Pherozeshah Mehta

Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, KCIE (4 August 1845 – 5 November 1915) was a Parsi Indian political leader, activist, and a leading lawyer of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), India, who was knighted by the British Government in India for his service to the law. His political ideology was, as was the case with most of the Indian leaders of his time, moderate. Hence, he was not directly opposed to the British Crown's sovereignty, but only demanded more autonomy for Indians to self-rule.

He became the Municipal commissioner of Bombay Municipality in 1873 and its President four times – 1884, 1885, 1905 and 1911.

He was chosen the president of the Indian National Congress in 1890.

Pherozeshah Merwanjee Mehta was born on 4 August 1845 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to a Parsi business family.

Graduating from the Elphinstone College in 1864 he passed the M.A. examination, with honors, six months later, being the first Parsi to have obtained a master's degree from the University of Mumbai. He later went to England to study law at Lincoln's Inn in London. He was the first Parsi barrister, called to the Bar from Lincoln's Inn in 1868.

In 1868 he returned to India and was admitted to the bar, and soon established a practice for himself in a profession which was till then dominated by British lawyers.

It was during a legal defence of Arthur Crawford that he pointed out the need for reforms in the Bombay municipal government. Later, he drafted the Bombay Municipal Act of 1872, and is thus considered the father of Bombay Municipality.

Eventually, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta left his law practice to join politics.

When the Bombay Presidency Association was established in 1885, Pherozeshah Mehta became its president, and remained so for the rest of his years. He encouraged Indians to obtain western education and embrace its culture to uplift India. He contributed to many social causes for education, sanitation and health care in the city and around India.

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