Not much has been written about Jinnah's personal life, especially the women in his life. Here's what you should know about his second wife, Rattanbai alias Ruttie, and his daughter, Dina.
Among the pioneer female revolutionaries of early 20th century India, Rattanbai Maryam Jinnah, wife of Pakistan’s founder, is possibly one of the most understudied and underappreciated figures in modern South Asian history. Being reserved, Jinnah never publically talked about his personal life. It took the authors 12 years to collect enough material extensive research, interviews with historians, family members and lawyers to put together this unique biography of an elusive life.
Ruttie, as she was known, was a scion of one of then-Bombay’s richest Parsee families. Her father, Sir Dinshaw Petit, was a prominent industrialist and textile magnate. At the Orient Club, he became fast friends with Jinnah, who was 23 years older than Ruttie. When Jinnah asked Petit for Ruttie’s hand in marriage, the former filed a writ restraining him from meeting his daughter. This did not stop the couple from seeing each other. Reportedly, Ruttie proposed to Jinnah at the Taj Mahal Hotel ballroom
Rattanbai Petit and Mohammad Ali Jinnah: An Interfaith Marriage That Went Down in History
Excerpted with permission from Ruttie Jinnah: The Woman who stood defiant by Dr Saad S. Khan, published by Penguin Random House.
A digitised image of Ruttie and Mohammed Ali Jinnah superimposed on their Bombay home South Point. Photo: Special arrangement
History21/Jan/2021
The marriage between Rattanbai Petit and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in 1918, was nothing short of a box-office thriller. It indeed was âthe marriage that shook Indiaâ, as Sheela Reddyâs aptly titled book suggests. Given the high status that Jinnah enjoyed at the time in the eyes of the British government, within the Congress and the Muslim League and before both the factions of the Home Rule League (led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant, respectively), Jinnah had many enemies who were jealous of his success. Ruttie, the jewel of Bombay, had so many suitors that she had rejected that it would be impractical