HE arrived in Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, on Jan 10, 1883, a prisoner of the British; there was nothing to signify the lasting impact his exile in the island nation (then under colonial rule) would have on its Muslim population.

But the memory of Colonel Orabi Pasha (also known as Arabi Pasha), hero of Egyptian soldiery and the Egyptian nationalist movement who was banished from his country as punishment and spent 19 years in Ceylon, survives both in Kandy and in Colombo.

It also survives in the hearts of many Muslim youngsters of Lanka who today benefit from the educational institutes created because of the influence Orabi Pasha had on the Muslim elites and intellectuals of the time. Kandy and Colombo both hold the memory of Pasha in the form of a cultural centre and the first Muslim school in the country, respectively.

The Orabi Pasha Cultural Centre-cum-Educational Institute and Museum is managed by a committee, teaching staff and office staff, and is headed by a director. It is located in a stately building in the hill capital, Kandy, which served as Orabi Pasha’s residence during part of his exile. Having lived in locations such as Mutwal, Maradana and Colombo 07 (wards of Colombo city), he and his wives and children finally shifted to Kandy in 1892 where his sons and daughters received an English-medium education. Today, the cultural centre bears testimony to the legend that was the man.

Born into Egyptian peasantry, he became a soldier in the Egyptian army and ended his political career by being the heroic voice against the then Egyptian government that was following the dictates of Britain.

The director of the Orabi Pasha Cultural Centre in Kandy, Mohamed Saleemdeen, explains that the centre is owned and managed by the Egyptian embassy. Renuka Dayangani is a Sinhalese Buddhist who is in charge of the general administrative upkeep of the centre, and often the first person a visitor would encounter.

“We carry out trainings for youth irrespective of religion,” says Dayangani, explaining that it is on a range of skills such as sewing, cookery and languages. There is also a library on Egyptian history and culture, access to which is available for a small fee that helps maintain the centre. The Egyptian embassy provides for the major expenses involved in administrative costs.

The centre strives to facilitate religious unity and understanding in the current Lankan context, says its director, Saleemdeen. Alongside the centre functions the Orabi Pasha Foundation, which is responsible for tasks such as publications.

Narrating the history of Pasha’s contribution to Lankan Muslims, Saleemdeen says that one of the Muslim leaders who befriended Orabi Pasha was Proctor M.C. Siddi Lebbe of Kandy, a learned man, well-versed in Tamil, Arabic and Persian, who was concerned about the then backward state pertaining to the education of the Muslim community in Ceylon. He prevailed upon Pasha to join him in rousing the Muslim community to take steps for modern Islamic education. The culmination was the establishment of Al Madrasathul Zahira in Maradana (in Colombo), now known as Zahira College, situated in Orabi Pasha street. It is built on the grounds adjoining one of the oldest mosques in Sri Lanka, the Maradana Mosque. The venture had the support of two other prominent Sri Lankan Muslims of the day — I.L. M. Abdul Aziz and Arasi Marikar Wapchie Marikar — as well as other local Muslim elite.

In the space designated as the museum in the Kandy Orabi Pasha Centre are portraits of Pasha and other exiles who arrived with him in Ceylon, as well as some of their writings and musings. A notable and iconic portrait is one of Pasha on his horse. There are brief accounts under each picture, about Pasha’s nationalism in Egypt, his appointment as a minister of war in Egypt and in connection with the dissenting leadership he gave to his country in that crucial colonial era, as well as his role for the uplift of Muslims in Sri Lanka.

The Egyptian government, under the influence of the British forces, charged Pasha and his associates on counts of flag pillaging and burning Alexandria, and inciting Egyptians to rise up against the Khedive Ismail government. A few British administrators who befriended Pasha obtained for him the compromise of exile for life in Ceylon.

Thus, Pasha and his companions arrived here, to be received warmly by Lankan Muslims. He was treated well by the British administration in Ceylon, and left Lankan shores in 1901 at the age of 61 after being granted pardon. His death occurred in 1911 in Cairo.

“We want the younger Muslim generation in Sri Lanka to continue to know the man with whose patronage and guidance Sri Lanka got its very first Muslim school,” says Saleemdeen. “Zahira College is today the largest Muslim educational institution here, with more than 4,000 people enrolled.”

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2016