Jetha Lila was a

private bank Private banks are banks owned by either the individual or a general Partner (business rank), partner(s) with limited partner(s). Private banks are not incorporation (business), incorporated. In any such case, creditors can look to both the "enti ...

established in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

that traced its origins to 1880. It was an anomaly in East Africa in that it was local in origin, all other banks being foreign with headquarters outside the region, primarily in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 1880, Jetha Liladhar, a merchant of a

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Bhatia family, founded the firm to operate as commission agents. The firm added

money-changing A money changer is a person or organization whose business is the exchange of coins or currency of one country for that of another. This trade was a predecessor of modern banking. The advent of paper money in the mid-17th century and the develop ...

to its activities in 1910. In 1920 the

Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a dormant registered non-trading company until 4 July 2017 when it ...

appointed Jetha Lila its agent to represent its interests in Zanzibar. Finally, in 1933 the Zanzibar government issued Jetha Lila a trading licence to permit it to operate as a bank. The bank continued to operate through the 1964 revolution in Zanzibar that led to the overthrow of Sultan

Jamshid bin Abdullah Sultan Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Said, ( ar, جمشيد بن عبد الله; born 16 September 1929), is a Zanzibari royal who was the last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar before being deposed in the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. Biography Jamshi ...

and a subsequent merger with

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

to form the nation of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. In the aftermath of the revolution Jetha Lila's primary clients left the island and in 1968 the bank ceased operations, despite the Revolutionary government urging it to stay.

References

Tominaga, C. (1987) Merchants of the Indian Ocean and Jetha Lila-Bankers. In E. Linnebuhr, ed., ''Transition and Continuity of Identity in East Africa and Beyond: In Memoriam David Miller''. Beirut African Studies Series, Beirut University. Engberg, Holger L. (1964) Commercial Banking in East Africa, 1950-1963. ''The Journal of Modern African Studies''. Banks of Zanzibar Defunct banks Banks established in 1887 1887 establishments in Zanzibar Banks disestablished in 1968 1968 disestablishments in Tanzania {{Zanzibar-stub