Rattanbai Jinnah

Rattanbai Jinnah (née Petit; 20 February 1900 – 20 February 1929), also known as Ruttie Jinnah, was the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an important figure in the creation of Pakistan and the country's founder.

Additionally, Rattanbai Petit belonged to some of the most influential families of the Indian Subcontinent, the Petit family, through her father; and the Jinnah family through her marriage.

Her daughter Dina Wadia married Bombay Dyeing chairman Neville Wadia, of the Wadia family.

Rattanbai Petit (often informally called "Ruttie") was born on 20 February 1900 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India, into the extremely affluent and well-connected Petit family that belonged to the Parsi community.

She was the only daughter of the businessman Sir Dinshaw Petit, the second baronet Petit, and his wife Lady Dinabai Petit.

Her paternal grandfather, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, the first baronet, had built some of the earliest cotton mills in India.

He was also a philanthropist who aided the Zoroastrians of Iran who were persecuted by the Qajars.

Her brother, Fali, who later became Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, the 3rd Baronet, married Sylla Tata, a member of the Tata family and the sister of J. R. D. Tata, who later became the longest-serving chairman of the Tata Group, one of India's leading business conglomerates.

Rattanbai Petit was famous in Bombay.

Not only was she the well-read, fashionable, extroverted, and nationalistic daughter of the 2nd Baronet, she was considered beautiful.

As she entered her late teens she was called "The Flower of Bombay" by the city's high society, many of which were frequent guests in her father's home.

The Petits were an extremely anglicized family that strove to be fully British in manner, dress, language, diet, and customs.

The 2nd Baronet would import only the finest flowers, marble, and furniture from Europe for his home.

Every room had multiple Persian rugs, and Petit Hall even had a Grecian fountain.

Unsurprisingly, they spared their children almost no luxuries.

Ruttie's father would shower her with gifts of books, clothes, pets, sweets, gourmet meals, and vacations to Europe or other parts of India where they owned homes.

Ruttie was a huge lover of fashion and was allowed to go shopping unattended and purchase anything she wanted; with no spending limits.

Her parents left most of the raising of their children to European nannies.

While her paternal grandparents were practising orthodox Zoroastrians, Ruttie was agnostic and only nominally a Parsi.

None of the Petit children were raised in Zoroastrianism, nor was Gujarati spoken in the home.

Ruttie and her brothers did receive Navjote ceremonies, but they were only done as an excuse to throw a grand party afterward.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then 42, was only three years younger than Ruttie's father, and the two men were good friends.

Jinnah was a frequent guest at Petit Hall, the sprawling seaside residence of the Petit family at the foot of Malabar Hill in Mumbai.

It was in this setting that Ruttie and Jinnah became acquainted.

They were both nationalists, loved horses, and were avidly interested in politics.

Their romance, however, started in Darjeeling, while the two were thrown together on a vacation by her unsuspecting family.

Despite an age difference of twenty-four years, and the fact that Ruttie was sixteen at the time, the two decided to get married.

Jinnah broached the topic with his friend by first discussing the question of interfaith and inter-community marriages, always a controversial topic in India.

Here he was sure of drawing a favorable response from the baronet.

Having drawn his friend out to make a general statement in support of mixed marriages, Jinnah then made his proposal to marry his friend's daughter.

The baronet was shocked beyond words; he had never imagined anything other than a benign paternalistic relationship between his friend and his daughter.

He reacted with violent indignation to the idea and almost ordered Jinnah out of his house.

From the Petits' point of view, it was not just the question of religion, but also that of the age difference, especially given that Jinnah was 40, that appalled them.

"She was, after all, not yet sixteen, an age when modern parents of the new century did not expect their daughters to rush into marriage, although in more conventional homes girls were either betrothed or already married by that age. Sir Dinshaw’s only sister, Humabai, after having gone to a French boarding school in Nice for her baccalaureate, was still single at twenty-nine and not an eyebrow was raised."

Since Ruttie was underage, her father was able to prevent the marriage for the time being, and the matter brewed for more than a year with no resolution.

Ruttie was the only daughter (she had three brothers) of her parents, and they always celebrated her birthday in grand style.

Despite the tensions within the family, they could hardly give her coming-of-age birthday a miss, and a grand banquet was held on the occasion at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.

After the baronet had regaled his guests with a witty after-dinner speech, Ruttie stood up saying "Thank you, Papa..."

and went on to drop a bombshell.

She calmly informed the gathering that she had accepted a proposal of marriage from Jinnah, and that they would be married shortly; she asked the audience to wish them joy.