One of the first business tycoons of India’s economic capital, Premchand Roychand Jain was known by many names in Mumbai (Bombay at the time): Big Bull, Bullion King and Cotton King. He was known as one of the four ‘merchant princes of Bombay’ alongside Jamsetji Tata, David Sassoon and Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy.
He was one of the wealthiest men of his times. Premchand is best remembered for founding the Native Share & Stock Brokers Association, which later became Bombay Stock Exchange. BSE is today India’s second largest stock exchange with the combined market cap of all its listed companies beyond an unimaginable Rs 300 lakh crore. Back in 1865 when it was set up, it was formed with a capital of just Rs 1 each from around 22 brokers with Roychand’s office under a banyan tree in South Bombay.
Roychand was born in 1832 in Surat to a timber merchant named Roychand Dipchand. He moved to Bombay along with his family as a boy. Roychand’s education at Elphinstone College helped him become the first Indian broker who could speak, read and write English. He began career as an assistant to a successful stock broker in 1852.
Premchand was known to possess unparalleled memory and never used pen and paper. He memorised all his trades instead of writing them down. In just 6 years, he was already successful and had amassed around Rs 1 lakh fortune by 1858. He made it big after the American Civil War in 1861 made India the hotspot for cotton trade for a few years.
Premchand Roychand saw huge profits but faced a financial crisis once the civil war ended and the cotton boom was over in 1865. However, the businessman is recorded to have bounced back and reclaimed wealth. He later turned to philanthropy which includes funding the Rajabai Clock Tower in the University of Bombay, investing in girls education and funding an award scholarship.
He lived in a bungalow in Byculla that was later converted into an orphanage and school. Premchand died in 1906. The fourth generation of his family now runs Premchand Roychand and Sons (PRS), which is a small enterprise in terms of business but with a rich history.
