Premchand Roychand
Encyclopedia
Premchand Roychand was a 19th-century India
n businessman known as the "Cotton King" and "Bullion King".
Born in 1831 he was the son of Roychand Dipchand, a merchant from Surat
. The Roychand family moved to Bombay when Premchand was a young boy. Recorded as the first Indian broker to speak, read and write English, he entered the lists as a stock broker in 1849. Apart from the capital markets, Premchand Roychand had significant business interests in the cotton and bullion markets along with stock market. He was the founding member of The Bombay Stock Exchange
He reaped enormous profits from the cotton boom that changed Bombay's economy for all times to come. Founder of the Bank of Bombay, people flocked to his Mazgaon mansion when it was illuminated on festive occasions.
The Rajabai Clock Tower in the University of Bombay, named after his mother, was built from a donation of Indian Rupees 2,00,000 by him, as was the library.
He lost all his money in the Backbay reclamation scheme, and others equally ill-advised ventures. However, he managed to rebuild his fortune, though on a more modest scale.
He once made a single pay-in of Rs 11.5 crore, which would equal Rs 1,000 crore today (as of 2008)! Such single-day transactions by a lone broker are unheard of even in stock markets today.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n businessman known as the "Cotton King" and "Bullion King".
Born in 1831 he was the son of Roychand Dipchand, a merchant from Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
. The Roychand family moved to Bombay when Premchand was a young boy. Recorded as the first Indian broker to speak, read and write English, he entered the lists as a stock broker in 1849. Apart from the capital markets, Premchand Roychand had significant business interests in the cotton and bullion markets along with stock market. He was the founding member of The Bombay Stock Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange
The Bombay Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located on Dalal Street, Mumbai and is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. The equity market capitalization of the companies listed on the BSE was 1.63 trillion as of December 2010, making it the 4th largest stock exchange in Asia and the 8th largest...
He reaped enormous profits from the cotton boom that changed Bombay's economy for all times to come. Founder of the Bank of Bombay, people flocked to his Mazgaon mansion when it was illuminated on festive occasions.
The Rajabai Clock Tower in the University of Bombay, named after his mother, was built from a donation of Indian Rupees 2,00,000 by him, as was the library.
He lost all his money in the Backbay reclamation scheme, and others equally ill-advised ventures. However, he managed to rebuild his fortune, though on a more modest scale.
He once made a single pay-in of Rs 11.5 crore, which would equal Rs 1,000 crore today (as of 2008)! Such single-day transactions by a lone broker are unheard of even in stock markets today.