Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t8: The Tatas
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t8
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The Tatas
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The Tatas are one of the most prominent business families of India with extensive business interests both in India and abroad in diverse sectors such as iron and steel, textiles, power, automobiles, information technology and so on. Primarily known as pioneers of Indian industry, they began their operations as a trading firm in the middle of the 19ᵗʰ century CE. Their trading links with China date back to this period.
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Members of the Tata family
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The founder of the business, Nusserwanji Tata, in December 1859 established a firm called Jamsetji & Ardeshir in Hong Kong's Hollywood Road, with two partners, Premchand Roychand and Kaliandas. This firm imported opium and cotton from India, and exported tea, silk, camphor, cinnamon, copper, brass and Chinese gold. Nusserwanji sent his son, Jamsetji Nusserwanji, to Hong Kong to assist in the business. Jamsetji Nusserwanji, the real founder of the family's fortunes, spent four years in China from 1859 to 1863 during which he opened a branch of the firm in Shanghai as well. In the great Bombay stock market crash of 1864, the Tatas was among the many business firms of Bombay that was badly jolted and they temporarily retrenched their China business interests. A few years later, however, Nusserwanji visited China and Japan and tried to revive the firm's branch in Hong Kong. He collected porcelain and other items of art during this trip, marking the start of the Tata collection of oriental art which is now housed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum) in Bombay. Nusserwanji invested funds in a firm run by two of his brothers-in-law, Dadabhai and Sorabji, which had been trading for some time in East Asia under the name D C Tata, and the firm was renamed Tata & Co Nusserwanji and his son J N Tata occasionally retained some interests in this firm which was managed by Dadabhai and then his son.
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When the Tatas entered the textile manufacturing business in India just like some other Indian businessmen they began to export the chief product of their mills, cotton yarn, to China. By the end of the 19ᵗʰ century CE, the Indian share of the market for imported cotton yarn in China had risen to 96 per cent. Before the Tatas, it was believed that only lower quality cotton yarn produced in India would sell in the Chinese market. However, in the Tatas' Swadeshi Mills in Bombay, a fine quality cotton yarn was produced that also sold very well in China. In the early part of the 20ᵗʰ century CE, however, Indian cotton yarn was displaced in the China market first by Japanese manufactured yarn, and then by yarn produced in Chinese factories.
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For a few years in the later 19ᵗʰ century CE, the Tatas had also sought to challenge the monopoly of the big European shipping companies in the routes to the East. They set up their own Tata Line in collaboration with the Japanese shipping company, Nippon Yusen Kaisha. However, in the fierce "freight war" that was waged by the European shipping companies against this new entrant to the field, the Tatas suffered losses and had to withdraw from the steam navigation business.
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Although trade with China was never the main focus of the Tatas' enterprise, it nevertheless played some role, especially in the early phase of their growth. In the last few years, the Tata Group once again established its presence in China in various sectors. These include information technology, steel, engineering and consumer products. At present, the Tata Group has over 3,000 employees in China.