Outback Camels and Afghan Camelmen
- 1838 - Joseph Bruce - John Gleeson - John Horrocks - Sub Inspector B.C. Besley - Thomas Elder - Mahomet Saleh - Hadji Mulla Merban -
Even though at only 3,000 the number of Afghans coming to Colonial Australia was small compared with other ethnic groups, their contribution to this country has been much greater than most people realise.
Afghans have made a substantial contribution to South Australia and in opening up inland Australia. With their camels, who received more publicity than their owners, these cameleers opened up the outback, helped with the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line and Railways, erected fences, acted as guides for several major expeditions, and supplied almost every inland mine or station with its goods and services. These 'pilots of the desert' made a vital contribution to Colonial Australia.
The first Afghans arrived in South Australia in 1838 when Joseph Bruce brought out eighteen of them, one of whom died on 1 February 1840. When Bruce himself died, the men were handed over to John Gleeson, who also had imported some of them. The first camel arrived at Port Adelaide in 1840 but was shot in 1846 after it caused the death of explorer John Horrocks.
As early as 1858 it was suggested that camels should be imported into the colony and that a depot should be established for their 'propagation and acclimation'. This led to the formation of the Camel Troop Carrying Company Ltd which unsuccessfully petitioned the South Australian government for financial aid in October 1858.
In 1862 Samuel Stuckey went to Karachi to bring out camels. He was unsuccessful that time, as was McKay from Mount Deception in 1864-5. However in 1866 Stuckey succeeded in bringing out more than a hundred camels and, as nobody knew how to handle camels, 31 Afghan cameleers as well.
Although these, and later camelmen, came from different ethnic groups and from vastly different places such as Baluchistan, Kashmir, Sind, Rajastan, Egypt, Persia, Turkey and Punjab, they were collectively known as Afghans.
Most of the men and their camels were first brought to Thomas Elder's station Umberatana, but after a few months most were transferred to Beltana where a camel breeding program was started. Soon the camels and their drivers were transporting materials and supplies to Elder's stations at Blanchewater and Murnpeowie.
In 1873 Mahomet Saleh, an Afghan cameleer left Beltana for Western Australia with explorer P.E. Warburton. William Christie Gosse was assisted by three Afghans in his attempt to find a way from the Finke River to Perth. Two years later Afghans assisted Ernest Giles on one of his expeditions. J.W. Lewis, surveyed the country north east of Lake Eyre in 1874 and 1875 using camels. Later Thomas Elder's camel teams carried desperately needed supplies to a community of starving diggers at Milparinka.
Many of these Afghans did extremely well in their chosen business. Abdul Wade had four hundred camels and sixty men working for him. Fuzzly Ahmed worked the Port Augusta - Oodnadatta line for many years before moving to Broken Hill. Faiz Mahomet, who arrived at the age of 22, settled in Marree where he operated as a Fowarding Agent and General Carrier. In 1892 he moved to Western Australia and worked from the Coolgardie gold fields with his brother Tagh Mahomet.
On 10 January 1896, while Faiz Mahomet was at the Murchison gold field, Tagh Mahomet was shot in the Coolgardie mosque by Goulham Mahomet. The case was reported in most newspapers both in Western Australia and South Australia. The Express and Telegraph called it 'Cold-Blooded Murder, Shot in a Mosque, Killed Whilst at Prayers'.
In 1884 nearly three hundred camels and fifty-six Afghans were landed at Port Augusta. The largest group landed in 1893 when four hundred camels and ninety-four men disembarked. During his election speech at Port Augusta, in March 1893, Alexander Poynton made it clear that he was against the importation of more Afghans and their camels. If elected 'he would put a prohibitive Poll Tax upon them'. A month later it was reported that 94 Afghans had landed at Port Augusta and 'meant business and money getting'. Contemporary opinions about their presence in the outback were not always very kind.
Wherever these Afghan cameleers settled, they lived in a separate part of town. Consequently many inland towns had three distinct sections, one for the Europeans, one for the Aborigines and a third section for the Afghans. Their areas became known as Afghan or Ghan Town. Each Afghan community had its own leader. In these communities the Afghans continued to live as they had always done, following the Muslim religion and customs. Most Afghans who came to Australia were single or if married left their wives behind as they expected to return wealthy in the not too distant future. Many remained single but others married Aboriginal women. Only very few married white women.
Afghans provided almost all goods and services from South Australia to the Northern Territory. They left Marree on a regular basis initially; and later when the railhead was at Oodnadatta, they led their camel teams to Stuart, later renamed Alice Springs.
One who did was Hadji Mulla Merban from Kandabar, Afghanistan. He came to Port Darwin and acted as leader among the Afghan cameldrivers working for the Overland Telegraph Line. After a three year visit to India and Afghanistan he eventually settled in Adelaide. He married a European woman and acted as a peace maker between his country men, once settling a dispute between Abdul Wade and Gunny Khan, two wealthy camel owners. With the completion of the Adelaide Mosque in Gilbert Street in 1888 he also became the spiritual leader of the Afghan community in South Australia. He was buried at Coolgardie in 1897.
In 1880 Sub Inspector B.C. Besley suggested that the police in the north should use camels for the collection of statistics and census forms. His suggestion was taken up and camels were used by the police from then on. The Marree Police Patrol used camels in the outback until 1949.
When the camels, that were brought here because they could carry loads of up to 600 pounds over long distances with little food or water over almost any terrain, had outlived their usefulness, they became a pest. Most were shot when found on common land or without a registration disk. In this way hundreds were shot by the police to the delight of the pastoralists. A lasting legacy of the Afghans are the date palms which they planted wherever they went and the Ghan which was named after them.
From our Feedback Page
The camel drivers' camp sites are indicated by date palms here in Queensland (folk myth or truth) and there are a few from Rockhampton on the roadside heading west on the Capricorn Highway, as well as one I know of (at least) just outside Gladstone, if it hasn't been dozed for road-works!
I also have an anecdotal one (from an early resident of Woorabinda) on the Duaringa to Bauhinia Downs road, that has died or made way for an expanded road.
I remember being told back in 1972 or 3, that the pink flowered 'hops' that grows so abundantly in the countryside in, I think, western New South Wales or South Australia came from the stuffing in the camel drivers saddles (true or not? - I dont have any authentic references).
Lynne