Jamsetji Tata

Born 3 March 1839 into a Parsi priestly family in Navsari, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata became the first businessman in his line after graduating from Elphinstone College as a "Green Scholar." He founded a trading company in 1868 after spotting opportunities in cotton during a China trip, then moved into textiles with Empress Mill in Nagpur and a converted oil mill in Mumbai. The scope widened: he built the Taj Mahal Hotel, India's first with electricity; seeded what became Tata Steel and Tata Power; and laid funds for the Indian Institute of Science — ventures so sweeping Jawaharlal Nehru called…