Dinshaw Maneckji Petit

Dinshaw Maneckji Petit was born in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India to Maneckji Nusserwanjee Petit and Humabai Petit. He had one brother, Nusserwanjee Maneckji Petit.

In 1837, he married Sakarbai Panday,^[1] with whom he had 14 children, six sons and eight daughters. Among his children were, Ruttonbai Petit Panday, Jeejeebhoy Framji Petit, Bomanjee Dinshaw Petit, Heerabai Petit and Cowasji Dinshaw Petit.^[2] He was survived by, among others, his son Jeejeebhoy Framji Petit, the 2nd Baronet, and Bomanjee Dinshaw Petit, who inherited most of his business. His granddaughter Mithuben Hormusji Petit was a female activist in the Indian independence movement. His grandson Fali, went on to become Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, the 3rd Baronet, and was married to Sylla Tata, a member of the Tata family. Fali’s sister, Ratanbai Petit was the wife of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.^[3] His other grandson was industrialist Jehangir Bomanji Petit. His great-granddaughter, Dina Wadia, was married to Bombay Dyeing chairman Neville Wadia, and his great-grandson was the nuclear scientist Homi J. Bhabha.

His son Dinshaw Maneckjee Petit achieved notoriety for his tax evasion and his penchant to set up shell companies to reduce his tax liability.^[4] The case of Dinsaw Maneckjee Petit is one of the few occasions where the government has seen fit to lift the corporate veil, due to the egregious nature of the tax avoidance.^[5]

As broker to European firms, Petit amassed a large fortune during the period of speculation in Bombay at the time of the American Civil War.^[6] He founded the Manockji Petit Spinning & Weaving Mills.

In 1854, Petit founded the "Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund" with the aim of improving the conditions for the less fortunate Zoroastrian co-religionists in Iran. The fund succeeded in convincing a number of Iranian Zoroastrians to migrate to India (where they are today known as Iranis), and may have been instrumental in obtaining a remission of the jizya poll tax for their co-religionists in 1882.

In 1886, he became a member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, where he was criticized for playing a pro-colonial role despite being a non-official nominee to the council. He was referred to as a "gilded sham" and a "magnificent non-entity" by the nationalists. He devoted his wealth to philanthropic objects, among the public and private charities which he endowed being the Towers of Silence and fire temples for the Parsi Zoroastrian community, a hospital for animals named Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals (named after his wife), a college for women, and the Petit hospital.^[1][6]

For the advancement of technical education, Petit also donated premises worth Rs. 3,00,000 at Byculla, Bombay, to the famous Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) (recognized by the Government of Bombay as the Central Technological Institute, Bombay Province). In winter 1923, the institute relocated to its present location in Matunga, Bombay (now Mumbai).

He was knighted by the British Crown in 1887, and on 1 September 1890, he became the first Petit baronet of Petit Hall, Bombay. The baronetcy was created with remainder to Framjee Petit, second son of the first Baronet, and the heirs male of his body, failing which to the heirs male of the body of the first Baronet. By Special Act of the Legislative Council of India, all holders of the title were to relinquish their own name on succession and assume those of the first Baronet.

The Petit surname is not traditionally Parsi and had come about in Sir Dinshaw's great-grandfather's time in the 18th century. He had worked as a shipping clerk and interpreter for the British East India Company. French merchants who dealt with the lively, short Parsi clerk called him "le petit Parsi".

Petit died on 5 May 1901 in Bombay. A posthumous portrait of the 1st Baronet was painted by Sir James Linton.^[6]

• 1823-1886: Dinshaw Maneckji Petit
• 1886-1887: Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, C.S.I.
• 1887-1890: Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit
• 1890-1901: Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, Bt

• Dictionary of Indian Biography By C. E. Buckland page 335
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source] [better source needed]}