HERITAGE RECLAIMED

The BOTAWALLA
The naming of an extension to the Taher Bagh building of the Sunnee Surtee Musulman Society
after Ibrahim Mamode Sulliman Botawalla is a long overdue tribute to these transnational
Gujarati merchants from the Surat region. .The latter had been in the Indian Ocean Rim
countries for centuries, especially in the Gulf, East Africa and South East Asia. Apart from rare
articles (Kalla.A.C ,Jahangeer-Chojoo,A) the contribution of these merchants to the economic
and social life of late nineteenth century Mauritius has been ignored in the historiography of
the island.
The Sulliman brothers in the later part of the nineteen century became known as Botawalla
since they were very active in shipping and commerce .Most likely as suggested from oral
history in Rander,the sister city of Surat,the Sullimans were engaged in shipbuilding after their
incursion in the timber trade of Burma.Rander occupied a prime position in the economic
history of Mauritius. The first Surtee merchant Bahemia,who migrated to Mauritius,hailed from
Rander and he was followed by Goolam Hossen Piperdy, the most influential Surtee merchant
of the nineteenth century.
In fact most of those early merchants and their clerks came from Rander, which had a rich
commercial past. It is worth noting that in the sixteenth century, the most important trading
ports of Gujarat were Cambay, Diu and Rander. The latter was a well known centre in the
Western Indian Ocean region for its community of Navayat Muslim pilots and navigators
(Subrahmanyan.S 2000).Sultan Bahadur who was reigning in Gujarat, prior to the Mogul,
encouraged the development of Rander. The Portuguese sources of the sixteenth century
noted the presence of a wealthy merchant class who was in competition with them. Sultan
Bahadur’s persistent refusal to grant trade access to the Portuguese led to the sacking and
partial burning of the city in 1530 by the Portuguese commander Antonio da Silveira .Rander
never recovered as a port on the River Tapti, but its merchant class remained vibrant.
Sultan Mohammad Shah (c1537-54) decided to build a”chaukandi” (fort) up river at Surat to
defend the emerging trade outpost. The conquest of Gujarat by the Moguls in 1573 led to the
rise of Surat and its twin Rander. In sum, the merchants of Rander had a rich commercial and
economic antecedent.
In the 1870s,the Botawalla was a merchant family firm headed by Issop Mamode Sulliman,
most probably the elder brother. Their mamla or business was headquartered on Dawood Cazi
Street in Bombay. Like all Indian family firms, the ‘’family acted as a system of ritualized
occupational relationship’ (Bayly 92) in other words all members of the family were involved in
the different activities of the firm. Most of the clerks were from Rander and had family
connections with the Sullimans.In their overseas branches; they had their agents who were
entrusted with credit from the family. In Mauritius AbooBaker Taher, who was not a Randeria
as he hailed from Ahmedabad, was their agent. Taher was a brilliant accountant and a shrewd
businessman.
For completion sake, it is worth mentioning that there were other transnational merchants
like Cassim Mamoojee &Co based in Calcutta and represented by Allam and SabooSiddick&Co
form Bombay. All these firms seemed to have started business from the 1880s.
The 1880s marked a turning point in the economic history of the island as the market for our
sugar shifted towards India following the rapid development of beet sugar production in
Western Europe. In Mauritius, since the breakthrough by Dr E.Icery in the production of white
sugar referred to as plantation white ,new markets especially India and Australia were accessed
.These transnational Indian merchants started settling in Mauritius to exploit the sugar
market..
The Botawalla seemed to have set up a trading centre around 1880 with the help and advice of
Ajum Goolam Hoosen, the most prominent Muslim merchant of the day.In the later part of the
nineteenth century,Port Louis was a town of communities and commerce, of migrants and
businessmen. The Muslim Indian merchants-Meimons and Surtis-had a specialized
entrepreneurial lifestyle. Taher ,the Botawalla’s agent, had no problem in integrating this
Surtee bazaar as the community encouraged entrepreneurship .In fact he was instrumental in
refocusing the community towards providing funds, training, networks of communication to
new comers .He received regularly powers of attorney to manage the affairs of the Botawalla
firm from Issop Mamode Sulliman.(vide e.g. NA134 7b .M.A).
The Botawallas were engaged initially in three main areas, namely shipping, trading in sugar
and real estate, but also in charitable organizations. Gradually the firm got entrenched in the
plantation economy by getting involved into the morcellement movement- the parcellisation
of uneconomic plantations- and the financing of sugar plantations whose owners were in
financial problems-the Botawalla was a bailleur de fond for the local white planters.
Jahangeer-Chojoo (2001) has sketched out the shipping activities of all these Gujarati
commercial houses for the second half of the nineteenth century. It is to be noted that the firm
I.M.Sulliman( Botawalla) was most active after 1880 followed by Saboo Sidick&Co and both
were based in Bombay, the principal market for the plantation white Mauritian sugar.Rajpati
emphasizes that the confectionary industry of Bombay,especially halwa depended on
Mauritian sugar and in some quarters sugar was referred to as Mauras after Mauritius.From
Mauritius, the Botawalla sent ships to several East African ports.The firm started trading with
Reunion, South Africa and the islands of SW Indian Ocean.
The involvement of the firm in the plantation economy needs to be underscored. An analysis of
some notaries’ repertoires at the National Archives reveals the activities of the firm as a
bailleur de fond. Folio NA121/ 56 (b) described in detail the “ ouverture de credit par Mr Issop
Mamode Sulliman a Mr H Darne” of the sugar plantation of L’Industrie of Long Mountain(this
plantation was going to be bought by the Atchias of Rose Hill in 1910) Ally Mamode Ahmud and
Aboo Baker Mamode Taher,’mandataires de Issop Mamode Sulliman ,negociant demeurant a
Bombay agreed to ‘un credit” of Rs 50000 to H Darne for the cane season of
1888/1889.H.Darne had to submit a detailed account of all expenses and he would gradually
access the available funding. Further he was compelled to buy ‘les grains et d ‘autre d’encrees
chez Mr I.M.Sulliman for the Indian immigrant labourers’rations and this should be de “bonne
qualite’He would have to transport”tous les sucres,tout de vesou que de sirop” of both
L”Industrie and “petits planteurs” to the port in the docks and warehouses of the
Botawalla..This source reveals to us that the firm was dealing in what is known as coolie stores
and later the importation of rice, pulses and other food items was to be a major line of business
with the Indian Ocean islands. It is worth underlining that the Botawalla was also securing a
reliable supply of sugar. This arrangement with H.Darne was renewed at least for six years. All
transactions were carried at the going banker’s rate of nine per cent. It seems at times that
Aboo Baker Taher exerted some leniency towards the debtors.In May 1900 according to folio
NA 134/59, the owners of Le Bosquet, Les Rochers and L’Amitie had to repay weekly “cinq cents
roupies regulierement le vendredi de chaque semaine au domicile du creancier sans interet”.
Botawalla bought the land of at least three sugar plantations for parceling as morcellement
.Small plots varying from 50 perches to 1 arpent were sold to the labourers with credit facilities
to some old immigrants.In1899, Botawalla bought the sugar estate lands of the Cluny
plantation and proceeded with a big morcellement.(vide NA134/53).Taher, their agent, was
thus able to interact with the immigrant population and he eased up the procedures to help
the Indian labourers in securing agricultural land.
The firm Botawalla brought major development in the port as they built warehouses and
docks.In 1887 together with the firm of Ajum Goolam Hossen , Botawalla bought storage space
on the Port Louis wharfs and built warehousing facilities under the name of Arabian Docks. The
subsequent formation of the India Boats Company with huge interest in shipping and
chartering with some local merchants, reduced the dependence of the firm on other partners
and led to the building of further port facilities.
The Botawallas are known for the support given to charitable organizations. In Bombay the
Botawalla set up a musafirkhana (a home for the travelers) and run several charities in Rander.
In Mauritius, their agent Taher was the linchpin in the grouping of the Surtee merchants and
the purchasing of Chateau Rochecoute at the Champ de Mars in Port Louis to act as the centre
for the Surtee merchants ,known today as Taher Bagh. He was instrumental in grouping the
Surtee merchants into an association known as the Surtee Sunnee Muslim Society in 1902.It has
not been possible to trace the substantial donations of the firm towards the building of
mosques, the setting up of madressas and helping the poor of both Surtee clerks and Muslim
immigrant labour population.Botawalla,which had trading interest in Reunion, in association
with other Gujarati merchants petitioned in 1897 the French government for authorization to
build a mosque in Saint-Denis. The firm’s financial contribution towards the building of the first
mosque in the French state was substantial .
The economic contribution of these transnational firms to the development of the island was
recognized by the Royal Commission of 1910 on the sugar industry.Hon Dr.E.A.O Laurent
attributed the difficulties of the sugar industry to the closure of the Botawalla and Saboo Sidick
firms in the late 1900.In fact the death of Issop Mamode Sulliman at the turn of the century led
to a massive exodus of capital to India.
Aboo Baker Taher stayed in Mauritius setting up business on his own.His indefatigable work
towards the economic and social uplift of the Indian community is still to be recognized.
Through him ,ithe Botawalla’s commercial acumen ,their deep involvement in Islamic education
and their munificence in charity contributed much to the economic and social development of
this country.
i
Jahangeer-Chojoo.A Indo-Mauritius Trade.The Role of Gujarati Commercial Houses during the
Second Half of the 19th Century Mauritius.Jrl Maur Stud,1(1),2001,pp10-29

Kalla.A.C The Gujarati MERCHANTS IN Mauritius c.1850 1900 Jrl Maur Stud,2(1),1987 pp 45-65

RAJPATI.B (pers. comm.)

Subrahmanyan.S ANote on the the rise of Surat in the Sixteeth Century J E S H O .1.200 .pp23-33.

N.A National Archives, Coromandel.

A.C.Kalla (ackalla41@yahoo.com)