Sri Lanka Memon Family Genealogy

KATLIYA - Family #302

Aboobucker Haji Kassam Katliya and his brother Abdul Rahman Haji Kassam Katliya were among the very few Memons to arrive in Ceylon in the early days of Memon settlement in the Island. The two brothers set up a business in Matara which they wound off as a result of the Japanese bombing during WWII and returned home to Kutiyana. Aboobucker had two sons, Haji Kassam, named after his grandfather, and Abdul Sattar.

Abdul Sattar set up A R Aboobucker & Company in Colombo but later moved to Jaffna where he joined the famous Ghany Bhai Stores before setting up Aslams in Colombo, which was the turning point in his life. Aslam's, like all Memon firms dealt mainly in textiles. With the incentive given to exports it lost no time in focusing attention on the booming export trade which brought in valuable foreign exchange to the country.

The firm exported local produce, viz tea, coconuts, copra, arecanuts, and had a turnover of 12 Crores annually.

They later expanded to establish Aslam's Developments Limited which was involved in property development. Among their development projects are two supermarkets in The Pettah.

Abdul Sattar also served as the Qazi of the Memon Community and Trustee of the Memon Hanafi Mosque. He had three sons, Aslam, Jafer, and Abdul Razzak, of whom the second, Jafer achieved much distinction in the community. Jafer, an old boy of DS Senanayake College started business at an early age establishing Sumithra Group f Companies in partnership with Haroon Thowfeek. The company has three garment manufacturing factories in Colombo, Polgahawela, and Weeraketiya. Jafer became the President of the Old Boys Union of his Alma Mater, DS Senanayake College, in 1995 and during his tenure of office was actively involved in raising funds for the College. He also became the President of the Memon Association of Sri Lanka in 2001 and held office for two terms ending in 2004. During his term of office he was also instrumemntal in introducing the six a side cricket carnival to instil social harmony within the community. He undertook to distribute school books and stationery among the community members who needed assistance to educate their children. He also renovated and refurbished the Memon Hall and was instrumental in organizing several medical camps during his tenure as President.

1  Haji Kassam Katliya

    2 Aboobucker Haji Kassam Katliya

        3  Haji Kassam Katliya

        3  Abdul Sattar Katliya

            4 Aslam Abdul Sattar Katliya

            4 Jafer Abdul Sattar Katliya

            4  Abdul Razzak Abdul Sattar Katliya

    2  Abdul Rahman Haji Kassam Katliya

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