Virji Vora

Virji Vora
Born	c. 1590
Died	c. 1670s
Residence	Surat
Other names	Baharji Bohra
Citizenship	Mughal Empire
Occupation	Wholesale trading and money-lending
Years active	1619-1670
Known for	credit supplier and customer of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company

Virji Vora (c. 1590-c. 1670s) was an Indian merchant from Surat during the Mughal era. The East India Company Factory Records describe him as the richest merchant in the world at the time. According to the English records, his personal worth is estimated to be worth 8 million rupees, a substantial amount of money in those days. He has been variously described as a "merchant prince" and a "".

The business activities of Virji Vora included wholesale trading, money lending and banking. He established a monopoly over certain imports in Surat, and dealt with a wide range of commodities including spices, bullion, coral, ivory, lead and opium. He was a major credit supplier and customer of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company.

The records of the East India Company frequently mention the business activities of Virji Vora, but little is known about his origins or family background. He has been variously described as a Hindu/Jain and a Muslim. In 1968, Prof. K H Kamdar wrote a paper on him based on material from the Bombay Archives and Jain documents in Surat and Baroda. According to this research, Virji was a Sthanakvasi Jain of the Lonkagacchiya group. He may have been a member of the Srimali Oswal Porwal caste group. He was deeply involved in religious affairs, and held the title of Samghapati/Sanghavi, which is given to a lay leader who makes a major contribution like building a temple or organizing a mass pilgrimage. John F. Richards, writing in 1996, mentions him as "Baharji Bohra" and describes him as a Muslim Ismaili merchant, belonging to the Bohra community.

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