Moses Tobias

Moses Tobias was one of the outstanding Jewish merchants of Surat in the eighteenth century. He played a prominent role in the economic and diplomatic area of Portuguese India of his time. In 1728 he was appointed director of the “Feitoria de Surrate” and held this position until 1745.

Besides conducting large commercial transactions, being director of the Surat Portuguese factory also included many diplomatic missions with the neighboring native rulers. Moses also traded in his private capacity and was a shipowner whose vessels sailed the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. His ships were under the command of presumably Jewish captains such as Jacob Moses and Moses Alexander.