Vaidehitaman at 05:10, 27 April 2026

2026-04-27T05:10:21Z

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{{Short description|Indian mafia leader}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2026}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Haji Mastan Mirza
| image = Haji Mastan Mirza.jpg
| image_size =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|03|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ramanathapuram]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj]]<br />(now in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|06|25|1926|03|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai|Mumbai, Maharashtra]], India
| party = [[Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh]]
| spouse = Safra Bai
| children = 3
}}
'''Haji Mastan''' (1 March 1926 – 25 June 1994) was an [[Organised crime in India|organised crime gang]] leader, originally from [[Tamil Nadu]] and based in [[Mumbai]]. He was one of the infamous trio of mafia gang leaders in Mumbai for over two decades from the 1960s to the early 1980s, along with [[Karim Lala]] leader of the [[Pashtuns|Pathan]] gang in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] and [[Chennai|Madras]], and [[Varadarajan Mudaliar]], another famous gang leader from Tamil Nadu in [[South India]].<ref name="Haji Mastan">{{cite news |last1=Maheshwari |first1=Dhairya |date=16 January 2020 |title=Haji Mastan Mirza: Revisiting the story of underworld don often portrayed as Mumbai's Robinhood |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/crime/who-was-hazi-mastan-mirza-mumbai-underworld-don-complete-story-580244 |work=www.indiatvnews.com |language=en}}</ref>

At his peak, Mastan operated a powerful [[smuggling]] syndicate in Mumbai and along the [[Gujarat]] coast and later diversified into [[film finance|film financing]] and [[real estate]] business.

Mastan was known to be a shrewd businessman and a cunning deal-maker. He is known to be the only Bombay don who ruled without sustaining an injury. His illegal smuggling business was not caught by the government or police during his lifetime. He always maintained friendly relations with the police and government officials and often promoted peace between rival gangs, and was good friends with Lala, Mudaliar, Hassan Patni and [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] supremo [[Bal Thackeray]].<ref name="Haji Mastan"/><ref name="friend of balasaheb">{{cite news |last1=Bureau |first1=ABP News |title=Not Just Indira Gandhi, Sena Founder Bal Thackeray Also Met Underworld good friend of Don Haji Mastan |url=https://news.abplive.com/news/india/indira-gandhi-karim-lala-controversy-sanjay-raut-claim-bal-thackeray-underworld-don-picture-1143764 |work=news.abplive.com |publisher=abplive |date=16 January 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Very early in his career, Mastan realized the importance of being seen among famous personalities from politics and the film industry as a symbol of power. Therefore, he hobnobbed among the city's rich and famous and was frequently seen with Bollywood personalities at public functions.<ref name="friend of balasaheb"/>

Mastan was arguably the most influential mafia don of his time. He was also seen as a "style icon" by many due to his extravagant lifestyle including immaculate white clothes, white shoes, white Mercedes cars and expensive gold watches. Mastan flaunted an extravagant lifestyle to appear affluent and influential.<ref name="Haji Mastan"/> His life served as an inspiration for the character Sultan Mirza in the 2010 Hindi feature film ''[[Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai]]''.

== Early life ==
Haji Mastan was born in 1926 in a [[Tamil Muslim]] family in [[Panaikulam]], in the [[Madras Presidency]] of [[British Raj]] (present-day [[Chennai]], [[India]]). He lived in the coastal town of [[Cuddalore]] before migrating to [[Mumbai|Bombay]] with his father at the age of 8.<ref name=TOI1>{{cite news|title=When Tamil dons ruled Bombay|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-Tamil-dons-ruled-Bombay/articleshow/49623540.cms|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 November 2015|access-date=20 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-haji-mastan-s-daughter-serves-legal-notice-on-don-s-adopted-son-1141642 | title=Aaquib Hussain's daughter serves legal notice on Don's 'adopted son'|last=Singh|first=Naveeta|date=27 December 2007|work=dnaindia.com|location=Mumbai, India|access-date=20 May 2018}}</ref>

Mastan started doing odd jobs as a small boy in the famous [[Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai|Crawford Market]] and soon joined the [[Mumbai harbour|docks]] and started working long hours there.{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}} During his early twenties, due to the high import duty on gold, people started smuggling gold from overseas. Working in the docks made it easy for him to participate in smuggling and soon Mastan started his own business. Mastan began making a decent sum of money by diverting his sectors into this business. At an early age he also went on [[Hajj]], after which he got the prefix ''Haji'' with his name.<ref name="Haji Mastan"/>

== Adult life and death ==
Mastan joined hands with Sukkur Narayan Bakhia, a smuggler from [[Daman, Daman and Diu|Daman]] to control the illegal items smuggled into Mumbai and Daman from the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|countries in the Persian Gulf]]. Mastan purchased properties at various locations in South Mumbai including a sea-facing bungalow at [[Peddar Road]]. He lived in a small room built on the roof of his bungalow.<ref name="mafioso">{{cite web |last1=Zaidi |first1=Hussain |title=The reluctant Mafioso |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/7GHtzStxuaK44eoofh3xxK/The-reluctant-Mafioso.html |website=Livemint|language=en |date=9 July 2010}}</ref>

Mastan ventured into film financing later in his life, providing producers in Mumbai with some much-needed funds. He eventually turned into a film producer himself. He also had business interests in real estate, electronic goods, and hotels. He owned several electronic shops in Musafir Khana near Crawford Market.<ref name="mafioso"/>

Mastan maintained good relations with the other gang leaders. When inter-gang rivalry in Mumbai began to increase, he called all the top gang leaders together and split Mumbai between the gangs so that they could operate without coming into conflict. In this the mafia queen, [[Jenabai Daruwali]] helped him.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Varma |first1=Anuradha |title=Meet these Lady Dons from the Underworld {{!}} Work & Life |url=https://www.idiva.com/career/advice/meet-these-lady-dons-from-the-underworld/4645 |website=iDiva |language=en-IN |date=29 April 2011}}</ref> Earlier Jenabai was known as Chavalvali, as she was doing business of selling ration in black market. But as she was ambitious, she developed contacts with the then liquor producer and seller, Varadarajan Mudliar alias Varda Bhai. After this, she came to be known as Jenabai Daruwali. Jenabai had good relations with Mastan, the [[Dawood Ibrahim]] family, and Karim Lala Pathan. So with the consent of Mastan she arranged a meeting of all rivals under one roof of Mastan's pedder road bungalow called Batul Suroor.<ref name="mafioso"/>

Later in life, Mastan did not take a direct role in running his gang, but instead, he depended on right-hand men like Lala and Mudaliar to carry out his smuggling operations and intimidate rivals and debtors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Virani |first1=Pinki |title=Once Was Bombay |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-5214-074-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cK_dCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Haji%20Mastan%22%20-wikipedia&pg=PT200 |access-date=26 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Mastan was especially close to Mudaliar as they were both from Tamil Nadu. When Mudaliar died, Mastan hired a private chartered plane to bring his body to Mumbai for the final rites.

During the [[Indian Emergency (1975 - 77)|Indian Emergency]], he was imprisoned. Whilst in prison, he was influenced by the ideals of politician [[Jaiprakash Narayan]] and also began learning [[Hindi language|Hindi]].

After his release from prison, Mastan entered politics and formed a political party in 1980-81, which was named Dalit Muslim Surakhsha Maha Sangh in 1985, and later renamed as [[Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh]], currently led by Sundar Shaekhar.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Haji Mastan Mirza died of cardiac arrest in [[Mumbai]] on 25 June 1994.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name}}

{{Organised crime in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastan, Haji}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian gangsters]]
[[Category:Indian crime bosses]]
[[Category:Indian extortionists]]
[[Category:Indian smugglers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Tamil Muslims]]
[[Category:Film producers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Indian filmmakers]]
[[Category:Criminals from Mumbai]]
[[Category:People from Ramanathapuram district]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in India]]

Haji Mastan - Revision history

Vaidehitaman at 05:10, 27 April 2026