In the heart of Mombasa, along Abdel Nasser Road stands Allidina Visram High School. The school is a veritable history lesson in its sentinel position in a two-story building on three and a half acres of land overlooking the clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean.
In 1923, a Kenyan-born Indian, Sheth Abdul Rasul, established the coastal school, but the school’s name and history go way back to 1851. Yes… that far back, which begs the question, what’s the story behind Allidina Visram?
Hadithi Hadithi?
Hadithi Njoo!
In 1851, in a small village in India, Allidina Visram was born. Conscious of the world around him by the time he was 12, Allidina yearned for a better life. Intrepid at heart, he boarded a dhow headed for the East African shores and after a few weeks arrived in Zanzibar. Within a few years, the young man had grown to become a successful merchant whose caravans transported goods up and down the region reaching as far as the kingdoms of the Baganda and Nubia. Although it isn’t noted when or where he settled in the territory that would one day be Kenya, the merchant was familiar with the trade routes that crisscrossed the land and in time expanded his business, becoming the owner of several plantations of rubber, sugar cane and cotton, creating employment for over 3,000 laborers. As life would have it, Allidina in time had a son – Sheth Abdul Rasul. The young boy watched his father and from him, Rasul was inspired; so inspired that later after Allidina’s death, Rasul honoured him by building a learning institution in memory of his father.
When the construction of the school began, no expense was spared. An architect was brought from India to design the school building and all the materials used in construction – from the gray stone and steel used in building to the teak used to construct the stairway – were imported from India. However, difficulties arose during the onset of construction.
The site on which Allidina Visram High School’s construction took place was previously a cemetery for Indian Muslims. During construction, the building’s walls collapsed several times, and workers took that to be a sign that the spirits of the dead were angry that their resting place was being excavated. After consultation with the Mzimu (the Swahili custodian of spirits), an offering was given to placate the spirits and construction continued without further hindrances.
On 2nd January 1923, the school opened its doors to its first students. Allidina Visram High School was built to accommodate 500 students and in its first month, the total student enrollment was 331. At this time, however, the school only admitted Indian students. Its intricate architecture no doubt in honour of the adventurous young man who crossed an ocean is a reminder that our modern day Kenyan heritage has roots across the ocean.
Since the schools’ earliest days, each year the names of top matriculates would be carefully stenciled on beautiful wooden boards, in effect becoming an inspiration to thousands of students who aimed for similar educational heights as they studied in the school. With the advent of independence, racial integration in the high school finally happened in the sixties. In 1965, the school employed its first African faculty member, and in 1970, the first African headmaster was appointed. Most recently, in 1997, Allidina Visram High School was gazetted as a national monument under the Monuments and Antiquities Act.
Allidina Visram’s legacy that crisscrossed the region continues to live on. He is remembered for his ingenuity and his generosity and nearly a century later, this school of heritage continues to provide an exemplary education to many young people from the trade routes that built the name of the man that adorns the gates they pass through each day.