Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t11: K R Cama
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t11
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K R Cama
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Kharsedji Rustomji Cama (1831-1909) was an eminent Parsi social and religious reformer and educationist. He was a multifaceted personality and scholar whose name was associated with many educational institutions in his native city of Bombay including the University of Bombay.
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*K R Cama*
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He took particular interest in female education. He also actively campaigned to reform the practice of Zoroastrianism in India, aiming to purge it of what he believed were unnecessary rituals. He came from a long line of China traders and himself had spent some years doing business in China as a young man.
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The first members of the Cama family to establish trading links with China were the brothers, Mancherji and Edalji Cama. Of Mancherji’s three sons, all of whom traded with China, one of them established the firm of Hormasji Mancherji Cama’s Sons in China in 1842. Hormasji’s grandson was K R Cama. He was sent to China from Calcutta in 1850 to join his uncle’s firm, Messrs Ruttonji Hormasji Cama & Co of Canton. He became a partner of this firm in 1852 and spent a total of four years in China until 1854, after which he returned to India.
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The life and career of K R Cama is illustrative of the connection of Bombay traders, particularly of the Parsi community, with China in the 19th and early 20^th centuries CE. The wealth that some of these merchants acquired through China trade enabled them on the one hand to move into other business ventures in industry and finance and on the other hand to engage in philanthropic activities back at home. Even while he was in China, K R Cama made numerous endowments for educational purposes back in India. After his initial forays into business, K R Cama devoted himself to his reformist activities and educational reform. He played an active role in the Asiatic Society of Bombay as well.
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(*Madhavi Thampi*)