This brief history leaves blank the period 1929-1948, because the the extensive Ralli confederation had to retrench and could not support a formal extablishment in India until after WWII. Nevertheless Ralli was certainly there - my father and an uncle were sent by Rallis to India in the early thirties as "box-wallahs". I am vague about the details, but my family worked for the Liverpool end of the firm over quite a long period. The son of a third brother was managing director in London in the middle 1970s when he took Ralli Brothers & Coney into one of the huge financial conglomerates fashionable at the time, under the (then big) name of Bowaters, and from there in the early 1980s into the even huger commodities trading empire now known as Cargill Cotton. Rupert Butler -----Original Message----- From: india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Arvind Kolhatkar Sent: 03 June 2008 13:51 To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Rallis India Dear Listers, Rallis India has a long history. Its origins go back to Greece in 1815 and it came to India in 1851. Since that time it has gone through many avatars, partnerships, mergers and vicissitudes of fortune. At different times its operations were centered in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Kanpur. A trading and distribution business, it has, over time, dealt in things as diverse as agricultural produce, Manchester piece goods, tannery needs, jute, bulk pharmaceuticals and chemicals, fans of the house variety, tractors, fertilizers and seeds. It came to India before the 1857 uprising and has far outlived the Raj. It is still a well-known name and currently is in the agri-business. To read this interesting history in brief, please visit http://www.rallis.co.in/aboutus/history.asp Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, June 03, 2008. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1480 - Release Date: 6/3/2008 7:00 AM