David Sassoon
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| David Sassoon | |
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| Born | October 1792 Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq |
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| Died | 1864-11-07 Pune, British India |
| Occupation | Treasurer of Baghdad, businessman |
David Sassoon (October 1792 – November 7, 1864) was the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829, a Mumbai businessman, and the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay.
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[edit] Biography
Sassoon was born in Baghdad into a family of Nasis, traditional leaders of the Jewish community. His father, Saleh Sassoon, was a wealthy banker and chief treasurer to the pashas, the governors of Baghdad, from 1781 to 1817. Following in his father's footsteps, David Sassoon served as the treasurer under Ahmet Pasha, the governor of Baghdad at the time, and became implicated in a corruption scandal which caused David Sassoon and his family to flee for safety in 1829. He finally settled in Bombay in 1833 with some of the family's wealth.
Sasoon started business in Bombay with a counting house, a carpet godown, and an opium business. He was soon one of the richest men in Bombay. He chose to follow the market, but he pursued all his enterprises better than his chief rivals, the Parsis. By the end of the 1850s, it was said of him that "silver and gold, silks, gums and spices, opium and cotton, wool and wheat - whatever moves over sea or land feels the hand or bears the mark of Sassoon and Company."[who?]
[edit] Legacy
Although David Sassoon did not speak English, he became a naturalised British citizen in 1853. He kept the dress and manners of the Baghdadi Jews, but allowed his sons to adopt English manners. His son, Abdullah changed his name to Albert, moved to England, became a Baronet and married into the Rothschild family. All the Sassoons of Europe are said to be descendants of David Sassoon.
In 1836, the opium trade into China, under the monopoly of David Sassoon, reached over 30,000 chests per annum and drug addiction in coastal cities became endemic, in which the Manchu Daoguang Emperor ordered that the opium smuggling be stopped. He named the Commissioner of Canton, Lin Tse-hsu, to lead a campaign against opium. Lin immediately sought out and arrested thousands of the drug dealers, seized and destroyed 2,000 chests of the Sassoon opium, by which an outraged David Sassoon demanded that China compensate for the seizure or Great Britain retaliate; the resulting effects culminating into the First Opium War.
He built a synagogue in the Fort (area) and another in Byculla, as well as a school, a Mechanics' Institute, a library and a convalescent home in Pune.
David Sassoon was conscious of his role as a leader of the Jewish community in Bombay. He helped to arouse a sense of Jewish identity amongst the Bene Israeli and Cochin Jewish communities. The Sassoon Docks (built by his son) and the David Sassoon Library are named after him.
David Sassoon died in his country house in Pune in 1864. His business interests were inherited by his son.
 Tomb of David Sassoon, Pune, India |
 Family tree of the Sassoon family |
