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{{Short description|Zanzibar merchant}}

'''Tharia Topan''' (1823–1891) was a [[Khoja]] merchant and chief of customs of the [[Sultanate of Zanzibar]] during the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wahab |first=Saada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOuoEAAAQBAJ&dq=tharia+topan&pg=PA76 |title=The History of Indians in Zanzibar from the 1870s to 1963 |date=2022 |publisher=Universitätsverlag Göttingen |isbn=978-3-86395-572-4 |pages=76 |language=en |quote=Tharia Topan was chief of customs in Zanzibar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bishara |first=Fahad Ahmad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdocDgAAQBAJ&dq=Tharia+Topan&pg=PA39 |title=A Sea of Debt |date=2017-03-10 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-15565-7 |pages=39 |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Early life ===
Tharia Topan was born in Lakhpar, [[Cutch State]] (1823) in [[British Raj|British India]], to a poor family engaged in vegetable trading. At the age of twelve, he was accused of stealing money, and was beaten and fled by hiding on a [[dhow]]. He awoke to find it already at sea bound for [[Sultanate of Zanzibar|Zanzibar]], where he arrived without money and illiterate. He found work as a garden sweeper in the household of Ladwa Damji for six shillings a month and gradually learned to read and write, setting the stage for his later rise in trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wahab |first=Saada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOuoEAAAQBAJ&dq=tharia+topan&pg=PA76 |title=The History of Indians in Zanzibar from the 1870s to 1963 |date=2022 |publisher=Universitätsverlag Göttingen |isbn=978-3-86395-572-4 |pages=75 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Patel |first=Dr Manjula K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0brEAAAQBAJ&dq=Tharia+Topan&pg=PT139 |title=In Search of Paradise: A Saga of Courage, Resilience and Resistance |date=2023-12-21 |publisher=Partridge Publishing |isbn=978-1-5437-0917-9 |language=en |quote=Tharia Topan, an Ismaili, came to Zanzibar as a boy and worked for the firm of Jairam Shivji for six shillings per month.}}</ref>

=== Career in Zanzibar ===
By his early twenties, Tharia Topan had become head of the credit department in the [[Jairam Shivji|Jairam Shivri]] firm. While working there, he took a small loan to buy a donkey cart and began selling cloves and trading other goods on his own. His ventures proved profitable, allowing him to amass wealth. In 1845, he returned to Kutch for the first time in twelve years, married and brought his wife back to Zanzibar to expand his business.

Topan diversified into the clove, spice and ivory trades, while also financing both local and [[Europe]]an merchants as a banker. In 1976, he was appointed chief of customs in [[Sultanate of Zanzibar|Zanzibar]], and by the end of the century had opened offices in Bombay with agents stationed in several Swahili ports.

His commercial success inspired many aspiring migrants from [[British India]], particularly among the Khoja and other mercantile communities to travel to East Africa. Contemporary accounts report that he sponsored Isma'ili migrants to settle in Zanzibar and other towns, and sometimes directly employed them in this enterprises.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wahab |first=Saada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOuoEAAAQBAJ&dq=tharia+topan&pg=PA76 |title=The History of Indians in Zanzibar from the 1870s to 1963 |date=2022 |publisher=Universitätsverlag Göttingen |isbn=978-3-86395-572-4 |pages=76 |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==

=== Old Dispensary (Zanzibar) ===
The construction of the [[Old Dispensary (Zanzibar)|Old Dispensary]] was commissioned in 1887 by Tharia Topan to celebrate [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Golden Jubilee]]. Topan intended the building to serve as a charitable hospital for the poor. When he died in 1891, the building was still unfinished. His widows resumed work, but had to halt construction in 1893 when funds were exhausted. That same year, following a family dispute, the building was sold to a new owner, who completed it in 1894. He also contributed to the [[Charles Euan-Smith|Sir Charles Euan-Smith]] madrassa, helped establish an English school, and supported the [[Aga Khan]] and the Ismaili community, earning the title of Vara.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keller |first=Sara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KDBuDwAAQBAJ&dq=Tharia+Topan&pg=PA179 |title=Knowledge and the Indian Ocean: Intangible Networks of Western India and Beyond |date=2018-09-11 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-96839-1 |pages=179 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Old Dispensary (Zanzibar)]]
* [[Barghash bin Said]]
* [[Tippu Tip]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topan, Tharia}}
[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:Kutchi people]]
[[Category:People from Cutch State]]
[[Category:Zanzibari people of Indian descent]]

Tharia Topan - Revision history

RoyalEddington6: Creating Some Entry Added Tags