Seth Vishandas Nihalchand
Encyclopedia
Seth Vishandas Nihalchand was a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Sindhi of Modern era. He belonged to a merchants , land-owners bhavnani family which was settled in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 of British India. Seth Vishandas had settled many of cotton ginning, cotton bailing-press and rice thrashing factories in different places of Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 as in Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

, Hyderabad, Nawabshah
Nawabshah
Nawabshah , or Shaheed Benazirabad, is a district in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is headquarter of Shaheed Benazir Abad District...

, Dadu
Dadu
-Places:*Khanbaliq, capital city of the Yuan Dynasty, located in modern Beijing, People's Republic of China*Dadu District, a district in Sindh, Pakistan*Dadu, Pakistan, a town in Dadu District, Sindh, Pakistan-Rivers:...

 and Badin
Badin
Badin is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. The region is swampy, fertile for growing rice. Some oil fields are located near the town in the seasonally inundated Rann of Kutch region...

. He also took part in political and social services.

Birth and education

Seth Vishandas was born in Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

, a village in tehsil Kotri
Kotri
Kotri , a large town, is the headquarters station of the Kotri Taluka, or administrative district...

, Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 of British India in 1843 AD. He is a pure Sindhi as his father and mother both are of Sindhi origin. When he was only 18years old he left his home for a seek of a teacher. He walked all the way from Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 to Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

 where near Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 he found a famous saint Gulabdas with whom he stayed for a long time and instructed.

Family

Seth Vishandas married to Seth Dunimal Tilokchandani’s (a businessman from Manjhand) daughter Beejhalbai and has three sons. Seth Harchandrai Vishandas
Seth Harchandrai Vishandas
Seth Harchandrai Vishandas was an Indian attorney and politician. He is considered a great Sindhi and the father of modern Karachi. His social, educational, and political services rendered to the people of Sindh are so great that he is now recognized as one of the makers of modern Karachi...

, a famous lawyer and politician. He also known as father of modern Karachi is the eldest son of Vishandas. Seth Sukhdev Udhavdas, a landlord and cotton merchant born in Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

 in 1896 and died at his birth place in 1932. And Seth Srichand.
Seth Vishandas had also four daughters. Gungalbhai, Panjalbai, Motibai and Chandibai.Seth Vishandas father’s name is Seth Nihalchand Lakhmichand (1798–1865) who was born in Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

 and had a brother Lilaram.

Mercantile background

Seth Vishandas had much vast lands and commerce, which after on management, brought him in the list of wealthiest men in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

. He was a landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...

 of the time and running cotton ginning, cotton bailing-press and rice thrashing factories at Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

, Nawabshah
Nawabshah
Nawabshah , or Shaheed Benazirabad, is a district in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is headquarter of Shaheed Benazir Abad District...

, Badin
Badin
Badin is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. The region is swampy, fertile for growing rice. Some oil fields are located near the town in the seasonally inundated Rann of Kutch region...

, Dadu
Dadu
-Places:*Khanbaliq, capital city of the Yuan Dynasty, located in modern Beijing, People's Republic of China*Dadu District, a district in Sindh, Pakistan*Dadu, Pakistan, a town in Dadu District, Sindh, Pakistan-Rivers:...

 and Hyderabad. He was a big timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 contractor and he allowed the poor to sell wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 to make a living and also permitted them to graze their cattle on his land.

Local and Political affairs

He attended first, second, third session of Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 and was a member till his death of Karachi District Local Board and the president of Kotri
Kotri
Kotri , a large town, is the headquarters station of the Kotri Taluka, or administrative district...

 Tehsil Local Board. The deti-Leti system was fostering in Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 society, to provide radical cure to this disease, he composed a book and sent free to different Panchayats. He then started visiting village to village, town to town, instructing Panchayats and educating public. At his place of birth, Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

, he founded a school, he built a library in Kotri
Kotri
Kotri , a large town, is the headquarters station of the Kotri Taluka, or administrative district...

. At Hyderabad where he had taken up residential quarters, known as Vishin Nagar, he opened a school, a hospital, a Rest house and a grain shop. In credit of his role as a social reformer, he was conferred with the title of Rai Bahadur.

Death

Afflict by asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...

 problem, Seth Vishandas was died in 1929, in Hyderabad, Sindh
Hyderabad, Sindh
is the second largest city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the seventh largest city in the country. The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro upon the ruins of a Mauryan fishing village along the bank of the Indus known as Neroon Kot...

. His two sons was died in his lifetime, Harchandrai
Seth Harchandrai Vishandas
Seth Harchandrai Vishandas was an Indian attorney and politician. He is considered a great Sindhi and the father of modern Karachi. His social, educational, and political services rendered to the people of Sindh are so great that he is now recognized as one of the makers of modern Karachi...

in 1928 and Odhodas in 1926. Vishandas’s another son, after 3 years of his death, Seth Srichand was died in Manjhu
Manjhu
Manjhu is a small village in district Jamshoro. The population strength of this village is approximately 450-500. The population contains a heavy part of tribe Lanjar and, Khosa, khaskheli, Panhwar, Mir Bahar, Baladi. It is situated beside railway station Unarpur and is at about two kilometers...

 in 1932. Vishandas left behind over 8000 acres of land and two huge ginning factories which was distributed equally in his sons.

External links

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