In 1915, a 29-year-old Indian entrepreneur named Jhamandas Watumull arrived on the island of Honolulu in Hawaii. He partnered with Dharamdas to open a retail store as part of their import business.

The two officially launched "Watumull & Dharamdas" on Hotel Street in Honolulu, specializing in unique items from the East such as silks, ivory handicrafts, brassware, and other exotic goods.

Sadly, Dharamdas passed away from cholera in 1916. This prompted Jhamandas to reach out to his brother, Gobindram, to oversee their store in Honolulu while he continued managing the Manila business. Over time, the brothers traveled back and forth between India and Hawaii to grow their enterprise.

Nowadays, the Watumull family name is deeply woven into Hawaii’s identity, stretching from clothing production and real estate to education and philanthropy in the arts. They are among the wealthiest families on the islands and were the first South Asians to settle there from India.

"We grew it little by little," Jhamandas once remarked in a 1973 interview with a Hawaiian publication.

In pre-independence India, Jhamandas was born into a modest family in Hyderabad, Sindh (now part of Pakistan). His father, a brick contractor, was paralyzed due to an accident, leading his mother to arrange for Jhamandas’ journey to the Philippines. There, he initially worked in textile mills before starting a trading business in 1909 alongside Dharamdas.

According to JD Watumull, a grandson of Jhamandas, the duo moved to Hawaii after the US cut back on ties with foreign businesses in the Philippines, which it then controlled. They renamed their Hawaiian retail venture “East India Store” after Gobindram assumed management. Over subsequent years, the store blossomed into a high-end department store with locations across both Hawaii and parts of Asia, as documented by SAADA, a digital archive chronicling South Asian American history.

In 1937, Gobindram constructed the Watumull Building in Waikiki, Honolulu, as the company’s headquarters. By 1957, the business had expanded into a multi-million-dollar empire that included 10 retail stores, an apartment complex, and various commercial properties, according to SAADA.

The *Star-Bulletin* described the store’s products—like linens, brass and teak curios, and lingerie—as infused with “romance and mystery,” evoking visions of “faraway lands.”

By the 1930s, as Hawaii became a luxury destination for affluent tourists, the Hawaiian shirt—dubbed the "Aloha shirt"—grew immensely popular. Featuring vibrant island-themed designs, these shirts were a hit, and the Watumull’s East India Store was among the first to feature these styles, notes Hawaiian textile expert Dale Hope.

The first Hawaiian designs for these shirts date back to 1936, commissioned by Gobindram from his sister-in-law Elsie Jensen. According to Hope, Jensen reimagined traditional Japanese motifs with island inspirations: Mount Fuji was replaced with Diamond Head, koi with tropical fish, and cherry blossoms with gardenias and hibiscuses.

These patterns were then handblocked onto raw silk in Japan, as detailed by Nancy Schiffer in *Hawaiian Shirt Designs*. Schiffer also notes, “These modern and understated floral prints were the first Hawaiian designs to achieve commercial success.” They were exported globally, reaching as far as London, remarks William Devenport in *Paradise of the Pacific*.

Lila, Gobindram’s daughter, shared with Dale Hope that their Waikiki store attracted prominent Hollywood stars like Loretta Young, Lana Turner, Jack Benny, and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, all drawn to the signature shirts.

By 1966, Gulab Watumull told the *Honolulu Star-Bulletin*, "The name Watumull has become synonymous with Hawaiian fashion."

The family later acquired the Royal Hawaiian Manufacturing Company, which was the birthplace of the first matching family aloha outfits.

Although their ventures thrived, it took decades for the Watumull brothers to gain U.S. citizenship due to discriminatory immigration laws at the time, *Hawaii Business Magazine* reported. Gobindram’s American wife, Ellen Jensen, even lost her citizenship under the 1922 Cable Act for marrying a non-citizen. She fought to reverse the law and regained her status in 1931. Gobindram himself became a naturalized citizen in 1946, following a law change allowing Indians eligibility for citizenship.

Jhamandas, meanwhile, continued to divide his life between Hawaii and India. During India’s 1947 partition, the Watumull family left Sindh for Bombay (now Mumbai), leaving much of their property behind, as noted by SAADA. Eventually, Jhamandas’ son Gulab joined him in Hawaii to work in the family business.

By 1955, the brothers split their empire: Jhamandas and Gulab retained the retail operations, while Gobindram’s family took charge of real estate ventures. Jhamandas relocated permanently to Hawaii in 1956, following the deaths of his wife and one of his sons. He became a U.S. citizen in 1961.

The family also maintained close ties to India. Gobindram was active with the Committee for India’s Freedom, lobbying in Washington for the country’s independence. His Los Angeles home was a hub for independence supporters, notes Sachindra Nath Pradhan in *India in the United States*. Additionally, the Watumull Foundation—established in 1946—sponsored lectures at American universities by Dr. S Radhakrishnan, who later became India's president.

Ellen Jensen contributed to founding India’s first birth control clinics by helping bring an international parenthood conference to Delhi in 1959. The foundation remains a significant supporter of education in Hawaii and India, as well as Indian-Hawaiian cultural exchanges.

Though the final Watumull retail store closed its doors in 2020, marking a shift in the family’s focus towards real estate, their legacy endures. Watumull Properties recently acquired a 205,000-square-foot marketplace on the islands. Company president JD Watumull commented, "Our commitment to the Hawaiian Islands remains steadfast, both today and into the future."

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