David Joseph Ezra

David Joseph Ezra.

Beth El Synagogue, Calcutta

David Joseph Ezra (Hebrew: דוד יוסף עזרא, died 1882) was a leading merchant, property developer and communal leader of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Kolkata, India. He was one of the key developers behind nineteenth century Kolkata, and was responsible for many of its most celebrated Victorian buildings and synagogues.

Origins[edit]

David Joseph Ezra was from a longstanding family of Jewish Indian Ocean and South China Sea traders.

The family hailed from the Jewish community in Baghdad, where they were also known as the Khalif or earlier Horesh family. The family claimed Sephardic descent and to have originated before the Inquisition from Spain and for one generation held the position of Treasurer of Baghdad and with it the leadership of the Jewish community in the city.[1]

David Joseph Ezra's father Joseph Ezra, first arrived in Calcutta in 1821 having come via Bombay.[2][3] Joseph Ezra, was also known as Joseph Ezra Khalif, or Joseph Ezra Baher, for sea in Arabic, as he was an ocean traveller. Historian Cecil Roth speculated the family were known as Baher as they were amongst the first Iraqi Jewish families to cross the Indian Ocean.[4] Joseph Ezra brought with him his sons Nissim and David Joseph Ezra.[5] Joseph Ezra was described by the Ashkenazi traveller Israel Joseph Benjamin as "one of the richest of our brethren" amongst the Baghdadi Jews settled in India.[6] After sometime he returned to Baghdad where he died.[7] His son Nissim departed to Singapore where he was one of the founders of the Baghdadi Jewish community there.[8]

Unlike his father or brother, David Joseph Ezra chose to settle permanently in Kolkata and the uncanny foresight he chose to invest in property, in what then still an emerging trading centre and not yet the commercial hub of the British Empire in Asia, turned them into the wealthiest Jewish family in Kolkata in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century.[9] His initial wealth grew principally from indigo, silk and opium trading with Hong Kong which he invested in property.[10] David Joseph Ezra has been described as having had a “larger than life” presence in Jewish and business life in Calcutta.[11] He was a relative of the wealthiest and most influential nineteenth century Baghdadi Jewish trader David Sassoon.[12]

Role in Kolkata[edit]

In addition to trading with British, Indian and Chinese clients, Ezra and his firm acted as an agent for Arab ships arriving in colonial Kolkata from Muscat and Zanzibar loaded with dates and other products in exchange for rice, sugar and other food items.[13] He thrived in Kolkata and he became the city's largest property owner and spent vast sums on communal institutions for the rapidly growing Baghdadi Jewish community of which he was a leader.[14] Ezra's buildings included Esplanade Mansions, Ezra Mansions and Chowringhee Mansions and Ezra Terrace whilst Ezra Street was also named after him.[15] With his fellow Baghdadi Jewish community leader Ezekiel Judah he built the Beth El synagogue in 1856 on Pollock Street.[16] Both families subsequently intermarried.

Legacy[edit]

After his death in 1883, his family continued to hold leadership positions in the Baghdadi Jewish community. They were soon no longer known as the Baher but only as Ezra family. David Joseph Ezra's eldest son was Elias David Ezra, who built[17] the Magen David Synagogue in 1884 in honour of his father. Elias David Ezra would serve as Sheriff of Calcutta was described in an inscription on the synagogue as "the father of the Jewish community."[18][19] His son was Sir David Ezra who served both in the role of Sheriff of Calcutta and a director of the Reserve Bank of India.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "David Joseph Ezra". geni_family_tree. 20 December 1796. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ Parasuram, T. V. (1982). India's Jewish Heritage. Sagar Publications.
  3. ^ Katz, N.; Chakravarti, R.; Sinha, B.; Weil, S. (2 April 2007). Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century: A View from the Margin. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-60362-2.
  4. ^ Roth, Cecil (1972). Encyclopaedia Judaica: A-Z. Encyclopaedia Judaica.
  5. ^ Parasuram, T. V. (1982). India's Jewish Heritage. Sagar Publications.
  6. ^ Benjamin, Israel Joseph (1859). Eight years in Asia and Africa from 1846-1855. The author.
  7. ^ Roth, Cecil (1972). Encyclopaedia Judaica: A-Z. Encyclopaedia Judaica.
  8. ^ Nathan, Eze (1986). The History of Jews in Singapore, 1830-1945. HERBILU Editorial & Marketing Services. ISBN 978-9971-84-429-5.
  9. ^ Chatterjee, Kingshuk (17 June 2019). Contours of Relationship: India and the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-52740-7.
  10. ^ Fernandes, Edna (1 June 2008). The Last Jews of Kerala: The Two Thousand Year History of India's Forgotten Jewish Community. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-62636-935-1.
  11. ^ Tiwari, Anshuman; Sengupta, Anindya (10 August 2018). Laxminama: Monks, Merchants, Money and Mantra. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-93-87146-80-8.
  12. ^ Goldstein, Israel (1984). My World as a Jew: The Memoirs of Israel Goldstein. Associated University Presses. ISBN 978-0-8453-4780-5.
  13. ^ Chatterjee, Kingshuk (17 June 2019). Contours of Relationship: India and the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-52740-7.
  14. ^ Yisrael, Muzeon (1995). The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. UPNE. ISBN 978-965-278-179-6.
  15. ^ Chatterjee, Kingshuk (17 June 2019). Contours of Relationship: India and the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-52740-7.
  16. ^ Muslim families look after Kolkata synagogues. Priyanka Borpujari, Al Jazeera, 13 Oct 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Calcutta". Joseph Jacobs & Joseph Ezekiel, jewishencyclopedia.com Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  18. ^ Limited, Eicher Goodearth (2011). Kolkata: City Guide. Goodearth Publications. ISBN 978-93-80262-15-4.
  19. ^ Kumar, Jnanendra Nath (1934). The Genealogical History of India. Ahi Bhusan Ghosh.
  20. ^ www.dangoor.com http://www.dangoor.com/issue76/articles/76060.htm. Retrieved 17 November 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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