Harchandrai Vishandas

C.I.E. The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...

(1 May 1862 – 16 February 1928), was a British Indian attorney, politician, and mayor of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in modern-day

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. He is considered a great Sindhi and “the father of modern Karachi.” His social, educational, and political services rendered to the people of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

are so great that he is now recognised as one of the makers of modern Karachi. He was one of the first six young Sindhi men who graduated from

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

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prior to 1887. After completing

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in 1885, Harchandrai accepted a junior position in the Shikarpur court, but soon resigned to begin a

law practice In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

in Karachi. He was the elected Honorary Secretary of Karachi

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

just after its establishment in 1890, and served for a full 38 years. Harchandrai was the elected as a member of Karachi Municipality in 1888, and then served a term of ten years as its president between 1911–1921. As

mayor of Karachi Mayor of Karachi (Urdu: ) is the executive of the Karachi metropolitan corporation and the Karachi local government system of the city of Karachi which is the third tier of governance in Pakistan after Federal and provincial governments. Pre ...

, he oversaw a major beautification project, which involved development of new roads, parks, residential and recreational areas. He was subsequently appointed to the

Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...

and was an

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of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...

until his death in 1928.

Early life

Seth Harchandrai Vishandas was born in 1862 in the village of

Manjhand Manjhand Sindhi (مانجهند) Urdu (مانجھند) is a town in Jamshoro District, Sindh, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's Li ...

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Kotri Kotri ( sd, ڪوٽڙي, ur, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River, it is the 29th largest city in Pakistan by population. Name The ...

, Sindh. He was born into a Bharvani family known for its public-spirited members. His received his primary education at a school in Manjhand founded by his father, Seth Vishandas Nihalchand. After completing his primary, Harchandrai was sent to Kotri for middle education at a

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, and boarded there in a spacious

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. He was subsequently admitted to NJV High School in Karachi. He

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

in 1878 and went to live with his maternal grandfather. Thereafter, Harchandrai went to

for

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

and read law at

, which he later patronised as his Alma mater. He received his law degree in 1882.

Professional background

Legal field

Harchandrai was a lawyer and a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

under

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, and later King’s Counsel under

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

and

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

. Harchandrai initially took on a subordinate role in Shikarpur court. Persuaded by his father, he soon resigned and began his own law practice in Karachi in 1886. He was elected honorary secretary of the Karachi Bar Association.

Mayorship of Karachi

Harchandrai was elected mayor of the

Karachi Municipal Committee Karachi Municipal Committee was a public corporation established in 1853 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. History The Karachi Conservancy Board was established to control cholera epidemics in Karachi during British rule in 1846. The board was upgrad ...

in 1911 until 1921. Under his mayorship, civic improvements led to the installation of

gas lamps Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

along the city's streets and the introduction of

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s. Electricity was introduced in Karachi in 1913 by Mayor Harichand Rai. That’s why Karachi was called (and still is) ‘city of lights.’ Interestingly, it didn’t become common in US till 1920, even though the electric bulb was invented there. He was also responsible for development works which led to shifting the course of the

Lyari River Lyari River ( ur, ) is a small ephemeral stream that flows through the Pakistani megacity of Karachi from north east to the center and drains into the Arabian Sea at the Manora channel. It is one of the two rivers of Karachi, the other one bein ...

, which opened up land for development.

Social services and politics

Seth Harchandrai played a role as a freedom fighter of India. Harchandrai was the first Sindhi to join the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and served the cause of

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with dedication. He was influential in Congress; the 28th session of Congress in 1913 was held in

largely due to the efforts of Harchandrai, his father Seth Vishandas and Ghulam Mohamed Bhurgari. He and his father served as chairman and Secretary of reception committee for that session. and he later presided over many Congress conferences in Sindh. Harchandrai was a believer of Hindu-Muslim unity and was a Sufistic. The

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made him a member.

Death

Harchandrai Vishandas died on 16 February 1928 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. When the British

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. The commission arrived in India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest a ...

was sent to India to dispute and review the working of 1919 reforms, the Congress party pressed for its

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. Harchandrai's vote was required for that purpose. Thus, he chose to leave

against the advice of his doctor and friends, so determined he was to record his vote against the

. However, on his way from the railway station to the Assembly Hall, Harchandrai suddenly died. On 16 February 1934, on his sixth death anniversary, a statue of Harchandrai was unveiled in front of

Karachi Municipal Corporation Building The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Building is a colonial-era building located on M. A. Jinnah Road, in central Karachi. Construction began in 1927, completed in 1930, and the building was then inaugurated in 1932. It is considered to be on ...

. It was removed shortly after the partition of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vishandas, Seth Harchandrai 1862 births 1928 deaths Indian National Congress politicians 19th-century Indian lawyers Sindhi people People from Jamshoro District Indian independence activists from Pakistan Elphinstone College alumni Lawyers from Karachi Politicians from Karachi Dewan Bahadurs Companions of the Order of the Star of India Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India 19th-century King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire 20th-century Indian lawyers