Jagat Seth family

Jagat Seth was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from Murshidabad in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal. 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. The house was founded by Jain Hiranand Shah from Nagaur, Rajasthan, who came to Patna in 1652. In 1707, Manikchand helped Prince Farrukhsiyar financially to become the Mughal Emperor. In award, Farrukhsiyar conferred the title of Jagat Seth on Manik Chand, the head of the family, meaning "banker or merchant of the world". This indicates the favour the family had gained at the Mughal court. 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. 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". 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 14 crores. Jagat Seth was extremely influential in financial matters in Bengal and had a monopoly of minting coins there. 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. Alivardi Khan came to the throne of Bengal in a military coup financed and planned by the Jagat Seths. 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". 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.