Syed Abubaker Maliki, Post Box 288, Dubai U.A.E

GREAT SOULS OF BHATKAL

The soil of Bhatkal has given birth to some illustrious men whose work will never die. We are giving below the thumb-nail sketches of such great souls who thought more of the society around them than they did about themselves. They were very much concerned about the well being of the society. We took the arduous task of compiling pen sketches about them. But we were confronted with certain difficulties when we made an attempt to select a lot of all-time great's from the galaxy of great and self-less personalities.Our intention in presenting them is that the foot prints they have left in the sands of time should be our lodestar and that starting from where they left their lives and taking a leaf or two out of their books we should carry the torch still further.  

Akrami, Moulana Khawaja Bahauddin

Moulana Khawaja Bahauddin Akrami was yet another proud son of Bhatkal who made valuable contributions to the progress of Navayath community.Moulana completed his primary education at Vellore in 1919. Being a pious and godly man. he went to Nadwa in the 30's and took up religious studies. He was a prolific writer in Urdu & Navayath languages. He served as the editor of an Urdu periodical `Hindustani'. Subsequently Moulana Khwaja started publishing the `Al-Navayath' in 1930. Unfortunately this venture died a premature death. He authored two books, 'Arab-o-dayare-hind' and 'Tazkir-e-Anjuman'. The Moulana was awarded the state literary award for his Arab - o - dayare-hind' book.  

Akrami, Sharief Mohiddin Moulana Sharief Mohiddin Akrami was the worthy son of the worthy father Kaazi Mohammed Amin Akrami. He had his primary education in Darul-Deoband. In fact he was one of the first three Bhatkalies who had the great good fortune of going to Deoband for education. Further he continued his studies in Farangi Mahal where he had the opportunity of learning under great and eminent teacher like Abdul Bari Farangi Mahali who was a living legend. On conclusion of his studies, Sharief Mohiddin Akrami joined Islamia Anglo Urdu High School as a teacher of religious and moral education (Deeniyat). He was made an Assistant Kaazi of Bombay.

Damda Abdul Kadir Successful businessmen are not that rare. Nor are scholars. But individuals in whom we come across a combination of business acumen coupled with erudition are indeed rare. And Abu Abdul Kadir Bapu - fondly called Abu Moulvi-belongs to that rare breed.Abu Abdul Kadir Bapu was born in 1870. In some respects he was a chip of the old block. His father was a business tycoon owning a network of establishments at far flung places like Calicut and Bellary.  

Damudi, Abu Abdul Rahman from the fringe to the centre stage-this sums up the story of Abu Abdurrahman Damudi's life.Born in a poor but very respectable family Abu Abdurrahman Damudi, as could be expected, had to ontinue his education at the end of the primary stage. However, lack of higher education did not stand in the way of his endeavor to expand the horizon of his knowledge. He was a voracious reader prompted by an insatiable thirst for knowledge. His interest in religious books was especially phenomenal. Another striking feature of his personality was that he was one among the very few people who knew the Persian language.  

Damda Abu, Mohammed Amin Chadu D.A. Mohammed Amin Chadu-Chadubhao to all his friends was born in1905. From a very young age he dedicated his time and energy to social service. First as the secretary and then as its president Mohammed Amin rendered valuable service to Jamathul muslimeen. Further he took an
active interest in and was closely associated with other Muslim organisation also. He was a vice-president of Majlis-Islah-O-Tanzeem, a managing trustee of Jamia Islamia for quite a number of years.   

Faqui Ahmeda, Mohammed Hasan The community owes a deep debt of gratitude to F.A. Mohammed Hasan who made outstanding contributions to the establishment and development of Anjuman Hami-e- Muslimeen.F.A.Mohammed Hasan was born in 1898 and after passing the matriculation examination did his F.A. in Coorg. At a time when educational institutions were few and far between this was no ordinary achievement. Like every other man of vision, F.A. Mohammed Hasan too realized the importance of providing educational facilities to the people of Bhatkal. He subscribed to the view that education held the key to all future development. Unfortunately F.A.Mohammed Hasan died in 1920 at a tender age of 23. With this Bhatkal lost a promising and dynamic leader who could have opened a new chapter in its chequered history. But alas! It was not to be so.  

Kola, Abdurrahman Endowed by Mother Nature with a photographic memory and propelled by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Kola Abdurrahman pushed the frontiers of his knowledge by the hour and came to be recognised as a prodigy. Born in 1906, Mr. Rahman, after his formal education in Colombo established a flourishing textile business there. His enterprising nature prompted him to expand his business to Pakistan and to several places in India. Try however he might Abdurrahman could never be away from his native place for long. Nostalgia attracted this great man to Bhatkal. As he was a man of impeccable credentials people held his opinions in high esteem.   

                                                                                                      S.M.Yahya

                                                                                                                        S.M.Syed Khaleel, President of Anjuman Hami-e-Mulslimeen, Khaleej Counsil and Karnataka Sangha. Working in Galadari (Under Construction)

                                                                                                            Altaf Damudi an Artist of rare calibre. Working in Accounts Department at Health and Medical Services in Dubai. His successful exhibitions of paintings in Dubai are ample proof that he has the talent and ability.

Vaman Narasimha Nayak Late Vaman Narsimha Nayak was born in an affluent Nayak family of Bhatkal which is held in esteem to this day. After passing the mulky examination (the present VII standard) he inherited his father's mantle and became businessman.That was the time when the level of literacy was pitiably low in the North Kanara District. Still the British did precious little to improve the situation. The farsighted leaders of Bhatkal were very much concerned about this sorrowful state of affairs. In addition to being the biggest wholesale merchant in Bhatkal Vaman Nayak was also an industrialist owning rice and oil mills. Vaman Nayak died when he was 75.  

Shrinivas Hanumanth Pai Late Shrinivas Hanumanth Pai helped the cause of communal harmony by serving as the liaison officer between the Navayths and Hindus at Bhatkal. The Navayaths held him in high esteem. It was through their unstinting support the he became the president of Bhatkal Town Municipal Council when the muslim councillors out numbered their Hindu counterparts.Besides being one of the founder member of Bhatkal Urban Co-operative Bank, he served this institution as its Vice-president. Further more, he was the founder trustee of Sri Shanteri Kamakshi Temple Srinivas Pai expired in 1980 at the age of 61.   

D.L. Keshni Devaiya Lachmaiya Keshni hailed from a middle class agriculturists family of Mundalli in Bhatkal Taluk. The whole taluk was backward in all respects. Keshni's father had to struggle hard to make both ends meet.Keshni managed to study upto the metric examination. He joined the revenue department and retired as a sub-registrar. He was the president of the taluk Development Board, Bhatkal for two successive terms. He was one among the founders of Namadhari Samaj Sangh and served the association as the president for many years.  

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Source : Bhatkal Times Magazine