- Curumsey Damjee
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Curumsey Damjee (also spelled Karamsi or Kasamshi Damji) JP[1] was a businessman who lived in the 19th and 20th century.[2] Hailing from Waghora, a small village in remote Kutch he migrated to Bombay (now Mumbai) at a young age and became a very successful businessman, working with the Bombay Port Trust.[3]
Contents
Work and award
He used to do a lot of work related to the Bombay P ort through his company Curumsey Damjee and Sons.[4] He was given the honorific title "Rao Bahadur" by the then British government in India for his good community work on January 1, 1899.[5]
Religion and Community
Curumsey Damjee was a devout follower of Swaminarayan and it was with help of his major donation that the Swaminarayan Mandir in (Bhuleshwar, Mumbai) was made. Also, hailing from the Kutchi Lohana Community he did a lot of work for the community — The Curumsey Damjee Community Hall at the Dariya Sthan (Kutchi Lohana Mahajan) Masjid Bunder, Mumbai was named after him.[3] He also co-edited a 1902 version of Bhramanand Kavya, an important Swaminarayan Scripture, written by Brahmanand Swami. A copy of this book was referred to in the Catalogue of Marathi and Gujarati books of the British Museum, Dept. of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts in 1915.[6]
Charity and Scholarship
He instituted three Public Charitable Trusts. First the R. B. Sheth Curumsey Damjee Arogya Bhuvan Trust that has a sanatorium in Matheran. Second, the R. B. Sheth Curumsey Damjee Mathura Waghora Dharamsala Trust that has a dharamsala in Waghora. Third, the R. B. Sheth Curumsey Damjee Swaminarayan Temple Charity Trust that funds various activities of the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Mumbai.[3] An annual scholarship was instituted at the University of Mumbai after him. This scholarship was worth Rs. 250/- and was given to the top most student among Kutchi Lohana community.[7]
References
- ^ The Bombay university calendar, Volume 2. University of Bombay. 1925. pp. 642. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7k0mAQAAIAAJ&q=7k0mAQAAIAAJ&q=.
- ^ Mahadev Haribhai Desai, Narahari Dvārakādāsa Parīkha, Hemantkumar Gunabhai Nilkanth (1968). Day-to-day with Gandhi. Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7vW1AAAAIAAJ&q=karamshi+damji&dq=karamshi+damji&lr=&client=firefox-a&pgis=1. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Page 205
- ^ a b c "About Rao Bahadur Sheth Curumsey Damjee". http://www.matheran.org/about_our_founder.htm.
- ^ Sorabji M. Rutnagur (1927). Bombay industries. Indian textile journal. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pz0dAAAAIAAJ&q=curumsey&dq=curumsey&lr=&client=firefox-a&pgis=1. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Page 604
- ^ Roper Lethbridge (1900). The golden book of India: a genealogical and biographical dictionary of the ruling princes, chiefs, nobles, and other personages, titled or decorated, of the Indian empire. Macmillan. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uK9GAAAAIAAJ&dq=karamsi+damji&lr=&client=firefox-a. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Page 132
- ^ James Fuller Blumhardt (1915). Catalogue of Marathi and Gujarati printed books in the library of the British museum. B. Quaritch. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oHsqAAAAMAAJ&dq=karamsi+damji&lr=&client=firefox-a. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Page 112
- ^ University of Bombay (1930). Bombay university handbook. University of Bombay. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LZLOAAAAMAAJ&q=karamsi+damji&dq=karamsi+damji&lr=&client=firefox-a&pgis=1. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Page 333
External links
Categories:- Indian businesspeople
- Indian Hindus
- Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism
- Lohana people
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