Sri Lanka Memon Family Genealogy

PATEL - Family #299

The Patel's, a grouping of Memon families having a common family name but perhaps distinct ancestries, are fairly numerous in Sri Lanka. The term Patel means "a headman" among the rural communities of North India and it is possible that many such Patel Families originated from ancestors who were village Chiefs.

Among the prominent Patel families who have chosen to make Sri Lanka their home, are those descended from Haji Ayoob AliMohammed Patel, who was born in Feb 19, 1919 and received his early education at Zahira College in Colombo. Having married Rabia Bhai, in 1936, when he was only seventeen, he had a son Iqbal born in India in 1946. With the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Haji Ayoob, along with his wife and son, arrived in Ceylon for permanent domicile in the island. Having worked as a broker (textile commission agent) from the early fifties to the mid sixties, he decided to venture on his own starting a handloom industry in 1965 and later a dyeing industry in 1968.

Mohammed Iqbal, son of Haji Ayoob, also took to the textile trade transacting a considerable business in hosiery textiles, locally woven fabric, and confectionary. He later took to the dyeing business, applying traditional know-how in dyeing for the local handloom industry and also enjoyed a considerable business in the supply to dye material to local industry.

Iqbal's son, Ehsan born in 1972, has the distinction of being the first Hafiz of the Memon Community, having completed his Hifz-e-Quran in Darul Uloom Amjadiya in Karachi, Pakistan. He later went on to become a Moulavi with assistance and guidance of his mentor Maulana Noorul Hassan Noori, Principal of Madarasa Faiz-e-Raza. Hafiz Ehsan plays and important role in the religious life of the community and conducts the Taraweeh Prayers at the Memon Hanafi Mosque and the Eid Prayers at the Galle Face Green.

Haji Ismail Patel, born in 1913, was the son of Abdul Ghany, son of Ahamed Patel, the son of Omar Gadit Patel. Like most Memons of his day he served in various Memon firms of the Pettah, among others H A H Ali Mohammed at Keyzer Street at Keyzer Street, Habeeb Taiyab & Company in Main Street, and Haji Yoosuf & Company in Second Cross Street.

1  Patel

    2  Haji Ayoob AliMohammed Patel, b:Feb 19, 1919 + Rabia Bhai, m:1936

        3 Mohammed Iqbal Ayoob Patel, b:1946

            4 Ehsan Iqbal Sutariya, b:1972

1  Patel

2  Omar Gadit Patel

        3 Ahamed Patel

            4  Abdul Ghany Patel

                5  Haji Ismail Patel

Compiled by the Webmaster of the Sri Lanka Genealogy Website from available data in Sri Lankan archives together with data extracted from "Memons of Sri Lanka" - Men Memoirs Milestones, by Asiff Hussein & Hameed Karim Bhoja, May 2006, iSBN 955-1408-00-4, Published by The Memon Association of Sri Lanka