The first Indian merchant who arrived in Suakin in 1856 was
Lavchand Amarchand Batavia (Shah). It is said that he had sailed from Aden in
Yemen to Massawa in Eritrea and then to Suakin. Just before reaching Suakin the
boat had capsized and Lavchand somehow managed to reach the shores of Suakin in
a wooden barrel. It was almost like ‘burning the boats behind’ and there was no
looking back for him. He started business by getting commodities like sugar,
tea, coffee, textiles and Indian perfumes such as sandal wood from Aden. Later
when his business grew he called his brothers from India. This was the beginning
of the Indian community in Sudan.
The Indian Community in Omdurman is a large community of
Sudanese nationals of Indian origin. Most of them have their origin either
in Rajkot or Porbander the place of
birth of Mahatma Gandhi. There are members of the same Indian community also in
Kassala, Port Sudan and Wad Madani. The total strength of the community is
around 1800.
Dr.Anil Kumar Mithani has been re-elected as the President
of the Indian Community in Omdurman for the third term. Each term is for two
years. Dr.Anil is a renowned Urologist. In fact, he has been elected as the
Treasury Secretary of the Sudanese Urological Association. When asked, Dr.Anil said that there is no
change in the committee of the Indian Community with Shirish Kamdar as Vice
President, Nilein Kamani as Secretary General and Sumesh Kamdar as Treasurer.
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