Sri Lanka Memon Family Genealogy

GADAR - Family #293

The Gadar family traces its origins to Haji Ibrahim, who first arrived in the Island circa 1890's. His son Salay Mohammed went on to establish a textile business in Main Street, Haputale, in the Central province, called A K Salay Mohammed, and another in Welimada named Madina Stores.

Jafar, the eldest son of Salay Mohammed was born in Kutiyana in 1941 and came to Ceylon in 1947. Having completed his education in Welimada, where his father owned a shop, he came to Colombo in 1954 and a decade later had a amassed sufficient wealth to establish his own business, Saleem Textiles, in 1964. Around 1990 he started another textile establishment named Gulistan Textiles in Third Cross Street in The Pettah. Jafar, has six sons, all of whom are involved in business activities. His oldest son Saleem, owns Milky Textiles in Keyzer Street, while the second, Yoosuf is into garment manufacturing. Yoonus runs Saleem Textiles. Altaf runs Schezard Textiles and Shaukat owns Shaukat Textiles, both of which are also located on Third Cross Street in The Pettah. Shakir, the last son is at Gulistan Textiles.

Ibrahim, younger son of Salay Mohammed, born in 1948, is also in the textile business and owns SEEMA textiles on Third Cross Street. He has two sons, Mubarak, who helps his father run the business, and Irshad, who works as Marketing Officer of a cellular phone company called Phone Company.

Captain Mohammed Ameen, son of Abdul Azeez Gadar, carved a niche in the Aviation Industry. Having commenced his flying studies at Air Taxi's Ratmalana, in 1988, where he obtained his private pilot's license, he worked his way up in obtaining his Commercial Pilot's Licence by sitting for the exams conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority of UK. He later proceeded to Airman Flight Training in Oklahoma, USA, where he obtained he obtained his Certified Flight Instructors Licence and Advanced Ground Instructors Licence. Returning to his homeland, he joined Asian Aviation Center as a Flight Instructor. Among his trainees were a number of pilots at Sri Lankan Airlines as well as other well known international airlines. He was, subsequently, appointed Flight Examiner by the Department of Civil Aviation, becoming the youngest Flight Examiner in the Aviation Industry. He later joined ExpoAir as a Flight Operations Executive, later becoming its Deputy Manager, Flight Operations. He was also instrumental in setting up the ExpoAir Cabin Crew Training Academy approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka.

Ibrahim Abdul Sattar Gadar, known simply as Memon Sattar, has made a significant contribution to the Tamil literature of the country, including a collection of poems titled "Olam Midum Ulakam". His son Abdul Sattar Mohammed Nawaz, has also contributed his might to Tamil Literature in a small way.

Haji Hashim Mohammed Gadar arrived in Jaffna in 1932 where he established Muneer Drapery Mart at Grand Bazaar before moving on to Kankesanturai Road. He was so good at composing poems in Gujarati that he was given the title "Muneer" meaning "brilliant" or "shining". His business was named after this title and his logo depicted the radiating sun. Whilst resident in Kutiyana he as the President of the Memon Association and later became the President of the Karachi Kutiyana Memon Association. An ardent social worker he rebuilt the Sammanthurai Hanafi Mosque at Grand Bazaar Jaffna in 1965. When the local authority wanted to close the nearly century old Memon Cemetery there on the grounds, which bounded two other cemeteries in Jaffna, he and his close friend Usman Bhaila foyght a legal battle and ultimately won the case.

Abdul Azeez, son of Hashim Gadar & Hawa Baidhaga, arrived in Ceylon in 1952 and joined his father's business. In 1957 he espoused Zohara, daughter of Ibrahim Bawa Fatani, and had four sons, Ariff, Ashroff, Anver, and Ameen. The oldest son Ariff, born in 1958, joined MKC as a Clerk and rose to the position of Assistant Manager. He was later to refer to his employment at MKC as an University where he learnt many things and his boss, M H Omar, as his Guru. In 1981, he went on to establish Muneer Garments, reviving his grandfathers old business name. In this venture he was helped by his three younger brothers. In 1991 they established another business called MG Industries (pvt) Ltd.

The younger generations of Gadar's are slowly, but surely, moving into the professions. One of Ariff Gadar's sons, Muneer, is a medical student at Kasthurbha Medical College, Manipal, India. The other son Mohsin is an aspiring lawyer who graduated as a Bachelor of Law from Leicester University in the UK.

1 Gadar

    2  Haji Ibrahim Gadar

        3 Salay Mohammed Ibrahim Gadar

            4 Jafar Salay Mohammed Gadar, b:1941

                5 Saleem Jafar Gadar

                5 Yoosuf Jafar Gadar

                5 Yoonus Jafar Gadar

                5 Altaf Jafar Gadar

                5 Shaukat Jafar Gadar

                5 Shakir Jafar Gadar

 4 Ibrahim Salay Mohammed Gadar, b:1948

                5 Mubarak Ibrahim Gadar

                5 Irshad Ibrahim Gadar

3 Haji Hashim Gadar + Hawa Baidhaga

4 Abdul Azeez Hashim Gadar + Zohara Ibrahim Bawa Fatani (283)

5 Ariff Abdul Azeez Gadar, b:1958

                    6 Muneer Ariff Gadar

6 Mohsin Ariff Gadar

5 Ashroff Abdul Azeez Gadar

5 Anver Abdul Azeez Gadar

5 Captain Mohammed Ameen Abdul Azeez Gadar

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