Who is memon

During this period the Province of Sindh and, in particular, the city of Thatta, had several saints and men of religion. When Pir Saheb ordered Adam and his people to migrate, between a and families of Momins Memons left the city of Thatta to settle on the banks of a nearby river, the Varaya. However, peace was never fully realized by the Memon community in spite of having left their homes in their original settlements in Sindh.

In the border areas between Southern Sindh and Gujarat, the powerful Baloochis spread havoc by raiding and looting caravans plying trade. As a result, movement between Sindh and Gujarat was halted and the Memons who were mainly in business found life intolerable and were forced to migrate again this time from Varaya. With their livelihood threatened and uncertainty about the future, the Memons split and small groups ventured out in different directions — an event in history that subsequently divided one big Memon community into different factions.

One group, under the leadership of Ladha, migrated to the State of Halar in Kathiawar and became known as the Halari Memons. Another group proceeded towards Karachi, a port of Sindh, and they became known as Sindhi Memons. A third group, made up of fifty young men, proceeded towards Punjab and settled in Lahore. They originally settled there under the leadership of Kaneya Seth, the son of Markun Seth who assumed the Islamic name of Rukunuddin.

When the Memons migrated in different directions from Varaya, those left behind followed Kaneya Seth to Cutch. The migration and movement of the Memons from their original home in Nagar Thatta in Sindh caused stress and severe hardship, forcing families to fight starvation and, for most, it was a virtual hand-to-mouth survival.

Throughout these trying times they were stead fast in their faith and pursued the principles of Islam with a great sense of devotion and dedication. The great bond that was established in such circumstances, united families, made sharing a priority of the time and, more important, made them realize the importance of oneness.

These simple people who put their trust and faith in Allah and never once wavered through out the long, arduous struggle to survive, were handsomely rewarded-Allah eventually took mercy and showered them with His generosity and an abundance of fortune.

For the believers in the power of Allah, the true testing time had come and gone and, after years of wandering and search of a true permanent home, the Memons had finally set roots. Their arrival in different parts of India heralded a new beginning, a life of plentiful and an abundance of fortunes as the business acumen of these Islamic migrants set the stage for continuing success and prosperity. Memons played a prominent role in the Indian Freedom struggle against British rule and occupation both physically and financially.

By the close of the 19th Century when the struggle assumed noteworthy proportions, a number of Memons courted imprisonment and wealthy members of the community made large-scale donations. They joined the movement from its inception and gave liberally towards its expenses.

During the War years the Memons amassed considerable wealth and this was invested in a systematic importation of valuable goods, shares in new industries and landed property but financial disasters overtook the Memons as well as other major investors after the War had ended. Prices dropped dramatically and traders suffered heavy losses. There was a chain reaction new industries in India, which prospered on account of the shortage and high prices of foreign goods during the war years, were forced to shut down.

Industrial shares, which dropped dramatically, found no takes and, added to this, the price of landed properties fell to add to the woes of the business sector. This was the age of depression and the collapse of the Indian commercial empire sent shock waves through the nation, as bankruptcy became the order of the day.

However, most Memons, in order to maintain credit in the commercial sector, struggled along to meet their commitments and liabilities by resorting to extreme measures. These measures included the sale of all their properties and other assets as well as the traditional gold and precious ornaments of their womenfolk.

One result of this action to overcome the financial depression of the time was the continuance of the Memon tradition in commerce while others panicked and opted out, the Memons, in spite of the heavy losses sustained, endured the depressive years and continued to trade.

But the chance to recoup and regain their prestige was, however, blunted by yet another disaster with the post-war fall in the exchange value of the rupee.

On account of this the Indian merchant had to pay twice the original amount for imported goods. As the Memons were heavily involved in the importation of goods, they suffered heavy losses. Just as it seemed the commercial sector of India was set to recover, other losses seemed inevitable on account of the momentum gained by the combined efforts of the Khilafat Movement, the Non-co-operation Movement of India and the Swadeshi Movement.

Launch of the powerful Swadeshi Movement, there was a nation-wide spontaneity for the boycott of British manufactured goods. Within a short time, British goods, valued at millions of crores of rupees, piled up in godowns warehouses. My mother tongue is an Indo-Aryan language called Kutchi. For decades, Memon businesses kept their records and documents in the Gujarati script since Kutchi is an unwritten language and can only be learned and communicated orally.

For Memons in Pakistan, they write Kutchi in the Urdu script since many have adopted Urdu as their dominant tongue and have no way of physically writing out the Kutchi dialect.

Although Kutchi is the historical language of my community, the use of our language is sharply declining because there are fewer people that can speak it each generation. That I speak this language is surprising to community elders I meet. As it happens, Memons my age are not particularly bothered about learning the language, from what I have observed to date. They were also not taught to speak at home. The dominant language of the place in which Memons settle, whether the language is Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, English, or Afrikaans, tends to replace Kutchi.

Language is a way by which people can identify whether a stranger belongs to their community. I believe it is an integral part of our social heritage through which to express ourselves and be understood fully. I lack some domain vocabularies. For instance, I do not know the names of many flowers, trees, vegetables, insects and fishes in any language, neither in Farsi nor in Swedish or English. I never learned them in Iran or have forgotten them after my long absence.

And in other languages, simply stated, I have never reached that point of fluency Khosravi, Khosravi shares in his writing, upon returning to the border of Sweden, the border required him to live up to his passport. Without having an official script and therefore, the ability to officially exist, that is to say on paper, I am concerned that the expiration date of Kutchi is soon to come. It is not recognized locally let alone at a state level; never will I be asked to fill out forms or answer questions at the border in Kutchi.

They are well respected Muslim Entrepreneurs, Philanthropist and Humanitarian in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere. Memon are, generally, well known for being honest, hardworking and innovative that contributed greatly to their commercial success.

There are two unsubstantiated theories, according to Sayad Amir-ud-din Nuzhat - In early 15th century A. If this theory is accepted, then the Memons were originally Hindu. If this theory is accepted, then the Memons were originally Arabs. By the end of 19th century, a sizeable Memon community was reported to have entrenched itself in East Asia. Memons have also established themselves in the Republic of Mauritius. The Cutchee Memons have even built in or around and manages till now one of the biggest and most beautiful Mosque in Mauritius : Jummah Masjid [www.

Language Previously they used to speak Sindhi language, because of their migration to the neighboring regions Kutch and Khatiwar and their excessive use of the Gujrati language in their businesses, their language evolved into a dialect called Memoni , which is unwritten. They later developed a sense of difference and pride, from one another, which regrettably exists even today.

Due to political upheavals, changing social patterns, call of professions, occupation or other prospects; Memons spread across the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent and the world. Wherever they went, Memons formed themselves into Jamats. Allana as published in the Memons International Directory, 1st edition A special issue on Bohras, Khojas and Memons.

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Memon Community.