Allidina Visram

Alidina Visram of Kera, Kutch in India, died 100 years ago on June 30, 1916. He was a tough, formidable trader in the interior of East Africa with eventually 50 trading posts, 35 alone in small Uganda. 

Visram started his business by organizing trade caravans between the shore and the interior, transporting cloves, wax, honey, cotton, salt, and cereals. Over the course of his career, he created over 170 branches of his firm, "Seth Allidina Visram & Co.," throughout British East Africa and Uganda. 

Visram's business interests went beyond commerce and finance. He owned and ran dhows on Lake Victoria, oversaw sugar plantations with hundreds of workers, and even dabbled in cotton ginning.