82.169.96.163 at 15:20, 24 May 2021

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'''Allidina Visram''' (1851 - 30 June 1916) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] settler, merchant, and philanthropist who played a prominent role in the development of [[British East Africa]].

==Biography==
Visram was born in [[Kera, Kutch]], in the [[Bombay Presidency]] of [[British India]] in 1851. He migrated penniless to [[Zanzibar]] at the age 12, and found work with a prominent local trader, [[Sewa Haji Paroo]], one of the [[Caravan (travellers)|caravan trade]]'s most active financiers.<ref>Sylvia McNair, Lynne Mansure, Kenya, Children's Press, 2001</ref><ref>Fahad Ahmad Bishara, A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780–1950, Cambridge University Press, 10 Mar 2017</ref> He soon branched out and began organising his own caravans into the interior. He achieved significant commercial success after entering the ivory trade and coming up with an idea to provide packaged foods to hunters on expedition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer/articleshow/45830768.cms|title=Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer|website=Times of India}}</ref> During the construction of the [[Uganda railway]], he opened many stores along the track and became the sole supplier of food to the Indian workers along the line. He won the trust of their British engineers, and was awarded a contract to pay the Indian workers and at the same time provide funds to the British constructors.<ref>Howard Schwartz, The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa: The Asian Contribution, Routledge, 5 Jul 2017</ref> On the death Sewa Hajji Paroo in 1897 he extended the caravan trade to Uganda and became known as the King of Ivory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer/articleshow/45830768.cms|title=Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer|website=Times of India}}</ref>

By 1904 he branched into agriculture and soon became the owner of seven large plantations. A report by the chief secretary in [[Entebbe]], noted that through his businesses he helped local industries by buying native crops, which no one else would touch, at prices which meant a loss for himself. His actions are regarded as having helped stimulate greater local production across parts of East Africa and contributed to the transition from a barter to money-based economy.<ref>Gaurav Desai, Commerce with the Universe: Africa, India, and the Afrasian Imagination, Columbia University Press, 24 Sep 2013</ref> By 1909 he was estimated to have 17 agents operating in the [[Belgian Congo]] and had diversified into soda making factories and furniture making shops in [[Kampala]] and Entebbe, oil mills at [[Kisumu]] and the coast, a soap making factory in [[Mombasa]], two cotton ginning establishments in Mombasa and Entebbe and saw mills near [[Nyeri]].<ref>Gaurav Desai, Commerce with the Universe: Africa, India, and the Afrasian Imagination, Columbia University Press, 24 Sep 2013</ref> In addition he was engaged in the transportation business, operating carts overland, and boats and a steamer at [[Lake Victoria]].<ref>Gaurav Desai, Commerce with the Universe: Africa, India, and the Afrasian Imagination, Columbia University Press, 24 Sep 2013</ref>

In 1900 he supported the creation of the Mombasa Indian Association and in 1914 was a founding member of the [[Kenya Indian Congress|East African Indian National Congress]].<ref>Howard Schwartz, The Rise and Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa: The Asian Contribution, Routledge, 5 Jul 2017</ref><ref>Zarina Patel, Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, East African Publishers, 2002</ref> He died in Mombasa in June 1916 from a fever contracted whilst on a business trip in the Congo.<ref>https://ismailimail.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/allidina-visram-pgs.pdf</ref> At the time of his death he had over 240 shops in East Africa and Congo. He was also widely known for his philanthropy and contributed large sums to schools and hospitals across East Africa, including a mosque in Kampala and an [[Anglican]] cathedral.<ref>Cynthia Salvadori, Through open doors: a view of Asian cultures in Kenya, Kenway Publications, 1989</ref> His success was seen as an inspiration for many of his fellow countrymen from [[Kutch]] to emigrate to East Africa in search of a better life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer/articleshow/45830768.cms|title=Bhuj-boy-turned-African-trade-pioneer|website=Times of India}}</ref>
He is regarded as the first person to open up a shop in Kampala (current capital of Uganda). Widely know in history of East Africa's economy.

==See also==
* [[Indians in Kenya|Kenyan Asians]]

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==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visram, Allidina}}
[[Category:1851 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Kenya]]
[[Category:Businesspeople of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Kenyan businesspeople]]
[[Category:Kenyan people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Indian Ismailis]]
[[Category:Kenyan Ismailis]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Kenyan Muslims]]
[[Category:Kenyan people of Gujarati descent]]
[[Category:Kenyan philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian merchants]]
[[Category:British Kenya people]]
[[Category:19th-century philanthropists]]

Allidina Visram - Revision history

82.169.96.163 at 15:20, 24 May 2021