Jagat Seth family

{{Short description|Merchant and banker family of Bengal (1652–1912)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox family |name = House of Jagat Seth |native_name = |native_name_lang = |other_names = |type = Family |coat_of_arms =  |coat_of_arms_size = |alt = |coat_of_arms_caption =  |image = House Of Jagat Seth Complex - Mahimapur - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 6165-6169.tif |image_size = 300px |alt2 = |image_caption = Panoramic view of the mansion of Jagat Seth in Murshidabad, West Bengal |parent_family =  |country = {{Unbulleted list| | Mughal Empire | Bengal Subah | Bengal Presidency }} |region = Bengal |early_forms = |etymology = 'Merchant/Banker of the world' (Persian) |origin = Nagaur |founded = {{Start date|1652}} |founder = Hiranand Shah |current_head = |final_ruler =  |final_head =  |seat =  |historic_seat = Murshidabad |titles =  |styles =  |members = {{Unbulleted list| | Hiranand Shah | Manik Chand | Fateh Chand | Mehtab Chand | Maharaj Swaroop Chand }} |connected_members =  |other_families =  |distinctions =  |traditions = Jainism<ref name="marwar"/> |motto =  |motto_lang = |motto_trans = |heirlooms =  |estate = House of Jagat Seth |properties = |dissolution = {{End date|1912}} |deposition = |cadet_branches =  |website =  |module =  |footnotes = }}

'''Jagat Seth''' was a wealthy merchant, banker and moneylender family from Murshidabad in Bengal<ref name="great">{{cite book |author1=M. Rajivlochan |title=Making India Great Again: Learning from Our History |date=30 September 2020 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=9781000194463 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zfr_DwAAQBAJ&q=jagat+seth |language=English |format=EBook}}</ref> during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal.<ref name="Jagat Seth">{{Cite web|title=Jagat Seth|website=The Week |url=https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2020/08/13/bankrolling-a-battle.html}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Silliman |first=Jael |title=Murshidabad can teach the rest of India how to restore heritage and market the past |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/862281/murshidabad-can-teach-the-rest-of-india-a-lot-on-how-to-restore-heritage-and-market-the-past |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Scroll.in |date=28 December 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Though not at the same scale, but the influence exercised by this family in the finances of the Mughal Empire during the 17th and 18th century would be akin to that exercised by the Rothschild family in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |title=The Anarchy |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-63557-395-4 |location=Great Britain}}</ref>

==History== thumb|House of Jagat Seth in Murshidabad The house was established by a Jain<ref name="anarchy"/> Oswal<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gopal |first=Surendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kOEDwAAQBAJ&dq=jagat+seth+oswal&pg=PT65 |title=Jains in India: History Essays |publisher=Routledge |year=2019|isbn=978-0-429-53737-0 }}</ref> Bania<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Aniruddha |title=Towns and Cities of Medieval India |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |pages=508}}</ref> named Hiranand Shah from Nagaur,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Taknet |first1=D. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXS2DAAAQBAJ |title=The Marwari Heritage |last2=IntegralDMS |date=2016-07-22 |publisher=IntegralDMS |isbn=978-1-942322-06-1 |pages=64–65 |language=en}}</ref> Rajasthan,<ref name="marwar"/> who came to Patna in 1652.<ref name="jain">{{cite book |author1=Surendra Gopal |title=Jains in India: Historical Essays |date=17 January 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429537370 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kOEDwAAQBAJ&q=jagat+seth |language=English |format=EBook}}</ref> In 1713, Manikchand helped Prince Farrukhsiyar financially to become the Mughal Emperor. In award, Farrukhsiyar conferred the title of ''Jagat Seth'' on Manik Chand,<ref name=":0" /> the head of the family, meaning "banker or merchant of the world".<ref name="anarchy">{{cite book |author1=William Dalrymple |title=The Anarchy |date=12 November 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781526634016 |pages=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUMIEAAAQBAJ&q=jagat+seth |language=English |format=EBook}}</ref> This indicates the favour the family had gained at the Mughal court.<ref name="before europe">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvaGuaJIJgoC&q=%22Jagat+Seth%22+meaning&pg=PA282|title=India Before Europe|last1=Asher|first1=Catherine B.|last2=Talbot|first2=Cynthia|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80904-7|pages=282|language=en}}</ref>

thumb|Kachari bari (office premises) of the Palace of Jagat Seth Roben Orme, the official historian of the British East India Company described Jagat Seth as the greatest banker and money changer known in the world at that time.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.taleof2backpackers.com/hazarduari-murshidabad-tour/ | title = Murshidabad Tour Guide – beyond Hazar Duari | work = 11. House of Jagat Seth and Pareshnath Temple | date = 19 November 2019 | publisher = Offbeat Untold | accessdate = 20 June 2021}}</ref> The historian Ghulam Hussain Khan believed that "their wealth was such that there is no mentioning it without seeming to exaggerate and to deal in extravagant fables".<ref name="anarchy"/> They built up their business towards the last quarter of the 17th century and by the 18th century, it was perhaps the largest banking house in the country. In the 1750s, their entire wealth was estimated to be 140 million rupees.<ref name="great"/> Jagat Seth was extremely influential in financial matters in Bengal and had a monopoly of minting coins there.<ref name="before europe"/><ref name="anarchy"/>

thumb|The temple associated with memory of Jagat Sett's house at Mahimapur The Nawabs of Bengal such as Murshid Quli Khan used the credit networks of the Jagat Seth family to pay annual tribute to the Mughal Emperors in Delhi.<ref name="anarchy"/> Alivardi Khan came to the throne of Bengal in a military coup financed and planned by the Jagat Seths.<ref name="anarchy"/> According to William Dalrymple, they could "make or break anyone in Bengal, including the ruler, and their political instincts were sharp as their financial ones".<ref name="anarchy"/> Once a local businessman named Kantu borrowed money from Jagat Seth Fateh Chand and was interested in the purchase of silk. However, he failed to return the money. Indian businessmen refused to deal with the East India Company unless Kantu returned the money to Fateh Chand. This shows the great respect the local businessmen had for the Jagat Seths.<ref name="jain"/> Fateh Chand suffered a great loss in Delhi during Nader Shah's sack of the city in 1740, but he was able to continue his business.<ref name="jain"/> He died on 2 December 1744.<ref name="jain"/> The Jagat Seths were the most prominent moneylenders to the East India Company.<ref name="sevilla">{{cite book |author1=Michael S. Moss |author2=Anthony Slaven |editor1-last=Eugenia Núñez |editor1-first=Clara |title=Entrepreneurial Networks and Business Culture |year=1998 |publisher=Universidad de Sevilla |isbn=9788447204441 |pages=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=896D3u22R6gC&dq=jagat+seth&pg=PA96 |language=English, French}}</ref>

During the Maratha invasions of Bengal, the Bargi Maratha mercenaries plundered the mansion of the Jagat Seth, taking away 25 million rupees as booty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=foundation |first1=Temple of India |title=Bengal – India's Rebellious Spirit |date=10 August 2018 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-1-64324-746-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4poDwAAQBAJ&dq=Maratha+Ditch&pg=PT74 |language=en}}</ref>

===Conspiracy against Siraj ud-Daulah===

thumb|House of Jagat Seth Siraj ud-Daulah, the new Nawab of Bengal, alienated figures important to the interest of his state- including the Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand. The Nawab demanded a lavish tribute of 30 million rupees from the banker. Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand refused, and a result, Siraj ud-Daulah hit him.<ref name="before europe"/><ref name="anarchy"/> The Jagat Seth was<ref name="anarchy"/> a co-conspirator of Robert Clive<ref name=":1" /> against Siraj ud-Daulah, along with other alienated figures, among them prominent being- Mir Jafar, Krishnachandra Roy, Omichund, Yar Lutuf Khan, Rai Durlabh & other leading men.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Calcutta Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKugAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA97|accessdate=4 April 2017|year=1874|publisher=University of Calcutta.|page=97}}</ref><ref name="Banu1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |year= 1992 |title=Islam in Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&pg=PA26 |publisher=BRILL |page=26 |isbn=90-04-09497-0|language=en}}</ref> The Jagat Seth and other wealthy bankers funded the British for the conspiracy.<ref name="Jagat Seth"/>

Any members of the conspiracy group had no intention to found British rule in India, instead they were just concerned about their political futures.<ref name="conspiracy">{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Rajatkanta |title=Palashir Sharajantra O Sekaler Samaj |year=1994 |publisher=Ānanda Pābaliśārsa |isbn=978-81-7215-165-2 |language=BN}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2024}}

==Decline== thumb|Corridor of Jagat Seth's official residence After the Battle of Plassey, Mir Qasim became the new Nawab. He organised the killing of several members of the family including Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand and his cousin Swarup Chand, in 1763, and threw their bodies off the ramparts of Munger Fort.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Mahtab Chand's son, Kushal Chand, was granted the title of Jagat Seth, but with the transfer of the treasury and mint to Kolkata by the British, the need of a private banker at Murshidabad was vastly diminished.<ref name="marwar">{{cite web | last1 = Rozario | first1 = Joseph | url = http://www.marwar.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-jagat-sheths/ | title = The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths | work = Joseph Rozario | date = 12 June 2015 | publisher = Marwar India, 12 June 2015 | accessdate = 20 July 2021}}</ref> thumb|Garden bench at the house of Jagat Seth thumb|Interior of the house of Jagat Seth Kushal Chand was only 18 years old when he became the ''Seth''. He lacked his father Mehtab Chand's political shrewdness and was a spendthrift. Thus the fortunes of the Jagat Seths began declining. Govindchand, the next ''Seth'', died in 1864, succeeded by Gopal Chand and Gulab Chand respectively. By then, the fortunes of the family had declined by a considerable amount.<ref name=":0" /> The last member of the family died in 1912, their fortunes being a thing of the past and surviving on a pension given by the British.<ref name="archive">{{cite book |last1=Rozario |first1=Joseph |url=http://www.marwar.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-jagat-sheths/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123040945/http://www.marwar.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-jagat-sheths/ |archive-date=2021-11-23 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths {{!}} Marwar |work=Marwar India Magazine |date=23 November 2021}}</ref>

==Museum==

thumb|Gate (main entrance) of the house of Jagat Seth thumb|Sculpture at the Jagat Seth's house in Mahimapur, Murshidabad

The house of the Jagat Seths in Mahimapur locality of Murshidabad city of West Bengal state, complete with a secret tunnel as well as an underground chamber, where illegal trade plans were hatched, has been converted into museum. House of Jagat Seth Museum was established in 1980. It is privately managed. It contains personal possessions of the Jagat Seth family including coins of the bygone era, muslin and other extravagant clothes, Banarasi sarees embroidered with gold and silver threads.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.museumsofindia.org/museum/439/house-of-jagat-seth-museum |title = House of Jagat Seth Museum |publisher = Museums of India |accessdate = 20 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126112411/https://www.museumsofindia.org/museum/439/house-of-jagat-seth-museum |archive-date=26 November 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

thumb|Jain foot marks inside the temple within Jagat Seth's palace

thumb|Middle building with pool According to the Archaeological Survey of India the house, temple and ruins associated with the memory of Jagat Seth's house at Mahimapur are State Protected Monuments (Item no S-WB-94).<ref name="ASI MNI">[http://asi.nic.in/asi_protected_monu_list.asp List of State Protected Monuments as reported by the Archaeological Survey of India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523134605/http://asi.nic.in/asi_protected_monu_list.asp |date=2013-05-23 }}.</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{Cite book |author1=D. K. Taknet |author1-link=D. K. Taknet |title=The Marwari Heritage |date=July 2016 |publisher=IntegralDMS |isbn=9781942322061 |pages=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXS2DAAAQBAJ&dq=jagat+seth&pg=PA67 |language=English |format=EBook}} *{{Cite book |author1=Surendra Gopal |title=Jains in India: Historical Essays |date=17 January 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429537370 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kOEDwAAQBAJ&q=jagat+seth |language=English |format=EBook}} *{{Cite book |author1=William Dalrymple |title=The Anarchy |date=12 November 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781526634016 |pages=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUMIEAAAQBAJ&q=jagat+seth |language=English |format=EBook}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20211123040945/http://www.marwar.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-jagat-sheths/ The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Seths] * [https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/bengal-banker-jagat-seth-who-gave-loans-to-east-india-company-financial-tips-to-aurangzeb/486979/ Bengal banker Jagat Seth who gave loans to East India Company, financial tips to Aurangzeb] The Print

Category:Murshidabad Category:Jain families Category:Rajasthani people Category:Bengali families Category:Banking families