the first half of the 19th century the various communities of India were
much more isolated in their habits and their sympathies than they are
now. Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy's unsectarian philanthropy awakened a common
understanding and created a bond between them which has proved not only
of domestic value but has had a national and political significance. His
services were recognized first in 1842 by the bestowal of a knighthood
upon him, and in 1858 by that of a baronetcy. These were the very first
distinctions of their kind conferred by Queen Victoria upon a British
subject in India.
His title devolved in 1859 on his eldest son CURSETJEE, who, by a
special Act of the Viceroy's Council in pursuance of a provision in the
letters-patent, took the name of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy as second
baronet. At his death in 1877 his eldest son, MENEKJEE, became Sir
Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the third baronet. Both had the advantage of a
good English education, and continued the career of benevolent activity
and devoted loyalty to British rule which had signalized the life-work
of the founder of the family. They both visited England to do homage to
their sovereign; and their public services were recognized by their
nomination to the order of the Star of India, as well as by appointment
to the Legislative Councils of Calcutta and Bombay.
On the death of the third baronet, the title devolved upon his brother,
COWSAJEE (1853-1908), who became Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, fourth
baronet, and the recognized leader of the Parsee community all over the
world. He was succeeded by his son RUSTOMJEE (b. 1878), who became Sir
Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, fifth baronet.
Since their emigration from Persia, the Parsee community had never had a
titular chief or head, its communal funds and affairs being managed by a
public body, more or less democratic in its constitution, termed the
Parsee panchayat. The first Sir Jamsetjee, by the hold that he
established on the community, by his charities and public spirit,
gradually came to be regarded in the light of its chief; and the
recognition which he was the first in India to receive at the hands of
the British sovereign finally fixed him and his successors in the
baronetcy in the position and title of the official Parsee leader.
(M. M. Bh.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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