PLEASE CLICK: The Aga Khan’s Diamond Jubilee in Uganda and Tanzania
Please click on image for a comprehensive coverage.
Date posted: October 15, 2017.
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5 days to remember: The Aga Khan’s Diamond Jubilee in Uganda and Tanzania
Please click on the following image to zoom on an excellent PDF version of the photo
Please click on image to view PDF file. Copyright Simerg/Abdul M. Ismaily Family Collection.
Simerg was thrilled and privileged to recently publish on its sister photoblog never-before-seen photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, which were captured by Abdul M. Ismaily (1926-1981) during Hazar Imam’s visits to Hunza, Uganda and Pakistan in the early 1960’s. The collection was provided for exclusive publication on Simerg by the family of the late “Papa Jaan,” through Muslim Harji of Montreal.
We pay a small tribute to the memory of “Papa Jaan” for his outstanding photos by presenting a PDF image (click image on top) which contains 35 images from more than fifty that appeared in the Hunza, Uganda and Pakistan pieces. First time visitors to this website as well as readers who may have overlooked one or more photo posts are invited to click on the following links:
Copyright. Simerg.
Date posted: February 23, 2016
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PLEASE CLICK: Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to Uganda by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
Please click on image for more photos by “Papa Jaan” of His Highness the Aga Khan’s visit to Uganda. Photo: Abdul M. Ismaily. Copyright.
Editor’s Note: Following our recent posting of the late Abdul Mohamed Ismaily’s photographs of His Highness the Aga Khan’s historical first visit to Hunza in 1960, we now present you a collection of his photographs taken in Uganda. Please share this website with your family and friends via email and the social media. We thank our readers for their excellent response to the Hunza photos, and welcome your feedback by completing the applicable comments box or by sending an email to simerg@aol.com.
PLEASE CLICK: Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to Uganda by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
Date posted: February 14, 2016.
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For Hunza photos, please click Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s 1960 Visit to Hunza by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
BY SHARIFFA KESHAVJEE
The sacred space is set
The energy is invoked
The earth’s ochre red
Makes a path through the green.
Reflected in the Ismaili and Uganda flag
The logo of the university
Radiating, rippling outwardsOur world of rapid change
Meets in Uganda to break the ground
Nakawa is chosen to propel
the University Hospital
To reach beyond its borders
The frontiers of Science
Radiation ever outwardsDecades of decay at Mulago
A new seed of hope is planted
Pioneering pluralism
In Uganda’s rich soil
Revitalizing the land
For life long learning
Radiating ever outwards
The President and Imam’s vision
Bringing to the region
Appropriate advanced Health Care
The people can access
Here at home the very best
The youth empowered to remain
Here at home to give their best practices
Expanding ever outwardsThe people rejoice with lush voices
Their partners join hands to celebrate
This great milestone laid by the red bricks
That fulfills the words of the anthem
That ever propel outwards
Salute to the President and Imam for
Their vision, their respect
For national progress
Global standards of excellence
To be in the frontier of scientific
and humanistic knowledge
The best in the world
Propelling expanding ever outward
An emblematic crown over Uganda
Date posted: December 18, 2015.
Copyright: Shariffa Keshavjee/Simerg
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Nakawa – an area in the city of Kampala.
Mulago – The hospital located on Mulago Hill in Kampala.
Links to stories and videos of the Land Grant Ceremony of the new Aga Khan University Teaching Hospital to be built in Uganada:
Please also visit:
http://www.theismaili.org
http://www.akdn.org
http://www.ismailimail.wordpress.com.
Also, http://www.nanowisdoms.org is an excellent resource for speeches of Mawlana Hazar Imam.
We welcome your feedback. Please click Leave a comment.
This work is a small tribute to the unsung intrepid pioneering Indian traders and very often their families, who braved the unknown hazards of the “Dark Continent”, carried on regardless of disease, lack of comforts, privations, ill-health, and even death, which they knew was their constant and real possibility.
“While the tribute is aimed at all the Indian, later termed Asians traders and shop keepers, we should bear in mind that these intrepid early trading pioneers also included Ismailis, who became prominent merchants and developers in all economic fields in East Africa. The Ismailis left behind an admirable record of their contribution, and this work touches them too.” — Kersi Rustomji
Hitherto the dukawala remain unrecognised nor given a deservedly appropriate place in the annals of these nations. Without record of these traders and other Indians who also played a very prominent and important part in the economic and the political growth of these nations, the histories of these three East African countries would be incomplete.
PLEASE CLICK: Ode to the Indian Dukawala on East African Plains
The image depicts on the rich red soil, a typical Indian duka, a small trading store, in small towns and remote country areas of East Africa. The signage is also typically hand painted work of the duka owners. These put up with any paint at hand, included some spelling errors. The man behind the counter is my paternal uncle Jehangirji Rustomji, who first opened a small watch repair duka in the old Indian Bazaar, now Biashara Street, in early 1906 in Nairobi, Kenya. He later moved to the then Government Road, now Moi Avenue, in the corner of a chemist shop, Chemitex, next to the old Alibhai Sherrif hardware shop, going towards the Ismaili jamatkhana, on the corner of Government Road and River Road. Later his youngest son Rati joined him, and after Jehangirji’s death, Rati carried on the little business until 2009, when he retired and closed the little duka after 103 years of its existence. Rati still lives in Nairobi. Copyright: Kersi Rustomji, Australia.
“FOR MY TANZANIAN JAMAT, DIVERSIFICATION, YES, YES, YES; EXODUS, NO, NO, NO” — His Highness the Aga Khan, Kenya, 1972.
Sadru Meghji originally of Kilosa, Tanzania, tells the story of his 1971 visit to the Canadian High Commission in Dar-es-Salaam and how he became involved in assisting the migration of Tanzanian Ismailis to Canada. Meghji says that this form of assistance has been part of his family tradition from the time of his grandfather in 1899. Sadru’s father, Vazier Rajabali Meghji Visram, also continued similar service to the Ismaili community and, in the photo below, is seen receiving a ring and blessings from His Highness the Aga Khan during the 49th Ismaili Imam’s takhtnashini (enthronement) visit to Dar-es-Salaam in 1957. Please click on the following link or photo for Sadru Meghji’s informative “lost history” piece.
PLEASE CLICK: Rediscovering a Lost Piece of Ismaili History — First Steps in the Migration of Tanzanian Ismailis to Canada
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, blessing Vazier Rajabali Meghji Visram during his visit to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (then Tanganyika) in October 1957. Photo: Sadru Meghji Collection, Toronto. Please click on photo for article.
RSVP Rice and Stew Very Plenty – Memories of Growing Up in Jinja
Please click for “Memories of Growing up in Jinja”
“….I remember vividly my trips, on Friday or Saturday mornings, to the sokoni with Ma and various of my brothers and sisters. The market…sat on a square consisting of several acres. Decrepit wooden stalls pinched against one another higgledy-piggledy. Narrow, dirt lanes meandered around and through the grounds…The bazaar-like atmosphere was intoxicating, a pulsing cacophony of sights and sounds. The air was redolent with a muddle of delectable, pungent, and sometimes revolting odours….”
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