SAKVAI HAJI ABDULLAH SAHIB- A PHILANTHROPIST

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SAKVAI HAJI ABDULLLAH SAHIB (SHA)

There is a street in Melvisharam named SAKVAI HAJI ABDULLLAH SAHIB STREET, (Savanna Haji Abdullah Sahib theru) familiar to Visharamites as S.H.A Galli or Choti Pakthini Galli. It is situated at the centre of the town next to Pakthini Mosque. A brief biography of Haji Abdullah Sahib will be a source of inspiration to young minds. He was the son of Sakvai Tipu Sahib. Abdullah Sahib was a man of high esteem and noble character. 

    He initiated his career as a grain trader and leather tanner. His honesty, integrity and righteousness paved way to establish Sakvai Haji Abdullah & Co.  He was one of the leading tanners and exporters during the last quarter of the 19th century. His trademark logo was SHA.  He owned tanneries at Pallavaram, Kodambakkam, Bangalore, Mysore, Vijayawada etc. He had exported to U.S.A, U.K. and other European countries.

      He was blessed with wealth and a generous heart. He munificently gave to the poor and needy.  It is said that the staff of his company lived a happy and prosperous life as he had made the manager and the cook as its shareholders in his profits. He elevated the socio economic position of his kith and kin by offering job and providing houses to them.

Family members say that Haji Abdullah Sahib used to pay for groceries and other supplies with gold coins. The maids in his house loved to sweep the floors in the morning because they often found gold coins in the corners. He would hide them on purpose to reward them for their hard work.

More than a century ago, he inhabited a locality named Haji Pet at the foot of the Javadhi Mountain.  It accommodates hundreds of houses now. He liberally donated for the good cause of the society. In SHA Street he constructed a big house opposite to his house which was used to feed the poor periodically. And in course of time it obtained the name 'DAWAT KHANA' dawat means feast and khana means house. 

He established an orphanage and constructed a fine building at present day Niswan Street (Sakvai Haji Meera Sahib Street). Hazrath Moulana Hafiz Malak Gulzar Ahmed Sahib narrates from his uncle Janab Malak Ehsanullah Sahib who was the son-in-law of Janab Sakvai Haji Abdullah Sahib, that the orphanage housed about 40 to 50  orphans. The entire expenses were borne by the founder along with his eldest son, Janab Sakvai Mohammed Ismail Sahib alias 'C M'. The orphanage functioned for nearly ten years. However, in the  late 1920s, following heavy losses incurred by Sakvai Haji Abdullah & Co, the orphanage was relocated. Subsequently, the orphanage building was purchased by Janab Sepillai Abdul Wahab Sahib for a sum of Rs. 1,800.  In 1941, Anjuman-e-Ansarul Islam established Madarsa e Niswan which is functioning successfully till date.

Haji Abdullah Sahib played a key role in the establishment of Islamiah High School by donating the land for its old building located beside the Usmanpet Mosque. This land originally belonged to Pakthini Hadi Batcha Sahib. In order to secure it for the school, Haji Abdullah Sahib gave  his own property situated next to Madarsa-e-Niswan to Pakthini Hadi Batcha Sahib. After acquiring the land through this exchange, he generously donated it for the construction of the school.

He constructed a mosque at Arcot in early 1900s. To-day, it is called Vandi Medu Masjid located near the bazaar at the Kalavai-Arni Junction road.

He was an executive member of South India's famous Islamic  Seminary Madarsa E Baqiyathus Salihath, Vellore.

He was a prominent member of Melvisharam Ahle sunnath Jamath and Lababeen Mosque at Vijayawada. He held key positions in the mosque committees and welfare organisations of his trading centres.

He generously contributed for the educational upliftment of the town.  Many socio-religious and educational institutions of Melvisharam had been benefitted by his philanthropic contributions.

 During the last half of 1920s he incurred huge loss in his trade. He honestly settled each and every penny of debtors in gold coins and by selling his assets. Family sources say that after this loss in business, within few months, he passed away somewhere around 1930.   

Due to lack of authentic sources I could not narrate many of his contributions. The Melvisharam town has been blessed with great personalities. Recording their contributions is the need of the hour. History of a community is an asset. Preserving and transferring it to the future generation is a moral obligation.  

 This article was written on 22nd Nov. 2022 under the series of Memoirs of Melvisharam. Revised on  2nd October 2025.

 S. Mohammed Sadathullah 

  Melvisharam 

 

 

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