Harchandrai Vishandas

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

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

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 ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

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 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

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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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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

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 and 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. ...

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

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and was an

Ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by ri ...

of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

until his death in 1928.

Early life

Seth Harchandrai Vishandas was born in 1862 in the village of Manjhu in

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

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

middle education Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

at a missionary school, and boarded there in a spacious

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

. 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 Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and read law at

, which he later patronised as his

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. He received his law degree in 1882.

Professional background

Legal field

Harchandrai was a lawyer and a

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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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and later King's Counsel under

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and

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. 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 upgrade ...

in 1911 until 1921. Under his mayorship, civic improvements led to the installation of gas lamps 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 Motor vehicle, motorized vehicles, bicycles and horseback, horses. They ...

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 () 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, Karachi, Manora channel. It is one of the two rivers of Karachi, the other ...

, 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, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

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. He was one of the founder of Sindhi Gymkhana and Sindh Club in karachi and was twice elected president of the latter
Seth Harchand Rai Vashandas

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. When the British

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...

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

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

. 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. It was removed shortly after the partition of

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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 Sind Province 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 People from Bombay Presidency Lawyers from British India Sindhi Hindus