Sri
Lanka Moor Family Genealogy
SALIE - Family #236
MUM Salie 1869-1963
Family history related by Yussuf Salie
(grandson of MUM Salie)
See also: http://groundviews.org/2013/07/11/prince-salie-a-story-of-sapphires-and-steamships/
Tina
Buzzards
Website – Descendants of Mohammad Usuff
Mohammad Salie
Greetings from Sri Lanka and welcome to the
LankaGems website.
The Salie Family has been in the
gem and jewelry business since the late 1700's. Our business
was started in the late 1700's on the tiny island of Sri Lanka
(formerly known as Ceylon at the time of the British
occupation). Sri Lanka is situated in the Indian Ocean at the
southern most tip of India.
The town of Galle is situated in the southern province and is
otherwise known as the Dutch city. The first two generations
of our family concentrated in the buying and selling of rough
stones as well as the cutting and polishing of them. This
process resulted in beautiful precious stones known as
sapphires, rubies and many other varieties of semi precious and precious stones
(aquamarines, tourmalines, garnets etc).
Galle is a seaport. It was the most impressive of natural
harbors in the world at that time and still may remain so
today. Many merchant ships passed through Galle to obtain
provisions, spices and of course, gemstones. Our Great
Grandparents were gem merchants. As Galle was the main gem
cutting center as well as the hub of the gem trade in Sri
Lanka, we presume that most precious gemstones found at that
time (1700-1800) originated from this tiny port city of Galle.
Today many of these original stones are in the possession of
individual collectors or are showcased in museums in Asia,
Europe, Great Britain well as in
the United States of America.
My grandfather was the third generation of Salie's born in 1869. It was in 1898
that young M U M Salie (my
grandfather) decided to leave his home country and explore the
world at the age of thirty. From his early childhood days in
school he had learned and heard quite a bit about two great
continents, Australia and North America. He was particularly
interested in the information he had gathered concerning the
Opal mines in Australia. Without informing his parents, he
left home and set sail to Australia on a merchant vessel.
After arriving in Melbourne he spent most of his time buying
rough Opals and other gemstones that he had planned to cut and
refinish in Sri Lanka. Due to the fact that the gem cutters in
Sri Lanka were reputed for their knowledge of precision
cutting, M U M Salie decided to
open his own Opal cutting center in his home country.
M U M Salie married an Australian
lady in 1899. After spending a couple of years in Melbourne he
and his wife Elsie returned to Sri Lanka with barrels full of
rough opals. His dream had come true. He was able to cut these
large quantities of opals by expert cutters at a low cost. He
spent approximately six years processing the opals and turning
them into fine gemstones. In the meantime, he had made many
more trips to Australia. He sold his newly finished opals and
in turn, bought more rough stones. In 1906, with his wife
Elsie beside him, he took part in the exposition in Hanly Park New Zealand, winning praise
and awards for displaying the finest of gemstones. As he
became more traveled, he had the opportunity to learn about
Shanghai, Burma, Tokyo, New York, California, Chicago and
Miami. It was due to the climatic similarities between Sri
Lanka and Miami that he became particularly fond of Miami.
Sri Lanka has always being a busy port and a central point for
commerce and travel. Many businessmen and tourists passed
through the Island staying in the large ships while they were
docked for loading and unloading in the port cities. My
grandfather had been invited to show his rare gem collection
to the passengers in these grand ships. Although this proved
to be a viable business, this didn't satisfy his quest of
obtaining a fair share of the world market for these beautiful
and rare gemstones.
As the years passed, his opal cutting center had grown
tremendously and many family members and friends were employed
there. Approximately 300 people including relatives depended
on this business. As his family obligations increased, he
decided to test his good fortune in the vast Indian market for
fine gemstones. During this period, India had many Noble
Maharajahs & Maharanis who were interested in adding fine
gemstones to their collections. They had been particularly
interested in diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The
Indian Nobles only bought the very best for their collections,
furthermore, they believed deeply in the mystic powers of
precious gemstones.
When M U M Salie returned home,
the people of the village had grown to love him for his
generous contributions and for taking care of them. At this
time, there were many with the last name 'Salie'
working at the factory - and the people of the town wanted to
give him a different and distinct name to honor his
contribution to the community. As M U M Salie
often shared stories of his visits with Princes and Princess's around the world, they
decided to honor him with the name and title ' Prince M U M Salie'. That is what he became
referred to from that time onwards.
In 1915 he traveled to America with his wife Elsie and their
daughter Ruby. In San Francisco he participated in the Pan
Pacific International Exposition and won a Grand Prize for his
contribution of fine exhibits of precious and semi precious stones.
In 1916 he took part in the exposition in San Diego California
at Balboa Park making many new friends and inroads into the US
market. Over the next decade, he spent much of his time
traveling around the world while somehow keeping a close eye
on his teenage children. He had high hopes for his children;
like his father, he also wanted all his children to follow him
in the gemstone business (and they did!).
In 1926 he took part in the Sesquicentennial Exposition in
Philadelphia where he won great praise and honors for his fine
collectable gemstones. He then moved on to Miami Beach, where
he bought two homes next to each other. One was for his living
and the other for entertaining his customers and friends. He
entertained many of America's elite society by throwing lavish
dinners parties and entertaining them with stories and
mysteries from the Orient.
Between 1933 and 1934 he participated in the Exposition for
the Century of Progress in Chicago. My father, his siblings
and his cousins assisted Prince M U M Salie
at this fair. It was here that he also won many praise awards,
including the grand prize for his exhibits of fine gem
material stones. In 1934, when the exposition ended, he
donated the finest of his collection of gemstones to the Field
Museum of Natural History in Chicago which still can be viewed
to date.
In 1935, he made the move to New York City. It was between 1935-1936 that he participated
in another successful show known as the San Diego Exposition
in Balboa Park. It was during that same year that he
commissioned my father, his siblings and a couple of his
cousins to travel throughout the orient to explore the
possibility of buying and selling gemstones in that region.
They did so by going to Burma Magok
where they established a buying as well as a retail outlet.
They proceeded to Hong Kong, China and Japan in hopes of
selling these precious stones. My father identified successful
business opportunities in all of these ports in the Orient. He
spent all of his adult life in Ceylon and in the Orient until
his sudden death in 1945 at the age of 42.
My grandfather now at the age of 76.
With the loss of both his wife Elise and his son (my father) Usuff, he began to slow down his
business. In 1947 he made another trip to America. Being home
sick and alone, he returned to Sri Lanka in 1948 only to make
another trip to the US in 1952 to finalize his business
affairs. He returned to Sri Lanka that same year. He spent the
following years of his life in Bombay Castle in Galle, which
was built with all the ideas and experiences of his traveled
life.
In 1963 at the age of 94, during an interview with the Ceylon
Observer (newspaper) he expressed his desire to visit the
country he loved so dearly -the United States one more time.
While making travel arrangements to visit the US with his
grandson, M U M Salie was killed
in a tragic traffic accident in May of 1963.
Many of his children and grandchildren have followed in his
footsteps and have dedicated their lives to the gem industry
in Sri Lanka. They have also traveled and explored business
opportunities in gem industries all over the world. Today, I
am working with the sixth generation of the Salie family -namely my children to
better service our customers in the new world of the Internet.
My son Afkham Salie graduated from Chapman College
with a degree in business. He then went on to becoming a
certified gem cutter and gemologist from the Gemological
Institute of America in California. He is now operating a gem
cutting and fashioning studio in Sri Lanka. My eldest daughter
Rahma Salie,
graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in
International Relations and Japanese Studies. She is currently
working in the technology industry in Cambridge, MA. My
youngest daughter is still in college and hopes to graduate in
the year 2000. I, Ysuff M. Salie, the fifth generation in the
gemstone business, along with my wife Haleema
who has successfully completed courses in diamond grading and
evaluation at the Gemological Institute of America will remain
as a patron and advisor to our children in this business. We
have decided to bring together our rich background and six
generations of experience in order to showcase and provide you
with a high quality collection of gemstones and jewelry. We
will also pay particular attention in servicing your custom
jewelry needs through this Internet site. We now introduce you
to our gemstone and jewelry collection as well as to our
culture and origins.
1 Salie, M.U.M. (aka Prince Salie) b:1869, d:May-1963 (tragic
accident) + Elsie (Australia), m:1899
2
Usuff Salie
b: 1903, d:1945 + Rahma
3 Khyre
Harnim Salie
+ Hamza Abdul Cader
(80)
ABDUL
CADER - HAJIANI KHYRE HARNIM
Beloved wife of late Hamza Abdul Cader,
daughter of late Rahma and Usuff Salie,
loving mother of Shanaz, Akram, Amira,
Ardil and late Shah, Faizal and Ayesha, mother-in-law of Padmani, Zakraff,
Zulficar, Mirza
and Mifthiya, grandmother of Siyana, Imran, Soraya,
Azam, Malik, Mariam, Subran, Nabiha,
Zainab, Akthab
and Iman, sister of Barbara (Nauzad), Ameena,
Farida, Riza, Tilly, Usuff and late Ahmed Salie, expired. The Janaza took place on November 17, 2002
at 4.00 p.m. in Chennai, India, according to her wishes. 29/2, Torrington Court, Independence Avenue,
Colombo 7. [Sunday Observer Dec 1, 2002]
4 Shah Cader
+ Babi
5 Imran Cader
5 Siyana
Cader
5 Soraya
Cader
4 Faizal
Cader
4 Ayesha Cader
4 Shanaz
Cader + Zakraff,
Dastakeer (35,84,143)
5 Azam
Dastakeer
4 Akram
Cader + Mirza
Mohammed
4 Amira
Cader + Zulfi
Mohammed
4 Ardil
Cader + Mifthiya
3 Barbara (Nauzad) Salie
+ Mohammed Raheem
4 Yasmin
Raheem + Fazal
Dool
5 Arshard
Dool
5 Name not Known
3 Ameena
Salie + Salih
4 Ali Salih
4 Fathima
Salih
3 Farida Salie + Yehiya
Farook
4 Hussain
Ali Farook + Farah Khalaf
5 Ibrahim Farook
5 Hana Farook
4 Thahir
Farook
3 Riza
Salie Sherine
Saleem
4 Mohammed Salie
4 Raihan
Salie
3 Tilly (Rizly)
Salie + Fariha Dastakeer
(35, 84,143)
4 Faiq
Salie + Sara
5 Sabeeha
Salie
4 Imam Salie
+ Inara Azeer
5 Abith
Imam
4 Zacky
Salie
4
Nabil Salie
3
Yusuff Salie
+ Haleema Alaudeen
4
Rahma Salie
+ Micky Theodoridis
(killed in American Airlines Flight 11 crash into WTC,
New York on Sep 11, 2001)
4
Afkham Salie
+ Dilrua
5
Sinan Afkham
Salie
4
Farah Salie
3
Ahmed Salie + Marzoona Dastakeer
(35, 84,143)
4 Shaha Salie
+Mohammed Nelufar
5
Raida Nelufar
5
Ijaz Nelufar
4 Noorul Habeeba
Salie + Munir Akbar (84)
5
Dhaiyaan Akbar
5
Amani Akbar
5
Nardra Akbar
4 Isam Salie
+ Shazneen Moulana
5 Nameer Isam
3
Noorul Inaya
Shariff, d:24-Sep-2003 + Noor Mahuroof
4
Fahmy Mahuroof
(UK) + Lizana
4
Fazlul Mahuroof
4
Falik Mahuroof
4
Fahira Mahuroof
4
Fathiha Mahuroof
4
Fayyadh Mahuroof
3
Noorul Jenna Shariff
+ Caffoor (UK)
3
Sithy Shakira
Shariff + Wahab
3
Atheeka Shariff
+ Siddick Mahuroof
3
Hassan Shariff (UK)
3
Khyre Shariff
+ Sanoon (UK)
3
Nizar Shariff
1 2nd
spouse of Salie, M.U.M. (aka
Prince Salie) b:1869,
d:May-1963 (tragic accident) + Hafsa
Umma from Galle
2
Zain Salie
2 Shafie Salie +
Shakira*
(23)
3 Fiaz Salie, d:Jun 2021 + Kurrathul Ayne Sulaiman, d/o M Sulaiman & Nona Raheema
4 M Rumzi Salie
4 M Thariq Salie
4 Fathima Rizna Salie
4 Fathima Shahira Salie
3 Zeena Salie
+ Mansoor
3 Mazeena
Salie
3 Nawaz Salie
3 Fareeza
Salie + Hameed
3 Zameena
Salie + Saleem
2 Cader Salie
2 Shahul Hamid Salie
+ Feulah
(23) sister of Shaikra*
3 Feroza
Salie + Shiraz
Marzook (11)
4
Ghazala Marzook + Firaz
(div)
4
Nickshan Marzook + Name Not Known
2 Ummu Hasina Salie
2 Haseena Razeena Salie
HAJIYANI
NOORUL
INAYA NOOR MAHUROOF
Granddaughter of Marhoom Prince M.U.M. Salie, loving daughter of Marhoom and Marhooma
A.L.M.M. Shariff, beloved wife of
the late Noor Mahuroof, loving
mother of Fahmy (U.K.), Fazlul, Falik,
Fahira, Fathiha
and Fayyadh, motherinlaw of the late M.L.M. Ashraff, Lizana
(U.K.), Zeenath, Naufer, the late Ahamed
and Zinda, sister of Noorul Jenna Caffoor
(U.K.), Sithy Shakira Wahab,
Atheeka Siddick
Mahuroof, Hassan Shariff (U.K.), Khyre
Sannoon (U.K.), and Nizar Shariff,
grandmother of Shazna, Imaad, Shaamil,
Sharmila, Shaarifa,
Zahara, Zahma,
Faizal, Farahath
Inthiquab, Asmina,
Feroz, Aadhil,
Shahana, Riffah,
Sabreena, Amjad,
Fahad, Zulaik,
Fazil, Sugra
and Azaam. Janaza
took place on 24th Sept. 2003. The family members thank all
those who attended the funeral and helped them in numerous
ways. They regret their inability to thank them individually. No.5, Mosque Lane, Kandewatte,
Galle (Tel. 94-92244418). [Sunday
Observer Sep 28 2003]