Barakah is dedicated to Mawlana Shah Karim al Hussaini, His Highness the Aga Khan, members of his family and the Ismaili Imamat – a Hereditary Divine Institution from the Time of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali
Amin Jaffer collection: Exclusive photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s visit to Arusha, Tanzania, in 1966
We are once again deeply indebted to Amin Jaffer for sharing with readers of Barakah this rich and rare collection of photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s visit to Arusha, Tanzania, in 1966. Barakah is dedicated to Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family as well as the Ismaili Imamat. Jaffer’s previous exclusive contributions have been widely read around the world, and we invite our readers to click on the following links:
Photos of Prince Amyn Aga Khan’s 1968 visits to Arusha;
Photos of Prince Aly Khan’s 1951 visit to Arusha, Tanganyika; and
Photos of Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah and Mawlana Shah Karim from Jan Karmali Collection.
His Highness the Aga Khan in Arusha, Tanzania
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, pictured during his visit to the Aga Khan Primary School in Arusha as part of his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection
By AMIN JAFFER
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, arrived in Nairobi on October 18, 1966 to commence a 54 day visit to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Malagasy Republic (now Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar).
This was the longest ever visit Mawlana Hazar Imam had made to any part of the world until 1966, since assuming the Imamat on July 11, 1957. During these 54 days he took two very short breaks to Europe for personal engagements, including treatment to his leg.
His visits to various cities and towns in these four countries involved courtesy calls to the Presidents of the countries, meetings and official functions of the Governments and various institutions.
The extensive visit included mulaqats with Jamats in small as well as big towns and cities. He visited Imamat projects including schools, hospitals, dispensaries as well as numerous industries associated with the Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), which is now an economic arm under the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a major agency of the Ismaili Imamat’s Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
Mawlana Hazar Imam arrived in the pituresque town of Arusha on October 20th, two days after landing in Nairobi. He was received at Arusha Airport by Jamati leaders as well as Government officials. From the airport Hazar Imam proceeded to the compounds of Arusha Jamatkhana accompanied by Arusha’s Regional Commissioner. A guard of honour was presented by the Aga Khan Scouts Band, and national anthems of Tanzania and the Ismaili Imamat were played. Thereafter the Regional Commissioner departed, and Hazar Imam inspected the troops of Aga Khan volunteers, boys scouts, girl guides and cubs before going into the Jamatkhana where he bestowed the Jamat with his holy didar, guidance and blessings. He also conducted religious ceremonies.
He then paid a visit to KILTEX, an IPS textile mill, and Tanzania Litho where he performed the opening ceremony of extensions of the facility. Mawlana Hazar Imam was accompanied by Michael Curtis, the CEO of Nation Media.
Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Arusha visit included a luncheon hosted by the Aga Khan Council and the Jamat at the Arusha school which was attended by leaders and members of the Jamat as well as government leaders and other dignitaries.
His final stop before departing Arusha was the Aga Khan Primary School which was still under construction. The school was completed a few months later in 1967. He met the school’s architects, contractors, the headmaster and teachers, and signed the guestbook before departing for the nearby town of Moshi.
His Highness the Aga Khan at Arusha Jamatkhana, Tanzania
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, seen arriving at Arusha Jamatkhana with the Regional Commissioner (other side of car) during his extensive visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam is garlanded by Kamadia Kassamali Mohamed Jivan as he arrives at Arusha Jamatkhana during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. On other side of the car are Arusha’s Regional Commissioner (left) and Madat Moolji. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, takes salute after his arrival at Arusha Jamatkhana during his extensive visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. In photo (l to r) are Mukhi Abdul Tharani, Regional Commissioner for Arusha Region, MAWLANA HAZAR IMAM , Kamadia Kassamali Mohamed Jivan, and Volunteer Captain Badrudin Lalani. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, inspects boy scouts and other troops upon his arrival at the compounds of the Arusha Jamatkhana during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Looking on at left is scout master Sadru H.K. Ishani. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, is greeted by Arusha girl guides leader Farida Razak Kara at the compounds of the Arusha Jamatkhana during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Looking on at left is scout master Sadru H.K. Ishani. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, accompanied by Arusha’s Mukhi Abdul Tharani and volunteers’ captain Badrudin Lalani, walks towards the Arusha Jamatkhana building after inspecting the troops upon his arrival at Jamatkhana compounds during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, is seen leaving the Arusha Jamatkhana reading room during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
His Highness the Aga Khan visits IPS Projects in Arusha, Tanzania
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, walks with Michael Curtis (left) and manager of Tanzania Litho, during his tour of Kiltex and Tanzania Litho, both IPS projects in Arusha, as part of his extensive visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, with Mr. Sayani, manager of Kiltex factory during his visit to Arusha, Tanzania, as part of his extensive visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, at Kiltex factory in Arusha, Tanzania, during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, at Kiltex factory in Arusha, Tanzania, during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
His Highness the Aga Khan attends a special luncheon in his honour in Arusha
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, arrives at a special luncheon held in his honour in Arusha, Tanzania, during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, at a special luncheon held in his honour in Arusha, Tanzania, during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, with a Government official at a special luncheon held in his honour in Arusha, Tanzania, during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, at a special luncheon held in his honour in Arusha, Tanzania, during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Looking on is the Tanzanian Aga Khan Council President Abdulla Tejpar. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
His Highness the Aga Khan visits Aga Khan Primary School in Arusha
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, is met by Mr. Razac Husein Hasam, the Administrator of Aga Khan Schools in Tanzania as he arrives at the construction site of Arusha’s Aga Khan Primary School during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. K & Kassam Lalji Co. Ltd of Dar es Salaam constructed the school under the supervision of Shamshu Ismail Haji. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Razac Husein Hasaam, the Administrator of Aga Khan Schools in Tanzania, introduces Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, to Akbar Natha Hirji, Manager of Aga Khan Schools in Arusha, Tanzania, during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, pictured at Arusha’s Aga Khan Primary School, during during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, pictured at Arusha’s Aga Khan Primary School, during during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan with teachers Gulshan Ismail Suleman (left) and Amina Ibrahim of Arusha’s Aga Khan Primary School Project during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan signing the guest book at Arusha’s Aga Khan Primary School Project during his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Looking on is Mithoo N.V. Gillani. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, views other institutional buildings located in the same corridor as the Aga Khan Primary School in Arusha during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Students of Arusha’s Aga Khan School stand respectfully as Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, visits them during his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, takes leave after visiting Arusha as part of his extensive tour of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar in 1966. Seated in the front seat closest to the window is Late Diwan Sir Eboo Pirbhai who served Mawlana Hazar Imam and Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah for several decades. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
A view of the Aga Khan Primary School in Arusha, Tanzania, with Mt. Meru (4,562 m/14,965 ft) in background. Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, visited the school during its construction phase in October 1966. The school was completed in 1967. See previous photos. Photo: Amin Jaffer Collection.
Date posted: February 24, 2019.
Before departing this website please take a moment to visit Barakah’s Table of Contents for links to more than 190 pieces dedicated to Mawlana Hazar Imam, his family and the Ismaili Imamat.
We urge our readers to review their old archives and photo albums for rare photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, and his family, and get in touch with Barakah by writing to Malik Merchant at simerg@aol.com.
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This website, Barakah, is a special project by http://www.Simerg.com and is dedicated to the textual and visual celebration of His Highness the Aga Khan and members of his family, as well as the Ismaili Imamat.
Thanks for sharing all the older pics which our fathers or grandfathers have and thank those who have saved so many of 48th and 49th Imams. Memories we will cherish always.
I deeply admire Amin Jaffer’s collections of rare photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family. These are wonderful and outstanding historical memories. Keep up the excellent work.
Again a well written and researched article on Ismaili history in Tanzania and East Africa. These are interesting pictures that in hindsight reflect the interesting and optimistic decade of the 1960’s. In 1961 Tanzania became an independent country and there were many changes going on globally and locally, that would affect the new nation.
Within a few months after this historic visit, in Arusha itself, the major political and socialist oriented “Arusha Declaration” was initiated by the late first President Julius Nyerere in February 1967. This Declaration and its major changes to the nation’s educational and economic policies and the property nationalizations in 1971 were to eventually have major affects on the lives of thousands of Ismailis in Tanzania.
In 2015, I visited Tanzania after an absence of over 40 years and it was interesting to observe the changes that had taken place. The impact of the changes in economic and educational policies of the 1980’s and 90’s were noticeable. All the towns like Arusha, Moshi, Iringa, Mbeya and Dodoma that had been small in population and size in the 1960’s and 70’s were now cities with populations of close to or over a million people. The problems associated with rapid urban growth were also evident. In this context, Arusha was well kept compared to other cities and still very picturesque given its location at the foot of Mt Meru. The Jamatkhana and the reading room pictures mentioned in the article are still there having changed very little.
It is interesting to note the outcome of the two financial ventures discussed in the article. Tanzania Litho has grown significantly through self generated growth and mergers and is still under the AKFED umbrella. Kiltex had been affected by the global trends that impacted the textile and garment industry over the last 50 years and was closed some years ago.
Overall, Arusha had become a services and knowledge oriented city with many newly established Colleges and Universities, (including the proposed Aga Khan University), a tourism center and an international centre for diplomacy to promote peace and dialogue for many war torn African countries. As in the 1960’s, Arusha’s rich agricultural sector continued to be the main factor in the regions economic development.
Postscript – if you ever travel to Arusha try and visit the Arusha Declaration Museum. The Museum displays documents and pictures on the colonial history of Tanzania, the fight for independence and it is where the first Tanzanian president late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere outlined his post-colonial political vision for the nation.
These photos have brought back wonderful old memories of Arusha. Thank you for posting these pictures. We can never forget the visit at all. Mawlana Hazar Imam gave us a wonderful time. The excitement for the visit was intense, and I remember the decorations in Jamatkhana.
Almas of Arusha.
Agakhan flats
Opposite Jamatkhana
Barakah 
Beautiful photographs and pleasant memories of memorable visit of the Aga Khan. Special thanks to Amin and of course to Barakah.
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Simply brilliant! Thank you Amin and Barakah.
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Lovely memories.
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Thanks for sharing all the older pics which our fathers or grandfathers have and thank those who have saved so many of 48th and 49th Imams. Memories we will cherish always.
LikeLike
I deeply admire Amin Jaffer’s collections of rare photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family. These are wonderful and outstanding historical memories. Keep up the excellent work.
LikeLike
Again a well written and researched article on Ismaili history in Tanzania and East Africa. These are interesting pictures that in hindsight reflect the interesting and optimistic decade of the 1960’s. In 1961 Tanzania became an independent country and there were many changes going on globally and locally, that would affect the new nation.
Within a few months after this historic visit, in Arusha itself, the major political and socialist oriented “Arusha Declaration” was initiated by the late first President Julius Nyerere in February 1967. This Declaration and its major changes to the nation’s educational and economic policies and the property nationalizations in 1971 were to eventually have major affects on the lives of thousands of Ismailis in Tanzania.
In 2015, I visited Tanzania after an absence of over 40 years and it was interesting to observe the changes that had taken place. The impact of the changes in economic and educational policies of the 1980’s and 90’s were noticeable. All the towns like Arusha, Moshi, Iringa, Mbeya and Dodoma that had been small in population and size in the 1960’s and 70’s were now cities with populations of close to or over a million people. The problems associated with rapid urban growth were also evident. In this context, Arusha was well kept compared to other cities and still very picturesque given its location at the foot of Mt Meru. The Jamatkhana and the reading room pictures mentioned in the article are still there having changed very little.
It is interesting to note the outcome of the two financial ventures discussed in the article. Tanzania Litho has grown significantly through self generated growth and mergers and is still under the AKFED umbrella. Kiltex had been affected by the global trends that impacted the textile and garment industry over the last 50 years and was closed some years ago.
Overall, Arusha had become a services and knowledge oriented city with many newly established Colleges and Universities, (including the proposed Aga Khan University), a tourism center and an international centre for diplomacy to promote peace and dialogue for many war torn African countries. As in the 1960’s, Arusha’s rich agricultural sector continued to be the main factor in the regions economic development.
LikeLike
Postscript – if you ever travel to Arusha try and visit the Arusha Declaration Museum. The Museum displays documents and pictures on the colonial history of Tanzania, the fight for independence and it is where the first Tanzanian president late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere outlined his post-colonial political vision for the nation.
LikeLike
A nice memory! Would you or someone have photographs of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s visit to Mwanza?
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These photos have brought back wonderful old memories of Arusha. Thank you for posting these pictures. We can never forget the visit at all. Mawlana Hazar Imam gave us a wonderful time. The excitement for the visit was intense, and I remember the decorations in Jamatkhana.
Almas of Arusha.
Agakhan flats
Opposite Jamatkhana
LikeLike