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

248 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. VI.

and the profits it made immediately after starting were such as to attract the notice of another enterprising capitalist, Manakji Nasarvanji Petit. This gentleman, in company with another Parsi, Mervanji Framji Panday, started in 1855 what is now known as the Oriental spinning and weaving company. Notwithstanding that there was then no Suez Canal, that all the machinery had to be imported by sailing vessels vid the Cape, that the operatives had to be thoroughly trained, and all the drawbacks attendant on the sale of the products of a new industry which had to meet the formidable competition of English manufacturers, the profits earned were considerable. The Oriental divided among its proprietary as its firstfruit more than twenty-five per cent, or Rs.700 per share of the value of Rs.2,500 paid up. The popularity and success of the two undertakings soon led to the starting of the Manakji Petit Mills, now so ably managed by Mr. Dinsha Manakji Petit. To Kavasji Davar in the first instance, and next to Manakji Nasarvanji Petit and Mervanji Framji Panday, must be given the credit for the new enterprise which has made Bombay what it is today—the Manchester of the East. Mr. Dinsha Petit is now the largest proprietor of cotton-mills in the city, and has charge of five mills, all paying good dividends and affording employment to thousands of persons.

Yet another instance or two in connection with