Dost Mahomet
Encyclopedia
Dost Mahomet was an Australian Muslim
cameleer
, who used his animals to transport goods between the ports and remote inland mining and pastoral settlements of the Goldfields, Pilbara and Murchison regions of Western Australia
at the end of the 19th century.
Like many so-called "Afghans"
in Colonial Australia, Dost Mahomet was really a Muslim from north-western British India
, areas which are now mostly in Pakistan
. A Baloch of Brahui (Brohi) speaker, he was born at Lal Bhakar, a village a few kilometres from Karachi
where his grandfather had settled, after migrating from the mountainous Khuzdar
area in Baluchistan
.
In 1893, Dost disembarked at the port of Fremantle
, Western Australia
with 25 camels. He trekked inland with them to Coolgardie seeking work at the new gold diggings. In his early years in the colony, Dost attended night classes at Perth Boys High School to learn English in which he became very proficient. Dost also has a great-great-great grandson named Jacob Mahomet who attend Dost's 150th anniversary celebration for Burke and Wills
Over the next decade, Dost carried goods to remote settlements further north including Laverton, Wiluna
, Cue
, Port Hedland and Marble Bar. He had drays built to help in haulage. Pastoral stations had been edging northwards following reports from exploring expeditions led by John
and Alexander Forrest
, Lawrence Wells, David Lindsay and John Wedge. Many of these expeditions relied on some camel transport. De Gray, Mundabullaangana, Pardoo, Tabba Tabba and Wallareenya were all pastoral stations, well established before Port Hedland became a gazetted town in 1896. Camels were still to be seen loaded with wool bales loping between some of these stations and the rail head until the mid nineteen thirties.
Mining operations in the Pilbara preceded those at Coolgardie with gold
, tin
, lead
, zinc
, tantalite
, antinomy
and bismuth
being among the minerals chipped from the Pilbara rocks and sands during this period. The miners needed equipment, large and small. Small stores and hotels alongside prospecting sites retailed food, drink, clothing and other supplies which were brought in by camels as well as teams of horses and bullocks and, eventually, by rail from the Whim Creek wharves. Five years after the shifting of the port to Port Hedland, a new rail link was made to Marble Bar.
Dost set up a permanent base at Port Hedland in 1906 servicing the Pilbara region. Although his older brother Jorak had preceded Dost to Western Australia, it was Dost who became the leading figure among the cameleers in the north-west. Other Baluch relatives worked in the area alongside other cameleers from Balochistan, Afghanistan
and northern India
. Many made journeys back and forth between Western Australia, South Australia
and their birthplaces. By law, all were subject to racial restrictions applying to migration, type of business, occupation, employment and location. For example, after 1897, on departure, special permission was needed for those wishing to return to Western Australia. Following the Federation of the Australian colonies, continued residence and entry again required legal permit.
European cameleers also worked in the Pilbara, usually hitching wagons behind camel teams, unlike the method of loading individual camels traditionally used by Baloch and Afghan cameleers.
In 1908, not long after Dost settled in Port Hedland, storekeepers at Marble Bar began arranging contracts with some of the camel operators to have their goods transported from the Port Hedland wharves. Contract rates were lower than the established going rates. Tensions flared. Non contractors refused to cart for the storekeepers and went “on strike” rallying against “non-union” rates. Two hundred and fifty camels at 32 Mile Well were unhobbled and scattered into the scrub. Camel loads were flung to the ground. The dispute was eventually settled after police and officials from both Perth and the local area intervened and facilitated discussions between the opposing parties. Troubles resurfaced periodically - three years later agreement was reached to almost double cartage rates, but it had been a period of financial stress to the cameleers.
, Denmark
, her father in Mitchulan, Prussia
.
Marriage was opposed by Annie's father and brothers. The pair eloped by camel and took ship to India
. At Lal Bhaker, Dost's birthplace, the two were married by traditional Muslim custom. Annie was 17 years old. Their firstborn was a son, Mustafa born 1896. Annie and Dost then returned to the camel business in Western Australia, leaving their first born in the village.
Five children were born in Western Australia - Lillian Rosetta (1898–1970), Hagu (Ada) 1902-1987), Alious Ameer (Arthur) (c.1904-1988), Jenneth (Jean) (1906-), Pathama (Violet) (1908–1983). The couple led a mobile life working the camels through the goldfields and stations of northwest Western Australia, finally establishing a permanent home in Port Hedland were they were respected members of a small town of approximately 200 by 1909. Their home was built on the block they bought in Kingsmill St. In a seeming challenge to Dost's strict Muslim practices, he bought the old brewery opposite the Esplanade Hotel. The eldest two girls attended the local primary school when it opened in 1906 alongside other children of European
, Aboriginal and Chinese
descent.
Camels were hobbled away from the town. The family milked goat
s for milk
and butter
.
Despite earlier family antagonisms, once established at Port Hedland, Dost provided finance to assist his wife's sister in her purchase of a hotel a few kilometres from the town. He also assisted two of Annie's brothers in gaining employment and becoming established in business. Life within the extended family, however was often not harmonious.The brothers were heavy drinkers, sometimes violent and not always respectful of Muslim practices.
Dost was a short, but strong man. Wrestling was a sport he engaged in, occasionally with Europeans, but more frequently with other cameleers. He also had a reputation for quick temper and there are reports of physical violence in the home.
The full circumstances of Dost's death in1909 are unclear. It is known that Dost was killed at home during a long and fearsome fight with his two brothers-in-law. One of them fatally smashed open the back of Dost's skull with a heavy piece of jarrah. The two brothers stood trial in Broome in June 1909 but were acquitted of murder. Dost's relatives attributed Dost's death to Annie's brothers and held Annie at least partially responsible for their acquittal.
Dost was a man of wealth as well as standing when he died. He had left a written will
bequeathing his assets to his children and Annie and designating his brother Jorak as executor. Annie left accounts that Jorak was withholding money from her and that life was very difficult. She finally agreed to Jorak's offer of financial security and a good education for the children on condition that she return to India with the children. But, she boarded ship in fear for her life.
In Karachi, she took precautions, for example, establishing contact with the British Resident in the town. She was well remembered by many of Dost's relatives around Karachi, working and joking alongside women in the village in their day to day lives. Warned by some of them of threats to her life, she and the children moved one evening to a compound the other side of Karachi gaining the protection of a trusted relative.
Annie slept with a small revolver under her pillow and a watchdog outside. Three months after landing in Karachi, in August 1910, Annie was stabbed to death in her bed while her two youngest children lay alongside. Two nephews and a third person were charged with murder but were acquitted because of lack of identification.
After the court trial, the five youngest children were returned to Australia under an agreement between the district magistrate at Karachi and the Federal and Western Australian Governments
. They were eventually placed in the care of the State. After their deaths, accounts of their parents' assets included camels, property in Port Hedland, monies owing to the estates, and jewelry, but the children did not come to inherit any of this.
The tamarind
tree that still grows in Port Hedland at the site known as One Mile is reputed to have been planted by Dost Mahomet.
Islam in Australia
Islam in Australia is a small minority religious grouping, but fourth largest after all forms of Christianity , irreligion and Buddhism , excluding 11.2% who failed to answer at the last census...
cameleer
Australian feral camel
Thousands of the two main species of Australian feral camels, mostly dromedaries but also some bactrian camels, were imported into Australia during the 19th century for transport and construction as part of the colonisation of the central and western parts of Australia. Motorised transport replaced...
, who used his animals to transport goods between the ports and remote inland mining and pastoral settlements of the Goldfields, Pilbara and Murchison regions of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
at the end of the 19th century.
Like many so-called "Afghans"
Afghan (Australia)
The Afghans or Ghans were camel drivers who worked in outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s. While called Afghans, not all of them were from Afghanistan; some came from the northern regions of British India, areas that now constitute modern-day Pakistan...
in Colonial Australia, Dost Mahomet was really a Muslim from north-western British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, areas which are now mostly in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. A Baloch of Brahui (Brohi) speaker, he was born at Lal Bhakar, a village a few kilometres from Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
where his grandfather had settled, after migrating from the mountainous Khuzdar
Khuzdar
Khuzdar or Khozdar is a town located in Khuzdar District in Balochistan, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the capital of Khuzdar District, which was created on 1 March 1974...
area in Baluchistan
Balochistan (region)
Balochistan or Baluchistan is an arid, mountainous region in the Iranian plateau in Southwest Asia; it includes part of southeastern Iran, western Pakistan, and southwestern Afghanistan. The area is named after the numerous Baloch tribes, Iranian peoples who moved into the area from the west...
.
In 1893, Dost disembarked at the port of Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
with 25 camels. He trekked inland with them to Coolgardie seeking work at the new gold diggings. In his early years in the colony, Dost attended night classes at Perth Boys High School to learn English in which he became very proficient. Dost also has a great-great-great grandson named Jacob Mahomet who attend Dost's 150th anniversary celebration for Burke and Wills
Camel Business
Gold was first discovered in Coolgardie in 1892 beginning the famous Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie gold rush for surface gold and, later, the extensive underground mining of gold which is still underway. Camel transport operators quickly established themselves here, many living in a tent settlement at the end of Coolgardie Street. Demand for transport was high and Dost acquired more camels and found men to work for him.Over the next decade, Dost carried goods to remote settlements further north including Laverton, Wiluna
Wiluna, Western Australia
Wiluna is a complex town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is situated on the edge of the Western Desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It is the service centre of the local area for the local Aboriginal people, the pastoral industry, mining, and...
, Cue
Cue, Western Australia
- Further reading:* 'Along the Cue railway. Inspection of line with suggested improvements, visit to Georgina Siding'. West Australian, 11 June 1898, p. 5-External links:* *...
, Port Hedland and Marble Bar. He had drays built to help in haulage. Pastoral stations had been edging northwards following reports from exploring expeditions led by John
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
and Alexander Forrest
Alexander Forrest
Alexander Forrest CMG, was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, as well as a politician.-Early life:Forrest was born at Picton, near Bunbury in Western Australia, the son of William and Margaret Forrest...
, Lawrence Wells, David Lindsay and John Wedge. Many of these expeditions relied on some camel transport. De Gray, Mundabullaangana, Pardoo, Tabba Tabba and Wallareenya were all pastoral stations, well established before Port Hedland became a gazetted town in 1896. Camels were still to be seen loaded with wool bales loping between some of these stations and the rail head until the mid nineteen thirties.
Mining operations in the Pilbara preceded those at Coolgardie with gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, tantalite
Tantalite
Tantalite, [2O6], is a mineral group that is close to columbite. The two are often grouped together as a semi-singular mineral called coltan or "columbite-tantalite" in many mineral guides. However, tantalite has a much greater specific gravity than columbite...
, antinomy
Antinomy
Antinomy literally means the mutual incompatibility, real or apparent, of two laws. It is a term used in logic and epistemology....
and bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
being among the minerals chipped from the Pilbara rocks and sands during this period. The miners needed equipment, large and small. Small stores and hotels alongside prospecting sites retailed food, drink, clothing and other supplies which were brought in by camels as well as teams of horses and bullocks and, eventually, by rail from the Whim Creek wharves. Five years after the shifting of the port to Port Hedland, a new rail link was made to Marble Bar.
Dost set up a permanent base at Port Hedland in 1906 servicing the Pilbara region. Although his older brother Jorak had preceded Dost to Western Australia, it was Dost who became the leading figure among the cameleers in the north-west. Other Baluch relatives worked in the area alongside other cameleers from Balochistan, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and northern India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
. Many made journeys back and forth between Western Australia, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and their birthplaces. By law, all were subject to racial restrictions applying to migration, type of business, occupation, employment and location. For example, after 1897, on departure, special permission was needed for those wishing to return to Western Australia. Following the Federation of the Australian colonies, continued residence and entry again required legal permit.
European cameleers also worked in the Pilbara, usually hitching wagons behind camel teams, unlike the method of loading individual camels traditionally used by Baloch and Afghan cameleers.
In 1908, not long after Dost settled in Port Hedland, storekeepers at Marble Bar began arranging contracts with some of the camel operators to have their goods transported from the Port Hedland wharves. Contract rates were lower than the established going rates. Tensions flared. Non contractors refused to cart for the storekeepers and went “on strike” rallying against “non-union” rates. Two hundred and fifty camels at 32 Mile Well were unhobbled and scattered into the scrub. Camel loads were flung to the ground. The dispute was eventually settled after police and officials from both Perth and the local area intervened and facilitated discussions between the opposing parties. Troubles resurfaced periodically - three years later agreement was reached to almost double cartage rates, but it had been a period of financial stress to the cameleers.
An Australian family
In Coolgardie, Dost Mahomet formed a lasting relationship with Annie Charlotte Grigo, whom he met when she was working at a bakery run by her father. The bakery owner was John de Braun, who also owned the gentleman's grand hotel, the Esplanade in Perth. Annie's family had migrated from Peakdowns in Queensland. Annie's parents were European born – her mother in HorsensHorsens
Horsens is a Danish city in east Jutland. It is the site of the council of Horsens municipality. The city's population is 53,807 and the Horsens municipality's population is 82,835 ....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, her father in Mitchulan, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
Marriage was opposed by Annie's father and brothers. The pair eloped by camel and took ship to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. At Lal Bhaker, Dost's birthplace, the two were married by traditional Muslim custom. Annie was 17 years old. Their firstborn was a son, Mustafa born 1896. Annie and Dost then returned to the camel business in Western Australia, leaving their first born in the village.
Five children were born in Western Australia - Lillian Rosetta (1898–1970), Hagu (Ada) 1902-1987), Alious Ameer (Arthur) (c.1904-1988), Jenneth (Jean) (1906-), Pathama (Violet) (1908–1983). The couple led a mobile life working the camels through the goldfields and stations of northwest Western Australia, finally establishing a permanent home in Port Hedland were they were respected members of a small town of approximately 200 by 1909. Their home was built on the block they bought in Kingsmill St. In a seeming challenge to Dost's strict Muslim practices, he bought the old brewery opposite the Esplanade Hotel. The eldest two girls attended the local primary school when it opened in 1906 alongside other children of European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
, Aboriginal and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
descent.
Camels were hobbled away from the town. The family milked goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s for milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
and butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
.
Despite earlier family antagonisms, once established at Port Hedland, Dost provided finance to assist his wife's sister in her purchase of a hotel a few kilometres from the town. He also assisted two of Annie's brothers in gaining employment and becoming established in business. Life within the extended family, however was often not harmonious.The brothers were heavy drinkers, sometimes violent and not always respectful of Muslim practices.
Dost was a short, but strong man. Wrestling was a sport he engaged in, occasionally with Europeans, but more frequently with other cameleers. He also had a reputation for quick temper and there are reports of physical violence in the home.
Dost and Annie's deaths
Both parents died violently not longer after building their Australian-style home at Port Hedland.The full circumstances of Dost's death in1909 are unclear. It is known that Dost was killed at home during a long and fearsome fight with his two brothers-in-law. One of them fatally smashed open the back of Dost's skull with a heavy piece of jarrah. The two brothers stood trial in Broome in June 1909 but were acquitted of murder. Dost's relatives attributed Dost's death to Annie's brothers and held Annie at least partially responsible for their acquittal.
Dost was a man of wealth as well as standing when he died. He had left a written will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
bequeathing his assets to his children and Annie and designating his brother Jorak as executor. Annie left accounts that Jorak was withholding money from her and that life was very difficult. She finally agreed to Jorak's offer of financial security and a good education for the children on condition that she return to India with the children. But, she boarded ship in fear for her life.
In Karachi, she took precautions, for example, establishing contact with the British Resident in the town. She was well remembered by many of Dost's relatives around Karachi, working and joking alongside women in the village in their day to day lives. Warned by some of them of threats to her life, she and the children moved one evening to a compound the other side of Karachi gaining the protection of a trusted relative.
Annie slept with a small revolver under her pillow and a watchdog outside. Three months after landing in Karachi, in August 1910, Annie was stabbed to death in her bed while her two youngest children lay alongside. Two nephews and a third person were charged with murder but were acquitted because of lack of identification.
After the court trial, the five youngest children were returned to Australia under an agreement between the district magistrate at Karachi and the Federal and Western Australian Governments
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
. They were eventually placed in the care of the State. After their deaths, accounts of their parents' assets included camels, property in Port Hedland, monies owing to the estates, and jewelry, but the children did not come to inherit any of this.
Oral histories
With the exception of 15 hours of taped interviews by the Battye Library in Perth, very little account of their early lives was passed on by the Australian born children. In sharp contrast, many stories about Dost and Annie have been handed down among the relatives around Karachi.The tamarind
Tamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
tree that still grows in Port Hedland at the site known as One Mile is reputed to have been planted by Dost Mahomet.