Mohamed Ismail Shams-ud-Deen (1879 - 27 December 1948) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

born member of the

Legislative Council of Kenya The Legislative Council of Kenya (LegCo) was the legislature of Kenya between 1907 and 1963. It was modelled on the Westminster system. It began as a nominated, exclusively European institution and evolved into an elected legislature with univers ...

between 1922 and 1946.

Early life

Shams-ud-Deen was born to a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group People with the nam ...

family in the Punjab province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

.Robert G. Gregory, India and East Africa: a history of race relations within the British Empire, 1890-1939, Clarendon Press, 1971 He moved to the

East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was a British protectorate in the African Great Lakes, occupying roughly the same area as present-day Kenya, from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Cont ...

as an employee of the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

in 1896.

Political career

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he joined the East African Indian National Congress.Robert G. Gregory, India and East Africa: a history of race relations within the British Empire, 1890-1939, Clarendon Press, 1971 In 1919 he led a delegation to India to present a case to Indian nationalists for the colonisation of East Africa, citing that it was in conformity with the laws of equity, justice and British citizenship.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 His delegation was undermined by the

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...

which occurred during his visit and a shift in mood amongst nationalists to rejecting the concept of imperial citizenship. To Shams-ud-Deen and the Congress, it also highlighted the diverging interests between Indian nationalists and the sub-imperialist ambitions of Indian merchants in East Africa.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 In 1922 he became a nominated member of the Legislative Council of Kenya representing the interests of the Indian community.Robert G. Gregory, India and East Africa: a history of race relations within the British Empire, 1890-1939, Clarendon Press, 1971 That same year he was the only Indian member on the Bowring Committee, however after realising he was outnumbered and ineffective, resigned in frustration in September 1922. In the early 1930s Shams-ud-Deen led a moderate faction within the Kenya Indian Congress against the radical faction led by Isher Dass. Following a dispute over how Congress should react to a boycott, in January 1931 Shams-ud-Deen led a walk out resulting in the formation of a rival Congress party. At the 1934 Kenyan general election he was elected to the Legislative Council and was re-elected at both the

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

elections. Despite being a longtime supporter of the Kenya India Congress and inter-communal harmony, by 1946, Shams-ud-Deen had become convinced that the interests of Muslims differed from those of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 His shift towards communalism partly came from the demographic change in Indian emigration to Kenya from the 1930s whereby Hindus and

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

s began to greatly outnumber the number Muslims arriving in Kenya.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 Fearing the numerical submersion of his community, Shams-ud-Deen joined European settlers in demanding restrictions on immigration from India.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 Shams-ud-Deen was also influenced by the

Pakistan movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

of which he became a staunch supporter, and he later considered the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

as a legitimate a demand made by Indian Muslims which saved India from complete annihilation.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015 He increasingly began publishing anti-British articles in the local press and pressed a demand for Muslims to have separate electorates, a demand which was opposed by the government and Indian Congress. He resigned from the Legislative Council in protest in 1946.Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 2015

Death

Shams-ud-Deen died at

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

on 27 December 1948.Kenya Gazette, 22 Nov 1949 His son Zafr-ud-Deen followed him into politics.Robert G. Gregory, India and East Africa: a history of race relations within the British Empire, 1890-1939, Clarendon Press, 1971

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dass, Isher 1879 births 1948 deaths Members of the Legislative Council of Kenya British Kenya people People from Punjab Province (British India)

Early life

Political career

Death

See also

References