- Parents
- Children
Rahimtulla Walji Hirji, a successful Khoja Ismaili Indian trader who had come to Kenya at the beginning of the 20th century, founded the Rahimtulla Charitable Trust in 1940.
The Ismail Rahimtulla Walji Trust Library was constructed by the trust of that name in 1953. Situated on what was then Jeevanjee Street (current Mfangano Street) the building was designed by architects Bhalla and Thakore to a neo-classical style of architecture featuring a majestic façade with Greco-Roman columns.
""There appeared some legendary names such as the Rahimtulla Waljee Hirjee family, who built the present-day Aga Khan Academy building on Limuru Road in Nairobi, as well as the old Ismaili Rest House on Park Road. Both the buildings are historically noteworthy in terms of the role they played in community life. The first one provided boarding for upcountry students and education for girls in the 1930s. The second was a house with a guest room or rooms for the traveling merchants to stay. This was around the 1950s when trade was picking up again after the post-war depression. The traders came from small rural towns like Kisii, Homa Bay and Bungoma on business visits to the big city and needed a place to stay." ''
Sultan Somjee, Author, Historian. (2019)
"The first Social Service League, which as conceived in 1917-18 was to serve East Africa as a whole, was organized mainly by the Nairobi advocate V. V. Phadke with financial support largely from Allidina Visram, Suleman Verjee & Sons, Ali & Son, and Walji Hirji & Sons, all of whom were designated as the 'patrons.'"
The Rise And Fall of Philanthropy in East Africa- The Asian Connection by Robert G. Gregory (pg. 104)
"Rahimtulla Walji Hirji, for example, who died in 1934, bequeathed much of his property to his relatives. However, he also bequeathed over Ksh 400,000 to the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community. Hirji gave the Aga Khan and his councilmen much free reign in this regard, instructing them to use income from specific mortgage assets to sponsor “Friday dinners” as well as a “Community Hospital” and a “dispensary.” He also requested that the Aga Khan use estate proceeds to construct “open spaces” and “any institution for the benefit of the Ismaili community either at Nairobi or Mombasa, [including an] Inn, Orphanage, Boarding, Nursing House, High School.”
KENYA ‘SAMAJ’: INDIAN MERCHANTS, COMMUNITY LIFE, AND URBAN SOCIETY IN COLONIAL EAST AFRICA, C. 1890-1980 By Misha A. Mintz-Roth: A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements forthe degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland May 2019
