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There would be few cultural historians of South Africa who would not acknowledge the significant contribution of Islam's followers to the economic, social and cultural life of the Western Cape. The humble folk who once washed the washing of the European colonists, who prepared their food, baked their bread and drove their carriages, cared for their children and built their homes and furniture, had built no monument to signify their historical presence until a philanthropist came from India to identify with them. This paper casts some light on his role in the erection of monuments honouring the eighteenth century Indonesian political exiles banished to the Cape as well as various public-spirited acts that could demonstrate that the sobriquet, philanthropist, was in this instance more than well deserved. The name Hajee Sulaiman Shah Mahomed and his contribution to culture conservation were often mentioned in the newspapers of his day.
Perhaps the earliest published reference to bring the visionary businessman to public notice was the press report of his marriage to Ranima Salie, daughter of the respected fishmonger and basket-maker, Slemmon Salie.3
On the day after his death Cape Town's foremost morning newspaper provided two columns to describe his testamentary directives. The report had the arresting title, "Cape Town Indian Leaves £90,000 - Numerous Bequests To Public Bodies".
In the days when the Capetonian Muslim pilgrim required about £100 to travel as a deck-passenger along Africa's east coast to Mecca, Mr Shah Mahomed directed that such an amount from his estate be used to promote historical research La terms of a paradigm quite unlike what was till then serving the dominant culture. He instructed his executor to give
to the SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF OLD LANDMARKS, one hundred pounds (£100) for investment ... that the interest only may be used for the acquisition of authentic information regarding Moslems who arrived at the Cape from the Indian Archipelago, and especially the islands of Java, Sumatra, Monduro and the Phillipines in the early days of the Cape, including information regarding the place of their burial and identification of their graves.
Such research would contribute to an appreciation of the contributions made by various Asian exiles to the growth and development of their new place...