History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP. II.] FOUNDER OF THE PETITS. 135

fifty-seven. He commenced life by going to Muscat as a “dubash” in charge of a cargo of rice. On his return thence he was apprenticed to a European firm, and his enterprise and business habits soon raised him to the first rank among the merchants of his day. He was one of the chief promoters of every project for the development of commercial enterprise, and many flourishing institutions owe their origin to him. He was the first president of the Parsi Law Association, as well as of the Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Society. To the funds of the latter he subscribed most handsomely. As our readers will perceive hereafter, he was the pioneer of the cotton spinning and weaving industry in India. He was a kind and generous-hearted man, and on the death of his wife set apart Rs.30,000 for different charitable institutions. He never withheld pecuniary assistance from the poor, and was always ready to exercise his kind offices in the settlement of domestic disputes among his co-religionists.

Manakji’s two sons Dinsha and Nasarvanji have made the name of Petit memorable in the history of Bombay by their shrewd commercial sagacity, as well as by the benevolence of their character. Their generous spirit first manifested itself soon after the death of their father. To commemorate his name they established a fund of Rs.56,000 out of their father’s estate, and to that sum they themselves added