Sri Lanka Moor Family Genealogy
SALIE - Family #236
MUM Salie 1869-1963
Family history related by Yussuf Salie (grandson of MUM Salie)
Greetings from Sri Lanka and welcome
to the LankaGems website. The Salie Family has been in the gem and jewelry
business since the late 1700's. Our business was started in the late 1700's on
the tiny island of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon at the time of the
British occupation). Sri Lanka is situated in the Indian Ocean at the southern
most tip of India.
The town of Galle is situated in the southern province and is otherwise known as
the Dutch city. The first two generations of our family concentrated in the
buying and selling of rough stones as well as the cutting and polishing of them.
This process resulted in beautiful precious stones known as sapphires, rubies
and many other varieties of semi precious and precious stones (aquamarines,
tourmalines, garnets etc). Galle is a seaport. It was the most impressive of
natural harbors in the world at that time and still may remain so today. Many
merchant ships passed through Galle to obtain provisions, spices and of course,
gemstones. Our Great Grandparents were gem merchants. As Galle was the main gem
cutting center as well as the hub of the gem trade in Sri Lanka, we presume that
most precious gemstones found at that time (1700-1800) originated from this tiny
port city of Galle. Today many of these original stones are in the possession of
individual collectors or are showcased in museums in Asia, Europe, Great Britain
well as in the United States of America.
My grandfather was the third generation of Salie's born in 1869. It was in 1898
that young M U M Salie (my grandfather) decided to leave his home country and
explore the world at the age of thirty. From his early childhood days in school
he had learned and heard quite a bit about two great continents, Australia and
North America. He was particularly interested in the information he had gathered
concerning the Opal mines in Australia. Without informing his parents, he left
home and set sail to Australia on a merchant vessel. After arriving in Melbourne
he spent most of his time buying rough Opals and other gemstones that he had
planned to cut and refinish in Sri Lanka. Due to the fact that the gem cutters
in Sri Lanka were reputed for their knowledge of precision cutting, M U M Salie
decided to open his own Opal cutting center in his home country.
M U M Salie married an Australian lady in 1899. After spending a couple of years
in Melbourne he and his wife Elsie returned to Sri Lanka with barrels full of
rough opals. His dream had come true. He was able to cut these large quantities
of opals by expert cutters at a low cost. He spent approximately six years
processing the opals and turning them into fine gemstones. In the meantime, he
had made many more trips to Australia. He sold his newly finished opals and in
turn, bought more rough stones. In 1906, with his wife Elsie beside him, he took
part in the exposition in Hanly Park New Zealand, winning praise and awards for
displaying the finest of gemstones. As he became more traveled, he had the
opportunity to learn about Shanghai, Burma, Tokyo, New York, California, Chicago
and Miami. It was due to the climatic similarities between Sri Lanka and Miami
that he became particularly fond of Miami.
Sri Lanka has always being a busy port and a central point for commerce and
travel. Many businessmen and tourists passed through the Island staying in the
large ships while they were docked for loading and unloading in the port cities.
My grandfather had been invited to show his rare gem collection to the
passengers in these grand ships. Although this proved to be a viable business,
this didn't satisfy his quest of obtaining a fair share of the world market for
these beautiful and rare gemstones.
As the years passed, his opal cutting center had grown tremendously and many
family members and friends were employed there. Approximately 300 people
including relatives depended on this business. As his family obligations
increased, he decided to test his good fortune in the vast Indian market for
fine gemstones. During this period, India had many Noble Maharajahs &
Maharanis who were interested in adding fine gemstones to their collections.
They had been particularly interested in diamonds, rubies, sapphires and
emeralds. The Indian Nobles only bought the very best for their collections,
furthermore, they believed deeply in the mystic powers of precious gemstones.
When M U M Salie returned home, the people of the village had grown to love him
for his generous contributions and for taking care of them. At this time, there
were many with the last name 'Salie' working at the factory - and the people of
the town wanted to give him a different and distinct name to honor his
contribution to the community. As M U M Salie often shared stories of his visits
with Princes and Princess's around the world, they decided to honor him with the
name and title ' Prince M U M Salie'. That is what he became referred to from
that time onwards.
In 1915 he traveled to America with his wife Elsie and their daughter Ruby. In
San Francisco he participated in the Pan Pacific International Exposition and
won a Grand Prize for his contribution of fine exhibits of precious and semi
precious stones.
In 1916 he took part in the exposition in San Diego California at Balboa Park
making many new friends and inroads into the US market. Over the next decade, he
spent much of his time traveling around the world while somehow keeping a close
eye on his teenage children. He had high hopes for his children; like his
father, he also wanted all his children to follow him in the gemstone business
(and they did!).
In 1926 he took part in the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia where he
won great praise and honors for his fine collectable gemstones. He then moved on
to Miami Beach, where he bought two homes next to each other. One was for his
living and the other for entertaining his customers and friends. He entertained
many of America's elite society by throwing lavish dinners parties and
entertaining them with stories and mysteries from the Orient.
Between 1933 and 1934 he participated in the Exposition for the Century of
Progress in Chicago. My father, his siblings and his cousins assisted Prince M U
M Salie at this fair. It was here that he also won many praise awards, including
the grand prize for his exhibits of fine gem material stones. In 1934, when the
exposition ended, he donated the finest of his collection of gemstones to the
Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago which still can be viewed to date.
In 1935, he made the move to New York City. It was between 1935-1936 that he
participated in another successful show known as the San Diego Exposition in
Balboa Park. It was during that same year that he commissioned my father, his
siblings and a couple of his cousins to travel throughout the orient to explore
the possibility of buying and selling gemstones in that region. They did so by
going to Burma Magok where they established a buying as well as a retail outlet.
They proceeded to Hong Kong, China and Japan in hopes of selling these precious
stones. My father identified successful business opportunities in all of these
ports in the Orient. He spent all of his adult life in Ceylon and in the Orient
until his sudden death in 1945 at the age of 42.
My grandfather now at the age of 76. With the loss of both his wife Elise and
his son (my father) Usuff, he began to slow down his business. In 1947 he made
another trip to America. Being home sick and alone, he returned to Sri Lanka in
1948 only to make another trip to the US in 1952 to finalize his business
affairs. He returned to Sri Lanka that same year. He spent the following years
of his life in Bombay Castle in Galle, which was built with all the ideas and
experiences of his traveled life.
In 1963 at the age of 94, during an interview with the Ceylon Observer
(newspaper) he expressed his desire to visit the country he loved so dearly -the
United States one more time. While making travel arrangements to visit the US
with his grandson, M U M Salie was killed in a tragic traffic accident in May of
1963.
Many of his children and grandchildren have followed in his footsteps and have
dedicated their lives to the gem industry in Sri Lanka. They have also traveled
and explored business opportunities in gem industries all over the world. Today,
I am working with the sixth generation of the Salie family -namely my children
to better service our customers in the new world of the Internet. My son Afkham
Salie graduated from Chapman College with a degree in business. He then went on
to becoming a certified gem cutter and gemologist from the Gemological Institute
of America in California. He is now operating a gem cutting and fashioning
studio in Sri Lanka. My eldest daughter Rahma Salie, graduated from Wellesley
College with a degree in International Relations and Japanese Studies. She is
currently working in the technology industry in Cambridge, MA. My youngest
daughter is still in college and hopes to graduate in the year 2000. I, Ysuff M.
Salie, the fifth generation in the gemstone business, along with my wife Haleema
who has successfully completed courses in diamond grading and evaluation at the
Gemological Institute of America will remain as a patron and advisor to our
children in this business. We have decided to bring together our rich background
and six generations of experience in order to showcase and provide you with a
high quality collection of gemstones and jewelry. We will also pay particular
attention in servicing your custom jewelry needs through this Internet site. We
now introduce you to our gemstone and jewelry collection as well as to our
culture and origins.
1 Salie, M.U.M. (aka Prince Salie) b:1869, d:May-1963 (tragic accident) + Elsie (Australia), m:1899
2 Usuff Salie b: 1903, d:1945 + Rahma
3 Khyre Harnim Salie + Hamza Abdul Cader (80)
ABDUL CADER - HAJIANI KHYRE HARNIM Beloved wife of late Hamza Abdul Cader, daughter of late Rahma and Usuff Salie, loving mother of Shanaz, Akram, Amira, Ardil and late Shah, Faizal and Ayesha, mother-in-law of Padmani, Zakraff, Zulficar, Mirza and Mifthiya, grandmother of Siyana, Imran, Soraya, Azam, Malik, Mariam, Subran, Nabiha, Zainab, Akthab and Iman, sister of Barbara (Nauzad), Ameena, Farida, Riza, Tilly, Usuff and late Ahmed Salie, expired. The Janaza took place on November 17, 2002 at 4.00 p.m. in Chennai, India, according to her wishes. 29/2, Torrington Court, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7. [Sunday Observer Dec 1, 2002]
4 Shah Cader + Babi
5 Imran Cader
5 Siyana Cader
5 Soraya Cader
4 Faizal Cader
4 Ayesha Cader
4 Shanaz Cader + Zakraff, Dastakeer (35,84,143)
5 Azam Dastakeer
4 Akram Cader + Mirza Mohammed
4 Amira Cader + Zulfi Mohammed
4 Ardil Cader + Mifthiya
3 Barbara (Nauzad) Salie + Mohammed Raheem
4 Yasmin Raheem + Fazal Dool
5 Arshard Dool
5 Name not Known
3 Ameena Salie + Salih
4 Ali Salih
4 Fathima Salih
3 Farida Salie + Yehiya Farook
4 Hussain Ali Farook + Farah Khalaf
5 Ibrahim Farook
5 Hana Farook
4 Thahir Farook
3 Riza Salie Sherine Saleem
4 Mohammed Salie
4 Raihan Salie
3 Tilly (Rizly) Salie + Fariha Dastakeer (35, 84,143)
4 Faiq Salie + Sara
5 Sabeeha Salie
4 Imam Salie + Inara Azeer
5 Abith Imam
4 Zacky Salie
4 Nabil Salie
3 Yusuff Salie + Haleema Alaudeen
4 Rahma Salie + Micky Theodoridis (killed in American Airlines Flight 11 crash into WTC, New York on Sep 11, 2001)
4 Afkham Salie + Dilrua
5 Sinan Afkham Salie
4 Farah Salie
3 Ahmed Salie + Marzoona Dastakeer (35, 84,143)
4 Shaha Salie +Mohammed Nelufar
5 Raida Nelufar
5 Ijaz Nelufar
4 Noorul Habeeba Salie + Munir Akbar (84)
5 Dhaiyaan Akbar
5 Amani Akbar
5 Nardra Akbar
4 Isam Salie + Shazneen Moulana
5 Nameer Isam
2 daughter (Name Not Known) + A L M M Shariff
3 Noorul Inaya Shariff, d:24-Sep-2003 + Noor Mahuroof
4 Fahmy Mahuroof (UK) + Lizana
4 Fazlul Mahuroof
4 Falik Mahuroof
4 Fahira Mahuroof
4 Fathiha Mahuroof
4 Fayyadh Mahuroof
3 Noorul Jenna Shariff + Caffoor (UK)
3 Sithy Shakira Shariff + Wahab
3 Atheeka Shariff + Siddick Mahuroof
3 Hassan Shariff (UK)
3 Khyre Shariff + Sanoon (UK)
3 Nizar Shariff
HAJIYANI
NOORUL INAYA NOOR MAHUROOF
Granddaughter of Marhoom Prince M.U.M. Salie, loving daughter of Marhoom and
Marhooma A.L.M.M. Shariff, beloved wife of the late Noor Mahuroof, loving mother
of Fahmy (U.K.), Fazlul, Falik, Fahira, Fathiha and Fayyadh, motherinlaw of
the late M.L.M. Ashraff, Lizana (U.K.), Zeenath, Naufer, the late Ahamed and
Zinda, sister of Noorul Jenna Caffoor (U.K.), Sithy Shakira Wahab, Atheeka
Siddick Mahuroof, Hassan Shariff (U.K.), Khyre Sannoon (U.K.), and Nizar
Shariff, grandmother of Shazna, Imaad, Shaamil, Sharmila, Shaarifa, Zahara,
Zahma, Faizal, Farahath Inthiquab, Asmina, Feroz, Aadhil, Shahana, Riffah,
Sabreena, Amjad, Fahad, Zulaik, Fazil, Sugra and Azaam. Janaza took place on
24th Sept. 2003. The family members thank all those who attended the funeral and
helped them in numerous ways. They regret their inability to thank them
individually. No.5, Mosque
Lane, Kandewatte, Galle (Tel. 94-92244418).