He established the city of Jamshedpur. Born into a Zoroastrian Parsi family in ...

and one of the partners in "Tata Sons" founded by

. Ratanji was the father of renowned

J. R. D. Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French born Indian industrialist, philanthropist, aviator and former chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Rat ...

Personal life

Ratanji was born in

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is between Surat and Mumbai. It is a twin city of Surat, 37 km to the north. At the 2011 Census of Ind ...

in the Bombay Presidency in 1856 to Dadabhoy Kawasji Tata & Bhikhibai Tata. Dadabhoy was the son of Kawasji Maneckji Tata and grandson of Maneckji Tata. They were all members of the extended Tata family. Dadabhoy's sister, Jeevanbai, was married to Nusserwanji Ratan Tata (a distant relative). Their son was Jamshedji Tata. Ratanji studied at The Cathedral & John Connon School and

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

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 ...

. After graduating, he took up a course in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. He then joined his family trade in the East Asia. Ratanji was married to a Parsee woman at a young age. However, she died childless not long after the marriage. Ratanji was in his forties when he married a French woman,

Suzanne Brière Suzanne RD Tata (nee Brière, 1880–1923), also known as Sooni Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, was the French wife of Indian businessman Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata. She is known for being the first woman in India to drive a car, in 1905. Life and backgroun ...

, in 1902. This was considered revolutionary in his times and was not welcomed by many in the Parsi community. They had five children: Rodabeh,

Jehangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

, Jimmy, Sylla and Dorab.

Opium trade

Under the name Tata & Co, Ratanji ran an

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

importing business in China, which was legal at the time. In 1887, he and other merchants such as

David Solomon Sassoon David Solomon Sassoon (; 8 December 1880 – 10 August 1942) (also known as "David Suleiman Sassoon"), was a bibliophile and grandson of 19th century Baghdadi Jewish community leader David Sassoon. Family Sassoon was born in Bombay to Solom ...

presented a petition on behalf of the opium traders to complain about a

Hong Kong Legislative Council The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the pow ...

bill that threatened to affect their trade.Legislative Council No. 21
Friday, 25 March 1887

Director of Tata Steel

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

was conceived and commissioned by Jamsetji Tata. However, Jamsetji died before the completion of the project. Ratanji played an important role in the completion of the project along with Jamsetji's son Dorab and thus Tata Steel was established in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

. The Tatas supplied steel to the British during the First World War. However, after the war Tata Steel went through a difficult period in the 1920s as steel was dumped in India by Britain and Belgium. Ratanji, along with other directors successfully sought protection for the Indian steel industry from the colonial government of the day and steadied the operations of Tata Steel.

References

A section of the Tata family tree from the Tata Central Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tata, Ratanji Dadabhoy Ratanji Dadabhoy Parsi people Businesspeople from British India 1856 births 1926 deaths Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Tata Group people Emigrants from British India Immigrants to France