The son who knows about rat as well as his flour

The book Oman-India Ties: Across Sea and Space takes its readers on a visual journey outlining the rich historical relationship between the two great civilizations of Oman and Indian which goes back more than 5,000 years. Published by the Observer in association with Indian Embassy Muscat and written by Samuel Kutty (Senior Editor of the Observer) and Sandhya Rao Mehta (Associate Professor of SQU), the book is an attempt to document, archive, and disseminate this relationship from its historical past to the present time where these relations have taken new wings.

The Toprani family traces back its continuous trade connection and residence in Oman to 1650 and presently has its 14th generation resident here. According to Muneer Manubhai Toprani, most of the Topranis are Kutchi Bhatias from Mandvi, but originally about 21 generations ago, they hailed from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, at that time there were not known as Bhatias but they were known as Kshatriya – Warriors or Rulers, with links to kingdoms in Rajasthan, particularly Jaisalmer.

The family narratives trace it back 21 generations, with the 17th migrating to Mandvi, Kutch. They became traders, landlords and seafaring traders, working with the British who gave them the title of ‘Toprani’. The family history is traced as follows: Naraindas Pragji Toprani was born around 1887 and first visited Sur, Oman, in 1897. He came to Sur with his late father Shree Paragji Vallabhdas Toprani on one of his business trips.

Soon, he began to work in the brokerage of commodities. Commodities then used to come through wooden boats from Bombay, Kutch, Mandvi and Karachi. He travelled through the markets and villages around Sur and Muscat and began trading across Bahrain, Zanzibar Hormuz, Iran and Dubai. Owing to some successful business transactions, Naraindas Saith shifted to Muscat to take up new business ventures.

Once Shree Naraindas Saith shifted from Sur and settled in Muscat he started setting up new business ties with traders and companies in places like Guatemala, Mauritius, Australia, Beirut and Africa. He also qualified as a lawyer. He could communicate in Arabic, English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kutchi and Sindhi and was known for his negotiation skills. Due to his good communications skills, he had very good personal relations with the ruling class and all the merchants in his community. Naraindas was involved in insurance, real estate brokerage and law. Peterson notes that “Before 1970, the family business was concentrated on importing foodstuffs, petrol, kerosene, and exporting dried dates to India.”

Naraindas Saith provided free English coaching at his house ‘Ramesh Bhavan’ which benefited many prominent families at that time. Until 1955, he was the only non-western expatriate who could communicate fluently in English and was seen as a figure of authority by the local community until the time when the first Indian consulate was officially established. He used to legally represent and fight cases on behalf of Indian traders (from India) and local traders (Omani as well as Indian) to get the insurance claims for damage.

He also acted as legal guardian or representative of any family who would be travelling to Sur, Qurayat, Barka, Suwaiq, Suhar and Muscat, from any part of India or Karachi, as required by British law at the time. He was appointed as second officer to the then British consulate and an office representative for the American consulate.

Naraindas Saith was also given responsibility of the then Arya Kandra Mandal (Gujarati School) that was started in 1950. He was also one of the founder members of the Hindu Mahajan association, which was started in Muscat around 1921. He constructed The Kennox Hospital in memory of his first wife, for the people in and around Muttrah. This was later known as Al Rahma hospital that was, until 1996, in the Greater Muttrah area, and donated to the then-American mission under the supervision of Dr Donald Bosch and Dr Wells Thomas. Naraindas Saith was one of the founder members to initialise the idea to start Muscat Municipality in the 1950s. He also started the first newspaper of Oman called Al Hake. He used to listen to the news on BBC through his radio and type the news and print it with the help of a hand print machine.

According to Muneer Toprani, Naraindas was nicknamed in Sur, Muscat, Muttrah and Barka as Wadh Faar Taahin, literally meaning, “the son who knows about rat as well as his flour”, and also as Naraindas Bu Kilmah, meaning “Naraindas - Man of his words”.

Naraindas Saith’s son Manubhai Naraindas Toprani was born in the Kennox hospital in Muttrah. He studied at the Arya Kendra Vidyalai (Gujarati School in Muscat, Oman, set up by the Hindu Mahajan of Muscat) and the Saidi School (then Royal school in Muscat) before going to Gujarat to continue his studies.

He successfully continued the family business on his return to Muscat, based in Ramesh Bhavan. Naraindas Saith constructed Ramesh Bhavan, the family home, in 1939 for his family when he decided to re-locate his business from Muscat to Muttrah.

The open sea-facing corniche was visible to the loading ships and all goods coming in and out could be closely inspected. In time, Mina Muscat also shifted to Mina Muttrah, as Naraindas Saith predicted. The contract to build the residence was given to Sibil bin Bahram al Balushi in 1939.

Ramesh Bhavan was, at the time, the only two-storey building at the waterfront. The door currently in place is a 120-year-old made of Shaguan wood. A small lamp box and a rotating wind compass were also installed on the top of the 2nd floor concrete slab roof, which guided incoming seafarers into Muttrah. Today, the Toprani family is engaged in trade and runs various ventures headquartered in Muttrah. Their family home, Ramesh Bhavan, still stands proudly on Muttrah Corniche in its original form.