Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/214

186 by the time that the future Maharaja first joined it as an assistant in 1839. Durga Charan was the eldest son of Prawn Kissen Law, the original founder of the firm which is still after nearly a century known by his name. Prawn Kissen was one of the pioneers of the Indian commercial world. Almost all the European Companies which had found their way to India had come in the first instance solely in pursuit of trade and during their first years of commercial activity no Indian firm had ventured to compete with them on their own lines. But as the English gradually emerged triumphantly from the long struggle of the eighteenth century and trade was ceasing to be the first object of the Company, more open conditions prevailed, and it became possible for Indian firms to enter into competition with the English merchants by adopting their methods and standards of business. The Indian community, however, was at first slow to take advantage of the opportunity and to Prawn Kissen Law belongs the credit of being among the first to see the great possibilities that were opening out before his fellow-countrymen in the way of trade and commerce under the new reign of peace, order and security. His firm, one of the first to compete seriously with European firms was also one of the most successful, placing him and his descendants among the front rank of Indian merchant princes.