Disclaimer
This entry contains information known to us from a variety of sources but may not include all the information currently available. Please be in touch if you notice any inadvertent mistakes in our presentation or have additional knowledge or sources to share. Thank you.
Archive
The Sassoon Mansion, Mumbai, India
This is the address of the former Sassoon Mansion, where the wealthy Baghdadi Jewish merchant David Sassoon lived and arguably the center of the Baghdadi-Jewish diaspora community in Mumbai. Today it is Mumbai's Masina Hospital.
Description
Background: According to Sifra Lentin, David Sassoon “began his life in India when he nailed his mezuzah, the sign of a Jewish home, to his doorpost at 9 Tamarind Lane” [1]. The story goes that at 9 Tamarind Lane, the address of an old counting house, the newly arrived David Sassoon birthed his trading company David Sassoon & Co, which would become a giant in the international trade of opium, cotton, teak, and other commodities. More than just a successful businessman, Sassoon was a pious orthodox Jew who enlivened the Baghdadi Jews of Bombay with a strong sense of community.
His mansion in Byculla, Sans Souci became a gathering spot for Jews on the Sabbath, a place where lively religious services and impassioned religious and Talmudic studies flourished. The frequent gatherings at his mansion quickly developed into a Jewish brotherhood: Hebrath Beth David (Brotherhood of the House of David). Hebrath Beth David, according to Weil, would become a new paradigm for Baghdadi Jewish communal life and religious observance in Bombay.
Sassoon would become the benefactor of the Magen David Synagogue in Byculla (1861), the Ohel David Synagogue in Poona (1867), and the Sassoon Hospital in Poona (1867), as well as many landmarks in Jewish hubs in Palestine and Iraq [2][3]. Sassoon’s work as a businessman, philanthropist, and leader of the community of Baghdadi Jewish refugees was not confined to an insular Jewish community but had a massive influence on the landscape and development of Bombay as a city.
Specifically, David Sassoon’s venture into the world of opium trade with the Chinese brought tremendous wealth to Bombay, bolstering its cotton mill industry and providing funds for the city’s public buildings and city planning [4]. After David died in 1867, his children would continue to play focal roles in the Jewish communities and economies of Bombay.
Site: What was once the magnificent, palatial mansion of David Sassoon and a focal gathering point of Bombay’s Baghdadi Jewish community is now Mumbai’s Masina Hospital. The Sassoon Family gifted the mansion to Parsi doctor Hormasji Mankeji Masina in 1907 [5]. The Parsis are descendants of Persian Zoroastrians who fled to India to escape persecution by Muslim rulers [6]. Their presence in Mumbai dates back to 1640 [7].
Mumbai, India
© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap
Sources
Notes:
[1] Sifra Samuel Lentin, “The Jewish Presence in Bombay,” in India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art, & Life-Cycle, edited by Shalva Weil, Mumbai: (Marg Publications, 2002), 27.
[2] Sifra Samuel Lentin, “The Jewish Presence in Bombay,” in India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art, & Life-Cycle, edited by Shalva Weil, Mumbai: (Marg Publications, 2002), 27-30.
[3] “The Sassoons in Baghdad and India,” Sotheby’s, Nov. 10, 2020, https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-sassoons-in-baghdad-india.
[4] Sifra Samuel Lentin, “The Jewish Presence in Bombay,” in India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art, & Life-Cycle, edited by Shalva Weil, Mumbai: (Marg Publications, 2002), 29.
[5] Abkush Bandyopadhyay, “Tamarind Lane: An Old Road Where the Old Name Sticks,” The Indian Express, Feb. 22, 2018, https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/tamarind-lane-mumbai-old-road-mp-shetty-5073490/.
[6] Jyoti Shelar, “ Parsis, Jews join hands for Masina Hospital Restoration,” The Hindu, Nov. 6, 2018, https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/parsis-jews-join-hands-for-masina-hospital-restoration/article25430298.ece
[7] Sridevi Nambiar, “A Brief History of Mumbai’s Parsi Community,” Culture Trip, Sep. 30, 2016, https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-mumbais-parsi-community/.
[8] Sridevi Nambiar, “A Brief History of Mumbai’s Parsi Community,” Culture Trip, Sep. 30, 2016, https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-mumbais-parsi-community/
Works Cited:
“A Brief, Photo-History of Masina Hospital”. Rotary Club of Bombay. https://rotaryclubofbombay.org/a-brief-photo-history-of-masina-hospital/.
Bandyopadhyay, Abkush. “Tamarind Lane: An Old Road Where the Old Name Sticks”. The Indian Express. February 22, 2018. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/tamarind-lane-mumbai-old-road-mp-shetty-5073490/.
Lentin, Sifra Samuel. “The Jewish Presence in Bombay,” in India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art, & Life-Cycle. Edited by Shalva Weil. Mumbai: (Marg Publications, 2002).
Nambiar, Sridevi. “A Brief History of Mumbai’s Parsi Community”. Culture Trip. September 30, 2016. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/a-brief-history-of-mumbais-parsi-community/.
Shelar, Jyoti. “Parsis, Jews join hands for Masina Hospital Restoration”. The Hindu. November 6, 2018. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/parsis-jews-join-hands-for-masina-hospital-restoration/article25430298.ece
“The Sassoons in Baghdad and India”. Sotheby’s. Nov. 10, 2020, https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-sassoons-in-baghdad-india.