0:00:04 > 0:00:06With my identity, I feel very fortunate, actually.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10I always have done because I've always felt that, you know,
0:00:10 > 0:00:12I've got something that's slightly different to others
0:00:12 > 0:00:14and also something quite interesting.
0:00:15 > 0:00:21Actor, presenter and writer Adil Ray is best known for his comedy series
0:00:21 > 0:00:22Citizen Khan.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26How about a Muslim fun day!
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- A Muslim what?- A fun day!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31You know, one of those churchy fete-y things
0:00:31 > 0:00:32that you white people do.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35But with some Muslim thingamajigs thrown in instead.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36For example?
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Alcohol-free bottle tombola!
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Halal candyfloss!
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Guess who's under the burqa!
0:00:46 > 0:00:49My mother's side in particular really interests me
0:00:49 > 0:00:52because here's my mother, born in Kenya, East Africa,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55comes to this country in the '60s, marries my dad who's Pakistani.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57He's a labourer from Pakistan
0:00:57 > 0:00:59so that was slightly unheard-of in itself.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02And I really love my parents for doing that.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06But then if you look further back at my mum's background,
0:01:06 > 0:01:11her mother was an African orphan
0:01:11 > 0:01:14who marries my grandfather
0:01:14 > 0:01:16who was from India.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18I mean, his story in itself is amazing.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22I knew my grandmother, my grandmother, you know,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24was very much the matriarch of our family.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28So I'm really intrigued to know
0:01:28 > 0:01:31who was she, what was her background, being African?
0:01:33 > 0:01:36We're all from many, many different backgrounds,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38we've all got different stories,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40and I can't wait to find out more about mine.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Adil's on his way to see his mum, Nargis,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19who lives near him in Birmingham.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22The key thing about my mum, really, she's been so supportive of me,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26in my personal life, but more importantly, in my career.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29She used to say to me when I was growing up and I said I wanted
0:02:29 > 0:02:32to be a radio presenter, she'd say "Well, OK, you can do that.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35"Just one condition - get a degree first."
0:02:35 > 0:02:36So I said, "All right."
0:02:37 > 0:02:40And on the day of the graduation, I gave her the scroll, I went,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42"Mum, here you go, here's your degree."
0:02:42 > 0:02:46And she said, "That's fine, good luck with your radio career."
0:02:46 > 0:02:50You know what, I can safely say, she's the best mum in the world.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57- As-Salaam alaikum. - Wa alaikum salaam.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59- How are you?- All right.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01- And how are you?- I'm OK, thank you.
0:03:01 > 0:03:02You're looking very nice.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- Yeah, thank you. - Expecting visitors, are we?- Yes.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Still going to the gym four times a week?
0:03:10 > 0:03:14- You must be joking! - Oh, three times now, right?
0:03:14 > 0:03:16What about the London Marathon this year...?
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Nargis has been digging out some photographs
0:03:19 > 0:03:20from her childhood in Kenya.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24So this is exciting. So this is... What's this, this is the house...?
0:03:24 > 0:03:26This is the house in Kisumu, Kenya...
0:03:26 > 0:03:28- OK.- ..where I was brought up.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30- Big house, isn't it? - It is a big house.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32It's about eight-bedroomed house,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34and the whole family lived in there.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37And not everyone could afford a house like that.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Right.- Yeah. That's true.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43We had a beautiful garden and everything and people used to come
0:03:43 > 0:03:45to take photos of it.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48My father was Meraj Din and then they opened a business
0:03:48 > 0:03:50called Dean Brothers.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54So he builds his business, and was that sort of the foundation of...?
0:03:54 > 0:03:57The foundation of Meraj Din and his family,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59and he built a house for the family.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03- What else do we have? - This is the inside of the house.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- The living room.- Yes, sitting room, we used to call it.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11So, you guys had a pretty... pretty good lifestyle in Kisumu.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I know you've told me things in the past,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16but it's only when you see this and you realise, you see this car.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Oh, my God, you know, that's a classic. It's a beautiful car.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24Suddenly Kenya got what they call Uhuru - independence.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28And then obviously the Africans started thinking
0:04:28 > 0:04:32"Oh, now it's my country and I'll have all this."
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Which you can understand to a certain extent, you know.
0:04:36 > 0:04:37But...
0:04:37 > 0:04:39And it was frightening as well.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49The Asians living in the new country,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52many born there when it was still part of the Empire,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54were made to choose between remaining British
0:04:54 > 0:04:56or becoming Kenyan citizens.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Thousands of Asians left Kenya for Britain,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04including Nargis and her family, who settled in Birmingham.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09What do we have here?
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- This is your grandfather. - Of course.- My father.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13- Meraj Din.- Your father. Very handsome.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Yeah. He actually came to Kenya,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21he was a worker on the railways.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24He didn't actually build the railways, he was like a clerk.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Did he come to Kenya on his own then, initially?
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Initially, from what I understand,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33he came on his own and then he sent for his wife.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38That's, I think, when he first came into Kenya.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41See, I've not seen this one. I've only known him from this.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43God, look at the transformation, that's the same...
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- That is the same man?- Yeah.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- That is that man there?- Yeah.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Adil's grandfather, Meraj Din,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55was in his teens when he arrived in Kenya in 1912
0:05:55 > 0:05:58from what was then British India, and is now Pakistan.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01He started with the community there
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and he became like a leader of the community or the chairperson.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06A community leader? How about that!
0:06:06 > 0:06:09So he was a community leader, in a suit,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11with some nice headgear and glasses.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14He actually built the mosque.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Well, he didn't build it with his own hands, but...
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Yeah, but got the land and...
0:06:18 > 0:06:20- The land.- And organised it all.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23- Raised the money. - Raised the money, that's right.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Wow, interesting.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28What a fascinating guy. OK.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Oh, I recognise her. This is...
0:06:30 > 0:06:31- It's Aisha.- Aisha, yes.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36So this is... So your mother, taken in Kisumu?
0:06:36 > 0:06:42- Yes.- She was your father's second wife and she was an orphan.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44By this time, you know, he's that guy.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Look at him, you know, smart businessman.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And he, you know... Unfortunate circumstances, his first wife dies.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55But he chooses his second wife,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58this orphan girl, from Uganda.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02My father married her at the age of 13, 14, I think.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04But I think the reason was
0:07:04 > 0:07:07that he had seven children from his previous marriage
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and he probably thought
0:07:09 > 0:07:12that she'd be the best to look after them.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14I remember she would, you know, she'd shout at us,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18she'd tell us to don't do this or she'd talk to us, in Punjabi.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21But you certainly looked up to her.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28Adil's grandmother Aisha spoke Punjabi because, as a young girl,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29she was raised in an Indian family.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Did you not say that her father... He wasn't... What was he?
0:07:35 > 0:07:37- He was...- Indian, Turkish, or something?
0:07:37 > 0:07:40No, from what we understand,
0:07:40 > 0:07:45that my mum's father was a Turkish missionary.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49- Yes.- And he came and he married an African...
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- An African Ugandan.- ..Ugandan girl.
0:07:52 > 0:07:53So, Aisha.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56What treatment did she get from other, you know,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Asian families or Asian people,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01being married to this quite prominent family, the Dins?
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- Was she accepted? - I think they had to accept,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07some of them obviously they didn't like it.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He was very much conscious of that.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Because she looked African as well,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15that the people will talk about her,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17so that's why she wanted to give the impression
0:08:17 > 0:08:20that she's adopted their way of life, she's an Asian now.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22- She's making that effort. - She's making...
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Yeah, she was making that effort a lot.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Here we are in Birmingham.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31One of the biggest, diverse cities in the world.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Yet, if today a Muslim son wants to go to his parents
0:08:35 > 0:08:38or decides to go and marry an African woman,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41there would be people that would frown on that and say,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44"What is he thinking about?" And that's today.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47100 years ago, almost 100 years ago,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50my grandfather did exactly that.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Your grandfather, maybe it was in his mind
0:08:53 > 0:08:55that he has to set an example,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57- that you have to...- And he did that.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- Yeah.- Yeah. Amazing.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Adil's grandparents, Aisha and Meraj,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07went on to have seven children of their own, including Nargis.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12Nargis was told that Aisha's mother was called Razia.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14That she was from Uganda,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and that she married a Muslim man from Turkey called Moidin.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22When Moidin died, Razia was left alone with her young children.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Then she couldn't afford to keep the kids.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28So she took them to the mosque
0:09:28 > 0:09:32and were saying that these are Muslim children,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35so the local mosque then looks for the couples
0:09:35 > 0:09:37- who have not got children...- Right.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40..and asks them to take.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45So each one of them... Like my mum went to a journalist couple.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47And this is in Uganda?
0:09:47 > 0:09:51- In Uganda.- OK. So what else do you know about Razia?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53My grandmother, she came from...
0:09:53 > 0:09:57from what I understand, the Kabaka family.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00- She was distantly related. - Now, the Kabaka family...?
0:10:00 > 0:10:04- Kabaka is the ruler of Uganda. - Right.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Interested to find out if that's true.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08I don't know what that means.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Whether we get a stake of Uganda.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12It would be a lovely story if that's true.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The photos that really struck me were the photos of my grandfather.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21He meets my grandmother
0:10:21 > 0:10:24in a mosque in Uganda, or something.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26How does that even happen?
0:10:26 > 0:10:30How does a guy like him end up marrying an orphan girl
0:10:30 > 0:10:32who's got African blood in her?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34And it turns out, not just any African blood,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38from what Mum tells me, she may well be connected to Kabaka,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41one of the rulers of Uganda!
0:10:41 > 0:10:43I just find it really fascinating
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and I just cannot wait to get out there and find out more.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53To discover the truth behind the stories that have been passed down
0:10:53 > 0:10:57in his family, Adil is flying to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02I feel very lucky to be going on this journey.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Identity to me, and my background, my heritage and ancestry,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10it's a real big part of me.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15It really intrigues me because you know, here I am, I'm a Brummie,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18I'm British, I'm Muslim, I'm Pakistani.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21And I'm also East African.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26I feel so proud of that.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29But I know very little about that background.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37In 1896, shortly after Kenya became part of the British Empire,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39work began on a massive railway
0:11:39 > 0:11:42to carry people and goods across the colony.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48It stretched nearly 600 miles across deserts, rivers and ravines,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53from Mombasa in the East via Nairobi, to Kisumu in the West.
0:11:54 > 0:11:5832,000 men were brought over from British India to build it.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05In 1912, Adil's grandfather Meraj arrived to work for the railway
0:12:05 > 0:12:06as a junior clerk.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16What I've got from the family is his passport.
0:12:16 > 0:12:22Now, in here, it confirms his date of birth, 1st of March, 1896.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24He came when he was 16.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27The reason why my grandfather Meraj left India
0:12:27 > 0:12:29was because his father died,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32and he then automatically becomes head of the family.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Now, they were great landowners, they were actually pretty well off.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37But he didn't inherit any of the land,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40that was members of his father's side the family.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45So his family, him, his mum and his brother, become pretty poor.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49So he decides, like many Indians at the time,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53to come out to Africa to make a better life for himself.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14The thing that really strikes me about my grandfather Meraj is that,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17when he arrived here, he was only 16 years old.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21To leave Lahore to come to Africa, not knowing what to expect,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24to be in a totally different continent at that time,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26is just amazing.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31So I really want to find out more about my grandfather Meraj.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34You know, where he lived, what his house was like.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I know he was a businessman.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39What was the business like? So I'm off to Kisumu.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Adil's on his way to meet historian Gordon Omenya Onyango.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- Gordon. Jambo.- Jambo sana. How are you?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- I'm very well, how are you? - I'm also fine.- Good.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05- Nice meeting you. - And you too.- Thank you.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Have you got any records at all about my grandfather?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15You can have a look at these records.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17- This is exciting!- Yes.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19- What's this, then?- These records.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24The Official Gazette Of The Colony And Protectorate Of Kenya.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- So this is an electoral register, is it?- Mm-hmm.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31OK. So is my grandfather on here?
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Here he is!
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Number 98, Mehraj Din, tinsmith, there you go, Box 98, Kisumu,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42that's his postal address.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Mehraj Din, Aisha Bibi...
0:14:46 > 0:14:49That's his wife, my grandmother.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Who's this, Mehraj Din...?
0:14:51 > 0:14:54That is his mum.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56- Oh, yeah.- Because when his first wife died,
0:14:56 > 0:14:57his mother was still around.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I think, at some point, she did go back to Pakistan in the end.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05But, initially, she lived with my grandmother and grandad.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07That's amazing, seeing that.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08That is great.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13So what was life like, specifically, for Meraj Din, back then,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16as an Indian man, coming into Africa and Kisumu,
0:15:16 > 0:15:18what would it have been like?
0:15:18 > 0:15:24He engaged in trade because most of the early Indians were trading,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27selling things, commodities, to Africans.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30And this is exactly where the Indian buyers were,
0:15:30 > 0:15:31where most Indians were trading.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35With the railway completed,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38thousands of Indians, like Adil's grandfather,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41chose to stay on and bring their families to join them.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46They were keen to take advantage of the new opportunities
0:15:46 > 0:15:48the railway opened up for trade inland.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51So many settled in Kisumu,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54it became known as the Bombay of East Africa.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Meraj became a successful tinsmith,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01specialising in making and selling water tanks
0:16:01 > 0:16:03which were in high demand.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Kisumu had a problem with water at that time, also.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10So they used these tins to store water.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11So he started as a tinsmith,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15but the big thing he was selling was water tanks.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- Exactly.- That's a great picture.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Do you know when that might have been?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Almost the same period, we're talking about 19...
0:16:23 > 0:16:26From 1915, 1920, thereabout.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Some of the things that he made,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30because he was a tinsmith, you know,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34some of those tin lamps are actually still in use up to date.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40- Oh, really?- And I can confirm to you that even me, in my village,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43my mum still uses that tin lamp
0:16:43 > 0:16:46- in her kitchen.- Well, it's funny you should say that, Gordon.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49One of the reasons we're here now is that I can confirm
0:16:49 > 0:16:52I've still got the bill that your mum didn't pay for these!
0:16:52 > 0:16:56So, any time you're ready, just a couple of shillings would be nice!
0:16:56 > 0:16:59- I'm ready to pay the bill! - THEY LAUGH
0:17:00 > 0:17:02So they introduced products
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- that perhaps Africans hadn't even seen before.- Yeah, exactly.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07What kind of things would they have been?
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Mostly bicycles,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13blankets, sometimes they could also bring iron sheets
0:17:13 > 0:17:18because that's the time when Africans are also starting
0:17:18 > 0:17:21to move from building grass-thatched houses
0:17:21 > 0:17:23to iron-roofed houses, yeah.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27So those are the kind of items that they were engaging in.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31So, there were coming with real uses and real purpose
0:17:31 > 0:17:33and real advantages for not just themselves
0:17:33 > 0:17:35but for the wider community?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Exactly, exactly.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40And, if you can see this picture.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45This is one of the Indian bazaars where they are exchanging goods,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47take a look at that.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50When you look at Kisumu today, I mean, it's packed.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53I mean, there's no room. But just there you get an idea that,
0:17:53 > 0:17:58you know, it was busy, but still it wasn't as populated as it is today.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Yeah. We can also have a look at these.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04What's this? This is another market, OK.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Yeah, you can see some Indians over here.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13God, what year is this? What year would that be, do you think?
0:18:13 > 0:18:18Approximately, around 1910, 1912, thereabouts.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20The one thing that strikes me,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24and it's ridiculous not thinking this before, but seeing it now,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and seeing how the Africans are dressed, you know,
0:18:27 > 0:18:28with not very much on,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31because that's what Africans dressed like back then,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35the Indians dressing how we imagine Indians to dress, at least,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38how I imagine Indians dressed back then... Automatically, I'm going,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40"Imagine that as a culture shock!"
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Exactly. And that's why,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46when the Indians started to bring exotic commodities or exotic goods,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50that's when Africans started now to embrace wearing clothes.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Oh, OK, right.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54So I have a picture of my grandmother, Aisha.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57This was taken quite early on.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59- It's Aisha?- Aisha, yeah.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Now, you can probably just about tell there,
0:19:03 > 0:19:09she was Ugandan. Was that unusual for my grandfather, Meraj Din,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13not only to marry a 13-year-old, but somebody who was Ugandan?
0:19:13 > 0:19:15It was unusual
0:19:15 > 0:19:18because of the fact that, if you look at
0:19:18 > 0:19:20the Indian culture, you know,
0:19:20 > 0:19:26they have the caste system where you have to marry within your caste.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32It also went alongside marrying a woman from your own racial group.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34But, on the other side,
0:19:34 > 0:19:40Meraj probably did not have a chance to get an Indian woman.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I mean, Asian women were also not many.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46So the choices were limited.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51So, out of necessity, he had to marry Aisha.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56At this time, it wasn't uncommon for girls to marry at a young age.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01But Meraj and Aisha's marriage was unusual because it didn't fit
0:20:01 > 0:20:05the racial hierarchy that the British had created in Kenya,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09with Europeans at the top, Indians next, and Africans at the bottom.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Aisha's mixed heritage would not have gone unnoticed.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20I do know, having spoken to my mother and my aunt,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23and she talked about it much later in her life, that,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26in the early days particularly,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30she did suffer a lot of prejudice from the Indian community,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and some people quite close to the family, as well.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39I know she had a huge complex about her African hair, her complexion.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41She didn't want photos taken of her.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44She tried to hide her hair, tried to straighten her hair.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Any of her children that had African hair, she would try and straighten.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52It just makes me really sad.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Yes, it was...
0:20:54 > 0:20:56It was something that was...
0:20:57 > 0:21:01..expected, of course, by Aisha because, you know,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05around that period, the racial hierarchy was so strong,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09so he had to go through that kind of prejudice.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Just suffer this prejudice and do it so...
0:21:13 > 0:21:16..elegantly and with real dignity.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19She had incredible dignity, she was an incredibly smart woman as well.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Always turned out.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24You know, for me, as I was growing up, she was...
0:21:24 > 0:21:29I didn't even realise she was African until, you know...
0:21:29 > 0:21:32She spoke Punjabi, dressed elegantly like any other Punjabi woman.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37But then you realise now, what she had to endure and put up with
0:21:37 > 0:21:40in those early days is quite something.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Here's a picture of my...
0:21:45 > 0:21:47grandfather, by the way.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49What I really love more than anything -
0:21:49 > 0:21:51you were talking about integration,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53and how they had to...
0:21:53 > 0:21:58This was when he first arrived, pretty much, not when he was 16,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00but some years later that was taken.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- OK.- And then, this is a picture taken...
0:22:05 > 0:22:09..not long before he died, passed away.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12But you see the transition between the two.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- It's quite something, isn't it? - Yeah, I can see the change.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Here, he looks more modern.- Yeah.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23He has kind of embraced modernity.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28- Yeah.- Here, he's a bit of an Indian national.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31So, it's some kind of transition,
0:22:31 > 0:22:32some kind of transition.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Adil wants to see what remains
0:22:41 > 0:22:44from his great-grandparents' time in Kisumu.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Sam.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50- Adil.- How are you?- Very good, how are you doing?
0:22:50 > 0:22:52I'm OK. Are you going to give me a tour of Kisumu?
0:22:52 > 0:22:53- Let's have a look.- Perfect.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Local guide Sam has offered to show Adil around.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Sam's family also came from India
0:22:59 > 0:23:01when it was part of the British Empire,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and stayed in Kisumu where many Asian-owned businesses still thrive.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13Kisumu itself is a very commercial and industrial town.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16The street we are on now, the shops on your left and right,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19obviously, there's Africans and locals working in them,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22but they're Asian-owned businesses.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25So will there be some Asian families that, you know...
0:23:25 > 0:23:28go back as far as Meraj Din,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30and that generation that might even still be here?
0:23:30 > 0:23:33I'm sure there is. The next couple of generations.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Sam has managed to track down where Meraj first set up in business.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51Believe it or not, this is...
0:23:52 > 0:23:54..your father's shop.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Really? What, this is where he was a tinsmith?
0:23:57 > 0:24:00This is where he operated from.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03And would this be the original structure, the original roof?
0:24:03 > 0:24:06The original building, the original structure,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09- obviously a paint job and a few things changed there.- Yeah.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11What is it now, it seems to be like a cafe?
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It's a cafe and a guest house.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16- Tyre centre.- Tyre centre there. - Right.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20So, what I know is that he was a tinsmith.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25So he was selling lots of tin cookware and saucepans
0:24:25 > 0:24:27and pots and pans and all that kind of thing.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- And water tanks.- Yeah, water tanks was the main thing.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32And, apparently, he used to make them here.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35At the back, there must be like a courtyard area
0:24:35 > 0:24:39- where all the work was done and displayed out here.- Right.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57So I'm guessing, this was the original courtyard,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59but it's kind of been redeveloped since.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Yeah, it's been built up, the lodging, the rooms.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Up till about here would have been
0:25:04 > 0:25:06the back yard where everything's been...
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Where he's making his water tanks.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11You know, it's interesting for me. This is kind of...
0:25:11 > 0:25:14where his entrepreneurship began, you know,
0:25:14 > 0:25:19and where he moved on to, and his sons moved on to, and then my mum,
0:25:19 > 0:25:20you know, and then down to me.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23- It all started from here. - Yeah, exactly.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25It started from this courtyard.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26It's great.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34As more entrepreneurs like Meraj arrived, through the 1920s and '30s,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Asian-owned businesses came to account for about 90% of trade
0:25:38 > 0:25:40within the colony.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Meraj's tinsmith trade was booming and he brought his sons
0:25:45 > 0:25:49into the business. He grew wealthy enough to contribute
0:25:49 > 0:25:52to building the local mosque - it's still in use today.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- It's quite lovely, isn't it? - Beautiful structure.- Yeah.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05It's kind of a peaceful oasis in the mayhem of Kisumu town.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- The hubbub of Kisumu's hecticness. - Yeah.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10Nice.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Adil's keen to meet some elders who went to the mosque
0:26:13 > 0:26:15in his grandfather's day.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa alaikum salaam.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22My name's Adil, I'm the grandson of Meraj Din.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:26:27 > 0:26:32They knew Meraj Din because he was one of the elders at the mosque,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34and he helped build it.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38But they do know him, and they even met him.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22They are very happy and proud that now they have met you,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26an ancestor of Meraj Din.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Thank you so much. That's so good to hear.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30Thank you so much, thank you.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I can't be anything but proud of Meraj.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40He didn't just go back to India and say,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42"I'm not doing that, I can't hack it."
0:27:42 > 0:27:45He decided, "Yes, I'm going to make a go of it
0:27:45 > 0:27:48"and really try and work within that society."
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And that's exactly what he's done.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Well, how amazing was that?
0:27:56 > 0:27:57- It was amazing.- Wasn't it, just?
0:27:57 > 0:27:59They knew Meraj.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03I mean, the thing is, they prayed when he passed away,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05they were at the prayers.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06The prayers must have been...
0:28:06 > 0:28:08There was the funeral, and prayers held at the house.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12One thing I thought was really interesting, he talked about...
0:28:12 > 0:28:15He mentioned that Meraj helped all the communities.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19By that, does he mean not just Muslims, so, Hindus, Sikhs?
0:28:19 > 0:28:21By that, he means all the communities,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23not just the Muslim community.
0:28:23 > 0:28:24Yeah.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29It's just great to hear that Meraj was one of those men
0:28:29 > 0:28:31that just helped everybody.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35And I like to think my family back in Birmingham,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38you know, we're East African Asians, half East African, half Pakistani,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41but we have that sort of unity amongst us, I think.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44I suppose it comes from this thing of sticking together, when,
0:28:44 > 0:28:48essentially, the Asians were a minority in Africa.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Sam's taking Adil to what was once the Indian quarter of Kisumu,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56to see the house that the Din family built in the 1950s...
0:28:57 > 0:29:00..and where Adil's mother spent her childhood.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02It's a big house.
0:29:02 > 0:29:03- It is a big house.- Yeah.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07- It's very Art Deco, isn't it? - It is.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Those original glass bricks.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12So what is it now?
0:29:12 > 0:29:15It's now the head office for a construction company.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18It's great that it's still standing but it's a shame it's not been...
0:29:18 > 0:29:20- Looked after. - ..completely preserved.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Here, I've got this picture, look at that from...
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The original. It's actually not changed an awful lot.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29It's pretty much the same.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31Extraordinary.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Wow, look at this parquet floor!
0:29:41 > 0:29:45- Beautiful.- It's stunning and that is what you call a staircase.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47- A grand staircase.- Yeah.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49It's absolutely stunning.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Wow! It's great, isn't it?
0:30:01 > 0:30:03That floor is just...
0:30:03 > 0:30:06So they move into this house in 1954.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Obviously my grandfather laid the foundations, but I think
0:30:09 > 0:30:11part of the reason they were able to move into this house
0:30:11 > 0:30:13was because of the wealth of his sons.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14They had moved the business on,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17I think they had a company called the Dean Brothers.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21In fact, my mum tells me the story of my Uncle Zuffur,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23who would have business meetings here.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26You know, a big dining table, I don't know if it was in this room
0:30:26 > 0:30:28but, you know, a big dining table,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31and my grandmother Aisha would lay out all the table,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33get out the best crockery and cutlery
0:30:33 > 0:30:35and my mum and all of her sisters,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37they had to stay upstairs and stay very quiet.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39- Out of the way.- Out of the way,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42they weren't allowed to even talk or whisper at all.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44And they'd sit on the staircase,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47listening in to these business meetings.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Just stood here now sort of takes you, really try...
0:30:50 > 0:30:52You can kind of imagine that. Imagine that.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Actually, I've got a picture,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56I think there's a picture of how it looked here.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Here we go. So, actually,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04- that's probably pretty much where we're standing.- About here, yeah.
0:31:04 > 0:31:05Exactly.
0:31:05 > 0:31:06Great.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Just brilliant, I love it.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11- God, that is gorgeous, isn't it?- It is.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16Just one big glass wall, pretty much, it allows for natural light.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23When I think about my grandfather Meraj...
0:31:24 > 0:31:28..he also gave Aisha something she'd never experienced before.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31You know, in the end, they lived in a lovely house,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35of which Aisha becomes the matriarch of 14 children,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37seven of which aren't hers.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40And what a beautiful house it was.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02It's really inspiring hearing about my grandfather Meraj and the life
0:32:02 > 0:32:04that he had in Kisumu.
0:32:04 > 0:32:10In particular, how he met Aisha, this African woman from Uganda.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15And then, when I think about the prejudice
0:32:15 > 0:32:17that Aisha would have faced,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20being an African woman in amongst that Indian community,
0:32:20 > 0:32:22and I know that she had...
0:32:22 > 0:32:23a number of things said to her
0:32:23 > 0:32:25and the way she was made to feel at times,
0:32:25 > 0:32:30but she held her own and she was so dignified in her life that...
0:32:31 > 0:32:34..I just feel absolutely compelled to find out more about her, really.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37And I just can't wait to get to Uganda and just find out exactly
0:32:37 > 0:32:41who she was and who was her family and where did she come from?
0:32:41 > 0:32:46Adil is leaving Kisumu and heading for Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49It's an area of the country called Buganda,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51which was under British control
0:32:51 > 0:32:54at the time Adil's grandmother, Aisha, was born.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Adil knows that Aisha's mother, his great-grandmother,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02was an African woman called Razia,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04and that she married a man called Moidin.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13He's been given details by a family member of relatives of Razia's
0:33:13 > 0:33:17in Uganda. They live in a village three hours' drive from the capital.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27Adil's being helped by local translator George Mpanga.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Hey!
0:33:32 > 0:33:33Hi!
0:33:45 > 0:33:48This is Udaia.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Nice to meet you, Udaia.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Udaia and Sarah are nieces of Adil's great-grandmother, Razia,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57making Adil their distant cousin.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Udaia's brother, the head of the family, has also come along.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06You're really family to them.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07Yes.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13You look exactly like them.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16Exactly!
0:34:18 > 0:34:22So Aisha's mother was their auntie?
0:34:22 > 0:34:25- Yeah.- Razia?
0:34:34 > 0:34:36- This is Razia?- Yes.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38- Oh, I've never seen... - You have never seen?
0:34:38 > 0:34:39I have never seen.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44- My father. - This is your father?- With sister.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46Oh, they are brother and sister. Wow, OK.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52What was she like as a person? Do you remember much?
0:34:56 > 0:34:58- TRANSLATOR:- She was a good lady.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04She was very beautiful.
0:35:04 > 0:35:05Just like Aisha.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07OK, yeah.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10The family's story Adil's heard from his mum
0:35:10 > 0:35:12is that his great-grandmother, Razia,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15married a Muslim man from Turkey.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18So Razia got married to...
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Moidin?
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Moidin was her husband?
0:35:22 > 0:35:23How did that happen?
0:35:23 > 0:35:25HE TRANSLATES
0:35:59 > 0:36:02- OK, because they had been businessmen together?- Yeah, right.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Business partners.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05Moidin was from Turkey?
0:36:08 > 0:36:10The father of this one...
0:36:12 > 0:36:13..is from Turkey.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:36:20 > 0:36:25He was Indian but also adds that it was very difficult to tell between
0:36:25 > 0:36:27an Indian and a Turkish at that time.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31- Right, OK.- This one says Turkish and this one says an Indian.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Oh, OK. Turkey, OK.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Yes, it was Turkey or...
0:36:35 > 0:36:40And then, um, unfortunately, Moidin died.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43So then, what happened then?
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Because I heard that...
0:36:45 > 0:36:50that maybe after he died, that Razia gave the children,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Hamida and Aisha, orphaned them to the mosque, is that right?
0:37:36 > 0:37:41It must have been very difficult for Razia to have her children...
0:37:41 > 0:37:43to lose her children in that way.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45HE TRANSLATES
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Oh, that's terrible.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29And I know that Aisha, my grandmother, when she's growing up,
0:38:29 > 0:38:35she's suffered a lot, because of her African heritage, from other people.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37And I feel ashamed for that.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41HE TRANSLATES
0:38:48 > 0:38:53In England, I tell my family that we should be proud of our background,
0:38:53 > 0:38:58proud that we are African, proud that we have African blood in us.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00It makes me very proud.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03And in this world today, it's very important, very important.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:39:13 > 0:39:17You are just like your uncle, he loved African people.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Yeah.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22SPEAKS OWN LANGAUGE
0:39:26 > 0:39:30So, I have also heard, and I don't know whether this is true,
0:39:30 > 0:39:36that Razia was related to the King of Buganda, the Kabaka,
0:39:36 > 0:39:37is that true?
0:39:37 > 0:39:39TRANSLATION:
0:39:52 > 0:39:56- Wow! We are Royal family, we've got kings.- Yes!
0:39:56 > 0:39:58HE TRANSLATES
0:39:58 > 0:40:01TRANSLATION:
0:40:01 > 0:40:03SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:40:07 > 0:40:11If we were living nearby, we would invite the whole family to meet you.
0:40:11 > 0:40:12Right.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14TRANSLATION:
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Adil's discovered that the old family story is true.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49He really is related to Ugandan royalty.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55Adil's great-great-grandfather, Zaidi Kirwana,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59was the son of a chieftain, Kamanyiro Magimbi.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02And Kamanyiro's sister was Muganzirwazza,
0:41:02 > 0:41:07the mother of King Muteesa I.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09I'll show you a picture of my mother.
0:41:09 > 0:41:10HE TRANSLATES
0:41:12 > 0:41:14She's 71 years old this month.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16HE TRANSLATES
0:41:17 > 0:41:23And this is me! Can you explain to them, in a comedy show?
0:41:23 > 0:41:26I play as an actor in a comedy show!
0:41:26 > 0:41:29HE TRANSLATES
0:41:29 > 0:41:33We put the beard on and the hat, as an actor!
0:41:35 > 0:41:38- That is hard to tell that it's you.- I know!
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Adil's great-grandmother, Razia, is buried nearby.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57His cousin, Sarah, is taking him to see the grave.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:42:05 > 0:42:08- My great-grandmother? - Your great-grandmother, yeah.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11So, which one is it?
0:42:11 > 0:42:13- This one.- This one?- Mm, this one.
0:42:16 > 0:42:17THEY PRAY
0:42:19 > 0:42:24I think, learning about my great-grandmother, Razia,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and her story...
0:42:26 > 0:42:28really has affected me,
0:42:28 > 0:42:33in that it wasn't what I thought in the first place.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38The thing that I really...is quite sad, really, that I found out,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42is that this sort of family story that I've been told,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46that Razia gave up the children at a local mosque or something,
0:42:46 > 0:42:51an orphanage, that's not true at all, according to Sarah.
0:42:52 > 0:42:53It's actually that...
0:42:53 > 0:42:57an Asian family, an Indian family at the time,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01took the children away, because, you know,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03they didn't want them to be brought up in that family,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06which is terribly, terribly sad, it really is.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10And I know that Aisha, my grandmother,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12and Razia, her mother,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15did actually meet up, but when they sat and met...
0:43:17 > 0:43:19..they couldn't communicate with each other.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Aisha spoke Punjabi,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23so they sat next to each other
0:43:23 > 0:43:26without being able to speak to each other.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30But apparently gesticulating and touching each other
0:43:30 > 0:43:32and just holding each other's hands.
0:43:39 > 0:43:40Well, thank you so much.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Thank you, thank you.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44Thank you very much.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46Well, that was just extraordinary,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50probably one of the biggest days of my life, meeting these ladies.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I mean, they were just so lovely and adorable
0:43:53 > 0:43:55and really took me in as a member of their family
0:43:55 > 0:43:58almost straightaway and I recognised that love and that feeling.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02I remember getting the same thing from my grandmother, from Aisha.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03It was just uncanny.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10And then the other thing which IS true,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13which I thought was never going to be true,
0:44:13 > 0:44:17was that I'm related to the King of Buganda!
0:44:19 > 0:44:21I can't wait to find out a little bit more
0:44:21 > 0:44:23and find out about this chief,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26and, hopefully, I'll keep my feet on the ground.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Back in Kampala,
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Adil's now on the trail of his great-great-great-grandfather,
0:44:43 > 0:44:48Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi, his link to Ugandan royalty.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Time to find out who this Kamanyiro fellow is.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03Kamanyiro...
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Best of Kamanyiro on YouTube, I'm guessing that's not him.
0:45:08 > 0:45:09Edward Kamanyiro on Twitter?
0:45:09 > 0:45:12No, that's probably not him either.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15Oh! Sir John Grey has written a journal...
0:45:17 > 0:45:19..on Magimbi Kamanyiro!
0:45:21 > 0:45:23Adil has found an article
0:45:23 > 0:45:26in which a European explorer describes meeting Kamanyiro
0:45:26 > 0:45:28in February, 1890.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35Oh, here's a description of him.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38"A dark kaftan embroidered with silver,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41"fell over wide sky-blue trousers."
0:45:41 > 0:45:45Nice! "Also adorned with silver embroidery.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48"On his head, he wore a diadem..."
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Which is a crown - of course you would.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54"..made entirely of strings of beads of different colours."
0:45:54 > 0:45:58"The wearer of this adornment was Kamanyiro."
0:45:58 > 0:46:02Ah... This is great stuff. Wow, this is...
0:46:02 > 0:46:06"In the afternoon, Kamanyiro invariably got drunk...
0:46:07 > 0:46:09"..but as he was always in good humour..."
0:46:09 > 0:46:10There you go.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15"..he contributed in no small degree to the hilarity of the expedition.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18"Kamanyiro's drummers, like all his followers...
0:46:19 > 0:46:20"..were one-eyed."
0:46:20 > 0:46:23"When I asked him how it had happened,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25"that he had engaged none but one-eyed people,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27"he made a gesture with his hand
0:46:27 > 0:46:30"to indicate the action of tearing out a man's eye
0:46:30 > 0:46:34"and with a snap of his fingers towards the ground, cried,
0:46:34 > 0:46:36"'Eh, it looks better.'"
0:46:38 > 0:46:40I don't like the sound of that.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47Adil's travelling to the area in the traditional Kingdom of Buganda
0:46:47 > 0:46:50where his three-times great-grandfather, Kamanyiro,
0:46:50 > 0:46:52was a chief in the late 1800s.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56This was one of the last parts of Africa to be reached by outsiders.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Arab traders had come first via the East African coast in the 1840s,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06followed in the 1870s by Christian missionaries
0:47:06 > 0:47:09seeking converts in the kingdom.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12By the 1880s, British and German explorers arrived,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15competing to expand their rival empires.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23Adil wants to find out more about Kamanyiro
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and his Royal relatives during this time.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27- Hi!- Nice to see you too.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30- How are you?- I'm good! I'm looking forward to talking to you
0:47:30 > 0:47:34- and finding out all about my great-great-great-grandfather. - OK, sir, I'll do that.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37He is meeting historian Sam Wirilinyigo
0:47:37 > 0:47:39in a traditional Bugandan village.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Now, I know there were lots of chiefs at the time,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49but how significant would my great-great-grandfather be?
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Where we are now...
0:47:52 > 0:47:57..was one of the major provinces of the Kingdom of Buganda.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00And the chief...
0:48:00 > 0:48:02was very important
0:48:02 > 0:48:06in that he was at the frontier, guarding the kingdom.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Do you have any photos, any pictures of him?
0:48:09 > 0:48:10Yes, I have.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Wow, so, clearly not photographs, what we call drawings, yeah!
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Drawings, yeah, maybe we start with that one.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19This is Muteesa I...
0:48:19 > 0:48:21- OK.- ..with his leading chiefs.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24- Right.- They're not captioned, of course.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27So I wouldn't tell you that this is definitely Kamanyiro
0:48:27 > 0:48:31but since he was a very important provincial chief,
0:48:31 > 0:48:32he must have been one of these.
0:48:32 > 0:48:39Right. OK, so one of these guys is my great-great-great-grandfather.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Wow. I reckon it's him, he looks quite handsome.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45And then what do we have there?
0:48:45 > 0:48:48Here is the Queen Mother, in state, really.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52It's great, isn't it? A great picture.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55This lady is Muganzirwazza,
0:48:55 > 0:49:01the sister of your great-great-great-grandfather,
0:49:01 > 0:49:02Kamanyiro.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05And she's obviously being entertained there.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09Entertained, she has visitors, two of them European.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Kamanyiro's sister, Muganzirwazza,
0:49:14 > 0:49:16was skilled at bargaining with foreign traders.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Her son, Kamanyiro's nephew, King Muteesa I,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23gained a reputation as a clever negotiator,
0:49:23 > 0:49:27playing one foreign power off against the other.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29But after his death in 1884,
0:49:29 > 0:49:31the kingdom split along religious lines
0:49:31 > 0:49:33allied to the foreign powers
0:49:33 > 0:49:35and descended into civil war.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40For a chief like Adil's three times great-grandfather, Kamanyiro,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42it was a dangerous time.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45So, I know there were Muslim groups and Christian groups,
0:49:45 > 0:49:50but where did Kamanyiro position himself in amongst all of this?
0:49:50 > 0:49:54He never was attracted to any of these religions.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Foreign religions.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Because he had his own.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02We had our traditional religion.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Kamanyiro never became either Muslim or Christian...
0:50:07 > 0:50:14..although, he, from time to time, moved from one group to the other,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18as the political situation demanded.
0:50:18 > 0:50:23And I think he was, your great-great-great-grandfather,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26was a very shrewd politician.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29One of the things I read, which is a little bit disturbing,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32is that he could have been a bit barbaric.
0:50:32 > 0:50:37I read things like, he would gouge out the eyes of his followers.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39Could that be true?
0:50:39 > 0:50:42A lot of stuff has been written about Africans,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44especially in the 19th century.
0:50:44 > 0:50:50And all of it intended to excite Europe...
0:50:51 > 0:50:55..and this is one way of exciting and attracting readership.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00So, I think this is an exaggeration,
0:51:00 > 0:51:05and I think when you rise to such a position as Kamanyiro did,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07you are intelligent enough to know
0:51:07 > 0:51:10that one-eyed fighters wouldn't be the best.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Yeah, to say the least, yes!
0:51:19 > 0:51:24Well, it's a bit of a relief that my great-great-great-grandfather
0:51:24 > 0:51:26wasn't just a drunk and a savage,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30as described by some of those European explorers...
0:51:31 > 0:51:33..although, you know, they were quite violent times
0:51:33 > 0:51:36and he was quite a notorious fighter, being a chief,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39so, I'm sure some of it might well be true.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42But more importantly, I think, by the sounds of it,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46he played quite an honourable role in Ugandan history
0:51:46 > 0:51:49and I'm particularly proud
0:51:49 > 0:51:54that he stuck to his values and, you know,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57didn't sell out and held on to his traditional beliefs.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06By the 1890s, the British-backed Christians
0:52:06 > 0:52:08had taken control of Buganda.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13In 1894, Britain brought Uganda, as it came to be known,
0:52:13 > 0:52:14into the empire.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19Chiefs like Kamanyiro were allowed to keep their titles
0:52:19 > 0:52:21but were stripped of their power.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Adil has learned from his cousin, Sarah,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38that Kamanyiro's tomb survives in a nearby village.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52The tomb, where Kamanyiro is buried beside his brother,
0:52:52 > 0:52:54has become a place of pilgrimage.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59Adil, his cousins and George have joined the tomb's caretaker
0:52:59 > 0:53:01to pay their respects.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07TRANSLATION
0:53:27 > 0:53:32Do many people come here to pay their respects to Kamanyiro?
0:53:32 > 0:53:33HE TRANSLATES
0:53:33 > 0:53:36TRANSLATION
0:53:53 > 0:53:56TRANSLATION
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Because Kamanyiro was a great man
0:54:25 > 0:54:29and he was a very rich man, money should continue flowing.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33And that money is used to help to take care of the people
0:54:33 > 0:54:34who clean the place.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37So, you mentioned the bark cloth
0:54:37 > 0:54:41and I've bought some bark cloth here as well.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Why do we use bark cloth?
0:54:43 > 0:54:46HE TRANSLATES
0:54:50 > 0:54:53TRANSLATION
0:55:17 > 0:55:21So, can I cover the brothers with the cloth?
0:55:21 > 0:55:23HE TRANSLATES
0:55:27 > 0:55:29- Yeah, they will help you too.- OK.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41She's going to show you.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44I think by far the biggest discovery I've made on this trip,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47and the most surprising discovery I've made on this trip
0:55:47 > 0:55:51is that, yes, I am related to the Kabaka...
0:55:53 > 0:55:59Your grandson, great-grandson, has come all the way from...
0:55:59 > 0:56:01..via a Chief.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12I mean, it doesn't make...
0:56:12 > 0:56:14it just doesn't connect, in many ways.
0:56:14 > 0:56:20How can I be related to somebody called Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi?
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I mean, it's just ridiculous!
0:56:23 > 0:56:25But I am! And it's fantastic.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Coming to Uganda, for me, has been a fantastic experience and...
0:56:41 > 0:56:44..it's now, for me, not coming to an African country and going,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47"Oh, look, there are Africans."
0:56:47 > 0:56:51It's coming to a country and going, "Oh, this is part of my home.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53"This is part of my heritage,"
0:56:53 > 0:56:59You know, it's still only now beginning to sink in
0:56:59 > 0:57:02that I am African,
0:57:02 > 0:57:04that I have African ancestry
0:57:04 > 0:57:08and that just feels, it feels great
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and it just feels that Kenya and Uganda and Pakistan
0:57:11 > 0:57:14and England are all of my homes.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I feel very lucky to have discovered that,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and it just reminds us that you really don't know who you are
0:57:21 > 0:57:24until you know what you were,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and I've just found that out, and it's just fantastic.