In 1868, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata -- who was then just 29 -- started a private trading firm with a capital of Rs 21,000. His travels in the Far East and Europe inspired in him the desire to manufacture cotton goods and so in 1877, he launched the Empress Mills in Nagpur. The mill laid the foundation of the industrial power house that was to become the Tata Group.
In 1886, J N Tata instituted a pension fund and in 1895, he began to pay accident compensation.
At 47, he launched the Swadeshi Mills to mark the beginning of the Swadeshi movement, whose aim was to reject foreign made goods.
The first hotel started by the Tatas, the Taj Mahal, Mumbai, was also a rejection of the British. J N Tata took two British clients with him to the Majestic Hotel but was denied entry because he was Indian. Stung by this insult, he decided to set up the world's finest hotel, and this led to the foundation of the prestigious Taj group of hotels in 1902.
J N Tata, as a child, with a cricket bat in hand. | Photograph: The Tata Group
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