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From India came Parsis , Bhatiyas ,Khojas both Ithnasheris and Ismailis , Goans , Hindus, Bohora , Sikhs, Ceylonese , Cutchhis , Sunnis and Shias as well as few Punjabis . More over during the harsh British Raj under the influence of Muslim merchants and mendicants many Lohanas, some Bhatiyas and members of the other communities from Kathiavad and Kutch converted to Islam and became Ismaily Khoja . While some others chose to belong to other sects of Islam like Bohoras, Khoja and Sunnis.
All these brave youngsters had sailed in Dhows from Gujarat , Kutchh , Mandvi , Mundra, Mumbai and so on , often penny less and rootless in search of better life towards Africa. These pioneers - entrepreneurs in making , brought with them their different cultures , customs and beliefs and a strong will power in abundance to work hard ! For them their religion and their social values were and still are an important part of their life .
It was a rugged terrain and a struggle for survival : however they took their destiny in their hands and on the way successfully managed to chart a better future for themselves ,their families and their countries of adoption.
Having said that, it is also interesting to note that not all these migrants from India came as penny less youngsters in search of better life during the scorched earth policy of the British Raj.On the contrary, some of the earlier settlers in Africa who came through Zanzibar had already established themselves as successful merchants and seafarers in their country of origin. They owned their own Dhows and ran their family ' Pedhis ' (companies) successfully in their villages and towns in Kathiwad ,Kutchh , Mumbai , Mandvi ,Mundra and so on . Upto now most of their life histories have been confided in official records as mere numbers.
In this article I hope to give identities to at least a few of them and attempt to tell their stories asbest as I can!I am grateful to Dr. Abdul Sheriff imminent historian from Zanzibar, Former Principal Advisor and Curator - Zanzibar Museums, Former Chairman of Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute ( ZIORI 2007 - 12 ) who has written several books and research papers for kindly providing the information much needed for this article, Bipin Suchak and Suryakant Suchak for filling in details about their family history. Fatma Aloo, my friend from Zanzibar for her encouragement and support all the way. Bhatiyas were amongst the earliest merchant travellers from Gujarat who had arrived in Zanzibar since 17 / 18thcentury. Mrs. KalpanaJitendra Sampat has written a fascinating and long article about her family history from Zanzibar. I present a part of this article in its original form. She writes : " The first Bhatiyas that arrived to East Africa on the coast of Zanzibar were from the port of Mundra , Kutchh by the old dhows which were similar to Arab dhows , that were still coming to Zanzibar when we were young.
I had the privilege of visiting one such dhow when our father Ajitsinh Narrottam Khatau took the three of us , my sister , brother and I , to visit one such Indian dhow anchored on the shores of Zanzibar manned by the Kharwa community of Kutchh , together with some Muslim Nakkhodaas/ Maalams , as they were called as sailors. My father told us how our forefathers had travelled in one of many such dhows we owned. On touring this dhow we saw how difficult a journey must have been, unlike the ships journey we were enjoying then with so many facilities.
Around 17/18th Century Mr. Jeram Shivji and his brother Mr. Eebji ,whose sixth generation descendent I am , landed on the coast of Zanzibar for trade purposes. We were first Bhatiyas to arrive in East Africa. They traded in cloves and other spices, ivory etc. and became successful too. They started buying lands," shambaas " meaning farms of cloves all over East Africa . And by the beginning of 19th century they owned more than 100 clove shambaas"e, only at a place called Lindi and Mikindani. Very soon due to some personal reasons Mr. Jeram Shivji left Zanzibar for Kutchh leaving behind all trade in the hands of his younger brother Mr . Eebji Shivji Topan . This was at the pick of their trade Empire and Mr. Eebji Shivji was appointed as Customs in Charge for Zanzibar port by Sultan Sayyed Barghash as we were the biggest traders in Zanzibar. At the time Zanzibar was called Zeng Empire and the language was and still is Kiswahili, but colloquially called Swahili by most. Our people in India called it, "Swahil-desh" and started calling our family "Swahiliwara". Thus our, Odakh-Pahechan became Swali / Swaly / Sualy which we adopted as our Surname latter on. People with any of this surnames are all one family but some brothers used these different spellings and we still maintain good family relationstilltoday.
The Arab Sultans of Zanzibar who originated from Muscat, as one of the brothers was given Zanzibar to rule , had very good relations with our family . At that time only menfolk migrated to Zanzibar and the Arab Sultans were wondering why the ladies folks had not migrated. So our ancestors explained to them the ladies folk used to follow, 'marjaad' where only a few things / people could touch them and all utensils used were of silver too. So the Sultanoffered. The Portuguese Old Fort to build their houses in Fort, and put silver pipes and silver taps to facilitate the custom of their 'marjaad'. This Portuguese Old Fort still exists opposite Beit-el-Ajaib(house of wonders, one of the seven wonders then)."But our ancestors, politely refused this offer, saying that it will not do. While in actuality, they did not want to get this favour, as they knew about the old saying, " raja, wajaane waandra ; no kadinakarievishvaas " meaning never trust a Raja-a king , waja - a musical instrument and waandra - monkeys , as you never know when any of these would go out of tune and get one into trouble ! ! Thus the men folks stayed alone for more than a century. They had bought cooks from India who would cook for them and their whole staff who were housed there.
This massive building in Zanzibar called, Eebji Shivjini Peddhi is situated just behind the Sultan's palace. So every Diwali, we would give Red carpet service, from our peddhi to Sultan's palace's back door to the Sultan, who would then come to our peddhi and light a first "fataaka" - fire work and then only the whole town would light their fire - works".
Thus the Swaly family had a long distinguished family history. The family left ZanzibaraftertheRevolutioninZanzibar.I am not sure about the date but an interesting and historic episode took place during this period. It so happened that Mahatma Gandhi was on a short visit to Zanzibar, when he was enroute from South Africa to India. He was invited to visit Bhatiya Mahajan Wadi in Ziwani - Zanzibar. And when he noticed at the entrance a warning saying,' Bhatiyashivay koine anderaavani raja nathi ' meaning (only Bhatiyas are allowed to enter). Gandhiji refused to enter the Mahajan Wadibuilding. That really embarrassed the committee. They removed the notice immediately and after persuasion only, Gandhiji consented to enter the building!
The Eebji Shivji family believed in ," guptadan meaning what the right hand gives even the left hand should not know , "and contributed to many worthy causes .NarabdasSwaly was the head while Narotumdas Khatau , Hansraj Ladwa Damji were munims - managers of the EebjiShivji Empire . Many other Bhatiyas were brought on the permit of the company staff and settled down well in Zanzibar. Eebji Shivji was the head of the Hindu Society and was highly esteemed and trusted by the Sultan of Zanzibar. At the peak of EebjiShivji era they had owned about 90% of land in Kutch, five buildings in Mumbai brought from East India Company ,a Cotten ginning factory , dhows , and even a car or two ! In Zanzibar Eebji Shivji was the head of Hindu Society, his son Late Laxmidas was honoured with O.B.E. by Queen Elizabeth || in England. Members of the Bhatiya community have an astute sense of trade and industry and being hard working many of them became successful entrepreneurs. They contributed and built schools,temples, and community halls in Zanzibar. It is believed that at one time in East Africa, the highest number of Bhatias were in Zanzibar. The Jetha Lila private Bank in Zanzibar was one of them. In fact it can be recorded as one of the oldest financial institutions in East Africa. At the time, all over East Africa including Zanzibar the silver Rupee of British India was the standard coin of the Protectorate while the currency notes were issued in Rupee denominations written clearly in Gujarati language.Interestingly, it has been reported that, recently the world's most valuable African note - 1908 , 20 Rupee note was sold for US $ 225,000 / - at an auction in 2011. This African currency note is highly priced for its rarity, intricate design and clear writings. Varas Thalia Topan - 1823 - 1891 : ( Tajdin Mumtaz Ali Sadie Ali : 101 Esmaily Heroes . Vol.1.IslamicBook Publisher , Karachi . January2003 P416). It is said that Facts are stranger than Fiction: Varas Tharia Topan 's life journey is one such saga.
"For promoting trade in Kutchh ,MaharaoKhengar I ( 1510- 1585 ) invited certain Bhatia ShethTopan in Bhuj and sought his advice. With suggestions of Sheth Topan the city of Mandvi with a port was built with massive sum. Sheth Topan employed expert carpenters of Sind to build ships.He imported wood from Malabar and formed furnaces in Bhachau and thus laid the foundation of trade and ship building in Kutchh. He also built many temples in Mandavi. In those days the Ismailyvakil ,Sayid Pir Dadu ( 1474 - 1595 ) had come from Sind in 1587 and converted a large number of Hindus including ShethTopan in the time of Rao Bharmal l ( 1585 - 1631 ). The descendants of Sheth Topan contributed to the business in Kutchh for about two centuries. But the latter generations of Sheth experienced extra poverty.
In East Africa , among the greatest Ismaily heroes of East Africa was Varas Sir Thalia Topan, one of the descendants of Sheth Topan, who came from India as a small boy and worked with the firm, M/S Jairam Shivji. (Swaly family firm ) and rose to be known as The King of the Ivory Trade.
Born on Wednesday September 21 - 1823 in Lakhpat, Katchh Tharia Topan was a son of a small vegetable seller .Unlettered , he was working with his father as a helper . When he was 12 years old he noticed one evening a playmate stealing money from a shop. He caught the boy, recovered the money and as he went to return it , the owner of the shop , who without hearing anything raised a hue and cry and accused the boy of the theft . Poor Tharia was severely abused and thrashed by the crowd. Fearing the worst and not daring to face his parents, he fled and jumped into the sea, got into the nearest Dhow and hid himself amidst the cargo . Scared and tired soon he fell asleep and when he woke up he found that the vessel was on the high seas and himself a stowaway! Compelled by thirst and hunger Tharia came out of his hiding place . The Tandel - Captain took pity on the young boy and tended to his needs as now there was no chance to reverse the journey ! The captain with Tharia in tow, reached Zanzibar . Fortunately an accountant who was working with prominent Indian Firm Jairam Shivji of Mundra knew Tharia's father . He got Tharia the job of a garden sweeper for 6 shillings a month in the house of Ladwa Damj, the owner of the Firm.
From then on young Tharia's new journey began in earnest. He came to Zanzibar illiterate and penniless at the age of twelve. By the time he was 13 years of age Tharia Topan learnt to sign his name , and with his elegant hand writing , at age 18 became a scribe and by the time he was 22 being honest , Tharia was put in charge of the credit department in the Firm of JairamShivji . He had also borrowed a small loan , bought a Donkey cart and driving it himself started buying cloves and coconuts from small farms and brought them to Zanzibar for sale while his job at Jairam Shivji continued .
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