Unwrote history of Majeed Marikar
An introduction by Ayesha Mohamed, sister of A.M.Marikar on Marikar family tree.
The ancestry traced in this Family Tree has been through the help of the older members of the family and what parents have told us when we were children. The attempt by the late Mrs.Halima Buksh, daughter o T.C.H. Marikar, to trace the family tree in Ceylon, was not very successful. She was able to trace the family of Thambi Cannu Marikar up to a point. The dates are from our father, H.O.L.Marikar’s diary.
In 1937, when father took us, his older children to Ceylon, his birthplace, we met many Marikar relatives for the first time inColombo and Kandy. At that time we I had no idea or thought of tracing the family tree.
The visit to Ceylon was on the invitation of the Founder President of ‘the Young Women’s Muslim Association’, Mrs.M.A.C.Mohamed. She had heard of Abusha Marikar, the first Muslim woman from India to qualify in Medicine and get her M.B.B.S. degree. In Kandy, when the Muslims became aware of the fact that Abusha was the daughter of a son of their soil and a Marikar, a tremendous welcome was accorded to us on our visit there.
During our stay in Colombo, we were invited to Kandy. Mr.Aziz Marikar and others accompanied us. Father was emotionally overcome, when we were approaching Kandyby train, as he was visiting his place of birth after forty-five years. We were shown stretches of forested land that once belonged to his forefathers.
The vast stretches of jungle or forest land seems to have justified the title “Kattu Raja’’ of a forefather of whom appa (grandfather T.C.H.Marikar) was very proud. The following episode told by our parents proves his point.
When the eldest son was born to our very young parents (mother was only 14), appa named him “Kattu Raja Hassan Nainar”. The child died in its infancy. The second son was also named the same and he dide when he was hardly two years old. The third, to our parents’ great joy and relief, was a daughter and she was named “Abusha”, after appa’s favourite sister Hafsa. On the birth of the forth child, a son, before appa could arrive on the scene, our parents hurriedly named him “Abdul Majeed”. Never deterred, he appeared promptly on the birth of the fifth child, a son, whom he proudly named “Kattu Raja Hassan Nainar”. Our parents quaked with fear and apprehension. Thanks to God, all was well. Brother Hassan bore the name of his great great great grandfather to the joy of appa. Obviously, he omitted the “Kattu Raja Nainar” when he entered school! (He died in a plane crash near Agra in 1962, at the young age of 47).
I have undertaken to compile “The Marikar Family Tree” at the request of my brother Habeeb.
Getting the data of each branch of the family from one of its members has been interesting. Being in touch with some of ourSingapore and Malayasian cousins, I have been able to gather information of the past and present from them.
I have requested my brother, Shamshu, who helped me with this, to write the Family Tree, with his limericks, lampoons and lyrics that will positively make it more interesting to read than mine.
I have no doubt that there will be commissions and omissions that I have made while compiling this tree. Do forgive me.
The tree is well rooted by God’s grace.
I thank all those who have helped me in this effort by giving me their time, consideration and co-operation, the Marikar way!
Thank you
Sd (Ayesha Mohamed)
4 May 1983
Madras
Fond memories of a wise dad
This Father’s Day I want to pay tribute to my father, Abdul Majeed Marikar. Though he never came to this country, he had many ties to it. Our family ties to United States started when my grandfather, in the 1930’s became the first businessman in India to be a dealer for Ford cars and trucks and the Eastman Kodak Company. My father grew up learning about and loving the United States and its people. It was an affection that lasted his life.
Our home in southwestern India was haven for Peace Crops volunteers, and my father was like a father away from home for them and to many other young people. Nobody who came to our house ever left empty handed. because of father’s generosity. In addition to his own eight children, he always had room for someone else’s child to stay in our home and go to school.
Education was very important to dad. He believed that a country’s strength lay in the hands of its educated citizens. Every now and then, I come across a doctor or engineer from India, in this country, who benefited from my father’s generosity. What made my father a very special dad for us was that, to this day, each of us thinks that he or she was his favorite son or daughter. He loved us, trusted us and gave us the freedom which none of your peers enjoyed. The only condition was a responsibility, which we owed to ourselves. That was if you are not proud of talking or thinking about something that should deter you from doing it, whatever the temptation.
My father was a wealthy man who believed in sharing his knowledge and money with others. He enjoyed traveling, and I still wonder how he managed to travel with all of us. He took the time to show us the sights and to explain to each of us.
He also taught us to be adaptable and not demanding. This trait, I would say, has stood all of us in good stead in our different walks of life. My father believed in kindness and consideration and always said, ”These qualities begin at home, but shouldn’t end there”.
My father made many people’s dreams come true, but he always regretted that he had to give up college after two years to take over my grandfather’s business. He wasn’t cut out to be a businessman. He always dreamed of being a judge. In a way this dream was fulfilled because people in our town, who loved and trusted him, brought their problems to him instead of going to court, and most of them my dad resolved amicably.
He was actually involved in all community activities. He was sought by universities and industries to share his wisdom and knowledge on a variety of topics.
When he passed away, he left his children with his values plus a professional education. His vast collection of rare books and magazines went to universities to benefit others beyond the family ( a practice he always had followed).
I remember and admire him for the unconditional love he had for his own family and for others. I consider him as a true citizen of the world.
MARIAM MARIKAR LUEBS
Camillus
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H.O.L.MARIKAR (Father of A.M.Marikar)
Father was born in Kandy, Ceylon on 9th November 1882. He came to India with his mother and the rest of the family and appa settled them in Periyakulam.
Vappa (father)’s education began in Periyakulam, where grandmother taught her children with others on the verandah of her home. When she died, struck by cholera, her children were taken to Kottayam to their stepmother’s house.
In Kottayam School, Vappa was a good pupil. He studied under the late Mr.Mamman Mappillai for whom he had great affection and respect. And this developed into a mutual thing as years went by. Vappa was the captain of the football team in his school.
It was difficult for vappa to study in his stepmother’s house. So appa send him to St.Joseph’s school in Trichinopoly, where he did his matriculation, but could not continue his studies further. His unhappy childhood and frustration in studies made him resolve that he would have a happy home and give his children the best of education, for which he strove and succeeded.
At 25, a romantic young man walked from Mundakayam to Peermade to get the consent of the formidable Ibrahim Kutty to marry his 11 year old niece. It was no hitchhike! His determination took him to Peermade through cart tracts in the jungle.With the blessings of the two uncles, vappa got married to their niece, Mariambi.
Vappa started his married life in Palar. He traded in small items like hosiery, and did not get any financial assistance from anybody. However, mother was taken to Peermade for the birth of the first four children.
Appa presented each of his sons with a pony from his stable (equivalent to a Honda or a B.M.W.now!!) Vappa appreciated this gift very much as he loved animals and the white beautiful pony became his companion. An envious hand set fire to his stable one night killing the 20 horses in it. Mother told us that vappa wept inconsolably, when he saw the helpless animals dying.
Our parents lost both their elder sons in Palar. Akka and brother Majeed were very small. In Palar, vappa took up part time work with the Munnar railways. He would walk the distance to Munnar early morning to keep time at the station. Some times on shifts, he would walk home late in the nights. There were no roads, no lights and the weather used to be freezing cold. In the eerie darkness, he would walk alone amidst the tall trees. Literally, we are reminded of Robert Frost’s poem
“The woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep…..”
By the grace of God, father went the miles and kept the promises. But one wonders if he thought so when he passed away at the age of 62.
Brother Hassan and I were born in Kallar, where vappa had taken up the distribution of supplies to the estates. Vappa’s greatest worry was the education of the children. There were no schools in Munnar. It was then that he had to take a major decision that would result in a lonely and hard life for him without the family in Munnar where he had moved. Thus Mother and we were settled in Trivandrum entirely for our schooling.
In Munnar he set up his own shop. His visits to Trivandurm and our holidays to Munnar were events that we looked forward to. The journey from Munnar was not as easy as it is now. From Top Station to Bodinayakkanoor the only way to travel was by trekking. We had to walk for seven miles through Korangani pathway. That journey was most interesting for us children. We used to carry curd rice and other home made eats for the way. Mother was carried in a ‘Doli’, if she felt tired. And at the end of the trail in Bodinayakkanoor, a hot meal and hospitality awaited us from father’s good friend, Sultan Rowther. The other choice was to travel by car through the snaky Udumalpet road, with its hairpin bends and curves, which was equally exciting. During those days ours was one of the first cars in the hills.
The colonial planters had envisaged only two roads to Madras Presidency from Munnar. One was the northern outlet to Udumalpet and the other to the northeast via Top station and Korangani to Bodinayakkanoor. There was an intended trace through Mankulam for connecting Munnar to the rest of the erstwhile Travancore. It was father, with his foresight, who met the Senior Maharani at Trivandrum and convinced her of the importance of opening the present Munnar Alwaye road via the now township of Adimali and Neriyamangalam. For this meritorious service, the late Sir.C.P.Ramaswami Iyer, the then Divan of Travancore, creditably commended him.
When we were in Trivandrum, came the devastating floods in Munnar, in 1924. The township which nestled on the banks of the river was washed away and with it vappa’s shops, and all his hopes and dreams. M/s James Finley of Scotland, the colonial planters, was in two minds about continuing their activities after the floods. However, Mr.Pinches, the then G.M. in Munnar, an obstinate Scot insisted on re building the plantation and their company from the ruins. A personal friend of vappa’s, and in who he had immense confidence, Mr.Pinches threw a challenge to him, of taking up the Herculean task of reconstructing a new township and other contract works such as the roads and bridges etc. With his indomitable courage and determination, vappa took up the challenge and with his capacity for hard work, the town was rebuilt in record time. His work was highly lauded by the company, both in Munnar and in Scotland. This was the turning point in vappa’s life.
The floating of Marikar & Co. was the next step. His reputation for honesty and integrity, made friends and the public rallyround him. This was the forerunner of all the other Marikar Organizations that were to follow over the years. The rapid growth of Marikar & Co., under his management, enabled father to take up the Ford Agency in 1933, blazing a glorious trail.
Setting his eyes on further horizons he expanded the business by floating Marikar Motors Ltd. in Trivandrum in the year 1940-41. The first branch was in Kottayam. However, none can forget the convoy of Lorries that plied between Alwaye and Munnar, daily transporting tea and other commodities, under the banner of Marikar Transports based at Perambavoor. It was not an easy achievement, considering the fact that those were the lean years of World War II.
Meanwhile the family had grown and our education was still father’s greatest concern. Akka (Abusha) had finished schooling successfully in Trivandurm and her Intermediate course in Queen Mary’s College, Madras, where she did well in sports also, winning a medal for Tennis. Her ambition and determination was to become a doctor. She would not consider marriage proposals and joined the Madras Medical College with the blessings of our parents. She was the first Muslim woman to do so in 1930. It created uproar amongst the Muslim community as there were many who believed that female education was against the religion. Vappa stood every type of harsh and unkind criticisms and even physical threats. Akka finished her M.B.B.S, D.G.O. and M.D. to the great delight and pride of our parents. She then joined the Madras Medical Service and later rose to be the first woman Director of Medical and Health Services in the State. She was also the first woman to be the D.M.S. in the whole of India.
The rest of us had the best of education in good schools and colleges. Suri, Habeeb and Shamshu were sent to Madras. Shamshu was only 4 at the time.
Separation from the children was not easy for mother. However, her love for them and their future and her implicit faith and trust in vappa’s judgment made her accept her loneliness. Vappa appreciated her understanding and courage. Every year he made it a point to take her to Madras to spend the time with the children.
Vappa was a visionary in the field of education. He was of the view that emancipation of women especially Muslims could be achieved only through education. To this end he worked and contributed whatever he could. He helped many with scholarships and financial assistance. Mother supported him wholeheartedly in these activities.
He had definite views on marriage. He was a pioneer against the dowry system and he was strongly against polygamy. He would not condone a second marriage while the first wife was living, perhaps due to the memories of his own childhood.
Vappa was a patriot. He was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. He spoke and discussed with us the happening in India at the time. He encouraged akka to take part in the Swadeshi Movement, while she was in the Madras Medical College. He did not miss and opportunity to take his family to attend the Congress meetings held at Madras by the great leaders of that time.
It was owing to his exemplary character and discipline that he was appointed as a member of the Legislative Council by the Government of Travancore.
When the Munnar business was stabilized, father wanted to concentrate on expanding the business in Trivandrum. With this in view he built a house in Pattom and moved in with mother. It was a staggering blow to vappa when mother suddenly passed away on 18th May 1942 of a heart attack in Trivandrum while he away in Munnar. She was only 48.
In conclusion, vappa was one of those rare personalities. His courage and determination, his stamina for hard work, and stubbornness in his outlook to his principles in life were qualities that endeared him to every one. Though he was deeply religious, he never did flaunt it around. His sentiment in this area culminated in his initiating the building of the only mosque in Munnar (the only one even today-1991).
Father was never the same after mother’s death. His health suffered as he neglected it. She was the one who mattered most in his life, some one, who inspired, trusted and respected him. A companion who stood by him, especially in the early days of his pioneering struggles in the lonely and Malaria and danger ridden hills of Munnar. His end also came prematurely, two years after mother’s demise.
During his short illness, he would call out to Allah and repeat the name of his beloved Mariam. He passed away on the 5th of April 1944 and was buried in the Palayam Mosque next to Mother. As he breathed his last, father recited the kalima-La Ilaha Illallah…La Ilaha Illallah…La Ilaha Illallah.
(Signed) Ayesha Razi Mohamed Madras Dated: 16/12/91
AYESHA MARIKAR (Grandmother of A.M.Marikar)
Left behind in Kandy with her six children, grandmother could not have been the happiest of women. She no doubt found the difficulties of bringing up the children with their father across the seas. The money that he sent her, some times did not reach her. Being excellent in needlework, and teaching, she managed the household on her own in the beginning. However when it became difficult to cope any longer, she took the bold decision to come to India. Appa settled her and the children in Periyakulam where he had a trading post. Another reason to choose Periyakulam was because it was in Madras Presidency, a Tamil speaking area and grandmother’s language was Tamil. But above all it was far away from Kottayam!!
Grandmother evidently made her peace and her home in Periyakulam. Father (H.O.L.Marikar) was 10 years old at that time. She taught the neighbouring children and her own, on the verandah of her home and continued her needlework.
This life of quiet acceptance, patience, strength and courage came to an end. Grandmother and her elder son were struck by cholera in a cholera epidemic. After her death the children were taken to their stepmother’s house.
T.C.H.MARIKAR - Grandfather of A.M.Marikar
Herewith a short sketch of our esteemed, illustrious and colourful grandfather. Adventurous and romantic, perhaps, would describe him better.
He was born in Kandy, Ceylon in 1852. He belonged to an aristocratic family of ancestral landlords. In a family of eight, he was the second son of Thambi Cannu Marikar. He took his initials from his father’s name and was known as T.C.H.Marikar.
*He was a sportsman and an athlete, his favourite game being football. Once while he was playing, the ball went into the school ground next door. It was when he went to pick it up that he met his future wife who was a teacher there.[1]* She was a padre’s daughter. They got married with much opposition from the powerful Marikars and the Christian community. Her married name was Ayesha. She[2] was said to be of attractive features, gentle, soft-spoken and very intelligent. She was well versed in the Bible and in the Quran. She bore him six children.
Trade and the spirit of adventure brought appa (T.C.H.) to India. With his business acumen, he successfully built up his trade between India and Ceylon. He came to South India and established himself in the then States of Travancore and Cochin (Kerala) and parts of Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu). Travelling between India and Ceylon could not have been easy sailing in the eighties. He owned 26 dhows and did regular trips. In Travancore, he was attracted to Mundakayam and Peermadu. Perhaps, it was the scenic beauty and climate of these places and their similarity to Ceylon that attracted him.
[3]*He started his business in Kottayam where he had a supermarket of sorts. He used to go to the mosque on horseback* and that is when he fell in love with the Syrian Christian lady, who was renowned for her beauty and specially her long & flowing tresses. She used to watch him from the threshold of her house. One day, he carried her away on his horse. This lady, Kunjamma, was already married and had a child too, but nothing prevented the progress and fulfillment of their great romance. They married to the utter dismay, anger and embarrassment of the Syrian Christian, ‘Chowkaparambil family’, to which she belonged. Kunjamma’s married name became Mariambi. They stayed in Kottayam for some time and later settled down in Rich Grove estate in Mundakkayam.
He set up his son Kasim in business in Mundakayam. It was then that Kasim was married to Meera whose daughter Mymoon was given in marriage in Ceylon. Appa evidently wanted to maintain his connection with his homeland. His daughter Halima was married to his brother Manzoor Shah’s son Muqaddam Shah. On his death she was married to Buksh in Ceylon. Ummukulsu, another daughter was married to Jain, who was employed in a tea plantation Company inCeylon and later came and settled down in theHigh Ranges of Travancore. Nachiar and Amina were also given in marriage in Ceylon. Both of them were widowed early, and as was the custom in Ceylon, the daughters came back to live in their parent’s home in Peermedu.
Appa later met the two brothers Ibrahim Kutty and Abdul Khader, who hailed from Kannur and were doing business in Peermedu. They became good friends. Their friendship culminated in marriage alliances between the two families.
Later on appa sold his property in Kottayam and invested in a large acreage of land in Mundakayam. Even during his life time portions of it were taken away for bridges, roads etc. He built a big comfortable house in ‘Rich Grove Estate’ where Mariam and the children lived and is still the home of that branch of the family.
Peermade and Mundakayam were little known areas, with virgin forests and malaria-ridden jungles. Only the pioneering spirits of a few daring British planters and people like appa that opened new vistas of development in these places. Appa foresaw the potentialities of Peermade and made it his business centre and did a flourishing business.
Being an enthusiastic equestrian with a great love of horses, he prided himself in his horses and stables. His horsemanship won him a lot of friends among the British and he enjoyed this great recreation.
In 1920, after his youngest daughter Saffa’s marriage, appa passed away peacefully. He was laid to rest in that part of his ‘Rich Grove’ estate in Mundakayam, which he had set aside for a family graveyard.
A unique personality, a daring pioneer of exemplary courage and foresight with a spirit of adventure and romance who was a link to two colonial countries of the British, he died inIndia, the land of his adoption. Thus ended the spirited zestful life of T.C.H.Marikar, born inKandy, Ceylon and laid to rest inMundakkayam, India.
[1] * to* data collected by Shamshu Mohamed Ali in 2001, when he was working in Sri Lanka as construction engineer
[2] Much later, ie in the late 1940s, her brother and his son Chelliah writer and family migrated to Munnar and settled down there. The son was employed in Marikar & Co and the family was very close to H.O.L.Marikar and our vappa, Majeed Marikar. His children, Avaranji and others were our playmates in Munnar.
[3]*.* Ummer sacha’s account fortified by Elsy, grand daughter of Kunjamma’s first daughter, in October 9
IBRAHIM KUTTY & ABDUL KHADER OF KANNUR (GRAND UNCLES)
In Peermade settled two handsome stalwart Moplah brothers with their young widowed sister and her baby daughter. They belonged to the Mannankadiyan family of Cannanore (Kannur). Ibrahim Kutty, the elder brother built up a thriving bakery business and Abdul Khader a flourishing general store. In an upcoming town like Peermade, they did very well. They were deeply religious and prominent Muslims of the place and were loved and respected for their generosity and large heartedness. They were plain spoken and forthright. Ibrahim Kutty (Periya mama) with his towering height and fiery temper was a personality to reckon with. Abdul Khader (Chinna mama), ever the younger brother, with his quiet sense of humour, lived a peaceful life.
T.C.H.Marikar and the two brothers became fast friends and in them he found eligible husbands for his daughters by Ayesha.
Periya mama married Salha, appa’s eldest daughter. She died at childbirth.
Salha’s sister Nachiar, who had lost her husband and her two infants in a tragic fire accident, was then married off to Periya mama, the young widower. They had six children. Nachiar died at childbirth when the youngest, Hameed, was born. Then her sister Amina, who had left her Ceylonese husband and was living in Peermade, was married off to periya mama to take care of the children. They had eight children.
Periya mama, in his late years, married Kulsumbi an urdu speaking Muslim and had 4 children by her.
Appa’s and grandmother Ayesha’s youngest daughter Zaithoon was married to chinna mama. They had eleven children.
The tie between the Moors and the Moplahs was further strengthened by father (H.O.L.Marikar) marrying Mariambi, the beautiful little niece of the brothers. They had eleven children.
Periya mama was a forceful character till the end. He suffered from rheumatism in his old age. He died in 1935 and was buried in the family graveyard in Peermade in his property. Chinna mama died in Trivandurm in 1950?
