The Samji family was established in the small town of Satudar in the state of Kathiawar. There were only 4-5 Ismaili families, mainly our families. The rest of the population was mainly Hindus and Luhana.

Jinnah Bapa (1815-1898) and Jiribai (1820-1915) had a son, Samji, with whom we begin this narration. Samji Bapa (1864-1948) used to wake up at 3 a.m. regularly and go to Jamatkhana to clean the Jamatkhana, turn on the lamps and make the tea. He never drank tea in his life, but would make it for others. After bandagi and prayers, he would go for a walk to check on the crops of nearby farmers and exchange news. While walking he would chew on some "Kakechia" and "inderju" (bitter roots which are very good for your health). He would then brush with "bavar nu datan" (a stem with strands with natural substances good for your teeth) and he would wash his face, hands and legs at a river and go home. He would return home at 7 a.m. and wake up the rest of the family. The family would get ready and assemble for breakfast. This consisted of yoghurt (from milk produced by the family's two buffaloes) and flour chapati. In winter, it was mandatory for each person to eat two ladus made from "arrad" (a kind of bean), saffron and ghee. Lunch was at approximately 12.30 p.m. and consisted of curries ("dal"), "rotio". hand crushed onion and pickles.

The children attended the small village school for 5 to 6 years and later at somebody's house in a nearby village to learn English. On completion of formal schooling, at the age of 11, the boys started work in the family business and the girls helped at home.

The business sold produce (flour, molasses, oil, etc) and seeds, both wholesale and retail. When the rains came and it was time to plant, farmers in the area would buy seeds from Samji Bapa on credit. Repayment would take place when the crops came in and the farmers usually paid with crops, with a premium of 25-50% representing profit for Samji Bapa. Samji Bapa would also take the some of the crops, again on account, and allow the farmers to draw down on the account for the remainder of the year with purchases of produce. There was, therefore, little exchange of money. The shop also sold clothes. He obtained goods for his business on his visits to Dhoraji as part of his Jamati work. The Samji Jinnah family was considered to be financially very well off.

The house was made of cement and was considered the best in Satudar. It had four rooms and the women in the family maintained the household, including tending the two buffaloes and fetching water from the river in buckets. Water for drinking was filtered and kept in a clay "matungi" (pot) to keep it cool.

Samji Bapa was a very religious man and was known in the state as very "Imandar". He served the Jamat all his life and was appointed as President of the Kathiawar Ismaili Council based in Dhoraji which comprised of eight districts. In those days, there was only one Jamati institution, the Council, to look after Jamati matters. He would go to the Council meetings on his horse riding eight miles each way. He was very strict in requiring his family to attend Jamatkhana every evening. If a child missed attending Jamatkhana without good reason, the child could not have dinner with the rest of the family, but was made to eat separately. This was considered a big punishment! He was generally patient with the children, but would get angry if a mistake was made a second time if it had been corrected previously. At the end of each month, Samji Bapa would prepare his accounts in order to calculate his dasond. He would not drink milk or eat meat until this task was completed and his dasond was remitted.

He was very particular about how he was to be buried. When he was eighty years old, he prepared,a trunk containing all the paraphernalia required to conduct a funeral, including his "kafan". He carried this trunk around with him on his travels just in case it was needed. He had a burial plot prepared in advance because the ground was very rocky and it took a week to dig it. He went on to lie in it and measure it for size. When he was advised that he should not tempt fate, he laughed and said, "Surely that is the ultimate end and if it is time for me to go, let the grave close on me!" He made sure that all majalases for him and his wife were performed while they were alive. He sent around a bus to pick up all the dignitaries in the area for the majalas, brought in a waezeen to deliver a waez, paid his dasond up to date with a plateful of new rupees and organized a three day feast. Later, during Mawlana Sultan Mohamed Shah's padhramni, he pledged mehmani and went for chanta. Mowla Bapa performed the chanta ceremony, and then took the "kumb" of holy water and poured it over Samji Bapa thoroughly drenching his pagri and clothes! Samji Sapa was overjoyed. He felt he was thoroughly pure!

India was under British rule and there was peace in the area. Relationships between the various communities were very cordial and there was no friction between Hindus and Muslims. The elders in the Hindu community would come to Samji Bapa every couple of months to seek his help in tying a "pagri" (turban); he was very proficient at tying them! This turban would contain a "suri" (nut cracker) and "sopari" (beetle nut). When the pagri became loose, the elder would wash it and come to lunch at Samji Bapa's after which the pagd would be redone. Samji Bapa's second wife, Motibai (1878-1946), was a very gentle woman. The town women turned to her for help and she distributed medical supplies (balm oil, wicks, quinine, etc.) to those in need. In 1946, the day before she died, she informed Alibhai, her son, to be ready for her funeral the following day. Alibhai laughed it off, but she died the following day.
Samji Bapa's father (Jinnah) and mother (Jivibai) lived in the same household. Some anecdotes: Jivibai's eyesight was very poor and the children took her by the hand to Jamatkhana everyday, for which they received lots of d'ua. Jinnah Bapa was also very spiritual. One day, he called the family together and said that the time had come for his spirit to join with Allah. He asked for "siro" to be made which he ate and then prayed for peace and well being of his family and future descendants. He then lay down on his bed and covered himself with a blanket. He advised the family to return in an hour. When they did, they found that he had passed away.

Samji Bapa had five children through his first wife, Mithibai: Habib (1884-1937), Karmaii (1890-1950), Mongibai (1892-1976), Manibai (1897-1972) and Gulamhussein (1899-1992). When Mithibai died, Samji Bapa married Motibai who also had five children: Jenabai (1 906- 1961), Janmohamed (1909-present), Rehmatbai (1912-1938), Alibhai (1915-1992) and Hassanali (1919-present). At the beginning of this century, lsmailis were starting to move to East Africa heeding Farmans made by Mawlana Sultan Mohamed Shah.

Habib Bapa married Rehmatbai (1887-1970) in 1900. Leaving his young bride at home, he emigrated to Tanganyika where he served an apprenticeship with the business of Jamal Walji in Bagamoyo. In 1909, having finished his apprenticeship, he moved to Dar-es-salaam and opened his own business. His brother-in-law, Jivraj Kachra (husband of Mongibai) joined him in the wholesale business called "Habib & Jivraj". They imported textiles and produce from Jiwraj Manji in India and also German goods which they distributed in Dar-es-salaam and in the interior. In 1913, Habib went to India for business and became stranded there over the course of the First World War. Karmali Bapa and Gulamhussein Bapa subsequently joined him on his return to Dar-es-salaam. Jivrai's brothers also came over from India about this time, and the two partners decided to open separate businesses.

Habib and Rehmat had six children, Khatija (1910-1969), Shamshudin (1913-1950), Fatehaly (1915-1952), Akber (1917-1979), Husseinaly(1920-present) and Jafferaly (1921-1975). They were born in Dar-es-salaam except for Shamshudin and Fatehaly, who were born in India during the time Habib Sapa was stranded there. Shamshudin and Fatehaly joined the family business after the usual seven years of education, while Akber, Hussein and Jafferaly studied until Junior Cambridge. As Habib Bapa's children joined the business, Karmaii Bapa opened his own business and brought over Janmohamed Bapa in 1929 to help him. Habib was the "Mota Bhai" of the expanding family. By this time, there were 4,000 Ismailis in Dar-es-salaam. Tanganyika was under German rule until 1918, and was a British Protectorate after the First World War. Law and order was maintained by them and life and property were very secure. Electricity came to Daressalaam fairly early on during the British time, but running water came much later. Water was sold by the Africans in tin cans carried on a pole called "zega zega".

Those I have interviewed all describe Habib Bapa as a gentleman, somebody who loved people, was always very kind and would go out of his way to help them. They say that they cannot find anybody who can measure up to his standards and that his early death at the age of fifty three was an unimaginable loss not only to his family and Jamat, but also to the wider community amongst whom he was greatly respected. It was very common to find total strangers putting up at his home. There was a big gallery where mattresses were laid out, and customers, guests and people who needed help could always avail themselves of a mattress.

His life style was very simple and regular. After morning prayers, he would have just one cup of tea and go to work at his business at 5.30 a.m. At 12-30 p.m. he would collect 10-15 customers and take them home for lunch. If for some reason, there were too few people he would complain that he would not enjoy the food and he would invite people he met on the street on his way home so that he had a full table of guests. Lunch was followed by a nap. At 4 p.m. he would attend a club to play cards and then go to Jamatkhana. After Jamatkhana, he would have dinner, again with several guests. Rehmatbai would bring his "patu" (pan box) after each meal; he was very fond of pan and making pan was almost a ritual with him. If any mail had arrived from the family in India, he would read out the letter after dinner and share the news with his family. Such letters were very precious and were read with appropriate solemnness. He was also fond of singing "geet" and could often be heard singing while resting in the gallery.
He served as Baytul Khayal Mukhi and Jamati Mukhi and as Council Honorary Secretary. While Jamati Mukhi in 1927-1929, with Hussein Nasser Shariff as Kamadia, he worked on the fund-raising and construction of the Darkhana in Dar-es-salaam, which opened in 1930. In those days, when Holy Talika were received, the Jamatbhai would go round town ringing a bell and announcing ( in the fashion of a town crier) that the Jamat should attend Jamatkhana for evening prayers to receive the Talika. In addition, an Ismaili flag was raised on our building which was one of very few double storey houses in town.

Any person starting out in business was sure to obtain credit, contacts and advice from him. He took great pride in other people succeeding. People had businesses which were financed entirely by him, without any promissory notes, mortgages or terms of payment. This led to complications when he died in 1937. He was visiting Bombay for medical treatment, and his father Samji Bapa had travelled from Satudar to be with him. Habib Bapa, who suffered from diabetes, was very ill and he wrote letters to all his family and also gave a power of attorney to Rehmatbai, Janmohamed Bapa, Jivraj Kachra, Hussein Nasser Shariff and Zaver Karsan. His last instructions were that the trustees should look after the children and that they should not worry that his customers, who owed the business significant amounts, would walk away from the debts. Right up till the end he had complete faith in the essential goodness in people.

Rehmathai, was the eldest daughter of Karsan Bapa (1870-1943) and Dhanbai, born in Khirosara (population about 700) in the state of Rajkot. Karsan Bapa was "Kamdar' (aide) to the Prince who had jurisdiction over a dozen villages. He was very particular about his dressing; he was always immaculately dressed. Satudar and Khirosara were only about 25 miles apart. The Samji and Karsan families being prominent in their area knew each other. One day Dhanbai was brushing Rehmat's hair when they heard a band approaching their house. The 13 year old Rehmat ran to the window to observe the band; it was then that she was informed that the procession was on account of her wedding to Habib Bapa!

Rehmatbai, even as a very young wife, was a very caring, family oriented person. Habib Bapa, as the eldest brother in a family of ten siblings, was the father figure in Dar-es- salaam. Rehmatbai was able to fulfil her responsibilities so that the family remained united; she was a mother to them. She was very strict in her upbringing of her children, and was a force to be reckoned with if anybody did not behave exactly as they were required. If there was noise in Jamatkhana, a single glance from her would be enough to scare the person into silence. Besides being a very strong willed person, she was physically very strong. She exuded an air of authority that none could challenge. It was only with Habib Bapa that she showed a meek attitude. There was a total contrast in the way they disciplined their family. While Habib Bapa was gentle with them and hardly ever raised his hand on them, Rehmatbai laid down the rules very firmly and was not averse to physical punishment if they were flouted. At the same time, she was a very fair person. She trained her daughters-in-law on how to manage a house, care for the needs of the family and cook well. She could not abide laziness; it was quite all right to make mistakes as long as the person tried. If at first the "rotia" were not round, she encouraged them to keep practising. If they did not know how to sew, she taught them patiently. If, however, they were not keen to learn, you could be sure that they would be told off in no uncertain manner. She was a very good seamstress herself; she made the clothes for her family and also took consignments from other people.
She was fond of some of the nicer things in life, but acted as if she did not care for them. She liked to play cards and "caram", but when she played she displayed an attitude of being a reluctant player. The children loved to "force" her to play! No sacrifice was too great for her family. When Alnoor, Akber's son, had polio and required hours of massage and heat treatment each day, she was there to do it even though the heat affected her eyesight.

She was very traditional in her outlook. Her attitude to life was that a woman had to be dignified and supportive to the man. Men had to eat first; and while they were eating she would make sure that she was present to make sure everything was in order and to encourage them to eat more. She was always hospitable to the countless guest that Habib Bapa invited home. The more guests who attended a meal, the more "barakat" they received. There were three main meals during the day. Even breakfast was a main meal; there had to be parotha, mithai, eggs, etc. For lunch and dinner, there had to be at least two curries, chapati and rice and each meal had to be freshly cooked. The woman's life therefore revolved round the kitchen. She and her daughters- in-law, in particular Shamshudin and Fatehaly's wives, spent the major part of their day in the kitchen. Perhaps, the only saving grace was that there was not that much washing up to do; the food was served on big "sinias" and a group of 5 to 6 people would eat from each.

The men, of course, were not expected to do the washing up. The men had more important things on their minds; they had the responsibility to earn a living to support their families and protect them, and nothing was allowed to detract from this responsibility except for their club, sports and friends!


The Habib Samji families changed their countries of residence two, and in some cases, three times, between 1905 and 1995. The family moved from India in response to Farmans made by Mawlana Sultan Mohamed Shah. Subsequently, they moved from East Africa due to economic restrictions and fear of personal safety. Fortunately, the years spent in East Africa had prepared us well to adapt to society in western countries. Although, there have been difficult times, there has always been the resilience and the confidence that we would survive and prosper. With Allah's grace and the prayers and services of our ancestors, we have now established a firm base in whichever countries we have chosen to settle in, a base on which we can build for future generations of the Habib Samji Kutumb. ©
                                                                                                                   Alnoor Samji