Shri Nima Parekh

Nima Parekh was a prominent businessman from Gujurat who signed an agreement with the British government to settle down in Mumbai as a part of a plan to set the city to become the financial capital of India.

In May 1662 King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza whose family gave a huge dowry to the groom. A part of this gift was the Portuguese territory of Bombay. However, Charles did not want the trouble of ruling these islands and rented out the whole of Bombay to the East India Company for just £10 in gold a year.

After the Company got Bombay, it first invited Gujarati businessmen from Surat to settle there by offering them incentives along with a guarantee of their safety. The British wanted to ensure a prosperous future for the city. Among the important merchants that were invited was Nima Parekh, a businessman from Diu, a Portuguese territory at time. He requested a formal recognition of religious rights and personal safety for Indian traders who eventually decide to settle in Bombay. His demands were met and the10-point agreement came to be known as the “Treaty with Nima Parekh in 1677”. Although Nima Parekh’s terms were met by the governor of Bombay, he settled there in 1692.