The Tobacco Tycoon: Man Behind The Birth Of ITC

In 1906, Jellicoe and Page, representing British American Tobacco, were unsuccessful in finding an agent in Mumbai to sell their W.D & H.O Wills cigarette brands. In Calcutta, they had no choice other than to tie up with Indian entrepreneur Haji Bukhsh Ellahie. He had made a fortune with his indigenous cigarette brand named after Gauhar Jaan, an upcoming Hindustani music singer who would go on to become the first to be recorded for the gramophone.

Bukhsh Ellahie had moved to Calcutta from Delhi in 1878 in the hope of making his fortune in the then capital of India. His brother, Karam Ellahie, stayed back to mind the family business. Enrolling himself as an intern with a business house, Bukhsh Ellahie soon learnt the tricks of the trade and was all set to take off on his own.

In the Crimean War (1853-1856), French and English officers acquired the habit of cigarette smoking from their Turkish allies. This addiction soon spread all over Europe. There was a great demand from the armies of the Western world for cigarettes. Bukhsh Ellahie saw the potential and realised it would replace pipes and the Indian hookah. When he came across a new and fast model of a cigarette-rolling machine, an innovative business idea germinated.

In 1887, he registered a company under the style of Bukhsh Ellahie & Co., Calcutta. Borrowing capital from his brother to import tobacco, he launched India’s first cigarette branded ‘Gauhar de Baha’, named after the legendary Gauhar Jaan. Bukhsh Ellahie did not just have the vision for business but also an uncanny knack for marketing. What he created then are now standard principles in marketing and promotion. He named his product after a popular singer to cash in on her popularity.  He launched a campaign in which the visual showed her relaxing on a couch, listening to the gramophone almost in supine listlessness, holding a cigarette with smoke gently curling from it. The outrageous visual broke all traditions and advertising stereotypes. The campaign grabbed the attention of the audience. Bukhsh Ellahie then launched her face on matchboxes. These were printed in Austria. This was another first in India’s marketing scene.

To promote the product, he also sent free boxes of cigarettes to the Indian Army thereby building a demand which could be best termed as creating ‘brand addiction’. The shift to cigarettes was rapid, as Bukhsh Ellahie had envisioned, and he became one of the richest men in Calcutta by the 1900s. The trend of sending free cigarettes continued for two decades as letters sent to the Army prove. Joined by his son, Abdur Raheem, Bukhsh Ellahie grew the business and soon their portfolio included various types of goods and they took up imports, partnering with several international firms. When Jellicoe and Page came to India, they appointed Bukhsh Ellahie & Co as the first agent of Wills. This was, in a way, the birth of ITC, the multi-business conglomerate of today.

The father and son also contributed to the Army War Fund and towards building hospitals and relief work for natural disasters. Abdur Raheem held several positions including that of Commissioner of Calcutta Corporation from 1913-1923. They also built a traveller’s lodge, founded an orphanage and formed an association for the burial of indigent Muslims. Bukhsh Ellahie was bestowed the title of Khan Bahadur and later, the Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE) was awarded to Abdur Raheem.

The business is tracked till the 1930s and it is assumed that organised cigarette manufacture, including competition from new cigarette companies such as Vazir Sultan Tobacco Company and imports by others dented it. Abdur Raheem had no sons but his daughters were married off into eminent families in Delhi. The next generation took up legal practice. Bukhsh Ellahie’s great grandson was the managing director of Kalinga Airways and his sons went into trade and started their now flourishing tea and export business that spans continents.

(Views expressed are personal)

Rajiv Soni is a brand engineer and mentor