Tanganyika Police Force

The Earthquake and The Case of a suspicious Death. Part I
Friday, May 31, 1935. Having returned from Quetta, my Dad was spared the agonies of the aftermath of the Quetta Earthquake. His future wife was in Quetta with her family at the time of the earthquake which shook the town in the middle of the night between 2.30 and 3.40 a.m. The town was largely destroyed. Only the cantonment remained unaffected. The British Army stationed there started the rescue work. Camps were ...
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KIMAMBA to QUETTA via Bombay 1933 Kimamba Mai 1 - In March father completed 46 months of Police service and the home leave was due. On 22nd March 1933, he left Kimamba for India with grandfather. Grandfather’s passport was renewed in Dar es Salaam. A. M Forrest, the Superintendent of the Registration Branch signed on behalf of the Chief Secretary.
The ship S.S. Tairea called at Mombasa, Seychelles Island arriving at Bombay on April 8. Both took the train to Quetta via the ...
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KIMAMBA
Nine months into the new post, on 10th May 1932 transferred to Kimamba also as in charge of the police station. Taking a 28 days annual leave prior to his transfer to Kimamba, father along with family travelled to Dodoma and Kigoma to visit friends. Lying on the cleft of the Great Rift Valley, Dodoma at 3,718 ft had a Railway hotel for Europeans and was the administrative centre of this portion of the Great Rift Valley. It was later also a stop for the Imperial Airwa...
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The new Governor, Sir Stewart Symes arrived in Tanga and opened the new club at Gymkhana and the new Railway Station. Sir Symes was a veteran administrator. Far away in the distant home of my forefathers, following the murder of the reigning monarch of Afghanistan Nadir Shah, Zahir Shah succeeds as the new Emir. An earthquake shakes Bihar in India and formation of a joint committee on Constitutional reforms moves India towards self-rule. Freedom from the British seems st...
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The stay in Tabora appears to have been pleasant. There was plentiful food available, and due to the presence of the Central Line connections to Mwanza, Kigoma and Dar es Salaam, one did not feel isolated. The climate was better than many other places. The presence of a cinema, Indian stores selling all the daily necessities of life made life more comfortable. Missionaries, both Christians and Muslims were very active in the region. The Belgians captured Tabora in WWI. It w...
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In 1872 Livingstone and Stanley lived in the “Tembe” at Kwihara, a short distance from Tabora. It was from here that Livingstone set off on his final journey. Carried by Wainwright and Chuma from the village of Chitambo, his body arrived in Tabora in 1873. That same year, Lt.-Col.Verney Lovett Cameron, leading a search party sent by the Royal Geographical Society of London, received a letter signed by Jacob Wainwright and carried by Chuma, the faithful companion of Dr.Livings...tone. The letter informed of the corpse of Dr. Livingstone with the request to buy provisions and some clothes. Dr. Livingstone’s corpse carried into Tabora, In keeping with Dr. Livingstone’s wife cremation on the banks of the Zambezi, Cameron requested to bury the corpse in Tabora. Adamant to carry it to Bagamoyo both Chuma, Susi, and others marched on. Cameron retained Livingstone ’s damaged chronometer and navigational instruments. Just as the Arabs told him of a great ocean if one traveled with the setting sun, Cameron continued his journey westwards. Chuma, Susi, and Wainwright carried the body to Bagamoyo, a journey that took many months. They handed over the body to the British. Jacob Wainwright accompanied the body to England and was a pallbearer at the funeral ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Taken by the British to England, Wainwright, Chuma, and Susi got feted and photographed but did not get the reward they deserved. They were the true heroes of East Africa. The presence, help, and guidance from the natives and Arabs helped the Europeans to discover the geographical entities. They are part of the discoveries. History has not feted them. helping the Europeans they were laying the foundations of the future colonial empires which was to declare them ignorant, backward and being in need of religion and civilization. The discovered areas brought wealth to Europe and years later corrupt politicians to the once colonized countries. Cameron made it to the Atlantic Ocean. He had proved contrary to Dr. Livingstone's presumption that Lualaba was, in fact, the Congo and not the Nile. The Lualaba or Congo was to prove much more important in the opening the interior of dark Africa.
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TABORA
On January 31st father was informed of his temporary transfer for three months to Tabora and arrived there a month later. The population of Tabora was about 25,000, including 150 Europeans, 1200 Asians. The rest 52,00 were natives. It had a railway hotel and a club for Europeans. Founded in 1820 and called “Kaze” Tabora lay about two-thirds of the distance from the coast. In the days before Europeans appeared, it was an important halfway post for resting. All ca...
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THE POLICE PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION JULY 1931
A Police Promotional Examination was held on the 23rd and 24th of July, 1931. The results announced officially a month later in the Tanganyika Gazette on 31 August 1931. The provisional result, dated 6th August 1931, was sent to father, who passed the exams with distinction as shown below. The Commissioner of Police sent his heartiest congratulations along with it: Asst Sub-Inspector ... Office of the Commissioner of Police. A.H. KHAN Dar es Salaam 6th August 1931 No. HQ 74/145. I am directed to inform you that you have been granted a pass with distinction in the Police Promotional Examination held on the 23rd and 24th July 1931. 2. I append the marks obtained by you on each paper. Penal Code 90 Criminal Procedure Code 75 Indian Evidence Act 74 Local and Special Laws. 62
3. The Commissioner desires me to convey to you his hearty congratulations on the excellent papers submitted by you in this examination. Sd. E. Wolton Staff Officer The result shows F. S. Such and Abdul Hameed Khan passing the examination with distinctions. The official result of the Police Promotional Examination appeared in the Tanganyika Gazette a few days later on 24-7-31. The Europeans were promoted to Assistant Inspectors. Father, an Asian, became Sub-Assistant Inspector.
This result was a very proud moment for an Indian Officer and foretold the future performance of father when he would accomplish brilliant work in the police force. Three days later on 16-8-31, for the first time, the Police Station at New Market in Kariakoo was opened in Dar es Salaam and A.H Khan appointed in charge of the station. He remained there for nine months. .
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Back at Dar es Salaam Central Station, father passed the driving test and granted a license for Motor Car Class “A” for which he paid five Shillings as fees. The Police Force in Dar es Salaam was being headed by Assistant Superintendent C.E. Page who was also the acting District Commissioner. A.S.P Thorne, A.S.P. Ruddick was in charge of the Police in Dar Es Salaam, Inspector Holman was heading the Crime Branch, and S.P Jenkinson and Angus were other police officers. The per...son most sought after by the police was one by the name of Hasmani. He was arrested but escaped by jumping into the sea from his cell. Joti and Dina in Dar es Salaam R.E. Thorne, Assistant Superintendent of Police, was posted in Iringa at the time. Maula Bux was in Mwanza.
ORGANISATION OF THE POLICE IN 1930 There were eighteen district headquarters stations and forty substations. The Railway and Harbour police, and the Customs police were units of the regular Force, but the upkeep costs were born by the departments concerned. (Tang Handbook.) The makeup was 1 Commissioner of Police and Prisons. 1 Deputy Commissioner of Police and Prisons. 8 Superintendents 25 Assistant Superintendents. 1 Pay and Quartermaster 36 Chief Inspectors and Inspectors. 6 Other European ranks. Asians; 67 consisting of Sub-Inspectors, clerical staff, and rank, and file of 1,719 Prisons Branch: Assistant Commissioner of Prisons with 11 Superintendents and European warders, 10 Asiatic and 596 African warders, wardresses and industrial instructors/. 43 Convict prisons classified as First Class, Second Class, and Third class Prisons First Class prisons: Dar es Salaam, Tabora, Mwanza, Tanga. Second Class. Arusha, Bukoba, dodoma, Lindi, Morogoro, Tukuyu, Ujiji. Third Class.: Bagamoyo, Biharamulo, Handeni, Iringa, Kahama, Kasulu, kibondo, Kilwa, Kondoa-Irangi, Liwale, Lushoto, Mafia, Mahenge, Manyoni, Masasi, Maswa, Mbeya, Mbulu, Mikindani, Mkalama, Moshi, Musoma, Newala, Njombe, Nzega, pangani, Shinyanga, Singida, Songea, Sumbawanga, Tunduru, Utete.
In Tanga, there were increased housebreaking. Mr. Taylor was in the C.I.D at the time and Mr. Higgins the Magistrate. While patrolling in the town some Askaris heard a banging noise in School Street at about 2 am. They saw two men smashing the windows of a shop owned by an Indian, D.R. Gandhi. One was apprehended after they came out of the house after a chase. The other was arrested a day later. Both were sentenced to jail imprisonment.
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A summary of crime in Dar es Salaam The detailed report of the trial can be provided if requested by readers. I may add that it is a brutal and inhuman sort of crime. While father worked as a junior Assistant Sub-Inspector at the Central Police Station, the murder of an Asian married woman shocked the country. In July 1930, a particularly ghastly crime had taken place in Dar Es Salaam. The trial was underway in Dar Es Salaam. The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Tanganyika, Mr.J Sh...eridan on the closing of the case summed up as a “difficult case which had been presented with great ability and fairness by the Acting Solicitor General as it has been defended with great industry and ability”. The accused was an Indian tailor, who had intended to murder his wife for infidelity by first cutting her nose and then her upper lip. He then proceeded to strangle her and then hanged her body on a rope to simulate suicide. The Crown accused the husband of murder while the defence rested on suicide. A bloodstained cloth found with which the woman was suspended from the rope. The Crown case stated that how was it possible that the woman had no blood on her hands if she had tied the cloth around her neck and hanged herself. Dr Park Noble was the medical examiner. The bloodstained bed and a patch of blood on the bed where the head rested, were further evidence to be found at the crime scene. There were blood spurt marks on the wall. When the Police had entered the room, it was found to be tidy and the counterpane not disturbed. The question was as to who had tidied the bed. There were spurts of blood on the sheets. There were further two spurt marks on a rug. It was presumed that the woman stood on the rug and looked into the mirror and saw her disfigurement. The woman had lain on the rug, according to the Medical Examiner. The rope had been used to fix the head of the wife and restrain her before the operation was carried out. The defense said that the husband only wanted to mutilate her and then let her go through life as a living advertisement for her infidelity. The clothes worn by the husband were also found burnt. Ruling out provocation and other arguments of defense the accused was found guilty and sentenced to death. Inspector Joti and one Dr Patel were also involved in the preparation of the case. The husband was hanged.
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DAR ES SALAAM 1930
15 months had now passed since Abdul Hamid completed the Police Training. In 1930 the force boasted of 36 European Gazetted Officers, and 42 of other ranks, 67 Asians, and 1,719 African at different levels of position. For some time it was the policy to recruit Europeans as Assistant Inspectors, and to fill vacancies in the gazetted ranks by promotion from the inspectorate, with little or no direct recruitment from outside. This policy was however foun...
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Father was immediately asked to report to the to Police Headquarters Dar es Salaam. His first appointment came on 1st May 1929 when he was posted at the Police Station on Bagamoyo Street, situated opposite the landing stage of the harbor in Dar es Salaam. It was an old Arab building of coral reef and limestone, the whiteness of which shone in the hot days of Dar es Salaam. FIRST GRADE ASSISTANT SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE Starting his job on 1-5-1929 as First Grade Assistant Su...
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1929 In January 1929, father resigned from Tanganyika Railways. Accompanied by my grandfather and uncle Rashid, they traveled to Dar es Salaam to report to the headquarters. Arriving at Tabora, a junction, the family disembarked to spend a day or two with some friends. One gentleman called Satyadas lived in Tabora and who knew my grandfather. Mr. Satyadas always wore a white cotton suit, a solar topee and carried an umbrella to shield himself from the sun. An old man who kn...
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1928 At this point in the history of Tanganyika Police, my father makes his entrance. He was 24 years old now and in the prime of his life. Abdul Hameed Khan, graduated from Aligarh University in India, had worked for a while in the customs services as an appraiser in Bombay and Karachi, before being called by grandfather and uncle to join him in Tanganyika. Soon after arriving he set out to get a job. Opportunities were available in the railway department, and he applied. T...
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1923 Due to the absence of official records at my disposal, I had to rely on the fading memories of many veteran police officers as well as delving into the old weekend editions of "Tanganyika Standard" in the British Library. Out of the past, the following names appear to shine out. They were part of the pioneers who dedicated their best years of life to the force and also oversee the enforcement of the law to the lowest level. They were: Essa Fazal Dina joined the polic...e force in 1923. Maula Bux, Sub-Inspector, later Chief Inspector Mwanza. P. N. Joti at Dar es Salaam, Mwanza. Mbeya. Pyara Singh. Dost Mohammed Khan. Tanga Zafarullah Khan Chief Inspector, at Mikindani, P. N Koshi. Moshi. Mohammed Yusuf Khan. Lushoto Altaf Hussain Khan. Mohammed Hayat Khan, Omar Siddiqui, Hassanali. S.A. Dar es Salaam. Mohammed Din, Chief Inspector at Tanga 1926. Salahuddin s/o Mohammed Din posted in Tanga in 1941 Zafrulla Khan Dost Mohammed Khan, Chief Inspector 1926. Aslam Khan s/o Dost Mohammed Khan Police 1926.
1924 (Report Tanganyika) The 1924 Police Force reported of 60 European including non-commissioned officers, 8 Asians sub-inspectors, and 1,765 native Akaris. The prison service numbered 7 European jailers and 401 African warders under the Commissioner of Police. Hugh Morris Samuel Baily was one of the earliest European police officers to serve in Tanganyika. Enlisted in 1924 he rose to become Deputy Commissioner of Police. He served in Tabora, Dar es Salaam. Cases of serious theft were as usual reported and mainly occurred in the native quarters of the town. There was the need for more prison reforms. Arms reported were in possession of non-natives. These included muzzleloaders, shotguns and ammunition consisting of ball cartridges, shot cartridges percussion caps for muzzleloaders.
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To unburden the natives of the crushing debts owed by them to the creditors, a Credit to Natives Ordinance came into force on 1st April 1923. It achieved the complete absence of indebtedness by Africans to members of other races. It proved to be of immense help to Africans. The period of reconstruction came to an end in 1925. The country started looking to provide the nation with a working Executive Council to assist and advise the Governor on the day to day affairs. The c...
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FORMATIVE YEARS The war profoundly changed the world. For Britain, the earlier Victorian era, now only a memory of the past glories of victories and expansion of the Empire, ended some time back. There was the end to the African campaigns of the nineteenth century. For the rest of the world what emerged was the Indian and African awareness of the vulnerabilities of European nations. The urge for self-rule had not died down in India where it was realised the dependence o...
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To my knowledge Tanganyika Police Force did it’s best to Enforce Law & Secure Tanganyika to it’s best of Ability during it’s time & period.

To my knowledge Tanganyika Police Force did it’s best to Enforce Law & Secure Tanganyika to it’s best of Ability during it’s time & period.