The Tata family, which is today considered one of the main pillars of Indian industry, started its initial business journey with the opium trade. During the 19th century, when the British Raj was ruling India, the opium trade was a profitable business globally, and the Tata family also stepped into it.
At that time, the opium business was legal. In 1850 when Western countries were waging a terrible massacre all over the world to establish their supremacy. Opium was fed to wounded soldiers in the war to relieve them from pain and prepare them to fight again. During this time, Jamsetji’s father Nusserwanji Tata was doing business in Bombay. He made tremendous profits in the opium business.
Jamsetji Tata’s father Nusserwanji was the first businessman in the lineage of Parsi priests. In Navsari, Jamsetji Tata was born on 3 March 1839. From the age of 14, he started helping his father with his work. Nusserwanji Tata used to go to China regularly and trade opium. However, after the first war of independence in India in 1857, it became difficult to do business.
Opted for Cloth Business instead of Opium Trade
Nusserwanji Tata wanted his son Jamshedji Tata to help him in this work, so he sent Jamshedji to China so that Jamshedji could understand the workings of the opium trade. However, after going to China, Jamshedji took up the cloth business without being able to understand the nuances of the opium trade. He found in China that the cloth business had a future.
Denied Entry to British Hotel, He Built the Taj in Bombay
When Jamshedji Tata visited Britain, he was not allowed to stay in a hotel because he was an Indian. Jamsetji built the Taj for this reason, where not only Indians but also people worldwide would aspire to stay. It is said that Hotel Taj was the first hotel in India that had electricity.
Jamsetji started four big projects in his life. These included a steel company, a world-class hotel, an educational institute, and a hydroelectric project. Later, the next generations of the Tata family fulfilled his dream. The companies he started are known as the giant Tata Group. Today, the Tata Group manufactures everything from salt to cars, trucks, and software.
