Lachmi Bai Nashiruddin Malabar

19th century Indian entrepreneur who revolutionized textile industry through innovative business practices

Lachmi Bai Nashiruddin Malabar (1795-1867) was a pioneering entrepreneur from the Malabar region of India who established one of South Asia's first modern textile mills. As a female business leader in a male-dominated society, she broke traditional barriers by acquiring a failing handloom factory in 1823 and transforming it into a mechanized textile enterprise using British industrial technology. Her factory employed over 500 workers at its peak, producing high-quality cotton goods that competed directly with British imports. She introduced innovative labor practices including guaranteed wages and healthcare benefits, concepts unheard of in colonial India. Malabar's success challenged the economic dominance of British East India Company merchants and inspired later Indian industrialists. Her 1838 memoir Memories of a Mill Owner remains a key historical document, available at Internet Archive. Though largely forgotten today, her contributions are commemorated in the Lachmi Bai Industrial Museum (www.lachmibaigallery.org) in Kozhikode, India.