Haji Abdullah

Khan Bahadur Haji Abdullah Haji Kasim Saheb Bahadur

Haji Abdullah was the founder president of Corporation Bank which was one of the major banks in India. Corporation Bank was founded on 12 March 1906 in Udupi, with ₹5,000 capital. After the banking history of 113 years, on 1 April 2020 Corporation Bank merged with Union Bank of India.

Birth and family background There is no exact record of Haji Abdullah Saheb's birth date. There are speculative records that he was born in 1882 AD. He belonged to a wealthy family of immigrants from Junagadh, Gujarat who had settled down in Udupi. Haji Abdullah's grandfather Haji Budan Saheb was a wealthy merchant of the entire Madras region. He had a house is in Malpe and his office was located Badagu Pete (ಬಡಗು ಪೇಟೆ) North market in Udupi. Haji Abdullah grand father had an export business in Udupi and would export Sandal Oil, Dried Fish, Aromatic Rice and Spices to Sri Lanka, Burma and the Gulf countries on their large ship and importing Ceramic Utensils, Luxury Clothes, Dates fruits and selling them at Udupi and Mangalore market. Haji Budan Saheb's son, Haji Abdullah's father, Haji Qasim Saheb, further expanded the business after the death of Haji Budan Saheb. Haji Abdullah lost his father Qasim Sahebran at the age when he was 19 years. Abdullah continued his family business after he was educated till the Third Form, i.e., 9th standard in the current time. Later, the same bank grew into 2432 branches called Corporation Bank.

Social contribution

Haji Abdullah recognizing the need for a school, he donated an acre of land in Bannanje, Udupi. A hospital was set up for public use on the main street of Udupi. There are records of rice being delivered to Rangoon, Burma on his ship when rice was scarce during World War I. In the meantime, when all the monasteries of Udupi were in financial distress, the monasteries were provided with the necessary supplies from his repository. When one of the Ashta Mathas (8 monasteries) of Krishna Temple, Udupi wanted to build a Gold Palanquin a sari, Haji Abdullah gave them gold. The Anjuman Mosque in Udupi is also a gift from Haji Abdullah's family.

Honors

The Udupi Krishna Math, in honor of the services rendered to the monastery, was honored with "Daylight torch" (ಹಗಲು ದೀವಟಿಗೆ). Haji Abdullah as conferred the title, the British government gave the title of Khan Saheb in 1909 and Khan Bahadur in 1920.