In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 24 May 1812
- Died
- 1878-07
- Birthplace
- Not independently verified
- Country
- India
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- educational, medical and civic gifts associated with the Readymoney name
- Known for
- educational, medical and civic gifts associated with the Readymoney name
- Life
- 1812–1878
Why this life matters
Educational, medical and civic gifts associated with the Readymoney name.
Timeline
Key moments
Brokerage
Worked as a broker to European firms.
College gifts
The university calendar records initial and supplementary building gifts.
Death
Died before the college’s later 1888 move.
Later institutional move
Elphinstone College moved again after the donor’s death.
Clerical work preceded independent commerce
Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney was born on 24 May 1812 into a Parsi family associated with Bombay commerce. The historical Dictionary of Indian Biography describes an English-school education and entry into an English commercial office at fifteen. He later worked as a broker to European firms before becoming an independent merchant. The sequence matters because the wealth behind his later gifts emerged through commercial relationships and work, not an official appointment to administer education. His public identity eventually joined the merchant’s name to several institutions that served different needs.
Sources for this section: [1]
Public office and philanthropy extended his role
Readymoney became a justice of the peace and served as a commissioner concerned with income tax in 1860. His charitable support reached hospitals, education and facilities for travellers. The historical biography names institutions at Surat, Bombay and Poona and records substantial gifts to Elphinstone College and the University of Bombay. These were separate projects with different purposes. A donation to a college building should therefore not be treated as the founding of the university, while a gift for a university hall did not automatically provide all the resources for teaching.
Sources for this section: [1]
The college gift responded to changing building costs
A contemporary university calendar records a donation of one hundred thousand rupees in 1863 towards suitable buildings for Elphinstone College and another equal amount in 1864 because costs of materials and labour had risen. A later narrative gives 1860 for the first gift, so the contemporary calendar’s dated account is explicitly preferred here. The gift’s connection to physical premises is concrete, but the college’s later relocations require a separate chronology. A donor’s name on more than one building can otherwise encourage the mistaken assumption that all references identify the same place.
His lifetime ended before later institutional moves
Readymoney received honours and was commemorated by a statue, but his significance rests in the educational, medical and civic uses to which he directed wealth. He died in July 1878. Elphinstone College’s move to its later Kala Ghoda premises in 1888 therefore belongs to a history continuing after his death, not a ceremony he personally attended. His biography illustrates how philanthropy can shape institutions across time while remaining distinct from their daily administration, architecture and later decisions. Following the gift, the building and the institution separately preserves that contribution accurately.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney
- Should the 1860 and 1863 first-gift dates be silently treated as the same?
- No. The contemporary calendar gives 1863; the later account’s different date is identified rather than forced into agreement.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Julius Wernher
Compare a college building gift with the separate land, building and laboratory resources assembled at Imperial.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. C. E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian BiographyJehangir, Cowasji Readymoney
A later account gives 1860 for the first gift, while the contemporary calendar states 1863; the primary calendar is preferred explicitly. Birthplace is not independently exact and should remain unverified.
- 2. University of Bombay, historical calendarUniversity of Bombay calendar, Elphinstone College, pages 124–125
- 3. Hilla P. Guzder, ParsianaRenaissance at Elphinstone
- 4. Historical Bombay reference volumeBombay Place-Names and Street-Names, Tankerville entry