https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jenabai_DaruwaliJenabai Daruwali - Revision history2026-07-31T09:45:50ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Jenabai_Daruwali&diff=506063&oldid=prevNxtleveledit at 00:03, 28 April 20262026-04-28T00:03:26Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian gangster}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Jenabai Daruwali<br />
| birth_name = Zainab Daruwesh Gandhi<br />
| birth_place = [[Dongri]], India<br />
| other_names = Jenabai Chavalwaali; "Maasi"<br />
| occupation = Bootlegger, underworld mediator<br />
| known_for = Mumbai's first female "mafia queen"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Jenabai''' (born Zainab Daruwesh Gandhi, c. 1920s – died post‑1993) was a Mumbai's first female "mafia queen". She rose from origins in the [[Dongri]] [[Chawl|chawls]] to become a [[Rum-running|bootlegging]] entrepreneur and mediator among crime dons including [[Haji Mastan]], [[Karim Lala]], [[Varadarajan Mudaliar]], and [[Dawood Ibrahim]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Gangubai Kathiawadi & 10 Other Mafia Queens Who Once Ruled Mumbai |url=https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainment/gangubai-kathiawadi-other-mafia-queens-hussain-zaidi/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=ScoopWhoop}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Early life ==<br />
Born in the 1920s in a [[Muslims|Muslim]] [[Memon people|Memon]] family in [[Mumbai|Mumbai’s]] Dongri area, Jenabai (then Zainab) was one of six siblings. Her formative years were shaped by poverty and the upheaval of the [[Partition of India]]. A Memon by birth, she took to smuggling ration and later liquor after her husband migrated to [[Pakistan]], leaving her alone in [[Mumbai]] with their five children.<ref>{{cite news |title=Feature: The 'Ma Bakers' of Mumbai |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1085728 |work=Dawn |access-date=26 July 2025}}</ref> This trade evolved into smuggling ration during India's post-independence shortages.<ref>{{cite news |title=Underworld Mafia Queen Jenabai Daruwali: Who Managed Dawood, Haji Mastan & Varadarajan |url=https://www.jansatta.com/crime-news-hindi/underworld-mafia-queen-jenabai-daruwali-who-managed-don-lilke-dawood/1991254/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=Jansatta}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Bootlegging rise ==<br />
Transitioning from grain smuggling to illicit liquor production, she earned the nickname “Daruwali” (liquor‑lady). By the 1960s and 1970s, she was a dominant bootlegger in areas like [[Nagpada]] and Mohammed Ali Road.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zaidi |first=Hussain |author2=Jane Borges |title=Mafia Queens of Mumbai |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2011 |isbn=9788172235147}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Mediator and underworld influence ==<br />
Jenabai is credited with brokering a peace treaty among rival factions under the [[patronage]] of [[Haji Mastan]]. Her relationships with figures like [[Dawood Ibrahim]] and [[Karim Lala]] made her a powerful intermediary. She was affectionately referred to as "Maasi" or "Apa" (aunt) by underworld members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crazy Things You Didn't Know About Bombay's Feared Mafia Queens |url=https://edtimes.in/crazy-things-you-didnt-know-about-gangubai-sapna-didi-and-jenabai-bombays-feared-mafia-queens/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=ED Times |date=27 February 2022 }}</ref><br />
<br />
== Later life and legacy ==<br />
By the 1980s, her influence declined as drug gangs and violence restructured Mumbai's criminal landscape. Following the [[1993 Bombay bombings]], she reportedly fell ill and died a few years later.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mumbai's Most Notorious Lady Don Jenabai Daruwali |url=https://shreshthmaharashtra.com/knowledge_bank/shreshth-maharashtra-mumbai-underworld-lady-don-jenabai-daruwali/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |publisher=Shreshth Maharashtra}}</ref><br />
<br />
Her legacy lives on in Indian popular culture and journalism. [[S. Hussain Zaidi]] profiles her in ''[[Mafia Queens of Mumbai]]'', and Indian news outlets have acknowledged her as a significant, gender-defying figure in the underworld.<ref name="Zaidi">{{cite book |last=Zaidi |first=S. Hussain |author2=Jane Borges |title=Mafia Queens of Mumbai |publisher=Tranquebar Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-93-80283-77-7}}</ref><br />
<br />
== In popular culture ==<br />
A fictionalized version of Jenabai inspired the 2016 Zee TV series ''Amma'', starring [[Shabana Azmi]] as a female underworld figure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amma (TV series) |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amma_(TV_series) |website=Wikipedia}}</ref><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
== Further reading ==<br />
* Hussain Zaidi & Jane Borges, ''Mafia Queens of Mumbai''. HarperCollins India, 2011.<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daruwali, Jenabai}}<br />
[[Category:1920s births]]<br />
[[Category:1990s deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian female gangsters]]<br />
[[Category:People from Mumbai]]</div>Nxtleveledit