David Sassoon

David Sassoon was a Baghdadi Jewish merchant and philanthropist in Ottoman Iraq. David Sassoon served as the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829. Fleeing persecution, Sassoon and his family emigrated to Bombay, British India. He became the leader of the Jewish community in Mumbai after the Baghdadi Jews emigrated to the city. Sassoon was the founder of the Sassoon family and the founder of David Sassoon and Sons, which later became David Sassoon & Co., a trading company owned by his family. Sassoon's success as a merchant, in which opium played a key role, made him known as the "Merchant Prince of Bombay". Sassoon also used his wealth for various philanthropic and architectural projects.