User:Sanskarporwal/sandbox
Karimjee Jivanjee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kutch, Gujarat |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Mayor of Wikipedia | |
| In office 1960–2000 | |
| Website | example |
Early life
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The Karimjees originally came from Mandvi, a small seaport in Kutch, Northwest India. They are Shia Muslims, more specifically Bohras. They were small traders with probably some background in agriculture. During the famines and economic hard times in North West India in the early nineteenth century,they were compelled to search for better approaches to discover living. One of the option for them was to sail to . Zanzibar. The founding father of the Karimjee Jivanjee family, Jivanjee Buddhaboy, arrived in Zanzibar in 1818. At that time the South Asian community in Zanzibar probably amounted to less than 1,000 people – mainly young men – on the island. The Karimjee Jivanjee family started their modest trading business in East Africa just before the any other important South Asian kings of trade and commerce in east Africa, like Tharia Thopan (1823–1891), Sewji Haji (1851–1897), Allidina Visram (1851–1916), and Nasser Veerjee (1865–1942). These merchant princes were among the important financers of the East African caravan trade in the nineteenth century. They have, however, now vanished from the economic playing fields of East Africa while Karimjee Jivanjee & Co remains active in Dares Salaam. Moreover, the Karimjees preceded current important South Asian business tycoons in East Africa, like the Mehtas, the Madhvanis and the Chandarias. At one time, they started as traders and financiers; they diversified to agricultural produce and were among the largest landowners in East Africa, mainly producing sisal, coffee, and tea. Nowadays, they are the authorized distributors of Toyota cars in Tanzania. They arrived in Zanzibar while this was a part of the Sultanate of Oman. During the conference of Berlin in 1884, East Africa was then divided in British East Africa and German East Africa. After the Germans lost the First World War, Tanganyika became a British Protectorate in 1919. In 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence and were followed by Tanzania in 1961. In the late 1960s, many businesses in East Africa were nationalized; Idi Amin of Uganda even expelled all the Asians from Uganda in 1972. The Karimjees shared the experience of these painful events, but they were nevertheless able to recover and reestablish their businesses (Oonk 2009).