Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi ( bn, শাহ আবদুল মজিদ কোরেশী), also known by his daak naam Moina Meah ( bn, ময়না মিঞা), was an early

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term ...

restaurateur and social reformer. He is notable for being involved in the early politics of

British Asians British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Brit ...

and pioneering social welfare work for the working-class diaspora in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was the first ever Sylheti to open up a restaurant in the United Kingdom, and his restaurants were one of the earliest

Indian restaurant Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herb ...

s at the time. Another one of his restaurants, ''India Centre'', often provided facilities and was a location where important meetings were held by the India League attracting the likes of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperi ...

and

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician, and non-career diplomat. He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawa ...

Early life

Qureshi came from a traditional

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the se ...

family claiming descent from the

Arab tribe The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, N ...

Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Q ...

. He was born in the

Patli Patli is a moderate sized village situated from Talwandi Bhai in Firozpur district of Punjab, India. References External links Patliat WikiMapia Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interacti ...

village of Jagannathpur in the

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

of the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...

on the 25th of September 1915. He was the eldest child and had two brothers and a sister. The family residence in Patli was known as Quresh Bari and his father owned some land. However, his father's main goal was to educate his children which was extremely expensive leading to him sell nearly all his land. This led to Qureshi being well educated during his youth. Qureshi decided to become a lascar after being inspired by many other Sylheti men and moved to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

in 1934. He believed that seafaring was a historical inheritance of Sylhetis due to many Sylhetis being descendants of foreign traders and businessmen. During his stay in the port city, he attempted to jump on ships going to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. In 1936, at his early 20s, Qureshi successfully attempted to jump on a ship on its way to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. However, he failed but ended up at the

Tilbury Docks The Port of Tilbury is a port on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London, as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for contai ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Career

Qureshi's first job in the

consisted of selling chocolates. After getting into contact with other

, he began working in

South Asian cuisine South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

restaurants such as Bengal Restaurant in Percy Street. After two years of living in the United Kingdom, Qureshi opened his first restaurant, Dilkush, which was located in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

's Windmill Street.India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, St Pancras This was the first restaurant to be opened by a Sylheti person. The restaurant, located near

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road ...

, was destroyed by a bomb in 1940. In 1943, Qureshi, alongside his acquaintance

Ayub Ali Master Ayub Ali Master ( bn, আইয়ুব আলী মাস্টার; died 1980), was an early British Bangladeshi social reformer, politician and entrepreneur. He is notable for pioneering social welfare work for many early British Asians. H ...

, founded the Indian Seamen's Welfare League with a purpose of promoting the social welfare of lascars. Based in Christian Street, the organisation ensured the rights of Asians and made it easier for them to communicate to their family abroad. On 14 July 1943, the first meeting took place, in King's Hall,

Commercial Street, London Commercial Street is an arterial road in Tower Hamlets, east London that runs north to south from Shoreditch High Street to Whitechapel High Street through the East End district of Spitalfields. The road is a section of the A1202 London Inner ...

. The meeting attracted mostly

Bengali Muslims Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the s ...

but dozens of Europeans were also present. Later, the organisation was renamed to the Indian Seamen's Welfare League to sound less political and Qureshi was made president of the welfare league. The following year, Qureshi opened another restaurant off Charlotte Street which came to be known as the India Centre. The ''India Centre'' was frequently visited by British Asians, in particular politicians, who held important communal and political meetings there. Qureshi also assisted and attended

's India League and Surat Alley's Hindustani Social Club meetings. He was also involved with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

and was in contact with the likes of

. Later on, he became a member of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcon ...

. In 1946, Qureshi returned to Sylhet, where he married and lived for over two decades before returning to the United Kingdom with his family in the 1970s.

Legacy

His sons continue to own

Indian cuisine Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, herb ...

restaurants in the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Shah Abdul Majid British restaurateurs 1915 births 2003 deaths British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England Bangladeshi people of Arab descent British chefs Bangladeshi businesspeople Businesspeople from London British chief executives British company founders Chefs of Indian cuisine 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century Muslims 21st-century Muslims All India Muslim League members 20th-century English businesspeople People from Patli Union

Early life

Career

Legacy

See also

References