David Sassoon and Co. (historical)
Fact box:
- Founded: 1832
- Founder: David Sassoon (1792-1864)
- Historical HQ: Bombay (Mumbai), British India
- Status: Historical firm; no longer operating as unified entity
- Sector (historical): Cotton, opium, silk, broader long-distance trading
David Sassoon and Co., founded in Bombay in 1832 by David Sassoon following his exile from Baghdad, operated as one of the major British-Indian trading firms of the 19th century. The firm's operations spanned cotton, the India-to-China opium trade (a controversial component of 19th-century British-Asian commerce extensively documented in the historical record), silk, and broader long-distance commercial activity.
The firm's branch architecture included Bombay headquarters alongside operations in Calcutta, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London. E.D. Sassoon & Co., founded by Elias Sassoon in 1867 following a split from the parent firm, became the dominant Sassoon commercial vehicle in Shanghai through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The firm dispersed substantially after 1949 following the Communist takeover of Shanghai. The Bombay institutional legacy survives in the architectural and institutional infrastructure of present-day Mumbai — Sassoon Docks, the David Sassoon Library, the Magen David Synagogue at Byculla, and the broader Sassoon-built infrastructure that continues to operate.
Coverage in The Olam:
/sephardic-history/sassoon-bombay//sephardic-history/1492-and-the-merchant-diaspora/