Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/229

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SHETT JAMÁL GOTÁ, PHILANTHROPIST.

In the course of my itinerary through Gujarát I was never so much amused and shocked as when learning the particulars of a truly extraordinary life. The history of Khán Báhádur Jamál Gotá, J.P., may show, amongst other things, how certain native families have risen. Shett Jamál Gotá, I must explain, is an extreme case of social oddity.

How he Rose.

Khán Báhádur Jamál Gotá is the only son and heir of his father by his "own mother," as he proclaims to the world. Jamál Gotá pater was an honest liquor-shop keeper at Charub. One Christmas Day he took a bottle of country-