NOSTALGIC EAST AFRICA
PRESENTING OLD & MEMORABLE PHOTOS, RELICS, ARTIFACTS ETC. - REMINDERS OF THE COLONIAL TIMES IN EAST AFRICA.
If you have any material for this section, kindly e/mail me at harjinder@kanwal99.freeserve.co.uk
One Rupee note in German East Africa & 5 Shilling East Africa note in 3 languages (English Arabic & Gujrati)
SEE MORE EAST AFRICAN CURRENCIES (sent courtesy Raghbir Rahi Bains) CLICK HERE
The History of East Africa in Bank Notes
In the 19th century, a number of currencies were in use in East Africa. The most well known were the Theresean Dollar, the 'Cowries' (shells) from the Maldives. Nevertheless, because of the steadily increasing trade with India, these were replaced with the Indian Rupee in the second half of the 19th century. In 1890, the DOA (German East African Co.) affirmed its importance by requesting the German Govt., to produce German Silver Rupee. Through a number of financial reforms, this eventually led to the production of German Rupee notes in 1905. It is interesting to note that for the Germans it was no option to introduce German coins and notes. This, no doubt, was an official recognition of the importance of the Indian Rupee and, therefore, the Indian business community.
After the Germans lost the First World War, German Tanganyika became a British mandate. The British East African Currency board printed shilling notes in which the English, Arabic and Gujrati languages are in the forefront. Note that at that time there is no reference to Swahili yet. The formal money economy was considered to be non-African. (Courtesy -Asians in East Africa by G.Oonk)
A 50 rupee revenue stamp with Queen Victoria
Stamps used in East Africa with King George VI
EA Stamp with Queen Elizabeth
A collection of stamps of East Africa during the Colonial Times
This is Africa................................
A street map of Nairobi 1960
A shoes shop in Indian Bazaar, Nairobi with family members- around 1914. (courtesy Asians in EA) -Note the gramophone which was a luxury in those days.
One of the first Sikh Union Cricket teams in East Africa (Courtesy Asians in EA)
Asian Pioneers of East Africa (Courtesy Asian African Heritage)
Students with teachers of Technical High School . Sikh teacher S. Hari Singh Chana. Photo circa 1955/56. (courtesy G.Bhari) - Any Recognitions?
Students with Principal P.H.Patel of City Primary School, Nairobi
City Primary School, Nairobi 1954
Prefects of City Primary School 1954 with teacher M.R.Sethi -1954
Scouts-City Primary School 1954
Remember this gum? (available from Shah 'Kachri Chevda')
Nostalgic bubble gums (contributed by Pushpendra Shah
Workers procession 1937 on Government Road -see Craig's Sports House & Jardin Ltd. (courtesy Unquiet-Life of Makhan Singh)
CORONATION OF THE AGA KHAN -1957
The great event of the year in Nairobi, not only for the Ismaili Muslim community directly involved, but for the people of all races, was the installation of the Aga Khan. Nearly 20,000 people packed the sports ground in Limuru Road to witness the simple coronation (below) which installed the 20 year old university graduate as spiritual leader of 60,000,000 people.
The Aga Khan's followers file past his throne
Ismaili dignitaries paying homage to the new Aga Khan
(Top) Sir Eboo Pirbhai presents the Aga Khan with his ceremonial robe. (Bottom) Illumination of the Khoja Mosque & nairobi for the coronation festivities. (1957)
The building of Phoenix House on Delamere Avenue (Kenyatta Ave) built by Mr. Bhari, foreman of Foale & Co. 1973 (courtesy G.Bhari)
Nairobi in 1917 - called the 'home of frogs' - Macmillan Library probably in the middle.
Torr's Hotel -1926 owned by General Grogan -sold to (Turkish) Ottoman Bank in 1956 for £250,000. This bank was nationalised in 1972 and named Grindlays International Ltd. Extreme right is the Woolworths building and next to Torr's is the Theatre Playhouse (bulding still intact) -later Cameo Cinema. (photo courtesy Lost Lion of Empire)
General Grogan called also Bwana Chui - one of the first pioneers of East Africa and owner of Torr's Hotel. Grogan Road was named after him. (courtesy Lost Lion of Empire)
Statue of Lord Delamere, one of the first pioneers of East Africa. Statue was situated opposite the New Stanley Hotel on Delamere Avenue.(Courtesy JRSP) (see also following picture with statue)
View of Hilton & New Stanley from kimathi St (Hardinge St) 1985 - The building on the left replaced the one on the right of the top picture
The New Stanley Hotel 1959 with Torrs Hotel opposite
New Stanley 1959
The Thorn Tree at the New Stanley - Remember the coffee mornings?
Delamere Avenue around the fifties
Old Nairobi Bus station - later the Hilton was built on this land.
National Bank and capitol Cinema (later replaced by a Hotel) around 50's
View of Barclays Govt. Road. from Kenyatta Avenue (Delamere Ave) 1985
Same as above
Vic Preston's station on Kingsway 1985
Government Road, Nairobi -around 1960
Large car park opposite Barclays Bank Queensway, next to Vedic House (Photo Courtesy Jaspal- Ram Singh Photographers- (JRSP))
Ariel view of Government Road (courtesy JRSP)
Ariel View of Kenya Cinema (Courtesy JRSP)
Kenya Cinema
Victoria Street & corners of Reata Road & Campos Ribeiro Avenue. The house on the corner-middle was the residence of S. Nahar Singh Mangat, the renown solicitor. (courtesy JRSP)
View of Campus Ribeiro Avenue from Victoria Street (see above also) (Courtesy JRSP)
Victoria Street with corner of Duke Street. (JSRP)
Government Road viewed from opposite Kenya Cinema (JRSP)
Gill House on the left with Kenya Cinema on right - road going towards Railway Station. (JRSP)
Austin car rumbles along the Government Road (JRSP)
Jamia masjid Nairobi (JRSP)
Macmillan Library (JRSP)
Premises of Motor Mart & Exchange on Delamere Avenue (JRSP)
Petrol Station on Delamere Avenue. (JRSP)
The New Stanley Hotel on Delamere Avenue (JRSP)
The Torr's Hotel & Woolworths (see also photo on top) (JRSP)
Another view of Torr's & Hardinge Street (courtesy Ron Leese)
Barclays Bank DCO and Ford Prefects in the back ground (JRSP)
An Askari directing traffic on corner of Government Road & Bazaar Street (Indian bazaar) around 1950's (courtesy Ron Leese)
Another view of Government Road & Khoja Mosque (courtesy Ron Leese)
Government Road (Courtesy JRSP)
Corner building with clock on Delamere Avenue (Courtesy JRSP)
Another side of Delamere Avenue (Courtesy JRSP)
Ariel view of Delamere Avenue with Barclays Bank on the left and New Stanley Hotel. Torr's Hotel can be seen on the right - 1959
New Avenue Hotel opposite the General PO on Delamere Avenue (Courtesy JRSP)
Barclays Bank Queensway with old Vedic House next to it (Courtesy JRSP)
A panoramic view of Nairobi from tower of Parliament House (1958)
Delamere Avenue - near Post Office.1960 (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
Same as above but year 1973 (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
The 20th Century Cinema (courtesy Ron Leese)
The Kenya Cinema on Govt. Road (Courtesy JRSP)
The glamour of the Kenya Cinema at night 1959
The Kenya National Theatre-Nairobi 1959
The Donovan Maule Theatre,Nairobi 1959 
Government Road with Gill House on the right & Barclays Bank (Govt. Rd. South) on the left-1959
Gill House opposite Kenya Cinema (Courtesy JRSP)
Three Bells Restaurant on Victoria Street (Courtesy JRSP)
Another view of three bells Restaurant on Victoria Street (Courtesy JRSP)
Corner Reata Road/Victoria Street (Courtesy JRSP)
Another view of Reata Road (Remember Maru Bhajia on this road?) (Courtesy JRSP)
Victoria Street with Odeon Cinema (end of buildings) (Courtesy JRSP)
Westcobs Garage on corner of Reata Road & Victoria Street (Courtesy JRSP)
Victoria Street with Gill House in background -photo taken from Campose Ribeiro Avenue (Courtesy JRSP)
Capitol Cinema on corner of Victoria Street & Government Road (Courtesy JRSP)
Another view of Government Road (Courtesy JRSP)
The celebration of Uhuru (Freedom) 1963 (courtesy Ron Leese)
Racecourse Road leading to Ngara, Kariakor market & Eastleigh from Whitehouse Road, River Road & Grogan Road. (courtesy Ron Leese)
View from Ngara Hill going towards the Khoja Mosque etc.
During the Construction of the Shan Cinema, Ngara, 1952. Mr. Shah of Haria Stamp Shop on right. (photo courtsey Pushpendra Shah- Haria Stamp Shop Indian Bazaar Biashara St. Nairobi)
Shan Cinema Ngara 1963 - the film being shown is Taj Mahal. The first film shown in this cinema was AAN starring Dalip Kumar, Prem Nath, Nadira & Nimmi. (photo courtsey Pushpendra Shah- Haria Stamp Shop Indian Bazaar Biashara St. Nairobi)
View of Varma Road corner of River Road from Moonlit Chemists near Casino Cinema (Formerly Film India Cinema)
The Duke of Gloucester School Nairobi, founded as a Railway Educational Centre in 1906, became the Government Indian School and then in 1955, after the presentation of the 'City' charter by the Duke of Gloucester in 1950, took his name. Now called Jamhuri High School
Trade has become the characteristic by which the ASIAN community and culture of Kenya is best known. Brought into Kenya to build the "lunatic" Uganda Railway towards the end of the last century, the Asians eventually emerged as a commercial community. Yet there have been peoples of Asian origin in East Africa long before the British conceived of the railway. There may have been people of Indonesian descent on the coast almost one thousand years ago (their influence, in the form of comestibles, is very evident and widespread today-, bananas and coconuts are two of their comestible contributions in common use). There was direct trade with India and indirect trade with China centuries ago. Indian communities, both Hindu and Muslim, existed in the larger towns on the coast in the early years of the nineteenth century—and long before that, well in advance of the later influx of Indians after the Zanzibar Sultanate was established. It was Sultan Seyyid Said, however, and not the British Foreign Office, who was responsible for introducing the Indian trader into East Africa, when the Sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar.
According to the most recent Census (1979), the Asian population of Kenya is 139,000, of whom about 61,000 are citizens. The first large influx into Kenya occurred during the last years of the past century. The British imported and employed a total of 32,000 Indian "coolies" for the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway. It was in 1896 that the initial 350 arrived in Mombasa, and- the modern history of the Asian Indian in Kenya may be said to have begun with their arrival. Of the total of 32,000 who were imported, 6000 elected to remain after the construction of the railway had been completed; the Indian Government had stipulated that every labourer must have the choice either to remain or to return at the conclusion of his contract.
One-third of the 6000 Indians who elected to remain continued to be employed by the railway. Since Indians were denied land rights, the others could survive only by becoming traders. A very small minority had amassed fortunes as railway contractors and builders and were well-established, but the vast majority were not far from poverty when they embarked upon their careers as petty traders. In effect, racial discrimination forced most of those Indians into trade; exclusion from farming in the highlands left them with little alternative. For a long time their settlement in town areas was segregated as well.
But the position of the Indian in Kenya was not entirely that of a victim of British exploitation. A leader of the Greater India Movement envisioned not only Kenya but all of East Africa as a future "cultural colony" of a Greater India. Others advocated the annexation of Kenya to the Indian Empire. The Indian Congress in Kenya visualised a Kenya which would be Indian-administered, and saw a parallel between such an administration and that of the Dutch administration of South Africa. Even the Aga Khan proposed that East Africa be set apart for Indian colonisation.
They never realised the ambition of becoming a part of Greater India, a cultural colony, or an Indian-administered political entity. They did, however, come to control most of the retail trade of Kenya, and did, as a result, come to be a kind of economic colony of India, since so much of the money was sent back there. Yet it was not by trade alone that the Indians succeeded in Kenya. The trains ran because of them, because they drove them, worked as signalmen and were station-masters. And the assorted Indian communities contributed their assorted skills in sectors other than that of trade and transport.
Assorted indeed is the Indian population of Kenya, and still is, although since the 1947 partition of India, the Indians officially have been referred to as Asians. The Asians are comprised of the following communities: the Hindus, numerically the largest, who in turn are comprised of various castes and sects; the Sikhs—or Singhs, as they are commonly called, the men readily distinguishable by their peaked turbans and fast cars; the Goans, Roman Catholic, originating from the former Portuguese colony of Goa and recognisable by their Portuguese surnames; and the Muslims, numerically the second largest, most of them Shias (rather than Sunnis) and members of either the Ismaili Khoja, the Bohra or the Ithna'ashri sects.
Assorted are the skills of these communities. For example, in addition to trade, the Muslim Bohras also utilised their skills in iron mongering, tin smithing and watchmaking. The Goans have contributed skilled clerks both to government and to private enterprise, and, through the years, outstanding musicians to the Nairobi Orchestra. The Sikhs, originally valued by the British for their martial attributes, became better known as fun-dis—mechanics, in particular. But such stereotypes no longer do to describe the Asian communities. Law, medicine and other professions abound with peoples of Asian origin today. They have exploited their self-made educational opportunities fully (through the creation of their own school systems within the British educational structure).
Diverse and rich in the cultures which they continue to maintain in their essential elements, the Asians have been of no essential cultural influence in Kenya. The Asian communities have been self-contained and en-digamous. While nurturing their own cultural heritage, the Asians have been impervious to the cultural influences of their African neighbours. There has been no significant cultural diffusion in either direction. So the sum of Asian influence in Kenya has been limited to the sectors of trade and technical expertise, and that within the wider sphere of European influence rather than that of African. (Courtesy Peoples & Cultures of Kenya)
A cart puller on road
Fire Station on Victoria Street Nairobi 1954 (courtesy Ron Leese)
Nairobi from Uhuru Park - 1983 (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
Uhuru Park (named Cutchhi Park) around '76
Scenes in the Nairobi market (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
The Beauty of Mount Kilimanjaro near Arusha/Moshi-Tanzania
Scenes at Nairobi Railway Station (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
Nairobi Railway Station
Ariel view of Government Road (Moi Ave) with the Khoja Mosque extreme top right 1983 (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
Law Courts nairobi (Courtesy JRSP)
Quaint premises of M/s Naranjan Singh Bros (Building Contractors) with management & staff on Kingsway near Police Station 1951
Another photograph of the directors of M/s Naranjan Singh Bros. Puran Singh, Kala Singh & Mohan Singh Alderman 1951
Avon House built by Naranjan Singh Bros. later premises of M/s B.S.Mohindra & Co. See the cars! Ford Mercury, Cheverolet & Dodge trucks 1956
Depicting the 'Survey' of the Uganda Railways at the Royal show 1958
Early traveller being carried on a 'monowheel' chair (royal show 1958)
Policing the Kenya Northern Frontier-Camel Patrol (1957)
Silly, that is not the way to get in!
At the ROYAL Show in 1958 -A 'living statue' depicting the 1914-18 War.
Earlier settlers of Kenya in a vintage car at the Royal Show 1958
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A fish shop in Westlands with interesting 'board' (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
The tail assembly of an RAF Victor Bomber frames Nairobi Airport's terminal building 1959
A donkey cart used for delivering milk from dairy farms (1958)
Motor Cycle races misphap on track Nairobi (Courtesy JRSP)
The Queen Mother's visit to Kenya -seen here with the Governor of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring (1959)
The building of 9000 ft above sea level Nairobi Eldoret Road near the equator - 1959
St. Mary of the Angels church on the way from Nairobi to Nakuru in the Rift Valley, built by Italian POW'S, who held their first service on X'mas day 1943 (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic' )
Nakuru Railway Station - a landmark at the time - (Courtesy Kenya today 1957)
Treetops, the 'Jungle Hotel', which is a combination of luxury guest house and game watching point in the mountain forest of the Aberdares range, near Nyeri, Kenya. The building completed in June 1957, replaced the old Treetops, built in the brances of a giant fig tree in 1932, which was visited by more than 8000 people including Queen Elizabeth. (Courtesy Kenya today 1957)
The 'Fourteen Falls' - a beautiful picnic spot for the Kenyans (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic'
One of the oldest shops of Nyeri who sold nearly everything (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic')
Shopping centre Karatina (near Nyeri) (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic')
Workshops in Karatina (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic')
Main Street Eldoret 1960
A picturesque view of Nairobi /Mombasa Road (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic')
The train Journey from Nairobi to Mombasa is also an Nostalgice chapter in the lives of the people who lived there. Holidays of the Nairobi citizens were mostly spent in Mombasa with dips in the Bamburi beach Indian Oceon and then Mogo & corn cobs on the light house where everybody met everybody in the pleasant evenings. Nostalgic indeed!!! This is first hand account of a journey from Nbi to Msa as narrated by Ameer Janmohammed in his book 'A Regal Romance'.
the train journey between nairobi and mombasa
In my view, the train journey between Mombasa and Nairobi epitomised the way in which the three main racial groups lived in Kenya.
Kenya Uganda Railways used to run a daily passenger train service between Mombasa and Nairobi. The Mombasa train would leave each evening at six pm to arrive at Nairobi at 8.00 a.m. the following morning. The Nairobi train would leave at seven to arrive at Mombasa at 8.00 am the next morning. Nairobi being at an altitude of 5500 feet above sea level, the journey down to the coast took an hour less. Each train would consist of the locomotive and tender and several goods vans.The carriages were arranged in a specific manner. Behind the locomotive would be a number of Third Class carriages, followed by a couple of Second Class carriages, and then some First Class carriages, with the Restaurant Car in the middle. Then some more Second Class carriages, some goods vans and the Guards van bringing up the rear. The reason for this was that in the days of the coal-burning locomotives, there used to be a lot of soot in the front half of the train. This way, the Europeans were spared the soot and also did not have to walk too far to reach the Restaurant car. Somewhere along the line, the coal burning-locomotives were replaced by Garratt diesel locomotives, and soot was no longer a problem. The locomotives were usually named after local mountains, eg, Mount Kinangop and Mount Elgin, and so on.
Europeans travelled first class. Cabins were better appointed and cost more. The Europeans ordered from bar service before going in for dinner, and had a choice of two sittings. A smartly turned out waiter in a starched white tunic with brass buttons would announce the sittings by walking through the carriages playing a tune on a shiny xylophone. The restaurant
Steward was usually a Goan and the waiters Africans, well trained. The food was good, with a four course meal consisting of soup, a fish course, meat and veg and dessert, with coffee and liqueurs to follow. First class cabins would be turned down whilst the passengers were at dinner, with crisp white bedding which would have been pre-ordered. Most Europeans also went in for breakfast in the morning.
Indians mostly travelled second class. The carriages were less sumptuously appointed, or were old first class carriages. Indians did not as a rule go to the Restaurant car. They brought their own cooked food in "tiffins" which they ate in their cabins. The menu for our family usually consisted of fried fish and "rotli" or "rotlo". For Roshan, Sultan and I, that meal was the highlight of the journey. Indians also travelled with their own bed-rolls. Indians in those days did not stay in hotels, so they always stayed with families and friends, and they always carried their own bedding. In any case, there were no hotels which catered for them, even if any Indian wanted to stay in one. I don't think staying in hotels fitted in with the Indian culture. Well-to-do Indians always had relatives - cousins, or in-laws, or friends or business connections, who would be happy to put up out of town visitors. Poorer people would find guest-houses, known as Dharamshalas or Musafar-Khanas which were usually run by community groups.
We used to make this trip each year during school holidays and would stay in Nairobi at our Ebrahim Mama's house. One of my loveliest memories is of Roshan, Sultan and I, and our lovely cousins, all having so much fun when all the beddings were rolled out on the sitting room carpet each evening. Our cousins would refuse to go to their own beds because they wanted to be with us on the mattresses on the sitting room carpet - Nurbanu Mami and my mother would eventually succeed in shooing them away.
There was also another significant difference between the carriages in the three classes. The toilets. They were situated at each end of the carriages. First Class would have the upright Western-style toilets at both ends. Second Class had one Western and one squatting style at either end or Third Class had squatting-type toilets at both ends. You would be lucky to find any toilet paper in the Second, and certainly not in the Third. Cabins with en suite toilets and a wash-basin were introduced later.
Most Africans and some Indians travelled third class. Third class carriages were not sectioned off into cabins. They had hard wooden benches, and passengers sat through the night until they reached the destination. They paid very little for the privilege.
The trains would make a number of stops along the way when third class passengers could stretch their legs and buy mugs of tea and snacks from local vendors who came up to the carriages. From Mombasa, the first stop would be Voi, a hundred miles due West. Then Mtito-Endei which was the half way mark, and for us, Kibwezi, about two thirds of the way to Nairobi. We used to keep awake for Kibwezi because one of my cousins, Hussein Motabapa's eldest daughter Dolu, lived there - she was married to Akbar Gangji who had a business there – and they would always meet the train with lovely Indian tea and some delicious snacks at four in the morning! They would have received a telegram that family members were travelling on that day.
This interesting book about the exploits of Ameer Janmohammed and his family in East Africa can be obtained from Ameer Janmohammed by e/mailing him at akj@btinternet.com
Mt. Lukenya on the way from Nairobi to Mombasa near the turnoff to Machakos
Transport Bus on Mombasa Road (courtesy 'The Kenya Magic')
Regal Cinema completed in 1931- photo taken by Ameer janmohamed (owners of cinema)in 1968 from across Salim Road in front of Badrudin Sports House. This cinema cahh was burnt and distroyed in 1985.( courtesy 'A Regal Romance' by Ameer Janmohamed)
H.H. Prince Aly Khan visited the Regal Cinema in 1958 and also laid the foundation stone of the City House (below). Here he is seen with the Kassam Janmohamed & his family. (( courtesy 'A Regal Romance' by Ameer Janmohamed)
City House Mombasa, completed in 1958 replacing old building occupied by Motor Mart & Exchange. It was the first building incorporating an arcade and a fountain in the central courtyard: hence the restaurant being named FONTANELLA. ( courtesy 'A Regal Romance' by Ameer Janmohamed)
The tusks at Kilindini Road Mombasa C1960
An international 505 class yacht at the Kilindini Harbour Mombasa
A picturesque view of Fort Jesus and a old type dhow from the old Mombasa Harbour -1959
The Oceanic Hotel Mombasa with a Union castle Liner passing on way to Kilindini Harbour 1959
The Oceanic -A landmark at the gateway to Kenya
Diesel Ferry connecting Mombasa Island with Likoni -(1957)
Likonio Ferry (photo courtesy Kevin Patience)
Old Port Mombasa (photo courtesy Kevin Patience)
Nyali Bridge (photo courtesy Kevin Patience)
Nyali Bridge (photo courtesy Kevin Patience)
View from Fort Jesus (photo courtesy Kevin Patience)
Shipwrecks and Salvage on the
East African Coast
1499 - 2004
by Kevin Patience
The coast of East Africa stretches some 4,000 miles from Cape Guardafui in Somalia to the Mozambique Channel. It is rugged and inhospitable, with few safe anchorages, miles of treacherous coral reefs and a strong northerly current. Over the years it has become a ship’s graveyard, to the unlucky ones, and a dire warning to those that ran aground and were subsequently refloated. The earliest known recorded casualty is the Portuguese galleon San Raphael that grounded and was burnt at Mtongoni, near Tanga in 1499.
Since the earliest recorded history, seafarers have traded along this coast and until the late 19th century, Zanzibar was the centre of a large prosperous empire. With the signing of the Treaty of Berlin in July 1890, the vast area of East Africa ruled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, became British and German East Africa, now Kenya and Tanzania. The opening up of the two colonies, aided by the completion of the railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria and the two lines from Tanga to Moshi, and Dar es Salaam to Lake Tanganyika, dramatically increased the volume of shipping along the coast, and in consequence the casualties. Ranging from the 15th century to the present day, this record conveys some idea of the ever present hazards faced by mariners sailing in this part of Africa. Many were due to human error and mechanical failure, with others from under estimating the forces of nature and casualties from the First World War.
The author spent over twenty-five years in the diving and salvage business in the Middle East and East Africa and was involved in some of the operations described in the book. He dived on and identified many of the other wrecks mentioned
Using records in Australia, Germany, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and the U.K. as well as the library’s of Lloyds Register of Shipping, the Guildhall and the National Archives in London together with the Hydrographic Office records at Taunton, the author discovered the stories of over 200 merchant and naval ships that came to grief. The publication covers most of the known casualties that were wrecked or salvaged along the coast from the Kenya / Somali border to the Tanzania / Mozambique border, a distance of 1,400 miles. The inland lakes including Tanganyika and Victoria also had their fair share of casualties and these are included, as are all the tugs from 1896 to date since many played a part in the salvage operations.
. 276 pages, H/Back, with over 300 illustrations and three maps.
Available from the author at : 257 Sandbanks Road, Poole, BH14 8EY
at £13 inc P&P to UK. saburi@hotmail.com
‘A brilliant piece of research and an excellent read’ – Mariners Monthly
‘A five star recommended book’ – Ned Middleton – International Shipwreck specialist
Central Square-Kisumu
Hippo Point - Lake Victoria Kisumu
Fire Station - Kisumu
KAMPALA
1954:Kampala Road, snapped from the edge of the then Post Office. Diagonally, the KGA building & the next to it, gave way to the building that had Camera Center; and the Bank of Baroda, respectively. Also note the autos of the time. (photo courtesy Ameer Janmohammed)
A view of the road from Nairobi to Arusha -Tanzania
President of Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta with Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji at his residence in Gatundu where the Namdharis built a hospital. Circa 1973
President Jomo Kenyatta greets Joginder Singh (Simba) on the start of the East African Rally (previously Coronation Rally). Eric Cecil, a safari official looks on.
The beauty of Africa
Shall I take his photo or run to the car?
Dead Elephant is scary no more - even for walking on it. (see Sikh with kachhehra)
A battle between a rhino and a chevvy-both got KO on nairobi Mombasa Road
Poachers dance after a kill (1958)
An North Province chief.
The Chief Secretary, Mr. W.F. Coutts, shares the fare cooked by Boy Scouts at the all-races 'Camporee' near Nairobi. (1958)
This is Africa!!!!!!
The Toyota Cowrolla (photo courtesy Mansukh Ganatra)
The Fast? ambulance (photo courtesy Mansukh Ganatra)
Hot water sink!! (photo courtesy Mansukh Ganatra)
Battery player !! (photo courtesy Mansukh Ganatra)
Barrow pullers !!!! (photo courtesy Mansukh Ganatra)
Who needs a pocket or speaker?
Remember!!---- The Sno Cream parlour (photo sent by Pushpendra Shah )
Inside the sno cream parlour (photo sent by Pushpendra Shah )
Sno Cream interesting menu (photo sent by Pushpendra Shah )
Karimjee family: 'Merchant princes of East Africa'
President Jakaya Kikwete (right) receives Karimjee Jivanjee family book from Hatim Karimjee, Chairman of Karimjee Jivanjee Ltd during a ceremony to launch the book in Dar es Salaam recently. (2010)
IT is well known that to achieve continuous success and growth, families must pass on the entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilities that enable them to create new streams of social and economic wealth across many generations.
The keys to growing a family business and maintaining healthy family relationships are trust, strong family values and effective communication.
Successfully balancing the differing interests of family members and or the interests of one or more family members on one hand and the interests of the business on the other requires the people involved to have the competencies, character and commitment.
Often, family members can benefit from involving more than one professional advisor, each having a particular skill set needed by the family. Some of the skill sets that might be needed include communication, conflict resolution, family systems, finance, legal, accounting, insurance, investing, leadership development, management development, and strategic planning.
This is true to what is described by the term "merchant princes" in the Karimjees family book “The Karimjee Jivanjee Family Book, Merchant Princes of East Africa 1800-2000”. The Karimjees might not be regal in the real sense of the word but they have always aspired to nobility in its broader sense.
Yusufali Karimjee's personal belief that "wealth imposes obligations" was an echo of the ancient watchword of high-born Europeans, “noblesse oblige”, and the Karimjees not only adopted this motto but lived by it. The list of their charitable deeds is long and impressive. It includes the Karimjee Hall, various schools, a hospital and two maternity homes.
This generosity is all the more remarkable considering the astonishing number of properties that were expropriated from the family in post-revolution Zanzibar and as a result of the Tanzanian government’s nationalisation policies in 1971. The period from 1964 to 1990 was a difficult and damaging one for the Karimjee Jivanjees but as the writer observed, “That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger”.
It is this ability, to survive adversities and rise above them, that has distinguished the family (and the East African Asians in general) and that has helped to bestow upon the "merchant prince" Karimjees a nobility of character and purpose.
Gijsbert Oonk's book is a fine and important testimonial to this quietly amazing family, enhanced by many beautifully printed photographs. It was intended primarily as a tribute to the family's ancestors, and to inform or remind present-day Karimjees of the eminent achievements and individuals of their collective past.
But, the book goes far beyond this objective, for it reflects the triumph over hardship of the East African Asians in general, and the great contribution they have made to the region. No one who remains ignorant of these much-misunderstood, much-underrated people can ever hope to understand the history of East Africa.
Gijsbert Oonk discusses the family in general, from its founding father Buddhaboy Noormuhammed, small scale hardware merchant in the Gujerati port of Mandvi, and his son Jivanjee (whom Buddhaboy sent off to seek his fortune in Zanzibar in 1818) to present-day family members, but he focuses on four of the more exceptional Karimjees, the “four historical champions”.
Yusufali Karimjee, born in Zanzibar in 1882, when Barghash was Sultan and when Henry Morton Stanley was still in mid-career as an explorer, led a life "characterised by unexpected moves, adventures and hard work. Amongst the "unexpected moves" was his marriage to a Japanese woman, far more unusual then than it might be today.
Abdullah Mohamedali Karimjee (1899-1978), "the sisal baron of Tanga", was another fascinating man, with "a natural charm and charisma". At home in the African bush, a prestigious Swiss ski resort or when escorting Princess Margaret of England, as well as on the family sisal or tea estates, he too was unconventional enough to take, as his second wife, a foreign bride, the daughter of a German planter.
Abdulkarim (1906-77) who married conventionally but whose life story otherwise "reads like a long tale of special occasions, nominations and interesting, influential jobs and positions". Last of the outstanding Karimjee "free spirits" is Tayabali (1897-1987) whose life revolved around “family business, politics and charity”
These four Karimjees embody the entrepreneurial, independent-mindedness that seems to crop up in the family from time to time but they also embody the traits that would once have been referred to as "good breeding". The Karimjees acquired "class" as well as estates and businesses and conventional or not, every Karimjee was (and is) expected to behave as a gentleman or lady, as the case may be.
Much has been said and written about the Pilgrim Fathers who founded modern-day America, yet so little about the equally brave, determined, adventurous, hard-working and God-fearing Gujeratis (as most of them were) who eventually helped to transform a desperately poor and undeveloped region into today's East Africa.
This situation is changing, thanks in no small part to Cynthia Salvadori, whose impressive book Through Open Doors (1983) opened a more metaphorical door upon the Asian cultures in Kenya, giving non-Asians, in East Africa and beyond, a long-overdue opportunity to see the Asians in a more balanced, less stereotyped way.
Since then several other books have been written about East Africa's Asian communities or distinguished individuals. Gijsbert Oonk's The Karimjee Jivanjee Family - Merchant Princes of East Africa, is an important addition to this growing list. The fact that it concerns a family, rather than communities or specific persons, is significant, as the family is at the heart of Asian life; behind every successful Asian is a supportive family.
Several Asian families have made their mark in East Africa, none more worthy of a published history than the Karimjee Jivanjees, whose remarkable nineteenth century ancestors arrived in the region after crossing "the kali pani”, the 'dark waters'...at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Many years, it is worth remembering, before the first of the famous European explorers set foot in what they knew as "the Dark Continent"
East Africa's "Asian" communities form a far more heterogeneous and complex group than is generally realised, and their huge contribution to the region, in terms of its economy and cultural diversity, has largely been woefully underestimated.
In fact the Asians have frequently been treated unfairly (by whites and blacks alike) and occasionally, as in Idi Amin's Uganda, with callous severity. Such abuses persuaded many Asians to leave East Africa but many also chose to stay on, at least in Kenya and Tanzania, to rise above discouraging circumstances yet again, with all the characteristic optimism, perseverance, stoicism, self-discipline, self-resourcefulness and strong sense of community that allowed their forefathers (predominantly poor and in formal terms uneducated) to cross the seas in simple dhows and flourish in an alien and sometimes inhospitable land. (sent by Ameer Janmohammed)
ZANZIBAR
(Following pictures sent by Eqbal Rupani through Ameer Janmohammed - Thanks, Harjinder)
Beit-Al Ajaib
Boat harbour 1890
British residence
Capitol Art Studio
Town Arch
CountryBathHouse
Dhows Ships Zanzibar
Bu-Bu-BuExpress1908
HouseofWonders1955
Sultan's love for women inspired a railway line
By Joe Ombuor
Long before the Kenya /Uganda railway and its world famous man eating lions took off from Mombasa and landed in Kisumu in 1901, a railway line in Zanzibar had ran on the lure of beautiful women fetched from far and wide to entertain an erotic Arab Sultan.
The 14 kilometre line from the Sultan’s palace at Stone Town to Chukwani was constructed in 1879 to run via the sea side Mahrubi palace built by Sultan Seyyid Barghash bin Said for his relaxation and enjoyment with belles from the East African region, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
The ‘trains’ were Pullman cars pulled by mules until 1881 when steam tank locomotives imported from India came into the scene. The ‘fun’ train screeched to a halt with the sudden death of Seyyid Barghash. Records at the Mahrubi palace ruins on the Eastern outskirts of Zanzibar town show that an accidental fire that razed down the ‘palace of romance’ hit the Sultan like a thunderbolt, and the resultant shock killed him early –1889.
Located metres away from the sea to tap on the abundant breeze, Mahrubi palace had several bedrooms for women and a sitting room where they assembled after bathing in three pools in the compound. Then pools were never destroyed by the fire and save for the greenish water, are still intact.
Sexual escapades
After bathing in the first pool, the women selected by the sultan for the day’s sexual pleasure from their sensual beauty and charm went to the second pool to further clean up and on to a room upstairs where the Sultan would be waiting after a session of massage and other exercises.
The women were housed in seven rooms downstairs.
To enhance his potency in those days when Viagra was still several life times away, Sultan Barghash had a traditional treat comprising eight different ingredients that included octopus soup ginger, cinnamon, black pepper and other foodstuffs believed to be aphrodisiacs.
The Sultan was married to one wife who bore him one son, but had 99 concubines at Mahrubi palace at any given time. His bedroom had pools for hot and cold water where he bathed before and after his sexual escapades.
Clean water for use in the leisure palace was carried in raised concrete aqueducts from a river source five kilometres away.
A furrow carried ablution water to and from the sea to clear the toilets of waste. The facilities, though dilapidated, are still intact.
The entrance to the ruins from the Darajani/ Bububu Road is lined with huge mango trees dating back to the days of Sultan Barghash. It is said he brought the mangoes from India where he lived for a while as punishment for attempting to outmanoeuvre his elder brother out of power.
Barghash who ruled Zanzibar from 1870 to 1888 is also credited with the introduction to the Eastern African coast of the uniquely beautiful Ashok trees from India.
The trees that grow to great heights have elegant inverted leaves pointing downwards to form an umbrella shaped tip.
Expensive tastes
Better educated than his predecessors, Barghahsh had a penchant for expensive Western tastes and instantaneous life.
Besides his obsession with attractive women, he gave East Africa its first glimpse of electricity when oil streetlights were installed in Stone Town in 1870. Years later, he initiated the building of a power station near the harbour palace complex and used it to illuminate as many royal buildings as possible.
The lighthouse that stood in front of his palace became the scene of so many decorative bulbs prompting sailors from the Western world to refer to it as the Christmas tree of Africa.
The railway line that died with Sultan Barghash resurrected nearly two decades later when a new line on the path of the old one extended to Bububu, around 10 kilometres away from Darajani.
It ceased to operate in 1930. Zanzibar has no railway track. A life-sized portrait of Seyyijd Barghash is among attractions at the people’s palace, the former residence of the Sultan of Zanzibar.
Source:The Standard | Online Edition :: Sultan's love for women inspired a railway line (contributed by Ameer Janmohammed)
Mizigani Street Light and train track
Street scene with electricity poles
Unloading at harbour1900
Hotel Interior - Zanzibar