Ahamed Abdulla Sumar
- Business-Dukawalla-Merchant
- Parents
- Abdulla Sumar Merau 1887–1964Sonbai Kassam 1961
- Partners
- Children
Ahmed Sumar was 15 when he came to Africa with his father and went into retail trade as soon as he was apprenticed. With help from Abdallah Bhai, he opened his own shop in an even smaller village, Mtama about 40 km from Mingoya and closer to the large German Catholic Missionary Hospital and School at Ndanda. He sold general food stuff which he bought from the local farmers market and clothing materials like kaniki and merikani imported from India.
As his business prospered, Ahmed Bhai went on to marry, in 1930, Kulsum Ismail Patel, also from Mundra, Kutch. Kulsum Bai was also born an Ismaili but changed to her husband’s sect after marriage. Her two brothers whom she called to Tanganyika once she was settled after her marriage, Rajabali Ismail Patel and Ahmed Ismail Patel, both remained as Ismailis. Ahmed settled in Ruangwa near Lindi whilst Rajabali moved away to Bagamoyo. The family ties were strong enough that whenever they visited Lindi, they stayed with their sister and also went to the Ismaili Jamaat Khana in Lindi daily.
With health care and education in close proximity, Kulsum and Ahmed started their family which eventually grew to eight sons and three daughters.
After the end of WWII, in about 1950, the British Government imported hundreds of decommissioned solders to Tanganyika to set up a large groundnut scheme near Mtama. Although this was a great boost to local trade, the project was short lived as the groundnut scheme collapsed in about 1952 and most of the soldiers left Tanganyika, some leaving debts with the shopkeepers. Business became harder to do in Southern Tanganyika.
As Ahmed’s children grew older, he sent them one by one to his father house in Mingoyo, where there was an Indian Primary School. Eventually, the number of children living with his father grew so many that he could not manage and Ahmed moved with his family to Lindi for the sake of their education. This was typical of the Khojas of this era that they endured separation from young children or took business risks to move towns in order to provide education for their children
