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Investigation
‘Missing piece of the puzzle’: Families in Australia and Pakistan united by 120-year-old mystery
Following an SBS Urdu investigation, a Pakistani lawyer has made contact with the long-lost descendants of his grand-uncle who came to Australia ‘accidentally' in 1895.
Published
Updated
By Afnan Malik
Source: SBS
Image: Ally Bahadur Khan’s descendants in Pakistan lost contact with their Australian counterparts in the 1940s. (SBS / Afnan Malik)
Key Points
- SBS Urdu’s investigation into the life of ‘accidental’ Pakistani Australian Ally Bahudar Khan uncovers several branches of his family in Brisbane
- ‘I got teary,’ says Christine Eyers, great-granddaughter of Ally Bahudar Khan
- Ally Bahadur Khan’s descendants in Pakistan lost contact with their Australian counterparts in the 1940s
Mumtaz Malik, a septuagenarian lawyer now living in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, had spent decades trying to track down what became of his grand-uncle and his family.
In 1895, Mr Malik says, Ally Bahadur Khan left the family village of Tatta Paani and boarded a ship from Karachi which he thought was headed to Britain.
Ally Bahadur Khan with her daughter Lillian Ezeem Khan. Source: Supplied / Lana Ali
Mr Khan and his descendants remained in sporadic contact with their extended family in Pakistan until the 1940s, when all communication was lost.
But now, after more than 70 years, SBS Urdu has uncovered several branches of Mr Khan’s family tree in Brisbane and helped facilitate an unlikely reunion.
Ally Bahadur Khan (centre with hat) with his friends and family. Source: Supplied / Christine Eyers
‘It was just a blank’
Lana Ali, born in 1947, has spent much of her life wondering about her family history.
“I was born in Brisbane, Australia. My twin sister died when we were quite young. I was left in foster care and adopted in 1958. I never knew about my parents,” Ms Ali tells SBS Urdu.
By the 1980s, she had traced her lineage back to a man named Ally Bahadur Khan – her great grandfather. But until SBS Urdu’s article, she had no idea about the extent of his fascinating past.
Ms Ali’s own journey is filled with many twists and turns.
In 1976, she married a Pakistani man while living in The Netherlands.
For a period after this, she also lived in Lahore, Pakistan, not knowing that her great-grandfather’s roots laid just a couple of hundred kilometres away.
Lana Ali while narrating her story to SBS. Source: SBS / Afnan Malik
After returning to Australia, Ms Ali started searching for her ancestors. She wrote letters to everyone who had the same surname as her. She contacted the Births, Marriages and Deaths Registry and eventually, in 1985, had some success.
“I was able to find my family. I was able to speak to my brother who asked me where I had been all his life,” she said.
Still seeking answers, Ms Ali says she was delighted to learn about her extended family in Pakistan.
“I would love to meet the family. As long as they forgive me, I would love to meet them,” she says.
'The missing piece’
Christine Eyers is another great-granddaughter of Ally Bahadur Khan who reached out to SBS Urdu. She says she knew that Ally hailed from what is today Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
“I was told by one of my friends from where Ally came from, but I didn’t know why he came to Australia,” Ms Eyers tells SBS Urdu.
She recalls meeting one of Ally Bahadur Khan's daughters many years ago, but was surprised to learn about the extended correspondence between the Pakistani and Australian sides of the family.
Christine Eyers, a great-granddaughter of Ally Bahadur Khan, sharing her story with SBS Urdu. Source: SBS / Afnan Malik
“The letters written to his cousins by Ayoub [Ayoub Ally Bahadur Khan, son of Ally Bahadur Khan] were a revelation for me and the watch was also a revelation for me,” Ms Eyers says.
She says her grandmother, Lilian, also made attempts to reach the Pakistan-based side of the family in the years that followed.
Mr Malik previously recounted to SBS Urdu how his uncle had been in touch with the police commissioner of Queensland in the 1950s seeking a contact address for Mr Khan’s family.
This dovetails with a story Ms Eyers says she had been told.
“A few years after my grandmother passed, my mother told me about a story of when a policeman knocked on the door," she says.
"However, when my grandmother told AB [Ally Bahadur] Khan that his family was looking for him, he refused to come to the door.
"According to my grandmother, the policeman's last comment was, ‘If that was my family, I would want to be found’.”
Ms Eyers, who was born and raised in Brisbane, lives in a house close to where her great-grandfather himself lived.
She expresses her relief at uncovering this part of her family history: “It’s hard to put into words. I got teary at times and it helps me understand ...what my mother, my aunt and my grandmother went through.”
Ms Eyers describes the SBS Urdu article on her great-grandfather as the “missing piece of the puzzle”.
“I got an unusual call from a fairly distant cousin. And she said that an SBS journalist is assisting a gentleman in Islamabad that is looking for his lost family," she says.
I talked it over with my husband and he said he saw something on a Facebook post. He showed it to me, and I was absolutely blown away by the photo. As soon as I saw it, I thought that’s my granduncle Abe [Ayoub].Christine Eyers
“Then I read the article and I was just completely amazed. I was quite shaken. Actually, it was wonderful. I would like to thank SBS for doing such an investigative story and bringing families together.”
‘Bits and pieces’
Mark McDiarmid is the grandson of Ayoub Ally Bahadur Khan, Ally Bahadur Khan’s son, who he remembers as ‘Hubie’.
Mr McDiarmid, who learned of SBS Urdu’s previous story through his wife, says his grandfather rarely spoke of his background.
“He didn't really say much about his past or his family and things like that," Mr McDiarmid says.
"He would only talk to me about what he was doing at the time, like what was happening with the birds and the yard."
Ayoub Bahadur Khan in his military uniform. Mumtaz described the same picture they received from Ayoub which they lost years ago. Source: Supplied / Mark McDiarmid
Mr McDiarmid’s mother, Freda, was mentioned in a letter written by Ayoub Ally Bahudar Khan to Mr Malik’s cousins in 1934 which is currently in the Pakistani lawyer’s possession.
He says that because his father used to work on ships, the family didn’t socialise with many others and this restricted what he knew about his heritage.
He knew that his grandad was from Kashmir, but didn’t know much more than that.
“We were a family that really didn't mix much because my father was a ship worker and he would either be working or sleeping in. So, we didn't go out much for Christmas and things like that,” Mr McDiarmid says.
The SBS Urdu story came as a surprise to him.
I didn't ever think that anyone over there would be looking for a part of the family that had disappeared. We are a small family and there's not many others here.Mark McDiarmid, great grandson of Ally Bahadur Khan and grandson of Ayoub Ally Bahadur Khan
Mr McDiarmid, who was born in Brisbane, says he hasn’t travelled much.
“I was born here. I have never travelled overseas. I haven't got a passport," he says.
"I've only ever been in a plane once, so I'm not really a travelling type person. Even around Queensland, I’ve only travelled very short distances.”
Mark McDiarmid talking to SBS Urdu about his grandfather and his family.
“I know my grandfather did like these little chilies he used to grow in the backyard and pickle," Mr McDiarmid says.
"When I used to go there, you’d sit down at the table and he’d be eating these little chilies out of this jar. He pickled them himself.”
Mr McDiarmid says it was “nice” to learn someone out there was looking for them.
“It's nice to find out some of your past, as I had rough ideas, but not a great deal of information," he says.
"Being from a family that didn't really talk much about things that way, you just didn't know a lot of stuff.”
Family tree of Ally Bahadur Khan Source: Supplied
The reunion
For Mr Malik, the discovery of his grand-uncle's descendants in Australia brings a close to decades of fruitless searching.
Separated by more than 10,000km, Mr Malik and Ms Eyers spoke for the first time during an emotional video call arranged by SBS Urdu.
A tearful Ms Eyers lauded Mr Malik for his efforts in reuniting the family, while Mr Malik also struggled to contain his emotions.
Both extended offers to visit their respective countries and stay at each other's homes.
We know that a lot of time has passed, and a lot of cultural differences are there but still you people are our own people. You are our blood.Mumtaz Malik to Christine Eyers
Ms Eyers said that since she was 16, she’s encountered various incidents that have provided clues to her past.
“Someone's tapping on my shoulder again to say ‘come and look for me’. It's the sixth time it's happened to me, and I'm glad,” she says.
Mr Malik added that he wanted to thank all those who had made an effort to connect the families.
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