My great great grandfather, Abdul Rahman Mohamad Gamali عبد الرحمن محمد جمالي, photographed in Zanzibar in the early 1900s. Photographer unknown.

Even though I started writing these narratives for women’s history month, the stories of my great grandmother and great great grandmother would not be complete without his story. This is the only photo we have of him and I’ve always been fascinated by it.

He is dressed in a striped kuftan قفطان (kaftan), a hizam حزام (belt) consisting of a patterned shawl wrapped around his waist, and a jubbah جبة or gibbah (a long overcoat). His ‘imma عمة (turban) consists of a patterned, or perhaps embroidered, shawl wrapped around a tarboosh (felt cap). His round-toed leather shoes were most probably slip-ons.

Originally from Aleppo, Abdul Rahman was a merchant who lived in Stone Town, Zanzibar and owned a plantation in Matetema. He was known in Zanzibar as Sheikh Abdul Rahman Turki because of his trade with Istanbul. He had family in Istanbul, Aleppo, and Cairo (family name spelled Cemali, Jamali, and Gamali respectively). Judging by the Syrian mother of pearl inlay furniture, this photo was taken in his home or office rather than a studio.

He was friends with Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud, the 8th Sultan of Zanzibar, and became his father in law when Sayyid Ali married his youngest daughter Sekina. In 1914, Sayyid Ali learned of Abdul Rahman’s death after Sekina sent him a telegram while he was in exile in Paris. A year later, Abdul Rahman’s wife and daughter as well as Sayyid Ali’s sons all moved to Cairo in the hope of reuniting with Sayyid Ali who sadly passed away in exile a few years later.

It is still a mystery why Abdul Rahman lived in Zanzibar but an Al Ahram newspaper clipping that my father found in my grandmother’s belongings has given me a clue. It referenced an admiral named Gamali Bey whose daughter married the Sultan of Zanzibar. After further investigation, I learned that Egypt’s ruler, Khedive Ismail, had sent a fleet from Suez in 1870 under the command of Mohamad Gamali Bey to explore the East African coast along the Red Sea. While I have no proof yet, this admiral was quite possibly Abdul Rahman’s father, which could explain the Zanzibar connection.