Bandali Merali

Bandali Merali

Source of Information

• WALJI
• Shirin Remtulla
• A HISTORY OF THE ISMAILI COMMUNITY IN TANZANIA The University of Wisconsin
• Ph
• D. 1974

Place of longest stay

• Morogoro

Profession or occupation carriedout for the longest period in life

• Merchant

Where-City or Country

• Tanzania

Family tree

Siblings

Kassamali MERALI

Children

Badurdin Bandali Merali

Hassanali Bandali Merali

Mirza Bandali Merali

Born in

Bandali Merali arrived in Zanzibar from Kutch in 1905 and settled in Morogoro in 1907.(per 'Life Story of late Bandali Merali" compiled by the late Kassamali Merali.Cited in: WALJI, Shirin Remtulla, A HISTORY OF THE ISMAILI COMMUNITY IN TANZANIA.The University of Wisconsin, Ph,D. 1974). The Central Railway reached Morogoro in 1907.

The German Colonial Handbook 1908 mentions "Bandali Merali " as an Indian trader, resident in Morogoro in 1908.

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  German Colonial Handbook 1908

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  German Colonial Handbook, page 1 1908

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  Indian Traders Morogoro 1908

"Then came the failure of the cotton crop. Several large commercial houses collapsed. Ismaili merchants lost large investments. Planters and buyers like Bandali Merali, Fazal Kassam, and Bandali Lalji of Morogoro incurred heavy losses.....Bandali Merali, for example, had a well-established retail and wholesale business in piecegoods, cigarettes, matches and sundries which catered to both the local and European community; he was also engaged in the transport business, acting as agent for the ginnery of Mathuradas Kanji. He owned three cotton stores through which he supplied the ginnery, and he had investments in several cotton shambas. The cotton crop failure did not therefore destroy a man like Bandali Merali. Nevertheless, such a failure did bring heavy losses and introduced a severe limi tation in what had been expected to be an expanding market." WALJI, Shirin Remtulla, A HISTORY OF THE ISMAILI COMMUNITY IN TANZANIA The University of Wisconsin, Ph,D. 1974

"Sisal estates were owned by men like Rajabali Meghji Visram, V. M. Nazerali, and Fazal Kassam. Bandali Merali, Fazal Kassam, and Bandali Lalji became cotton planters. But, as noted before, these were not prosperous times for cotton planters and sisal grow�ers. Full-time farmers like Yusufali M. Alidina and A. B. Ladhani were too few in number to be considered part of a general economic upsurge;"

WALJI, Shirin Remtulla. A HISTORY OF THE ISMAILI COMMUNITY IN TANZANIA The University of Wisconsin PhD. Thesis 1974