Sri Lanka Moor Family Genealogy

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The Rohani Cassims of Fort, Galle

Family #395

Galle

Galle with its splendid bay and massive defences has been compared to some of the best of Europe’s coastal fortress towns.  It is believed that Galle is the biblical port of Tarshish to which King Solomon sent his ships to trade for ivory and spices.  A tradition continued by Arab traders in later times.  The Arabs called the post Qali¹.   The name Galle may have been derived from the Sinhala gala (rock), being a reference to the large rock that stands just outside the anchorage.  Alternatively it may been derived from the Sinhala gaala, that is enclosure for the bullock carts that called at the port.  The latter is the more likely version of how the name was derived.  The Portuguese and the Dutch translated the name into the Latin for cockerel, gallus and called it respectively Punte Gale and Punto de Galle. The Coat of Arms of the Dutch commandant of Galle consisted of a cockerel standing on a rock.

The Fort

The Fort sits on a small rock ringed projection into the sea on the Western side of the bay.  The shape of the projection dictated the nature of the defences and when in 1505 the Portuguese first came to build the fortifications to protect their growing township they built a wall across the projection and strengthened it with three rounded, flat sided bastions, one at each end and one in the centre.  Approach was restricted to a causeway at the eastern end leading to an entrance near the harbour.

The Dutch took the Fort in 1640 and rebuilt the defences following closely on the Portuguese pattern with the old bastions built as a core into much larger new works - the Sun bastion on the east, the Star bastion on the west and the Moon bastion at the centre.

They built nine new bastions, clockwise from the east Zwart, Akersloot, Aurora, Utrecht, Flagrock, Triton, Neptune, Clippenburg and Aeolus and joined them to the three older bastions with a rampart running right round.  Among the other improvements of the Dutch was an ingenious and perhaps unique drainage system which used the ebb and flow of the tide to flush the sewers.  The approach continued to be over the causeway with the sea virtually encircling the Fort with water right up to the foot of the wall.  The Fort continued as the Dutch seat of Government in Ceylon until the capture of Colombo in 1656 and thereafter as the Southern Headquarters.  The Coat of Arms of the Dutch East India Company (VOC – for Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) can be still seen over the inner archway of the original gate.

The Fort came under the British at end of the Eighteenth Century as a result of the treaty of Amiens.  They made a few alterations – the draining of the water outside the main front, the forming of two roads, one over the causeway and one through the new gate they opened between the Sun and Moon bastions.  The British Coat of Arms appears over the outer archway of the original gate.

The Fort continued as a British possession until 1948 when Sri Lanka gained independence.

The Fort still retains its characteristically Dutch architecture with gabled buildings, built with large verandahs supported by round pillars. Houses such as ‘Jasmine Cottage’ still retain their massive carved doors which are in four sections.

The existence of this community is also referred to by Ibnu Batuta, the Moor  from Tangier who states that in CE 1344 he was entertained at Qali (the name by which the Moors still refer to Galle) by a ship’s captain named Ibrahim².

In 1774 a Moorish widow living in Magalle had complained to the Dutch Commandant of Galle that she and her daughters were being harassed by some hooligans living in the vicinity.  The Commandant had made arrangements for the widow and her daughters to live within the Fort.  The fact that a Moorish widow and her seven daughters lived in the Fort is evidenced by an entry in Willem Jacob Van der Graff’s enumeration of 1789.  The name of the widow is given as Raheema Umma.  The names of the daughters however have not been recorded.

In British times Chief Justice Alexander Jhonstone had a copy of the inscription on a tablet found at the mosque by the rivulet at Kachiwatte, flowing into Galle harbor, sent to England for translation.  The tablet recorded that in the latter part of the Tenth Century, the Abbassid Caliph of Baghdad, At-Taib’Illah Abdul Karim Abu Bakr (CE 974-991) had sought the permission of King Udaya IV to send one Kalid abu Bakia to provide religious instruction to a community of Muslims living in Galle.

Makdhoom a descendant of Arab traders who had settled down in Alutgama was an interpreter employed by the British.  Since it was necessary that he lived in close proximity to the seat of the then British Government in Galle, he was accommodated in the barracks within the Fort.  Being a Muslim he had refused to partake in the meals prepared in the barracks and therefore arrangements were made for him to obtain his meals from Raheema Umma’s descendants who had continued to occupy the house provided for them by the Dutch Commandant.  He had returned the favour by marrying Kadija, a great granddaughter of the widow.  Cassim a Moor from Weligama, another little Moorish settlement not far from Galle, was a frequent visitor to the Galle port on account of his business a ship chandler.  He had struck up a friendship with the much older Makhdoom and ended up marrying one of his daughters, Fathuma.

Cassim, known in later years as Rohani Cassim is the progenitor of the family.  He rebuilt the original house given by the Dutch commandant, named it ‘Jasmine Cottage’, and lived there with his large brood.  The house is still owned by a branch of the family.  The house stands at the southern end of the Fort at the junction of Church Street and Rampart Street. It is the two storied house seen on the left of the picture below by the mosque. The land for the mosque was donated by Rohani Cassim.

Mohamed Shums Cassim, son of Rohani Cassim, practiced law in Kurunegala for over 25 years. He was the first Muslim lawyer in the city. In recognition of his all-round services, the honour of MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) was conferred on him in 1949, and in 1953 the Government showed its appreciation of his work by electing him a Senator.  He died on 20 May 1954, the Day of the Battle of Badr in Islamic History.

Mohamed Shums Cassim’s obituary was written by Dr AMA Azeez, then principal of Zahira College, Colombo in the school magazine “AZ-ZAHIRA”, 1954.  It can be found at the end of the family tree on this page.  Click here to see his obituary and other pictures.

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¹ Kaleh

² C/F: Translation of the Travels of Ibnu Batuta in Asia (1324-1354) by H.A.R. Gibbs – Published by Routledge & Sons, London 1929

Original Home of the Rohani Cassims as it appeared before the Mosque and the Lighthouse were built, prior to 1904 (above)

Jasmine Cottage as it stands today to the left of the picture next to the Mosque (above)

The Galle Fort Mosque – Jasmine Cottage is to left of the picture, current (above)

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Shums Cassim

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Notable Personalities

Mohamed Shums Cassim

Obituary

1952 World Muslim Conference, Karachi

Shums Cassim as a delegate, seen with Ceylon High Commissioner to Pakistan, HON Dr. T.B. Jayah in Karachi.

1947 Ernst Cup winners

Cricket captain and founder of the Muslim Sports Club, Kurunegala, Shums Cassim accepts the championship trophy.

Mohamed Kamer Cassim

Proctor High Commissioner Designate to Pakistan

One of Rohani Cassim’s sons, Mohamed Kamer Cassim was a lawyer who had his practice in the Hultsdorf suburb of Colombo at the time of his death on April 07, 1947.  He was newly-independent Ceylon’s first high commissioner (designate) to Pakistan when he passed away, and Prime Minister Don Stephen (commonly referred to as D.S.) Senanayake appointed Dr. Tuan Burhanuddin (commonly referred to as T.B.) Jayah to replace him.

Jehan Kamer Cassim

Obituary

Jehan Cassim died on July 15, 2015 leaving behind his beloved wife, Ayesha, two sons Kaleel (Dr), Farman (PC), two daughters Mona and Rifa along with 9 grandchildren. He was a lawyer, Chairman of the Common Amenities Board and then the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon. He will be sadly missed by all his family, friends and the entire community.

Written by Nizar Cassim, son of Shums Cassim, and Jehan Cassim’s first cousin

Obituary as published in Sri Lanka’s Daily News

“A true gentleman

After attending a glittering wedding ceremony of my niece Huda, in the banquet hall on Nugget Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario, I was not so destined to receive a joyous message, but it was a grim and gloomy SMS from my good friend and former Mayor of Colombo Omar Kamil, of the news of the demise of Alhaj Jehan K. Cassim. This made me feel profound sorrow.

It was quite recently that I visited Jehan with my good friend and former President of the Sri Lanka football federation F.A. Yassin, another intimate friend of Jehan, at his residence down Lake Drive in Rajagiriya. He was, for a long period of time, bed-ridden and showed no sign of recovery, although his beloved wife was meticulously attending to his medical care.

I came to know Jehan about fifty years ago, in the company of some great Muslim leaders at that time at the All-Ceylon Muslim League. His father Kamar Cassim and uncle Senator Shums Cassim, were close associates of Doctor T.B. Jayah, Dr. M.C.M. Kaleel, Alhaj Falil, A Caffoor, Jabir A . Cader, M.A.C.M. Saleh—stalwarts of the Muslim factor in the independence movement. Jehan very ardently followed the footsteps of his elders. He was a compelling follower of the Muslim League leadership in all social, religious and political spheres, which inspired Jehan in later life to propel himself up as an ardent worker in the cause of Sri Lankan Muslims, and made him one of the most likable and lovable personalities in the society.

Jehan always stood for national unity and amity among all sections of the people. Not only did he build up a sense of great brotherhood with the learned Ulemas of Bahjatul Ibrahimiya, a seat of higher Islamic learning in the South (Fort-Galle)—the place where even Mamoon Abdul Gayoom graduated in Arabic—but also established a close rapport and bondage of friendship with all the Sinhala leadership including learned Buddhist clergy, like Ven. Elle Gunawanse Thera and leaders of other religious communities. He was a true protagonist of reconciliation and a bridge builder of peace and unity. Following the principles and philosophy of the great national leader, Dr. T.B. Jayah, he always persisted for a united Sri Lanka, which consists of the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays, Memons, Borahs etc. The like of whom we are so sorely missing amidst us in the present context of time.

Jehan dedicatedly and devotedly, threw his lot with President Premadasa, and was a tower of strength to the President in his forward march of development; he gave immense support to President Premadasa in all Gam Udawa programme, joining hands with his erstwhile friend B. Sirisena Cooray to make the Gum Udawa concept work successfully.

Jehan, indeed, followed Sirisena as the Chairman of the newly created Common Amenities Board and performed a remarkable job in the clearance of Shanties and helped to improve essential service to the downtrodden people living in muddukkus, in the city of Colombo.

The success story of Jehan followed through and through and saw him appointed as the Chairman of the premier banking sector—The Bank Of Ceylon. The international Muslim factor also drew the attention of Jehan. He backed me to the hilt whenever I approached President Premadasa to close the Israeli Interest Section working in this country at that time. Jehan was the happiest man when Premadasa declared that “all inimical forces to the interest of Sri Lankan Muslim population would be closed down.” His happiness saw no bounds when Premadasa told a U.S. emissary visiting Sucharita, to change the Sri Lankan leader’s mind, his residents at Keselwatte that “there are no Zionists but only Muslim voters in Sri Lanka.”

Jehan was also an encouraging factor in the establishment of the Ahadiya school at the Sucharita Hall parallel with the Buddhist Daham Pasala. Jehan further enamoured us to encourage the President in the establishment of a Fund for Muslim widows with Sheriffdeen (later Ambassador to Kuwait), as it’s secretary. In the many phases of my political career, Jehan was always kindling in me a passion to promote better ideas in the social welfare activities. I still remember with nostalgic memory that whenever I concluded my interpretations of President Premadasa’s on public platforms, I would always encounter the countenance of the gleaming face of Jehan, patting me on my back: “Well done, Azwer!”

Jehan possessed superlative qualities with which one could attribute in life—he was soft-spoken, polite, kindhearted, forthright, humble, trustworthy, dedicated and utterly devoted to the task assigned to him. He was an utmost patriot who loved his country dearly with gleaming pride and honour. In all sense of the words, he was a true gentleman that I had come across in public life, whose memory would always sway us into action.

May Almighty Allah (SWT) grant him the highest felicity in Jannatul Firdous!”

Written by A.H.M. Azwer, Former MP/Minister, General Secretary, Sri Lanka Muslim Progressive Front, Toronto, Ontario

Published in print in the Daily News, July 24, 2017 and online.

Thaha Sheriff Cassim

Thaha sheriff Cassim’s celebrated with family, community, and his alumni club when he turned 100 years young on Nov 22, 2019.  Six weeks later, he passed away peacefully on Jan 06, 2020.  He is sadly missed by his family and entire community.

Naufel Abdul Rahman

Naufel Abdul Rahman is the pioneer in collating information that forms the basis of the ROHANI CASSIM family tree.  His laborious research and untiring work in the 1990’s are a major factor in this family tree being a reality.

Bio

Naufel Abdul-Rahman – from the majestic Fort in Galle, was born into a family that pioneered higher education for Muslim girls. He schooled at St. Aloysius’ College – one of only three Jesuit schools in the Island – referred to by one of its erudite alumni as ‘the best school this side of the Suez’. With the formidable background of an educational regimen crafted by the likes of polymath, polyglot and Pali scholar Father Vitto Perniola and a line of other great Jesuit teachers, he was admitted to Peradeniya University to read for a degree in Law. 

Peradeniya University was founded by Sir Ivor Jennings and became one of the finest in Asia with a host of academic giants of the calibre of E F C Lodewyke and Ediriweera Sarathchandra to name just two. It was uniquely suited to hone the wit and deep perspectives Naufel would carry over into his professional life.  Lawyer, administrator, master of word-craft, raconteur and companion par excellence; unassuming but forthright and yet compassionate. In all he did, there was no compromise – everything had to conform to strict standards of rectitude and discipline.

Moving from the bar to an acclaimed stint managing a state enterprise and finally to more than 25 years in Parliament alternating in posts of Secretary to The Leader of the Opposition or to the Prime Minister or the Leader of the House; he became a knowledgeable and respected authority on Parliamentary affairs. He was a man approachable by all and though when warranted he could use his wit to firmly temper down the haughty, he would never ever speak a harsh word to those who met him well or sought his assistance.