My Alarakia Family by Ken Alarakia-Charles
Preface
I have done quite a bit of research but I am left with lots of dots to join up. Google searches have given me a lot more than I
started with but also a lot of questions. Questions like where did my grandfathers family originate. I know both his father
Mahomed and his grandfather Sewjee came to Hong Kong from India in the mid 1800s.
My Great Great Grandfather Sewjee Alarakia was born in India in 1843 and died in Hong Kong 21 Jun 1890. It is possible that he originated in Cutch an old Princely State also known as the Kingdom of Kutch from 1147 to 1819. I say this because I found a record of traveller named Ebraim
Alarakia age 34 who was stated as being from Cutch and sailed regularly from Galle to Sidney NSW in the year 1861. I wonder if Sewjee and Ebaim were related, perhaps brothers with Sewjee being the younger of the two. Ebraim
however it seems remained in India through to old age as he was recorded as purchasing a horse in Bombay in 1887 from the British Army stables. Unfortunately I am unable to find any more about either. I don't know if Ebraim
was related to Mahomed and Sewjee but the name spelling seems pretty unique and suggests that anyone who spells their name the same are likely to be connected.
Some in the family believe The Alarakia's were originally Parsi who presumably embraced Islam as a means to survive after the PARSI fled persecution in Persia. If that is the case there is about thirteen hundred years of evidence I would need to sift through linking our name with the Parsi. To date I have been unable to find that evidence.*
*This is a moot point. There is an american academic Anita M Weiss who believes they were more likely to have been Memon or Dawoodi Bohra. She is basing her theory on the spelling of names. I have tried to check myself through name searches and it is pretty inconclusive because whilst she says the names are common among those groups the same can be said of other groups. I have checked with a journalist connected with the Parsi community and he was unable to say if the name Alarakia was a Parsee one. I appreciate it likely that names change over the years and it could be that ‘if’ they were originally Parsi they might have adopted Ismaili names when they embraced Islam. It should be noted however that on the ‘Hong Kong First ’ blog there is an Opium Hall of fame. Mentioned on this hall of fame is a certain ‘Adam Allarakia’ who in 1859 was listed as a partner in Allarakia, Noor Mohamed, Sons & Co and identified as a Parsi.
Further to the argument I have looked at the naming conventions for the various religious sects and only the Parsi and Gujarati Hindu follow the same convention as the Alarakia family. That is to say:
1. First name
2. Fathers First name
3. Family name.
This convention is followed for both the male and female line and in each case Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia’s children all carried his first name as their middle name. In the case of Cassim he continued the process with his own children.
The main evidence here is provded in a guide titled ‘A Guide to Names and Naming Practices’ produced by the UK as a member and for ‘Interpol’ in 2006.
So that suggests only two possibilities, either Parsi Gujarati Hindu. Why would any proud Hindu claim to be Parsi if he were not?. I believe that on the naming evidence alone it is more likely that the Alarakia’s prior to Mahomed Sewjee’s marraige were in fact Parsi. Mahomed Arab was Muslim and it suggests that Mahomed Sewjee followed the normal conversion procedure in order to marry Bibi Arab. I think it unlikely thatthey became muslim in the strickest sense. I was once told by a great aunt that my mother Rubia wanted her eldest son Patrick to become a Roman Catholic priest. That in itself suggests she had no great affinity to Islam. Auntie Hani insists they were Parsi and I believe we should respect that.
The name Sewjee appears as a first and last name in many asian cultures including Hindu and it is thought that some Parsi associated with Hindu in the early period after fleeing Persia and that they might have shared some traits.
A Feb 2008 report namely The Structure of Persian Names written by Karine Megerdoorian suggests that prior to the days of the Shah of Iran (1925) surnames were not used in Persia. Names would often consist of a given name with or without a prefix or a suffix. Using this as a guide the first name Alara is a Persian (and Armenian) girls name meaning ‘Ruler of All’ and the suffix ‘kia’ meaning defender or king. This applies also to the variant spellings ‘Allarakia and Allarakiya’.
So if the name Alarakia is a construct of Alara and kia it does point to Persian origins. In turn the word Parsi was used to describe the persian origins of those that fled muslim persecution and settled in Gujarat, India in the 7th century. Aunt Hani’s assertion we are parsi may simply be referriing to the historical links to Persia rather than an actual belief that the Alarakias followed the Parsi faith.
Before I get to naming family members, according to notes taken by my cousin Judah,s daughter Kerry from her grandmother Auntie Hani, Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia had sixteen children. Eight of each boys and girls. The eldest son seemingly emigrated to America. I do not have any records to show his name or profession but it is possible he was a certain U. Alarakia who in the 1919 Who’s Who North China Hong-List resided in Peking and workd for The Associated Press of America. It would appear, he later worked as aste nographer for Thomas Cook in 1922 and was a Traffic Department Clerk for the Shanghai-Nanking Railway (Imperial Chinese Railways) in 1909. He seems to have dissappeared from the scene after 1922. That is unless he is the same Ussuf Alarakia listed as an Indian Lunatic from Canton in 1938.
Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia
Sewjee’s son, my Great Grandfather Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia was born in 1866 in India. I can find no record of his mother either in India or Hong Kong however Mahomedtrav elled to Hong Kong probably with his father as a teenager. He was very academic and attained many accolades and prizes during his education years at The Government Central School in Hong Kong where he eventually progressed to the position of Assistant Master in 1882 where he remained until he took up a job working as a 2nd Assistant at the Hong Kong Observatory 1884. Prior to taking up his new position he married a young
Indian lady Bibi Arab the daughter of the late Mahomed Arab who was a very wealthy business man owning numerous properties and businesses in the colony. A number of those properties were in what is known as Lascar Row where he operated as a Ghaut Serang.(more of him later)
There is a newspaper article in the Hong Kong Telegraph sometime in 1884 saying that a Mr Alarakia married the daughter of the late Mahomed Arab who had been a prominent Indian business man in HK. This article also appeared in the Japan Daily Mail Vo 1 1884. I have typed the article as taken from the Japan Daily Mail Vol 1 1884
It says:
There was a great turnout last night says the Hong Kong Telegraph of the 24th ult,on the occasion of the marraige of
Mr Alarakia, assistant Master in the Government Central School to a young indian lady, daughter of the late Mahomed Arab. An imposing proccession in which five carraiges and some half a dozen horses..........................................
I was unable to glean more from this book as it is an extract only. I have discovered through the Carl Smith Collection on the HK Government Records Service website that this was in deed my Great grandparents but I am puzzled as to the reluctance to mention the women in their own right? It was indeed a very Patriarchal society. I know he had his first child by 1886 at the latest but I suspect she was not the first. Anyway much to ponder.
A very studious and hard working chap he was often scolded by his employers for staying late at the Observatory doing calculations for the daily weather reports which would be published daily in the local newspapers.He worked at the Observatory until 1889 (served approx 5 years) when he left for better pay as a Civilian Clerk for the Army Service Corps and in 1902 he received the China Medal(silver)and Clasp for the Relief of Peking. (unfortunately I do not know what role he played in that campaign)
In 1904 Mahomed was listed in the Directory and Chronicle for China, Japan etc as a clerk for the Macao branch of Hajee Mahomed & Co Miliners and Drapers of Bombay. A paper from the 1980s titled South Asian Muslims in Hong Kong Creation of a Local Boy Identity by the US academic Anita M Weiss stated he was in fact a Cloth trader however I have found no evidence to say he traded in his own right.** He later returned to work for the ASC and remained in this employment until at least 1910. He was also listed in the 1912 edition of the Directory and Chronicle as the Hon Secretary and Treasurer of the Hong Kong Islam Club which shows he was also an active member of the Indian muslim community.
** It is possible that his father Sewjee may have been the ‘Cloth Trader and Mahomed inherited his business however I have found no evidence to say that is the case either. Ms Weiss appears to have got her information through a combination of interviews with older family members in the 1980s and the records held at the Kowloon Mosque. Alas she is no longer in possession of her research notes.
Together Mahomed and Bibi had at least fifteen children, Seven sons and eight daughters,three of whom a boy and two girls died as infants and she lived until 2 Aug 1952. (Bibi was reportedly born in 1871 so would have been just thirteen when they married. Mahomed Arab died in Hong Kong 27.3.1878).
Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia died in Hong Kong in 1920.
Fatima: the eldest of Mahomeds daughters.Born in 1887 she lived her entire life a spinster in HK until passing on
11 Jan 1966. Profession unknown.
Zaiton (known as Cherry) b1886 to 22 Apr 1959( there is some doubt about her birth year) married Abu Baker Moosdeen had one son Omar Moosdeen. Her husband was a manager for C.Rahim & Son.
You will notice the difference in birth years between Fatima and Cherry. They come from the records I have been able to find but Fatima is named as the eldest daughter on her Headstone in the Muslim Cemetary at Happy Valley.
Zanab(daughter) 14 Feb 1889 - 20 Feb 1889. The poor child lived barely a week. It is not known what caused her death.
Cassim Mahomed 30 Apr 1890 - 13 Nov 1946. The eldest brother he was married to Rubiya 6 Jun 1896 - 24 Apr 1947. Cassim and Rubiya had two children who both died in infancy, Mahomed C (Son) 6 Jul 1931 - 8 Jul 1931 and Salemar C (daughter) 21 Mar 1933 - 31 Aug 1933) and a further four daughters (I believe two to be Ayesha deceased prior to 26 Nov 1997, and Halima more yet to be discovered)
Cassim was working for A.Abdoolrahim, Civil Engineer and Surveyor, 34 Queens Rd,Central in 1909. He also spent 10 years as secretary to the manager with Bandsman Opera touring the Far East (India to Japan) and for 27 years at the Naval Yard until retirement aged 56 in 1946. He died shortly after retirement whilst living at 4 Tai Yuen St, Wanchai.
Hanifa (Daughter) 14 Oct 1891- 20 Oct 1891 died a seven day old infant.
Mariam (known as Mary) 3 Sep 1892 - 14 Nov 1969 like her sister Fatima she appears to have lived her entire life in HK and again there is nothing regarding her profession or mention of a husband.
Jaf M known as Jack 18?? - 1965 who died in HK. I have not managed to unearth any detail about his working life. According to the Carl Smith collection it appears Jack was married although the name of his wife is not mentioned.
Ebrahim Mahomed Alarakia
Now we turn to Ebrahim Mahomed Alarakia (my Grandfather ) 3 Nov 1894 - 11 Jun 1939
Whilst I do not know for certain it is likely Ebrahim like his brothers attended St Josephs College in HK.
He worked as a Foreman/Overseer at ‘Ye Olde Printerie’ for sixteen years and according to the 1929 HK Jurors List for a short period as Printer Foreman at Labrum Ltd. (It should be noted that the Labrum brothers founded and owned Ye Olde Printerie and it is possible that the entry in the Jurors List should really have said YOP)
He lived at 29 Lee Garden St 2nd Floor and later at 359 Hennessey Road, Hong Kong until his death after a short illness of three months at his Hennesey Road residence 11 June 1939.
He lived with his extended family in the five storey Hennessy Road property and reportedly had a property business which he probably ran with some of his brothers.(considering his maternal grandfather was a reknowned and wealthy property owner it is highly probable that the family did in fact own/run a property business)
He was married to Sharifa (nee Yeung although she is listed as nee Mahomed on my mothers and Auntie Hani’s birth certificates)5 Aug 1904 - 20 Nov 1943. She was an ethnic Chinese muslim from Canton (Kwangchow). Together they had four children.Abdoola b1922 died 9-May-1925
Hanifa (Auntie Hani) was educated at the French Convent School (renamed in 1955 to St Pauls Convent School) and married Omar Bin Wahab in turn their children are Haminah, Janub, Mariam, Judah, Beba (Daughters), Syed and Amat(Sons).
Abbas 10 Feb1925 -18 Aug 1945
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and after the ealier deaths of his parents Abbas was effectively the head of the family and he worked on the black market for Jewish merchants,selling rice in the hope of getting enough money to purchase tickets to Macau for his family .He was captured and tortured by the Japanese and interned at Stanley Camp(reportedly for carrying a gun). He died in captivity a few days before the Japanese surrender. He was just nineteen years old.
Rubia (daughter)20.8.1927 to 22.2.1955 was born at No 18A Stanley Street, 2nd Floor HK. She also attended the French Convent School. When she was grown and had left school she worked as a shopgirl and later met and married Edwin Joseph Charles(Eddie) a Chief Petty Officer Shipwright in the Royal Navy. Their children are Patrick 1950-2003, Peter 1951-2019, Angela 1952 and Kenneth 1953.
Rubia died suddenly in the winter of 1955. Apparently it had been snowing quite heavily one night. She decided to clear the snow from the garden path of the family home. Later that night she caught a chill and died before the doctor could arrive. It is said Rubia would not always wear a coat when she should. An old aunt told me she had visited the doctors on a number of occasions and not said anything. Any way her Death Certificate says Cardiac Failure/Pulmonary Oedema/Status Asthmaticus.
Sharifa (Radifa) died of an unknown illness in 1943. Ebrahim however had married her sister Mariam(10 Jun 1907 - 16 Feb 1984) whilst still married and living with Sharifa.(my mother had told an old aunt that her father had a concubine, I guess this is who she meant) They had a further five children. Fatima, 1929-2005 m to Mr Tam with one son Tam Yip Hung and two daughters Zarina Tam Suk Yee and Lina Tam Suk Han.
Zahara,1931- Resides in HK and in 1970 was working in Staff Head Office at AS Watson & Co Ltd. Remained single. She was last living at Flat 3012 30th Floor,Wah Sin House,Wah Kwai Estate,Aberdeen,HK prior to her passing about 2015.
Hayim 3Jul 1930 - 26 Dec 1976:Married to Hafisha Law had two Daughters Asma and Shari
Fazul b.Apr 1933 - 24 May 1933.
Kaiyan b1934 - 30.12.1938 aged 4 1/2. It is not known what the causes of death were but it does seem to be a family trait for young ones to die so prematurely.
Mahomed and Bibi's ninth child was
Ismail Mahomed (son) known as Iki 1898-3 Sep 1974. He attended St Josephs College and was a keen Boy Scout. He was a member of the very first Scout Troop in Hong Kong and later in 1920 was an Assistant to the Scoutmaster of the reformed 1st Hong Kong Troop (after the end of WW1). He lived at 21 Cochrane St, Hong Kong in 1921 and worked as a clerk for the Chartered Bank of India,Australia & China. to 1941 when he lived at 8 Caine Rd, Hong Kong. Retired after 42 years service. He remained a bachelor and passed awayin 1974 in HK.
Sophia (Sophie) b18?? to 1935 who in 1932 married Antonio Carlos Neves(Tony)1904-1947 who served as a private in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force in 1941 and was a Japanese POW until the relief of HK. It was suggested to me by another researcher that they had three children. Rookiyah Gertrude b July 1934 d 26 Nov 1934 and two unknown both of whom appear to have been alive in 1946. I am very sceptical about this as the were only were only married in 1932 andSophie appears to have died in 1935 so it would seem highly unlikely they had further children after the death of Rookiyas. I am not even certain that Sophie died in 1935 as again this was suggested to me by another researcher but without evidence.I have been unsuccessful in my search for death or burial records for either of these two. Tony was born in HK to a Portugese family.
I think this warrants further investigation, maybe from the Neves family side.
Rhamatula Mahomed (son) known as Ray b? Died May1974. He also attended St Josephs College in 1917/18. He lived at 21Cochrane St Hong Kong and worked as an assistant at WR Loxley & Co(it appears they were General Merchants) in 1922, whilst in the 1938 Directory & Chronicle he was listed as working at Thoresen & Co (Steamship Agents). He remained single and passed away 30 May 1974.
Sakina (Daughter) 1902 - 19 Feb 1935 was a greatly loved individual.She lived at the family home at the time 8 Caine Road, HK It was reported in the HK Telegraph that she died suddenly from Neuritus and came as a great shock to her family and friends. Attendees at Sakinas funeral included members of the Arab, Madar, Rumjahn, el Arculli and Omar families amongst others. (Hong Kongs Indian society at its best it would seem) Apparantly Sakina was of a sickly disposition for a great deal of her adult life and possibly even her childhood.
Abdulla (Son)7 Jul 1906 - 28 Jul 1906 another very sad case of infant death in the family.
Sulieman 1908 - 16 Jul 1936 known as Sonny he attended St Josephs College. He was a fine and popular sportsman who excelled in Swimming and other aquatic events. He lived at 8 Caine Rd HK. Many members of the HK Indian community attended the funeral.
Halima (known as Helen) 22.2.1912 . The youngest of Mahomeds children she travelled to London in 1960 to work as a Private Secretary for a year. She was living at 701 Sunking House Hong Kong in 1963 where it seems she remained until her death in 1984. Probate was applied for in 1984, however further info is yet to be found.
Mohamed Sewjee Alarakia had at least one brother living in Hong Kong. He was Abdulla Sewjee Alarakia son of Sewjee 1872 to 26 May 1898. He also attended the Government Central School where he also won numerous prizes for accademic attainment. The date of his birth suggests he either left India as a newborn/infant or was actually born in HK. If it was the latter it means Sewjee brought his wife with him. I have however been unable to find any reference to her. If on the other hand the child was brought to HK, what happened to his mother? Did she travel to HK? Did she simply stay behind in India or did she die in childbirth or shortly after?
He worked as a clerk at the HK Post Office. It seems he died in service although details of his death are not yet discovered suffice to say Abdulla's son Salomon was born 27 May 1898 and received a pension which ceased at age 18 in 1916. Alfred Abdulla his first son was born 25 Oct 1897.
On 1 Mar 1894 a letter of authorization was lodged granting authority for a Mr S.Moosa to receive the salary of A.Alarakia (this warrants further investigation.It would appear a Shaik Moosa worked at the Post Office around the same period as Abdulla. Why would he sign his salary over though?)
onsibillity just six years later. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong food became increasingly scarce, especially rice. Abbas was trying to move his
siblings to Macau which was neutral and in order to get enough money to buy passage it is thought he resorted to selling rice for Jewish traders. At some point in 1945 he was captured by the Japanese supposedly carrying a gun. He was held in Stanley Camp (probably in the Indian section) and died there just a few days before the Japanese surrender. He was barely twenty years old. I am sure his surviving siblings thought of him as their hero as he did everything he could to look after them.
Mahomed Arab
More about Mahomed Arab(Grandfathers maternal grandfather). A wikipedia article suggest that he arrived in Hong Kong in January 1841 as a member of either the The Bengal Vounteers or 37th Madras Native Infantry. The article also suggests the Ceremonial hoisting of the Union Jack at Possession Point was performed by either a midshipman William Dowell or Mahomed Arab.
There is a publication however called ‘Hoisting the Flag Revisited Hong Kong 26 Jan 1841’by K J P Lowe that says ‘there was a period between the late 1870s and the early 1890s when at least two people contended for the honour of having been the person who hoisted the flag that day. The first was a muslim who served with the British Army .....’ whilst The China Mail of 28 Mar 1878 wrote ‘The man known as Mahomed Arab died here yesterday. We understand that his residence in the colony dates with the cession of the Island to Her Majesty, and it was he who planted the British standard on the Island being with the expeditionary Force......’ it concluded with an Obituary
It is also recorded that on the 23 September 1850 the Colonial Governemnt leased a parcel of land in Shelly Street, HK Island to build the first HK mosque under the trusteeship of Shailk Moosdeen, Mahomed Arab and two others namely Shaik Carther and Hassan Malay.
It is most likely in my opinion he served with the Bengal Volunteers as according to the Carl Smith Collection he was born in Abushar(likely Bushire aka Banda Bushehr on the south west cost of Iran in the Persian Gulf) of the Shia Mogul Nation.
Punjab, the historic home of the Sikhs.It has also been claimed that upto 2700 Indian troops were present in Hong Kong in 1841 and that some Sikh regiments were present at the Flag raising. Although there is a painting in existence showing that Sikhs were present at the cermony it has also been claimed that they did not arrive in Hong Kong until much later and that they only passed through on their way to other campaigns in China. The Bengal Volunteers referred to were more likely irregulars and the forerunner of the Bengal Army and were likely to be less disciplined and not uniformed like the Madrassi Regiments.
As a Persian (arab) he probably belonged to this group or something similar at the time.
According to Wikia.org Military the Bengal Volunteers were an underground revolutionary group working against British rule in India and was formed in 1928.
He settled in Hong Kong and has been documented in various publications as being one of the earlist settlers of the Upper Bazaar. in 1848 he worked as a subordinate to Shaikh Moosdeen the Principal Ghaut Serang residing on Queens Road. He later obtained his own Ghaut Serang licence and became a competitor to his old boss. He would eventually own and run a very large portion of Upper Lascar Row whilst Shaikh Moosdeen ran the Lower Lascar Row.
According to the book ‘Meeting Place: Encounters across cultures in Hong Kong 1841-1984. p133-134 titled Homes away from Home for Lascars, Malays, Manila men and Westerners. The Gauht Serang system started in British India and spread throughout S.E Asia and in 1840 to Macao,first appearing in Hong Kong shortly after the British occupation in 1841. It means ‘Quay side Boatswain’ and was also the term used for the Seamens Boarding House operated by him.His responsibilities included protecting and representing his ‘gang’ to a ships captain or agent as well as for their conduct aboard ship and for tracking down any deserter or transgressor otherwise. He would take a cut of the lascars wages and provide lodging in between ships.
He lived with three women in the colony. He lived with three women in the colony. His principal wife Phoorja an Arab Muslim woman from Bagdad who was most likely the mother to Bibi Arab.
His secondary wives were a Malay and a Chinese called Ahoy-Che Oi thought to be a Tanka Boat woman and to whom he had a son ‘Hajee Mahomed’.
Another publication states that the land and property Mahomed aquired in the 1840’s was still in his family over 100 years later. His family were joined by marraige to Shaikh Moosdeens family when his Daughter Jara married Abdul
Rahim Moosdeen and his grandaughter Zaiton (Cherry) Alarakia married Shaikh Moosdeens grandson Abu Baker Moosdeen.
His extended family consisted of :
Bibi as shown above and the following from his First Wife Phoorja M Arab b? d16.10.1887 (This may be Shula his daughter by his Malay wife.)
Seleria M Arab a daughter b1840 d25.12.1920
Jara a daughter b 1861 d 6.5.1907. She was married to A.R Moosdeen.
Sons Goolam hoosien(Goolam Hoosein or Goolam Hussein) and Nassur Mahomed
Mahomed Arab (the younger) who married Noora M b1878 d2.4.1922
Yar Mahomed Arab who married Maryan
Siban Mahomed Arab married to Mariam
Nassur Mahomed ????-???? was working as a broker at Rumjahn & Arab in 1898*** The Carl Smith Records consistently refer to him as Nassim. That name does not appear in the text of Mahomed Arabs 'Last Will and Testament' while the brothers Goolam Hoosien and 'Nassur' do.
Abdoolrahman Mahomed ????-????
From his Malay wife : Zahra and Shula (aka Sulaha) both daughters
and from his Chinese wife Amoy (Che Oi) he had a son Hajee M.Arab born in 1875 and who died at age 21.(Whlst looking through the muslim burial records I found another Hagee M. Arab listed as female and aged forty four having been born in 1878)
Adopted children Mohadeen (son), Halima, Assye and Surala (daughters) are mentioned in his last will and testament. The mothers of these adopted children are not known.
The following is taken from an article written for the Juneau Douglas City Museam in Alaska by Mr John L (Cameron) Asp who was Goolam’s grandson:
Goolam Hoosein married Annie Von Henriques in Kobe, Japan while on a business trip and they lived in the Kobe International Settlement where they raised eight children.
One of those children was Maude Matildae Arab who married and divorced John McMillan Cameron. She had a son John who was adopted at an early age by Maudes second husband Svend (Sam) Asp. John later became an artist known as John L (Cameron) Asp, married Ruth Wison and had two children Jo-Ann and Svend Thomas Asp.
There is still a lot to learn about Goolams Family and I shall endeavour to learn more and bring this up to date.
Other Alarakia with little or no detail
Ebraim Alarakia (Unassisted Immigrant Passenger List) Sidney Australia 1880 travelling from Galle.
U.Alarakia. prosocuted in 1906 for absconding on a promissory note for $1000 to Pak Sui Li and also it seems in 1915 for unpaid promissory notes valued at $309.75 to Narain Singh and was a Traffic Department Clerk for the Shanghai-Nanking Railway (Imperial Chinese Railways) in 1909
There was also a U.Alarakia working as a Stenographer for APP and also its seems for Thomas Cook and Sons at the Grand Hotel in Peking in 1922.
A Ussuff Alarakia was classed as a “Indian” lunatic from Canton in 1938
Shamshudln Hassanali Alarakia, Salesman.Mombassa 1959
W Alarakia prosocuted in 1906 for absconding on a promissory note for $1000 to Pak Sui Li and also it seems in 1915 for unpaid promissory notes valued at $309.75 to Narain Singh
Abdalla Alarakia listed as an Indian Merchant according to the Kenya Gazzette dated 14 Mar 1923 and recorded as a merchant in Ujiji(Burundi) during the 1930s and also as an Indian national in a German Colonial Office Publication 1899 and the Journal of Colonial Policy & Colonial Economy Vol 12 in 1910 (german) while a Jonas Alarakia is listed as a Merchant of Farquar Street in the 1859 Mauritius Register and a Barda Alarakia as an Indian potter was recorded in Madagscar in 1909.
It is worth noting that my cousin Syed intimated that the family was from Bombay (he was told by one of our aunts in the 1970s that relatives from there had been in touch. He also mentioned the possiibillity that one of our forebears was rumoured to have been a Maharaja. This I took with a pinch of salt until I found this on a FIBIS(Families in British India Society) database:
Passenger on the Steamship Kurrachee travelling from Bombay to Kurrachee(Karache) dated 27 November 1865
Surname: Allarakia
Other Names: His Highness Mir Mahomed Khan Talpoor.
The same chap appears again as a passenger on the Steamship Abysinnia 26 Jan 1869 travelling from Bombay to the Persian Gulf. However this time using only the HH Mir title. I think for some strange reason he was using Allarakia as an alias. Maybe he was an aquaintance of the Allarakias and was trying to travel unnoticed. I have viewed the Talpur Family Tree and there is no mention of anyone using Allarakia as a name. Whatever it is, it seems it started a rumour.
Alfred Arthur J Alarakia who was interned at Great Western Road, Shanghai in June 1943 and later transferred to Yangtzepoo April 1945. He was a Godown Superintendent at the China Printing Company.
His wife Gotoda Alarakia was deemed an enemy national (British) and lived at 42 Kungping Terrace. She was 47 years old in 1944 and of no occupation.
Interestingly she may have escaped the internment camp because she was ethnically Japanese.
They had an adopted son, a student called John Stephen Alarakia, who was 18 years old in 1945. He was classed as British and interned the same places and times as his adopted father.
(this info was provided to me by a contributor to Gwulo.com user name EurasionDavid and he raised the question ‘could J be a mistranscribed S. If it was it could point to a third son for Sewjee or put another way, a second brother to Mahomed Sewjee)
Yahara Alarakia. See below newspaper clipping. The birth year should be about the mid 1890s.
“BELILIOS PUBLIC SCHOOL.
------------------
The prizes so kindly given annually by Mr. R.E. Belilios to the pupils in Belilios Public School who excel in the subject of English composition were yesterday presented to the successful
candidates by Mr. Edward Irving, Inspector of Schools. The following are the names of the prize winners: -
Mabel Long, Rose Ablong, Mabel Mooney, Yahara Alarakia, (?)ung A. Nui, Cheung Fook To, Li Tsing Lim, and Chan Bik Harm.
A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Belilios and Mr. Irving on the motion of Mabel Long, the dux of the school.”
Source: The Hong Kong Weekly Press and China Overland Report, page 530, 21st June 1909
(this info was provided to me by a contributor to Gwulo.com user name EurasionDavid)
I dont believe this to be a child of Mahomed Sewjee and she is too young to be a sibling. I do think she could be the daughter of a further and as yet undiscovered sibling of his. It is known that wealthy Indian families educated all their children male and female.
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