Virji Vora

Who is Virji Vora?

Virji Vora was an Indian merchant from the Surat during the Mughal era. The East India Company Factory Records 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 "plutocrat".

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.