Palot Moosa Kutty Haji and the legacy of Trade in Kannur City
Palot Moosa Kutty Haji and the legacy of Trade in Kannur City
The Advertisement read “ Dear Brothers, From one rupee and five Anna to six and a quarter rupees worth Mumbai Surumas (traditional, natural eyeliner) and exotic perfumes from eight annas to twenty rupees. Also for all your clothing needs. We provide delivery via V.P too”
Interestingly this advertisement was written in the old font of Arabi-Malayalam on a calendar nearly ninety years ago in a shop on the busy Bellard road. Those days advertisements and notices were published in newspapers and calendars. People ordered goods via telegram or postcards and vehicle posts delivered the goods.
Trade between Kannur and other cities in India and even other foreign countries such as Egypt, Turkey and present-day Pakistan was very much prevalent and Moosa Kutty Haji had very strong business ties with them and had goods exported to such far off places.
It was written in the advertisement “ P Moosa Kutty Haji Tajir ul Kuthub wal Athar “ which was the Arabic for Trader of Books and Perfumes, reminding us of the influence of Arabic and Arabi-Malayalam. Today the venture is known as “ T. Muhammad Kunhi Book Seller Unani Hamdard Stockist”.
As the firm nears its centennial, we shall go through the life of this legendary entrepreneur, Late Palot Moosa Kutty Haji.
Moosa Kutty Haji was an Islamic scholar and strict adherent of Islamic teachings. He had visited Mecca and remained there learning and interacting with scholars from various countries. He was an eminent student of the great scholar Sheikh Yusuf Nabhani and conducted Dars classes at Masjid Ul Haram in Mecca as well as Bab ul Salam in Madeena.
He was a follower of Sunni Islam and was jailed from Kochi for a few days in 1913 on the charges of opposing the propagation of the Qadiani teachings.
He was a prominent figure in the freedom struggle and also the khilafat movement. In 1919 he abandoned the adornment of Western clothing as a way of protest for the khilafat movement.
In 1920 during the Otapalam khilafat conference, he got injured in the violence unleashed by the British regime.
Soon he became a staunch nationalist. In 1937 he got attracted to the Muslim League and became a great leader of the party.
He conducted his trade strictly based on Islamic principles and had trading in books as well as a hotel.
He was also one of the earliest members of the Deenul Islam sabha and played an important role in the formation of the Samastha as well as the Islamic board of education.
He passed away in 1953 leaving behind a great legacy. He was buried at the Kannur City juma masjid at a location just behind the pulpit of the mosque (mihrab).
He passed down his venture to his son T Muhammad(born 1930) who conducted the business up until 2005 after which his son Muhammad Hashim has taken over the responsibility.
It also became a centre for Hamdard Unani medicines and Hamdard would send doctors directly from Delhi during the earlier years. Later on Dr KT Ajmal who was the first person in kerala to take an official degree in Unani medicine would visit as a consultant on every Thursday at their centre which is also located opposite to the Moideen Masjid.
KhanBazar : today the people of Kannur are familiar with cambazar a busy street in Kannur Town but it is interesting to see that the advertisement mentions it as Khanbazar. It could be that Khanbazar when spoken by the locals shortened to cambazar or according to another theory it was a place were the British military had camped and thus called camp bazar. More research needs to be done to find out the exact History behind the name.
Source:
1) Article by O. K Muhammad kunhi in DIS memorial special edition 1986
2) CK Hashim
3) CK Unais
Courtesy:
Shamsu Madappura.
Translated by: Assad Hariz
Published by
Kannur City Heritage Foundation
Comments
Post a Comment