Adil Ray Who Do You Think You Are?


Adil Ray

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With my identity, I feel very fortunate, actually.

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I always have done because I've always felt that, you know,

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I've got something that's slightly different to others

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and also something quite interesting.

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Actor, presenter and writer Adil Ray is best known for his comedy series

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Citizen Khan.

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How about a Muslim fun day!

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-A Muslim what?

-A fun day!

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You know, one of those churchy fete-y things

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that you white people do.

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But with some Muslim thingamajigs thrown in instead.

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For example?

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Alcohol-free bottle tombola!

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Halal candyfloss!

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Guess who's under the burqa!

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My mother's side in particular really interests me

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because here's my mother, born in Kenya, East Africa,

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comes to this country in the '60s, marries my dad who's Pakistani.

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He's a labourer from Pakistan

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so that was slightly unheard-of in itself.

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And I really love my parents for doing that.

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But then if you look further back at my mum's background,

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her mother was an African orphan

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who marries my grandfather

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who was from India.

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I mean, his story in itself is amazing.

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I knew my grandmother, my grandmother, you know,

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was very much the matriarch of our family.

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So I'm really intrigued to know

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who was she, what was her background, being African?

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We're all from many, many different backgrounds,

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we've all got different stories,

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and I can't wait to find out more about mine.

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Adil's on his way to see his mum, Nargis,

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who lives near him in Birmingham.

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The key thing about my mum, really, she's been so supportive of me,

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in my personal life, but more importantly, in my career.

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She used to say to me when I was growing up and I said I wanted

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to be a radio presenter, she'd say "Well, OK, you can do that.

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"Just one condition - get a degree first."

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So I said, "All right."

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And on the day of the graduation, I gave her the scroll, I went,

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"Mum, here you go, here's your degree."

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And she said, "That's fine, good luck with your radio career."

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You know what, I can safely say, she's the best mum in the world.

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-As-Salaam alaikum.

-Wa alaikum salaam.

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-How are you?

-All right.

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-And how are you?

-I'm OK, thank you.

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You're looking very nice.

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-Yeah, thank you.

-Expecting visitors, are we?

-Yes.

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Still going to the gym four times a week?

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-You must be joking!

-Oh, three times now, right?

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What about the London Marathon this year...?

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Nargis has been digging out some photographs

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from her childhood in Kenya.

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So this is exciting. So this is... What's this, this is the house...?

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This is the house in Kisumu, Kenya...

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-OK.

-..where I was brought up.

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-Big house, isn't it?

-It is a big house.

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It's about eight-bedroomed house,

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and the whole family lived in there.

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And not everyone could afford a house like that.

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-Right.

-Yeah. That's true.

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We had a beautiful garden and everything and people used to come

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to take photos of it.

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My father was Meraj Din and then they opened a business

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called Dean Brothers.

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So he builds his business, and was that sort of the foundation of...?

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The foundation of Meraj Din and his family,

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and he built a house for the family.

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-What else do we have?

-This is the inside of the house.

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-The living room.

-Yes, sitting room, we used to call it.

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So, you guys had a pretty... pretty good lifestyle in Kisumu.

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I know you've told me things in the past,

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but it's only when you see this and you realise, you see this car.

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Oh, my God, you know, that's a classic. It's a beautiful car.

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Suddenly Kenya got what they call Uhuru - independence.

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And then obviously the Africans started thinking

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"Oh, now it's my country and I'll have all this."

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Which you can understand to a certain extent, you know.

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But...

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And it was frightening as well.

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Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963.

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The Asians living in the new country,

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many born there when it was still part of the Empire,

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were made to choose between remaining British

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or becoming Kenyan citizens.

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Thousands of Asians left Kenya for Britain,

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including Nargis and her family, who settled in Birmingham.

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What do we have here?

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-This is your grandfather.

-Of course.

-My father.

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-Meraj Din.

-Your father. Very handsome.

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Yeah. He actually came to Kenya,

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he was a worker on the railways.

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He didn't actually build the railways, he was like a clerk.

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Did he come to Kenya on his own then, initially?

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Initially, from what I understand,

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he came on his own and then he sent for his wife.

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That's, I think, when he first came into Kenya.

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See, I've not seen this one. I've only known him from this.

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God, look at the transformation, that's the same...

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-That is the same man?

-Yeah.

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-That is that man there?

-Yeah.

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Adil's grandfather, Meraj Din,

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was in his teens when he arrived in Kenya in 1912

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from what was then British India, and is now Pakistan.

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He started with the community there

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and he became like a leader of the community or the chairperson.

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A community leader? How about that!

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So he was a community leader, in a suit,

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with some nice headgear and glasses.

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He actually built the mosque.

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Well, he didn't build it with his own hands, but...

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Yeah, but got the land and...

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-The land.

-And organised it all.

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-Raised the money.

-Raised the money, that's right.

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Wow, interesting.

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What a fascinating guy. OK.

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Oh, I recognise her. This is...

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-It's Aisha.

-Aisha, yes.

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So this is... So your mother, taken in Kisumu?

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-Yes.

-She was your father's second wife and she was an orphan.

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By this time, you know, he's that guy.

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Look at him, you know, smart businessman.

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And he, you know... Unfortunate circumstances, his first wife dies.

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But he chooses his second wife,

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this orphan girl, from Uganda.

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My father married her at the age of 13, 14, I think.

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But I think the reason was

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that he had seven children from his previous marriage

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and he probably thought

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that she'd be the best to look after them.

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I remember she would, you know, she'd shout at us,

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she'd tell us to don't do this or she'd talk to us, in Punjabi.

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But you certainly looked up to her.

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Adil's grandmother Aisha spoke Punjabi because, as a young girl,

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she was raised in an Indian family.

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Did you not say that her father... He wasn't... What was he?

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-He was...

-Indian, Turkish, or something?

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No, from what we understand,

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that my mum's father was a Turkish missionary.

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-Yes.

-And he came and he married an African...

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-An African Ugandan.

-..Ugandan girl.

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So, Aisha.

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What treatment did she get from other, you know,

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Asian families or Asian people,

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being married to this quite prominent family, the Dins?

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-Was she accepted?

-I think they had to accept,

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some of them obviously they didn't like it.

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He was very much conscious of that.

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Because she looked African as well,

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that the people will talk about her,

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so that's why she wanted to give the impression

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that she's adopted their way of life, she's an Asian now.

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-She's making that effort.

-She's making...

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Yeah, she was making that effort a lot.

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Here we are in Birmingham.

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One of the biggest, diverse cities in the world.

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Yet, if today a Muslim son wants to go to his parents

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or decides to go and marry an African woman,

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there would be people that would frown on that and say,

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"What is he thinking about?" And that's today.

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100 years ago, almost 100 years ago,

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my grandfather did exactly that.

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Your grandfather, maybe it was in his mind

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that he has to set an example,

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-that you have to...

-And he did that.

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-Yeah.

-Yeah. Amazing.

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Adil's grandparents, Aisha and Meraj,

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went on to have seven children of their own, including Nargis.

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Nargis was told that Aisha's mother was called Razia.

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That she was from Uganda,

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and that she married a Muslim man from Turkey called Moidin.

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When Moidin died, Razia was left alone with her young children.

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Then she couldn't afford to keep the kids.

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So she took them to the mosque

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and were saying that these are Muslim children,

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so the local mosque then looks for the couples

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-who have not got children...

-Right.

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..and asks them to take.

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So each one of them... Like my mum went to a journalist couple.

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And this is in Uganda?

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-In Uganda.

-OK. So what else do you know about Razia?

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My grandmother, she came from...

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from what I understand, the Kabaka family.

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-She was distantly related.

-Now, the Kabaka family...?

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-Kabaka is the ruler of Uganda.

-Right.

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Interested to find out if that's true.

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I don't know what that means.

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Whether we get a stake of Uganda.

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It would be a lovely story if that's true.

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The photos that really struck me were the photos of my grandfather.

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He meets my grandmother

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in a mosque in Uganda, or something.

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How does that even happen?

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How does a guy like him end up marrying an orphan girl

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who's got African blood in her?

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And it turns out, not just any African blood,

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from what Mum tells me, she may well be connected to Kabaka,

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one of the rulers of Uganda!

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I just find it really fascinating

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and I just cannot wait to get out there and find out more.

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To discover the truth behind the stories that have been passed down

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in his family, Adil is flying to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

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I feel very lucky to be going on this journey.

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Identity to me, and my background, my heritage and ancestry,

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it's a real big part of me.

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It really intrigues me because you know, here I am, I'm a Brummie,

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I'm British, I'm Muslim, I'm Pakistani.

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And I'm also East African.

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I feel so proud of that.

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But I know very little about that background.

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In 1896, shortly after Kenya became part of the British Empire,

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work began on a massive railway

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to carry people and goods across the colony.

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It stretched nearly 600 miles across deserts, rivers and ravines,

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from Mombasa in the East via Nairobi, to Kisumu in the West.

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32,000 men were brought over from British India to build it.

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In 1912, Adil's grandfather Meraj arrived to work for the railway

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as a junior clerk.

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What I've got from the family is his passport.

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Now, in here, it confirms his date of birth, 1st of March, 1896.

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He came when he was 16.

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The reason why my grandfather Meraj left India

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was because his father died,

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and he then automatically becomes head of the family.

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Now, they were great landowners, they were actually pretty well off.

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But he didn't inherit any of the land,

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that was members of his father's side the family.

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So his family, him, his mum and his brother, become pretty poor.

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So he decides, like many Indians at the time,

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to come out to Africa to make a better life for himself.

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The thing that really strikes me about my grandfather Meraj is that,

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when he arrived here, he was only 16 years old.

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To leave Lahore to come to Africa, not knowing what to expect,

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to be in a totally different continent at that time,

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is just amazing.

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So I really want to find out more about my grandfather Meraj.

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You know, where he lived, what his house was like.

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I know he was a businessman.

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What was the business like? So I'm off to Kisumu.

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Adil's on his way to meet historian Gordon Omenya Onyango.

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-Gordon. Jambo.

-Jambo sana. How are you?

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-I'm very well, how are you?

-I'm also fine.

-Good.

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-Nice meeting you.

-And you too.

-Thank you.

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Have you got any records at all about my grandfather?

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You can have a look at these records.

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-This is exciting!

-Yes.

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-What's this, then?

-These records.

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The Official Gazette Of The Colony And Protectorate Of Kenya.

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-So this is an electoral register, is it?

-Mm-hmm.

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OK. So is my grandfather on here?

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Here he is!

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Number 98, Mehraj Din, tinsmith, there you go, Box 98, Kisumu,

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that's his postal address.

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Mehraj Din, Aisha Bibi...

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That's his wife, my grandmother.

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Who's this, Mehraj Din...?

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That is his mum.

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-Oh, yeah.

-Because when his first wife died,

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his mother was still around.

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I think, at some point, she did go back to Pakistan in the end.

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But, initially, she lived with my grandmother and grandad.

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That's amazing, seeing that.

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That is great.

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So what was life like, specifically, for Meraj Din, back then,

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as an Indian man, coming into Africa and Kisumu,

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what would it have been like?

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He engaged in trade because most of the early Indians were trading,

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selling things, commodities, to Africans.

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And this is exactly where the Indian buyers were,

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where most Indians were trading.

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With the railway completed,

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thousands of Indians, like Adil's grandfather,

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chose to stay on and bring their families to join them.

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They were keen to take advantage of the new opportunities

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the railway opened up for trade inland.

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So many settled in Kisumu,

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it became known as the Bombay of East Africa.

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Meraj became a successful tinsmith,

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specialising in making and selling water tanks

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which were in high demand.

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Kisumu had a problem with water at that time, also.

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So they used these tins to store water.

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So he started as a tinsmith,

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but the big thing he was selling was water tanks.

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-Exactly.

-That's a great picture.

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Do you know when that might have been?

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Almost the same period, we're talking about 19...

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From 1915, 1920, thereabout.

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Some of the things that he made,

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because he was a tinsmith, you know,

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some of those tin lamps are actually still in use up to date.

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-Oh, really?

-And I can confirm to you that even me, in my village,

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my mum still uses that tin lamp

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-in her kitchen.

-Well, it's funny you should say that, Gordon.

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One of the reasons we're here now is that I can confirm

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I've still got the bill that your mum didn't pay for these!

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So, any time you're ready, just a couple of shillings would be nice!

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-I'm ready to pay the bill!

-THEY LAUGH

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So they introduced products

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-that perhaps Africans hadn't even seen before.

-Yeah, exactly.

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What kind of things would they have been?

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Mostly bicycles,

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blankets, sometimes they could also bring iron sheets

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because that's the time when Africans are also starting

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to move from building grass-thatched houses

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to iron-roofed houses, yeah.

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So those are the kind of items that they were engaging in.

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So, there were coming with real uses and real purpose

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and real advantages for not just themselves

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but for the wider community?

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Exactly, exactly.

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And, if you can see this picture.

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This is one of the Indian bazaars where they are exchanging goods,

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take a look at that.

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When you look at Kisumu today, I mean, it's packed.

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I mean, there's no room. But just there you get an idea that,

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you know, it was busy, but still it wasn't as populated as it is today.

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Yeah. We can also have a look at these.

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What's this? This is another market, OK.

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Yeah, you can see some Indians over here.

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God, what year is this? What year would that be, do you think?

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Approximately, around 1910, 1912, thereabouts.

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The one thing that strikes me,

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and it's ridiculous not thinking this before, but seeing it now,

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and seeing how the Africans are dressed, you know,

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with not very much on,

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because that's what Africans dressed like back then,

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the Indians dressing how we imagine Indians to dress, at least,

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how I imagine Indians dressed back then... Automatically, I'm going,

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"Imagine that as a culture shock!"

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Exactly. And that's why,

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when the Indians started to bring exotic commodities or exotic goods,

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that's when Africans started now to embrace wearing clothes.

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Oh, OK, right.

0:18:500:18:52

So I have a picture of my grandmother, Aisha.

0:18:520:18:54

This was taken quite early on.

0:18:540:18:57

-It's Aisha?

-Aisha, yeah.

0:18:570:18:59

Now, you can probably just about tell there,

0:18:590:19:03

she was Ugandan. Was that unusual for my grandfather, Meraj Din,

0:19:030:19:09

not only to marry a 13-year-old, but somebody who was Ugandan?

0:19:090:19:13

It was unusual

0:19:130:19:15

because of the fact that, if you look at

0:19:150:19:18

the Indian culture, you know,

0:19:180:19:20

they have the caste system where you have to marry within your caste.

0:19:200:19:26

It also went alongside marrying a woman from your own racial group.

0:19:260:19:32

But, on the other side,

0:19:320:19:34

Meraj probably did not have a chance to get an Indian woman.

0:19:340:19:40

I mean, Asian women were also not many.

0:19:400:19:43

So the choices were limited.

0:19:430:19:46

So, out of necessity, he had to marry Aisha.

0:19:460:19:51

At this time, it wasn't uncommon for girls to marry at a young age.

0:19:530:19:56

But Meraj and Aisha's marriage was unusual because it didn't fit

0:19:580:20:01

the racial hierarchy that the British had created in Kenya,

0:20:010:20:05

with Europeans at the top, Indians next, and Africans at the bottom.

0:20:050:20:09

Aisha's mixed heritage would not have gone unnoticed.

0:20:120:20:15

I do know, having spoken to my mother and my aunt,

0:20:170:20:20

and she talked about it much later in her life, that,

0:20:200:20:23

in the early days particularly,

0:20:230:20:26

she did suffer a lot of prejudice from the Indian community,

0:20:260:20:30

and some people quite close to the family, as well.

0:20:300:20:34

I know she had a huge complex about her African hair, her complexion.

0:20:340:20:39

She didn't want photos taken of her.

0:20:390:20:41

She tried to hide her hair, tried to straighten her hair.

0:20:410:20:44

Any of her children that had African hair, she would try and straighten.

0:20:440:20:48

It just makes me really sad.

0:20:500:20:52

Yes, it was...

0:20:520:20:54

It was something that was...

0:20:540:20:56

..expected, of course, by Aisha because, you know,

0:20:570:21:01

around that period, the racial hierarchy was so strong,

0:21:010:21:05

so he had to go through that kind of prejudice.

0:21:050:21:09

Just suffer this prejudice and do it so...

0:21:090:21:12

..elegantly and with real dignity.

0:21:130:21:16

She had incredible dignity, she was an incredibly smart woman as well.

0:21:160:21:19

Always turned out.

0:21:190:21:21

You know, for me, as I was growing up, she was...

0:21:210:21:24

I didn't even realise she was African until, you know...

0:21:240:21:29

She spoke Punjabi, dressed elegantly like any other Punjabi woman.

0:21:290:21:32

But then you realise now, what she had to endure and put up with

0:21:320:21:37

in those early days is quite something.

0:21:370:21:40

Here's a picture of my...

0:21:430:21:45

grandfather, by the way.

0:21:450:21:47

What I really love more than anything -

0:21:470:21:49

you were talking about integration,

0:21:490:21:51

and how they had to...

0:21:510:21:53

This was when he first arrived, pretty much, not when he was 16,

0:21:530:21:58

but some years later that was taken.

0:21:580:22:00

-OK.

-And then, this is a picture taken...

0:22:000:22:03

..not long before he died, passed away.

0:22:050:22:09

But you see the transition between the two.

0:22:090:22:12

-It's quite something, isn't it?

-Yeah, I can see the change.

0:22:120:22:15

-Here, he looks more modern.

-Yeah.

0:22:160:22:19

He has kind of embraced modernity.

0:22:190:22:23

-Yeah.

-Here, he's a bit of an Indian national.

0:22:230:22:28

So, it's some kind of transition,

0:22:280:22:31

some kind of transition.

0:22:310:22:32

Adil wants to see what remains

0:22:390:22:41

from his great-grandparents' time in Kisumu.

0:22:410:22:44

Sam.

0:22:460:22:47

-Adil.

-How are you?

-Very good, how are you doing?

0:22:480:22:50

I'm OK. Are you going to give me a tour of Kisumu?

0:22:500:22:52

-Let's have a look.

-Perfect.

0:22:520:22:53

Local guide Sam has offered to show Adil around.

0:22:530:22:56

Sam's family also came from India

0:22:570:22:59

when it was part of the British Empire,

0:22:590:23:01

and stayed in Kisumu where many Asian-owned businesses still thrive.

0:23:010:23:05

Kisumu itself is a very commercial and industrial town.

0:23:080:23:13

The street we are on now, the shops on your left and right,

0:23:130:23:16

obviously, there's Africans and locals working in them,

0:23:160:23:19

but they're Asian-owned businesses.

0:23:190:23:22

So will there be some Asian families that, you know...

0:23:220:23:25

go back as far as Meraj Din,

0:23:250:23:28

and that generation that might even still be here?

0:23:280:23:30

I'm sure there is. The next couple of generations.

0:23:300:23:33

Sam has managed to track down where Meraj first set up in business.

0:23:440:23:48

Believe it or not, this is...

0:23:500:23:51

..your father's shop.

0:23:520:23:54

Really? What, this is where he was a tinsmith?

0:23:540:23:57

This is where he operated from.

0:23:570:24:00

And would this be the original structure, the original roof?

0:24:000:24:03

The original building, the original structure,

0:24:030:24:06

-obviously a paint job and a few things changed there.

-Yeah.

0:24:060:24:09

What is it now, it seems to be like a cafe?

0:24:090:24:11

It's a cafe and a guest house.

0:24:110:24:13

-Tyre centre.

-Tyre centre there.

-Right.

0:24:130:24:16

So, what I know is that he was a tinsmith.

0:24:170:24:20

So he was selling lots of tin cookware and saucepans

0:24:200:24:25

and pots and pans and all that kind of thing.

0:24:250:24:27

-And water tanks.

-Yeah, water tanks was the main thing.

0:24:270:24:30

And, apparently, he used to make them here.

0:24:300:24:32

At the back, there must be like a courtyard area

0:24:320:24:35

-where all the work was done and displayed out here.

-Right.

0:24:350:24:39

So I'm guessing, this was the original courtyard,

0:24:530:24:57

but it's kind of been redeveloped since.

0:24:570:24:59

Yeah, it's been built up, the lodging, the rooms.

0:24:590:25:02

Up till about here would have been

0:25:020:25:04

the back yard where everything's been...

0:25:040:25:06

Where he's making his water tanks.

0:25:060:25:08

You know, it's interesting for me. This is kind of...

0:25:080:25:11

where his entrepreneurship began, you know,

0:25:110:25:14

and where he moved on to, and his sons moved on to, and then my mum,

0:25:140:25:19

you know, and then down to me.

0:25:190:25:20

-It all started from here.

-Yeah, exactly.

0:25:200:25:23

It started from this courtyard.

0:25:230:25:25

It's great.

0:25:250:25:26

As more entrepreneurs like Meraj arrived, through the 1920s and '30s,

0:25:300:25:34

Asian-owned businesses came to account for about 90% of trade

0:25:340:25:38

within the colony.

0:25:380:25:40

Meraj's tinsmith trade was booming and he brought his sons

0:25:420:25:45

into the business. He grew wealthy enough to contribute

0:25:450:25:49

to building the local mosque - it's still in use today.

0:25:490:25:52

-It's quite lovely, isn't it?

-Beautiful structure.

-Yeah.

0:25:570:26:00

It's kind of a peaceful oasis in the mayhem of Kisumu town.

0:26:000:26:05

-The hubbub of Kisumu's hecticness.

-Yeah.

0:26:050:26:08

Nice.

0:26:090:26:10

Adil's keen to meet some elders who went to the mosque

0:26:100:26:13

in his grandfather's day.

0:26:130:26:15

-As-salaam alaikum.

-Wa alaikum salaam.

0:26:160:26:18

My name's Adil, I'm the grandson of Meraj Din.

0:26:180:26:22

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:26:220:26:24

They knew Meraj Din because he was one of the elders at the mosque,

0:26:270:26:32

and he helped build it.

0:26:320:26:34

But they do know him, and they even met him.

0:26:340:26:38

They are very happy and proud that now they have met you,

0:27:170:27:22

an ancestor of Meraj Din.

0:27:220:27:26

Thank you so much. That's so good to hear.

0:27:260:27:29

Thank you so much, thank you.

0:27:290:27:30

I can't be anything but proud of Meraj.

0:27:340:27:37

He didn't just go back to India and say,

0:27:370:27:40

"I'm not doing that, I can't hack it."

0:27:400:27:42

He decided, "Yes, I'm going to make a go of it

0:27:420:27:45

"and really try and work within that society."

0:27:450:27:48

And that's exactly what he's done.

0:27:480:27:50

Well, how amazing was that?

0:27:540:27:56

-It was amazing.

-Wasn't it, just?

0:27:560:27:57

They knew Meraj.

0:27:570:27:59

I mean, the thing is, they prayed when he passed away,

0:27:590:28:03

they were at the prayers.

0:28:030:28:05

The prayers must have been...

0:28:050:28:06

There was the funeral, and prayers held at the house.

0:28:060:28:08

One thing I thought was really interesting, he talked about...

0:28:080:28:12

He mentioned that Meraj helped all the communities.

0:28:120:28:15

By that, does he mean not just Muslims, so, Hindus, Sikhs?

0:28:150:28:19

By that, he means all the communities,

0:28:190:28:21

not just the Muslim community.

0:28:210:28:23

Yeah.

0:28:230:28:24

It's just great to hear that Meraj was one of those men

0:28:240:28:29

that just helped everybody.

0:28:290:28:31

And I like to think my family back in Birmingham,

0:28:310:28:35

you know, we're East African Asians, half East African, half Pakistani,

0:28:350:28:38

but we have that sort of unity amongst us, I think.

0:28:380:28:41

I suppose it comes from this thing of sticking together, when,

0:28:410:28:44

essentially, the Asians were a minority in Africa.

0:28:440:28:48

Sam's taking Adil to what was once the Indian quarter of Kisumu,

0:28:480:28:53

to see the house that the Din family built in the 1950s...

0:28:530:28:56

..and where Adil's mother spent her childhood.

0:28:570:29:00

It's a big house.

0:29:000:29:02

-It is a big house.

-Yeah.

0:29:020:29:03

-It's very Art Deco, isn't it?

-It is.

0:29:050:29:07

Those original glass bricks.

0:29:070:29:09

So what is it now?

0:29:100:29:12

It's now the head office for a construction company.

0:29:120:29:15

It's great that it's still standing but it's a shame it's not been...

0:29:150:29:18

-Looked after.

-..completely preserved.

0:29:180:29:20

Here, I've got this picture, look at that from...

0:29:200:29:23

The original. It's actually not changed an awful lot.

0:29:230:29:27

It's pretty much the same.

0:29:270:29:29

Extraordinary.

0:29:290:29:31

Wow, look at this parquet floor!

0:29:390:29:41

-Beautiful.

-It's stunning and that is what you call a staircase.

0:29:410:29:45

-A grand staircase.

-Yeah.

0:29:450:29:47

It's absolutely stunning.

0:29:470:29:49

Wow! It's great, isn't it?

0:29:580:30:01

That floor is just...

0:30:010:30:03

So they move into this house in 1954.

0:30:030:30:06

Obviously my grandfather laid the foundations, but I think

0:30:060:30:09

part of the reason they were able to move into this house

0:30:090:30:11

was because of the wealth of his sons.

0:30:110:30:13

They had moved the business on,

0:30:130:30:14

I think they had a company called the Dean Brothers.

0:30:140:30:17

In fact, my mum tells me the story of my Uncle Zuffur,

0:30:170:30:21

who would have business meetings here.

0:30:210:30:23

You know, a big dining table, I don't know if it was in this room

0:30:230:30:26

but, you know, a big dining table,

0:30:260:30:28

and my grandmother Aisha would lay out all the table,

0:30:280:30:31

get out the best crockery and cutlery

0:30:310:30:33

and my mum and all of her sisters,

0:30:330:30:35

they had to stay upstairs and stay very quiet.

0:30:350:30:37

-Out of the way.

-Out of the way,

0:30:370:30:39

they weren't allowed to even talk or whisper at all.

0:30:390:30:42

And they'd sit on the staircase,

0:30:420:30:44

listening in to these business meetings.

0:30:440:30:47

Just stood here now sort of takes you, really try...

0:30:470:30:50

You can kind of imagine that. Imagine that.

0:30:500:30:52

Actually, I've got a picture,

0:30:520:30:54

I think there's a picture of how it looked here.

0:30:540:30:56

Here we go. So, actually,

0:30:580:31:00

-that's probably pretty much where we're standing.

-About here, yeah.

0:31:000:31:04

Exactly.

0:31:040:31:05

Great.

0:31:050:31:06

Just brilliant, I love it.

0:31:060:31:08

-God, that is gorgeous, isn't it?

-It is.

0:31:090:31:11

Just one big glass wall, pretty much, it allows for natural light.

0:31:110:31:16

When I think about my grandfather Meraj...

0:31:210:31:23

..he also gave Aisha something she'd never experienced before.

0:31:240:31:28

You know, in the end, they lived in a lovely house,

0:31:280:31:31

of which Aisha becomes the matriarch of 14 children,

0:31:310:31:35

seven of which aren't hers.

0:31:350:31:37

And what a beautiful house it was.

0:31:380:31:40

It's really inspiring hearing about my grandfather Meraj and the life

0:31:570:32:02

that he had in Kisumu.

0:32:020:32:04

In particular, how he met Aisha, this African woman from Uganda.

0:32:040:32:10

And then, when I think about the prejudice

0:32:100:32:15

that Aisha would have faced,

0:32:150:32:17

being an African woman in amongst that Indian community,

0:32:170:32:20

and I know that she had...

0:32:200:32:22

a number of things said to her

0:32:220:32:23

and the way she was made to feel at times,

0:32:230:32:25

but she held her own and she was so dignified in her life that...

0:32:250:32:30

..I just feel absolutely compelled to find out more about her, really.

0:32:310:32:34

And I just can't wait to get to Uganda and just find out exactly

0:32:340:32:37

who she was and who was her family and where did she come from?

0:32:370:32:41

Adil is leaving Kisumu and heading for Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

0:32:410:32:46

It's an area of the country called Buganda,

0:32:470:32:49

which was under British control

0:32:490:32:51

at the time Adil's grandmother, Aisha, was born.

0:32:510:32:54

Adil knows that Aisha's mother, his great-grandmother,

0:32:560:33:00

was an African woman called Razia,

0:33:000:33:02

and that she married a man called Moidin.

0:33:020:33:04

He's been given details by a family member of relatives of Razia's

0:33:090:33:13

in Uganda. They live in a village three hours' drive from the capital.

0:33:130:33:17

Adil's being helped by local translator George Mpanga.

0:33:230:33:27

Hey!

0:33:300:33:32

Hi!

0:33:320:33:33

This is Udaia.

0:33:450:33:48

Nice to meet you, Udaia.

0:33:480:33:50

Udaia and Sarah are nieces of Adil's great-grandmother, Razia,

0:33:500:33:54

making Adil their distant cousin.

0:33:540:33:57

Udaia's brother, the head of the family, has also come along.

0:33:570:34:00

You're really family to them.

0:34:040:34:06

Yes.

0:34:060:34:07

You look exactly like them.

0:34:100:34:13

Exactly!

0:34:150:34:16

So Aisha's mother was their auntie?

0:34:180:34:22

-Yeah.

-Razia?

0:34:220:34:25

-This is Razia?

-Yes.

0:34:340:34:36

-Oh, I've never seen...

-You have never seen?

0:34:360:34:38

I have never seen.

0:34:380:34:39

-My father.

-This is your father?

-With sister.

0:34:420:34:44

Oh, they are brother and sister. Wow, OK.

0:34:440:34:46

What was she like as a person? Do you remember much?

0:34:490:34:52

-TRANSLATOR:

-She was a good lady.

0:34:560:34:58

She was very beautiful.

0:35:010:35:04

Just like Aisha.

0:35:040:35:05

OK, yeah.

0:35:050:35:07

The family's story Adil's heard from his mum

0:35:070:35:10

is that his great-grandmother, Razia,

0:35:100:35:12

married a Muslim man from Turkey.

0:35:120:35:15

So Razia got married to...

0:35:150:35:18

Moidin?

0:35:180:35:20

Moidin was her husband?

0:35:200:35:22

How did that happen?

0:35:220:35:23

HE TRANSLATES

0:35:230:35:25

-OK, because they had been businessmen together?

-Yeah, right.

0:35:590:36:02

Business partners.

0:36:020:36:04

Moidin was from Turkey?

0:36:040:36:05

The father of this one...

0:36:080:36:10

..is from Turkey.

0:36:120:36:13

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:36:130:36:15

He was Indian but also adds that it was very difficult to tell between

0:36:200:36:25

an Indian and a Turkish at that time.

0:36:250:36:27

-Right, OK.

-This one says Turkish and this one says an Indian.

0:36:270:36:31

Oh, OK. Turkey, OK.

0:36:310:36:33

Yes, it was Turkey or...

0:36:330:36:35

And then, um, unfortunately, Moidin died.

0:36:350:36:40

So then, what happened then?

0:36:400:36:43

Because I heard that...

0:36:430:36:45

that maybe after he died, that Razia gave the children,

0:36:450:36:50

Hamida and Aisha, orphaned them to the mosque, is that right?

0:36:500:36:53

It must have been very difficult for Razia to have her children...

0:37:360:37:41

to lose her children in that way.

0:37:410:37:43

HE TRANSLATES

0:37:430:37:45

Oh, that's terrible.

0:38:230:38:25

And I know that Aisha, my grandmother, when she's growing up,

0:38:250:38:29

she's suffered a lot, because of her African heritage, from other people.

0:38:290:38:35

And I feel ashamed for that.

0:38:350:38:37

HE TRANSLATES

0:38:380:38:41

In England, I tell my family that we should be proud of our background,

0:38:480:38:53

proud that we are African, proud that we have African blood in us.

0:38:530:38:58

It makes me very proud.

0:38:580:39:00

And in this world today, it's very important, very important.

0:39:000:39:03

SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:39:030:39:07

You are just like your uncle, he loved African people.

0:39:130:39:17

Yeah.

0:39:170:39:19

SPEAKS OWN LANGAUGE

0:39:190:39:22

So, I have also heard, and I don't know whether this is true,

0:39:260:39:30

that Razia was related to the King of Buganda, the Kabaka,

0:39:300:39:36

is that true?

0:39:360:39:37

TRANSLATION:

0:39:370:39:39

-Wow! We are Royal family, we've got kings.

-Yes!

0:39:520:39:56

HE TRANSLATES

0:39:560:39:58

TRANSLATION:

0:39:580:40:01

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:40:010:40:03

If we were living nearby, we would invite the whole family to meet you.

0:40:070:40:11

Right.

0:40:110:40:12

TRANSLATION:

0:40:120:40:14

Adil's discovered that the old family story is true.

0:40:420:40:46

He really is related to Ugandan royalty.

0:40:460:40:49

Adil's great-great-grandfather, Zaidi Kirwana,

0:40:520:40:55

was the son of a chieftain, Kamanyiro Magimbi.

0:40:550:40:59

And Kamanyiro's sister was Muganzirwazza,

0:40:590:41:02

the mother of King Muteesa I.

0:41:020:41:07

I'll show you a picture of my mother.

0:41:070:41:09

HE TRANSLATES

0:41:090:41:10

She's 71 years old this month.

0:41:120:41:14

HE TRANSLATES

0:41:140:41:16

And this is me! Can you explain to them, in a comedy show?

0:41:170:41:23

I play as an actor in a comedy show!

0:41:230:41:26

HE TRANSLATES

0:41:260:41:29

We put the beard on and the hat, as an actor!

0:41:290:41:33

-That is hard to tell that it's you.

-I know!

0:41:350:41:38

Adil's great-grandmother, Razia, is buried nearby.

0:41:500:41:53

His cousin, Sarah, is taking him to see the grave.

0:41:550:41:57

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:42:000:42:03

-My great-grandmother?

-Your great-grandmother, yeah.

0:42:050:42:08

So, which one is it?

0:42:080:42:11

-This one.

-This one?

-Mm, this one.

0:42:110:42:13

THEY PRAY

0:42:160:42:17

I think, learning about my great-grandmother, Razia,

0:42:190:42:24

and her story...

0:42:240:42:26

really has affected me,

0:42:260:42:28

in that it wasn't what I thought in the first place.

0:42:280:42:33

The thing that I really...is quite sad, really, that I found out,

0:42:330:42:38

is that this sort of family story that I've been told,

0:42:380:42:42

that Razia gave up the children at a local mosque or something,

0:42:420:42:46

an orphanage, that's not true at all, according to Sarah.

0:42:460:42:51

It's actually that...

0:42:520:42:53

an Asian family, an Indian family at the time,

0:42:530:42:57

took the children away, because, you know,

0:42:570:43:01

they didn't want them to be brought up in that family,

0:43:010:43:03

which is terribly, terribly sad, it really is.

0:43:030:43:06

And I know that Aisha, my grandmother,

0:43:070:43:10

and Razia, her mother,

0:43:100:43:12

did actually meet up, but when they sat and met...

0:43:120:43:15

..they couldn't communicate with each other.

0:43:170:43:19

Aisha spoke Punjabi,

0:43:190:43:21

so they sat next to each other

0:43:210:43:23

without being able to speak to each other.

0:43:230:43:26

But apparently gesticulating and touching each other

0:43:260:43:30

and just holding each other's hands.

0:43:300:43:32

Well, thank you so much.

0:43:390:43:40

Thank you, thank you.

0:43:400:43:42

Thank you very much.

0:43:420:43:44

Well, that was just extraordinary,

0:43:440:43:46

probably one of the biggest days of my life, meeting these ladies.

0:43:460:43:50

I mean, they were just so lovely and adorable

0:43:500:43:53

and really took me in as a member of their family

0:43:530:43:55

almost straightaway and I recognised that love and that feeling.

0:43:550:43:58

I remember getting the same thing from my grandmother, from Aisha.

0:43:580:44:02

It was just uncanny.

0:44:020:44:03

And then the other thing which IS true,

0:44:070:44:10

which I thought was never going to be true,

0:44:100:44:13

was that I'm related to the King of Buganda!

0:44:130:44:17

I can't wait to find out a little bit more

0:44:190:44:21

and find out about this chief,

0:44:210:44:23

and, hopefully, I'll keep my feet on the ground.

0:44:230:44:26

Back in Kampala,

0:44:380:44:40

Adil's now on the trail of his great-great-great-grandfather,

0:44:400:44:43

Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi, his link to Ugandan royalty.

0:44:430:44:48

Time to find out who this Kamanyiro fellow is.

0:44:560:45:00

Kamanyiro...

0:45:000:45:03

Best of Kamanyiro on YouTube, I'm guessing that's not him.

0:45:040:45:07

Edward Kamanyiro on Twitter?

0:45:080:45:09

No, that's probably not him either.

0:45:090:45:12

Oh! Sir John Grey has written a journal...

0:45:120:45:15

..on Magimbi Kamanyiro!

0:45:170:45:19

Adil has found an article

0:45:210:45:23

in which a European explorer describes meeting Kamanyiro

0:45:230:45:26

in February, 1890.

0:45:260:45:28

Oh, here's a description of him.

0:45:330:45:35

"A dark kaftan embroidered with silver,

0:45:350:45:38

"fell over wide sky-blue trousers."

0:45:380:45:41

Nice! "Also adorned with silver embroidery.

0:45:410:45:45

"On his head, he wore a diadem..."

0:45:450:45:48

Which is a crown - of course you would.

0:45:480:45:50

"..made entirely of strings of beads of different colours."

0:45:500:45:54

"The wearer of this adornment was Kamanyiro."

0:45:540:45:58

Ah... This is great stuff. Wow, this is...

0:45:580:46:02

"In the afternoon, Kamanyiro invariably got drunk...

0:46:020:46:06

"..but as he was always in good humour..."

0:46:070:46:09

There you go.

0:46:090:46:10

"..he contributed in no small degree to the hilarity of the expedition.

0:46:100:46:15

"Kamanyiro's drummers, like all his followers...

0:46:150:46:18

"..were one-eyed."

0:46:190:46:20

"When I asked him how it had happened,

0:46:200:46:23

"that he had engaged none but one-eyed people,

0:46:230:46:25

"he made a gesture with his hand

0:46:250:46:27

"to indicate the action of tearing out a man's eye

0:46:270:46:30

"and with a snap of his fingers towards the ground, cried,

0:46:300:46:34

"'Eh, it looks better.'"

0:46:340:46:36

I don't like the sound of that.

0:46:380:46:40

Adil's travelling to the area in the traditional Kingdom of Buganda

0:46:430:46:47

where his three-times great-grandfather, Kamanyiro,

0:46:470:46:50

was a chief in the late 1800s.

0:46:500:46:52

This was one of the last parts of Africa to be reached by outsiders.

0:46:520:46:56

Arab traders had come first via the East African coast in the 1840s,

0:46:580:47:03

followed in the 1870s by Christian missionaries

0:47:030:47:06

seeking converts in the kingdom.

0:47:060:47:09

By the 1880s, British and German explorers arrived,

0:47:090:47:12

competing to expand their rival empires.

0:47:120:47:15

Adil wants to find out more about Kamanyiro

0:47:200:47:23

and his Royal relatives during this time.

0:47:230:47:25

-Hi!

-Nice to see you too.

0:47:250:47:27

-How are you?

-I'm good! I'm looking forward to talking to you

0:47:270:47:30

-and finding out all about my great-great-great-grandfather.

-OK, sir, I'll do that.

0:47:300:47:34

He is meeting historian Sam Wirilinyigo

0:47:340:47:37

in a traditional Bugandan village.

0:47:370:47:39

Now, I know there were lots of chiefs at the time,

0:47:420:47:46

but how significant would my great-great-grandfather be?

0:47:460:47:49

Where we are now...

0:47:490:47:51

..was one of the major provinces of the Kingdom of Buganda.

0:47:520:47:57

And the chief...

0:47:570:48:00

was very important

0:48:000:48:02

in that he was at the frontier, guarding the kingdom.

0:48:020:48:06

Do you have any photos, any pictures of him?

0:48:060:48:09

Yes, I have.

0:48:090:48:10

Wow, so, clearly not photographs, what we call drawings, yeah!

0:48:100:48:13

Drawings, yeah, maybe we start with that one.

0:48:130:48:16

This is Muteesa I...

0:48:160:48:19

-OK.

-..with his leading chiefs.

0:48:190:48:21

-Right.

-They're not captioned, of course.

0:48:210:48:24

So I wouldn't tell you that this is definitely Kamanyiro

0:48:240:48:27

but since he was a very important provincial chief,

0:48:270:48:31

he must have been one of these.

0:48:310:48:32

Right. OK, so one of these guys is my great-great-great-grandfather.

0:48:320:48:39

Wow. I reckon it's him, he looks quite handsome.

0:48:390:48:41

And then what do we have there?

0:48:430:48:45

Here is the Queen Mother, in state, really.

0:48:450:48:48

It's great, isn't it? A great picture.

0:48:480:48:52

This lady is Muganzirwazza,

0:48:520:48:55

the sister of your great-great-great-grandfather,

0:48:550:49:01

Kamanyiro.

0:49:010:49:02

And she's obviously being entertained there.

0:49:030:49:05

Entertained, she has visitors, two of them European.

0:49:050:49:09

Kamanyiro's sister, Muganzirwazza,

0:49:110:49:14

was skilled at bargaining with foreign traders.

0:49:140:49:16

Her son, Kamanyiro's nephew, King Muteesa I,

0:49:160:49:20

gained a reputation as a clever negotiator,

0:49:200:49:23

playing one foreign power off against the other.

0:49:230:49:27

But after his death in 1884,

0:49:270:49:29

the kingdom split along religious lines

0:49:290:49:31

allied to the foreign powers

0:49:310:49:33

and descended into civil war.

0:49:330:49:35

For a chief like Adil's three times great-grandfather, Kamanyiro,

0:49:360:49:40

it was a dangerous time.

0:49:400:49:42

So, I know there were Muslim groups and Christian groups,

0:49:420:49:45

but where did Kamanyiro position himself in amongst all of this?

0:49:450:49:50

He never was attracted to any of these religions.

0:49:500:49:54

Foreign religions.

0:49:540:49:56

Because he had his own.

0:49:560:49:58

We had our traditional religion.

0:50:000:50:02

Kamanyiro never became either Muslim or Christian...

0:50:020:50:06

..although, he, from time to time, moved from one group to the other,

0:50:070:50:14

as the political situation demanded.

0:50:140:50:18

And I think he was, your great-great-great-grandfather,

0:50:180:50:23

was a very shrewd politician.

0:50:230:50:26

One of the things I read, which is a little bit disturbing,

0:50:260:50:29

is that he could have been a bit barbaric.

0:50:290:50:32

I read things like, he would gouge out the eyes of his followers.

0:50:320:50:37

Could that be true?

0:50:370:50:39

A lot of stuff has been written about Africans,

0:50:390:50:42

especially in the 19th century.

0:50:420:50:44

And all of it intended to excite Europe...

0:50:440:50:50

..and this is one way of exciting and attracting readership.

0:50:510:50:55

So, I think this is an exaggeration,

0:50:570:51:00

and I think when you rise to such a position as Kamanyiro did,

0:51:000:51:05

you are intelligent enough to know

0:51:050:51:07

that one-eyed fighters wouldn't be the best.

0:51:070:51:10

Yeah, to say the least, yes!

0:51:100:51:13

Well, it's a bit of a relief that my great-great-great-grandfather

0:51:190:51:24

wasn't just a drunk and a savage,

0:51:240:51:26

as described by some of those European explorers...

0:51:260:51:30

..although, you know, they were quite violent times

0:51:310:51:33

and he was quite a notorious fighter, being a chief,

0:51:330:51:36

so, I'm sure some of it might well be true.

0:51:360:51:39

But more importantly, I think, by the sounds of it,

0:51:390:51:42

he played quite an honourable role in Ugandan history

0:51:420:51:46

and I'm particularly proud

0:51:460:51:49

that he stuck to his values and, you know,

0:51:490:51:54

didn't sell out and held on to his traditional beliefs.

0:51:540:51:57

By the 1890s, the British-backed Christians

0:52:030:52:06

had taken control of Buganda.

0:52:060:52:08

In 1894, Britain brought Uganda, as it came to be known,

0:52:090:52:13

into the empire.

0:52:130:52:14

Chiefs like Kamanyiro were allowed to keep their titles

0:52:160:52:19

but were stripped of their power.

0:52:190:52:21

Adil has learned from his cousin, Sarah,

0:52:320:52:35

that Kamanyiro's tomb survives in a nearby village.

0:52:350:52:38

The tomb, where Kamanyiro is buried beside his brother,

0:52:480:52:52

has become a place of pilgrimage.

0:52:520:52:54

Adil, his cousins and George have joined the tomb's caretaker

0:52:550:52:59

to pay their respects.

0:52:590:53:01

TRANSLATION

0:53:050:53:07

Do many people come here to pay their respects to Kamanyiro?

0:53:270:53:32

HE TRANSLATES

0:53:320:53:33

TRANSLATION

0:53:330:53:36

TRANSLATION

0:53:530:53:56

Because Kamanyiro was a great man

0:54:230:54:25

and he was a very rich man, money should continue flowing.

0:54:250:54:29

And that money is used to help to take care of the people

0:54:290:54:33

who clean the place.

0:54:330:54:34

So, you mentioned the bark cloth

0:54:340:54:37

and I've bought some bark cloth here as well.

0:54:370:54:41

Why do we use bark cloth?

0:54:410:54:43

HE TRANSLATES

0:54:430:54:46

TRANSLATION

0:54:500:54:53

So, can I cover the brothers with the cloth?

0:55:170:55:21

HE TRANSLATES

0:55:210:55:23

-Yeah, they will help you too.

-OK.

0:55:270:55:29

She's going to show you.

0:55:390:55:41

I think by far the biggest discovery I've made on this trip,

0:55:410:55:44

and the most surprising discovery I've made on this trip

0:55:440:55:47

is that, yes, I am related to the Kabaka...

0:55:470:55:51

Your grandson, great-grandson, has come all the way from...

0:55:530:55:59

..via a Chief.

0:55:590:56:01

Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi.

0:56:020:56:06

I mean, it doesn't make...

0:56:090:56:12

it just doesn't connect, in many ways.

0:56:120:56:14

How can I be related to somebody called Chief Kamanyiro Magimbi?

0:56:140:56:20

I mean, it's just ridiculous!

0:56:200:56:23

But I am! And it's fantastic.

0:56:230:56:25

Coming to Uganda, for me, has been a fantastic experience and...

0:56:360:56:39

..it's now, for me, not coming to an African country and going,

0:56:410:56:44

"Oh, look, there are Africans."

0:56:440:56:47

It's coming to a country and going, "Oh, this is part of my home.

0:56:470:56:51

"This is part of my heritage,"

0:56:510:56:53

You know, it's still only now beginning to sink in

0:56:530:56:59

that I am African,

0:56:590:57:02

that I have African ancestry

0:57:020:57:04

and that just feels, it feels great

0:57:040:57:08

and it just feels that Kenya and Uganda and Pakistan

0:57:080:57:11

and England are all of my homes.

0:57:110:57:14

I feel very lucky to have discovered that,

0:57:150:57:18

and it just reminds us that you really don't know who you are

0:57:180:57:21

until you know what you were,

0:57:210:57:24

and I've just found that out, and it's just fantastic.

0:57:240:57:28

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