Born in 1857, Deewan Daya Ram Gidumal was among those dedicated men and women who became an icon of service to their people. During the days of the British Raj, Gidumal was known to be the ‘godfather’ of Sindhi Hindus.

A primary student in the days when the official language of Sindh was Persian, and later having had the opportunity to study in an English school since the age of 10, Daya Ram began planning on improving the education facilities for the people of Sindh. His first idea was to build a higher education institute.

For this, he took his brother Mitha Ram and his friend Jethmal, both of them advocates, on board. Together, they laid the foundation of the famous D.J. Science college in Karachi. They expanded their efforts and built a college in Hyderabad as well – the National College. Daya Ram was not only good at Persian, but was also a master at Gurmukhi and Arabic. He was a judge by profession. His decision-making was appreciated throughout the law community.