LouieWebb342 at 07:12, 29 April 2026

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{{Short description|Indian philanthropist (1857–1934)}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = Jehangir Hormasji Kothari
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|size=100}}
| image = Jehangir Hormasji Kothari 1857-1937.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1857|11|09}}
| birth_place = [[Karachi]], [[British India]] (now in [[Sindh]], [[Pakistan]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|11|01|1857|11|09|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Trieste]], [[Kingdom of Italy]] (now in [[Italy]])
| occupation = Merchant, landlord, philanthropist, world traveller
}}
'''Sir Jehangir Hormasji Kothari''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|size=100}} ({{langx|ur|ﺳﯾﭨﻬ جهانگیر هورموسجی کوٹهاری}}; 9 November 1857 – 1 November 1934), was a [[Parsi]] businessman, merchant and a prominent philanthropist from [[Karachi]] during [[British Raj|British colonial]] rule. Today, he is best remembered for the [[Jehangir Kothari Parade]], an elevated sandstone walkway used to walk to [[Clifton Beach, Karachi|Clifton Beach]], in Karachi, Pakistan, on the [[Arabian Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thekarachiwalla.com/2010/10/21/karachi-landmarks-the-kothari-parade/|title=Jehangir Kothari Parade|website=The Karachi Walla|date=21 October 2010|accessdate=30 July 2016}}</ref>

==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<ref name="Whoswho"/> and subsequently emigrated from [[Surat]] to [[Karachi]], [[Gujarat]] in 1846 where he was eccentrically philanthropic.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Charity Galore|journal=Journal of Informal Religious Meetings|volume=5|number=8|date=Oct–Nov 2004| url= http://www.zoroastrian.org.uk/vohuman/ushao/us73_08.htm}}</ref>

==Life==
Kothari was born on 9 November 1857,<ref name="Whoswho">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtowhos00luckrich|page= 176|title=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|author=Prag Narain Bhargava|publisher=Newul Kishore Press|location=Lucknow |date=1912}}</ref><ref name="Tombstone">There 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.</ref> in [[Karachi]].<ref name="WhoWasWho">''Who 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.</ref> He was educated at home and in the Karachi High School.<ref name="Whoswho"/>

Kothari was a member of the [[Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry|Karachi Chamber of Commerce]] and represented them at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago Exhibition]] in 1893<ref>''The Zoroastrian Diaspora'' by John R. Hinnells, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005</ref> on the second of his eleven known voyages around the globe.<ref name="SMH1932">"Sir Jehangir Kothari – Noted Indian Philanthropist", ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 4 August 1932, page 8g</ref><ref name="Book">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/impressionsoffir00koth|title=Impressions of a First Tour Round the World in 1883 and 1884 – Embracing Travels in Europe, the United States of America, Canada, Japan, China, the Straits Settlements, and Northern Portions of India|author=Jehangir H. Kothari|publisher=Simmons & Botten|location=London|date=1889}}</ref> He published his reminiscences of his first voyage of 1883/4 when he traveled to [[Europe]], [[Great Britain]], [[United States]] of America, [[Canada]], [[Japan]], [[China]], [[Straits Settlements]], and northern portions of [[India]].<ref name="Book"/> Some of his subsequent voyages took him to more isolated regions, including the [[Society Islands]], [[Fiji]], [[Falkland Islands]], [[Tierra del Fuego]], upper [[Amazon River|Amazon]], [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Yukon]], upper [[Manchuria]], [[Borneo]], [[Nova Zembla Island|Nova Zembla]] and [[Spitsbergen]].<ref name="SMH1930">"Great Traveller – Sir Jehangir Kothari – Distinguished Imperialist", ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 26 April 1930, page 13e</ref>

Kothari was also a member of the [[Royal Society of Arts]] and [[North British Academy of Arts]], Life Governor of the [[Royal Masonic School for Boys|Royal Masonic Institution for Boys]] and [[Royal Masonic School|Royal Masonic Institution for Girls]], Honorary Special Magistrate in Karachi since 1892, member of the Cantonment Committee in Karachi since 1890 and Municipal Committees in Karachi since 1884, Lieutenant in the ''Sind Volunteer Rifle Corps'' since 1895,<ref name="Whoswho"/> Life Governor of the [[Great Ormond Street Hospital]] and member of the Bombay Legislative Council<ref>"To Visit Brisbane – Sir J.H. Kothari", ''Brisbane Courier'', 27 July 1932, page 12f</ref> in 1911, fellow of the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] and vice-president of the [[Navy League of Great Britain|Navy League]].<ref name="WhoWasWho"/><ref>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]].</ref> He was a patron, trustee and president of many charitable and other institutions in Karachi.<ref name="Whoswho"/>

Kothari demolished his house on [[Clifton, Karachi|Clifton Hill]] in 1907, and at that site he built a magnificent pavilion, [[Jehangir Kothari Parade|parade]] and pier, which he bequeathed to the people of Karachi to enjoy. Inspired by this generosity, [[Kavasji Katrak|Kavasji Hormusji Katrak]] built and gave to the people of Karachi the grand bandstand which looms over the cliff.<ref>{{cite web |title = Karachi and Its Parks |author=Aedeshir Cowasjee|newspaper=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=4 March 2007|url= https://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20070403.htm|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130121133411/http://archives.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20070403.htm|url-status= live|archive-date= 21 January 2013|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref> He also established a school for the blind and sanatorium in Karachi around this time.<ref name="SMH1930"/>

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 [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] in 1911. He enjoyed sailing and was a member of the Ripon Club and Willingdon Sports Club of [[Mumbai|Bombay]], the Zoroastrian Club and Parsi Institute of [[Karachi]],<ref name="Whoswho"/> founding member of the [[Lloyd's]] Polo Club of [[Poona]] and member of the Circumnavigators Club.<ref name="WhoWasWho"/><ref>The [http://www.circumnavigators.org/magellan/past.php Circumnavigators Club] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830193139/http://www.circumnavigators.org/magellan/past.php |date=30 August 2009 }} was founded in New York NY in 1902.</ref>

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.<ref name="SMH1930"/>

Kothari was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[1918 Birthday Honours]],<ref>''London Gazette'', Issue 30730, Supplement, 4 June 1918, page 6717a</ref> and subsequently [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1921 Birthday Honours]],<ref>''London Gazette'', Issue 32461, 20 September 1921, page 7382b</ref> which was conferred at [[Buckingham Palace]] by King George V on 8 July 1922.<ref>''London Gazette'', Issue 32730, 18 July 1922, page 5354a</ref>

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.<ref name="WhoWasWho"/><ref name="Kotharihall">{{cite web |title = ''History from 'The Bangalore Parsis' – Establishing the Kothari Hall'' by Dasturji Nadirshah P. Unvalla|url= http://bpza.org/Properties/KothariHall.html}}</ref> Kothari built a memorial, the Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall, to his wife in the Bangalore Cantonment in 1931/2.<ref name="Kotharihall" />

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.<ref>{{cite web |title =Some Mentionable Mansions|author= Peerzada Salman|newspaper=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=7 December 2009|url=https://www.dawn.com/archives/156420|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref>

Kothari was an ardent believer in the imperial ideal of the [[British Empire]], for whom he acted as an unofficial world ambassador,<ref name="SMH1932"/> and was a member of the British Empire Club.<ref name="WhoWasWho"/> 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]].<ref name="SMH1930"/>

Kothari died on 1 November 1934<ref name="Gazette1937">''London Gazette'', Issue 34403, 1 June 1937, page 3548b</ref> in [[Trieste]], [[Italy]].<ref name="Tombstone"/>
His estate was administered by Messrs. Barrow, Rogers & Nevill of 26 Budge Row, London in 1937.<ref name="Gazette1937"/>

==Read also==

*''[https://archive.org/details/impressionsoffir00koth Impressions of a First Tour Round the World in 1883 and 1884 – Embracing Travels in Europe, the United States of America, Canada, Japan, China, the Straits Settlements, and Northern Portions of India]'' by Jehangir H. Kothari, Simmons & Botten, London 1889.
* ''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.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kothari, Jehangir Hormasji}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Clifton, Karachi]]
[[Category:Parsi businesspeople]]
[[Category:Indian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society]]
[[Category:People from Bombay Presidency]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from British India]]

Jehangir H. Kothari - Revision history

LouieWebb342 at 07:12, 29 April 2026