Bigger India
One of India’s oldest and most famous fortunes is built on a chance encounter with an American artist
Muggunbhai Hutheesing was a member of a once-prosperous family of merchants, members of the Jain faith who had lived in Ahmedabad for generations.
In the 19th century, the Hutheesings were one of India’s wealthiest and most prestigious families. With business connections stretching across the world, the family amassed one of the subcontinent’s largest fortunes. Savvy deals and a strategy of alliances with other powerful families—including a marriage into the Nehru dynasty that has given modern India many of its leaders—have extended that fortune to the present day.
Their success, however, had a surprising beginning. The family had been nearly driven to ruin by global economic shifts and colonial policies before a chance encounter in 1881 with an American artist changed their fortunes and their future.