Tata Central Archives Photographic Collections

Photograph of a painting of Jeevanbai Tata, mother of Jamsetji Tata.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, Founder of the Tata group.

Sir Dorabji Tata, elder son of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

Sir RatanTata, younger son of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

Tata.Family Group

Standing (left to right): Kaikhusru.Bamji.(nephew), Jamsetji.N..Tata, Dorab.Tata.(son), Hormusji.Tata.(nephew).
Seated (left to right): Maneckbai.Tata, Jerbai.Saklatvala.(sisters), Sorab.Saklatvala.(nephew.sitting.on.lap), Ratanbai.Bamji.(sister), Nusserwanji.Tata.(father), Jeevanbai.Tata.(mother), Hirabai.Tata.(wife), Virbaiji.Saklatvala.(sister).
Front Row (left to right): Phiroze.Saklatvala.(nephew), Avabai.Saklatvala.(niece), Ratan.Tata.(son), Shapurji.Saklatvala, Nowroji.Saklatvala, Kaekobad.Saklatvala.(nephews).

A Family Portrait

(Seated L to R): Sir Ratan Tata, younger son; Hirabai Tata, (Jamsetji's wife); Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. (Standing L to R): Lady Meherbai Tata (Sir Dorabji's wife); Sir Dorabji Tata, elder son; and Lady Navajbai Tata (Sir Ratan's wife).

The Four Partners

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the Founder of the House of Tata; facing him Sir Dorabji Tata, elder son of the Founder; seated between them, R.D. Tata, father of J.R.D. Tata; and standing. Sir Ratan Tata, younger son of the Founder.

A young J.R.D. Tata.

R.D. Tata and Sooni Tata (J.R.D. Tata's parents) with Madame Briere (maternal grandmother) and the two children, Sylla (elder sister) and J.R.D. Tata.

J.R.D. Tata with his wife Thelma.

J.R.D. Tata with Nevill Vintcent on his left at Juhu, Bombay, October 15, 1932 after the first historic flight of the subcontinent landed from Karachi. The plane was piloted by J.R.D. Tata.

Re-enactment of the first airmail flight by J.R.D. Tata on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Indian civil aviation - October 15, 1982.

J.R.D. Tata at the Air India 5th Avenue Ticket Office in New York, January 1974 with models of the Puss Moth which he flew in 1932 and Boeing 747.

J.R.D. Tata at his office in Bombay House in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Front gate of the Svadeshi Mills

Jamsetji Tata believed that the prosperity of his Mills depended on the prosperity of labour. He introduced a number of welfare measures for the workers which included a crèche at the Empress Mills.

Factory School at the Empress Mills

Jamsetji decided in 1886 to start the Svadeshi Mills Company Limited which would spin a finer yarn and weave finer materials from Indian cotton.

Since 1894, Jamsetji Tata lent money on short mortgages. The Advance Mills at Ahmedabad was one of them. He later, took over the Mills as it defaulted.

A view of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

A view of the Dining Hall of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel prior to 1933.

As early as 1875, Jamsetji Tata contemplated the development of India’s hydraulic energy to supply cheap and clean hydroelectric power for the growing needs of Bombay (now Mumbai). A view of the Walwhan Dam, at Lonavla.

Jamsetji believed that a modern iron and steel industry would be an essential component of the overall industrial development of India. The first blast furnace at Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur plant that triggered the development of India’s steel industry.

A view of the Tata Chemicals Plant at Mithapur.

Process House for producing soda ash of Tata Chemicals Ltd., at Mithapur designed by Kapilram Vakil.

"YG" Steam Locomotive of The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. (now Tata Motors Ltd.) hoisted by cranes.

A view of the Tata Mercedes-Benz Plant of The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. (now Tata Motors Ltd.) at Jamshedpur.

The first commercial vehicles manufactured at the Pune Plant of The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. (now Tata Motors Ltd.).

An exterior view of the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. The hospital was opened on February 28, 1941, by the Governor of Bombay, Sir Roger Lumley. It had operating theatres, lecture theatres and all the necessary facilities, including those for research.

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was founded on June 1, 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The Institute first began functioning within the Cosmic Ray Research Unit on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The new building in Bombay was inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on January 15, 1962.

The Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work was established in 1936 with Clifford Manshardt as its first Director, at the Nagpada Neighbourhood House. In 1944, the name of the School was changed to the 'Tata Institute of Social Sciences'. When the TISS was shifted to the present site at Chembur. Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was invited to open the new campus on October 6, 1954.

The first major Auditorium of about one thousand seats of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Tata Theatre, was inaugurated in 1980. A view of the artiste performing on the rotatable stage of the Tata Theatre.