History-Memons In Srilanka

The Memons in Sri Lanka are small in numbers but are considered an important minority community in the island.Like in other parts of the world memons in Srilanka are contributing immensely in the economic life of the country.

The Memons, first arrived to Srilanka in 1870 from Gujrat, India.Abdul Rahman more famously known as Manna Seth is said to be the first memon to come to Srilanka.He began here as an itinerant peddler of textiles in Jaffna before settling in Pettah and building up a considerable business.In late 1900 certain Memon merchants mainly from Kutiyana, Porbandar and Upleta travelled to Ceylon present day Sri Lanka for trading.They would purchase textiles from India and sell them locally as they had a good demand here.

Memons Haji Karim Seth Dhedhi and Haji Saleh Mohamed Sami with the first Prime Minister of Independent Sri Lanka D.S. Senanayake in 1948. Pix courtesy ‘Memons of Sri Lanka.’

With time, Memons steadily came to the island for business purposes, but it was only the men who came here. The women were left behind in their homes in Kathiawad. However, with the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, those Memon businessmen brought their families and settled there permanently.They call Sri Lanka  their own country and had been serving it to their best.

Memon Headquarters

Among the early Memon firms were A. R. Kareem & Co established as far back as 1895. By the 1930s many Memon merchants had set up shop in the Pettah area of Colombo and other major towns such as Galle and Kandy. Although many of these firms initially traded in textiles, it was not long before the more enterprising among them came to realize the benefits of getting into garment manufacturing, particularly for the lucrative US and European markets. Thus arose the big-time Memon firms like Brandix, EAM Maliban, Timex Garments and Lucky Industries which today rank among the top apparel exporters, bringing in valuable foreign exchange earnings to the country.

Other areas were also explored for business prospects, among them the production and export of agricultural produce, manufacture of pharmaceuticals and aviation which was successfully pursued by the Expolanka Group, a large Memon business concern headed by Osman Kassim who also serves as Chairman of Amana Investments which pioneered interest-free Islamic banking in the country. There were others like Phoenix Industries, which got into the manufacture of plastic items and is today a market leader in this area. Yet others got into the food business, among them Chinatown Halal Restaurant in Colpetty, Queen’s Café in Bambalapitiya and Sweet Court in Wellawatte.

Tuk Tuk as thy are called in Srialnka

The Memons like their ancestors are a largely business community, though many have now taken to industrial activity and the professions as well.Now Memons here are not only importers and traders of various essential goods, but also are manufacturers and exporters of high quality garments that have today become a major source of foreign earnings. They also have their own member of parliament. 

 

Memons as per their traditions have established mosques and madrasas in many parts of the island. The Memon Hanafi Mosque in Third Cross Street, Pettah, where Friday sermons are delivered in the Urdu language and Madrasa, Faiz-e-Raza are among the most known.

The Memons also have a distinct cultural identity.They mostly speak Memon. Many however understand Urdu, which serves as a lingua franca among the Muslims of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Their Wedding Ceremonies  include the Viahan ji Raja, the formal seeking of the bride’s consent shortly before the marriage ceremony and other  practices such as the Mehendi ceremony.Brides here are dressed almost like Memon brides in India or Pakistan.

Their dresses are also similar too Memons in Indo-Pak. Men prefer the long shirt and ijar while women commonly wear the shalwa-khameez.The womenfolk are also extremely fond of typical Indian jewellery such as nose studs, which are even worn by the young girls. Thus the Memons could be said to represent a typical Indian migrant community who have preserved their traditional way of life.
 

The Memon Association of Sri Lanka (MASL) then known as Memon Association of Ceylon was formed  in 1956 by well-known Memon personalities of the day such as Prof. Rauf Pasha, Dr. Ibrahim Dangra and Haji Usman Bhaila JP and was based in Hulftsdorp. It later shifted to the Memon Hall in Colpetty and now serves as a forum for bringing the community together on many an occasion, be it a religious event such as the Eid festival or more mundane activities such as the regular six-a-side softball cricket tournaments which it organizes.The Association also heavily involves itself in charitable activities not only towards the larger Muslim fraternity, but also the country at large.

References:
Wikipedia
The Memons – An Important Muslim Minority of Sri Lanka By Hameed Karim Bhoja