About the Book: Barons of Banking: Glimpses of Indian Banking History A one of a kind, well researched and well written book on the history of Indian banking Barons of Banking highlights the contributions of six distinguished personalities from the world of banking-Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, Sir Chintaman D. Deshmukh, A.D. Shroff, H.T. Parekh, and R.K. Talwar-who not only played a pioneering role in the growth of the institutions which they founded, or were actively associated with, but left an indelible mark on the banking industry as a whole. Through the narration of the history of five key institutions - the Central Bank of India; the Reserve Bank of India; the State Bank of India; the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Ltd; and the Housing Development and Finance Corporation Ltd-the author gives us a keen insight into the contributions of these luminaries to banking in India. Also included is a narration of the recommendations of important committees and commissions which influenced the course of Indian banking. Divided into four parts, the book uses hitherto unused archival material recently put in the public domain by the RBI. Of particular interest is a discussion of the acrimonious relationship between Sir James Grigg, the Finance Member of the Viceroys Executive Council and Sir Osborne Smith, the first Governor of the RBI, which throws fresh light on a spat which remains unprecedented not only in the banks history, but possibly in all of banking history. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, this book will be of interest to both the academic and general reader and, of course, to the professional banker interested in a selective peep into the history of his profession. The six personalities whose careers are described are: Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, Sir Chintaman Dwarkanath Deshmukh, Raj Kumar Talwar, A.D. Shroff, and H.T. Parekh The book contains exclusive letters and fi