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Charlie Sadadeen

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Charlie Sadadeen
Afghan cameleer, Charlie Sadadeen
Personal details
BornSaleh Sadadene
1870
Baloochistan
Died19 July 1933(1933-07-19) (aged 62–63)
Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
SpouseAnnie Markham
OccupationCameleer

Saleh "Charlie" Sadadeen, sometimes spelt Sadadene, (c.1870 – 19 July 1933) was an Afghan cameleer and bushman who lived in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Cameleer

Sadadeen was born in Baloochistan around 1870. By 1880 he was working as a camel man for Lord Roberts on the march from Kabulto Kandahar as a part of the British Army. He would frequently repeat stories from this time later in his life and often wear treasured old pieces of the uniform.

It is thought he immigrated to Australia after obtaining work near Oodnadatta in South Australia at the time the railway line was completed in 1890. He was working with camel teams by 1902 for the Wallis Brothers, carting goods from Oodnadatta to Stuart, now Alice Springs and to Arltunga.

By 1914 he managed a strong of 120–130 camels, half belonging to him, the other half to Wallis and Co. Legendary bushman Walter Smith worked for Sadadeen for about 15 years. He described him as a hard man but deeply respected his skills and practices. Smith suffered from migraines and describes Sadadeen leaving him under a tree with a billy of water, expecting him to catch up to the camel train upon recovery.

In 1921 he purchased a block of land in Alice Springs, on Todd Street, where he established a flowers and vegetable garden (sometimes obtaining opium poppies) and planted date trees; this block was immediately south of Ah Hong's two blocks. He was the first Afghan Cameleer to do so. As a devout Muslim, he was a leader for the Afghan community and also built a small wooden mosque on this land and obtained licenses to slaughter stock for the Islamic community; ensuring they had access to halal meat. He also kept camels and grew vegetables at a place called Sadadeen Swamp about 30 kilometres south of Alice Springs.

Sadadeen married Annie Markham, but the relationship ended. They had no children.

Sadadeen died in Alice Springs in 1933. He is buried in the 'Mahommedan' section of the Alice Springs Memorial Cemetery with his grave facing mecca.

Legacy

The site of Sadadeen's market garden is now the location of Alice Springs Town Council and two date palms planted in this garden can still be seen. There is a monument and park dedicated to Sadadeen and his fellow cameleers within this block and it was named Nishan-e-Afghan (Centre of Afghans) Park in 2000.

The Alice Springs suburb of Sadadeen is named after him, as is Sadadeen Primary School. Sadadeen Range on the east of Alice Springs also takes his name, which was where he kept his camels.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Philip; Kenny, Anna (2010). Australia's Muslim cameleers : pioneers of the inland, 1860s–1930s (Rev. ed.). Kent Town, S. Aust.: Wakefield. ISBN 9781862548725.
  2. Stevens, Christine (1989), Tin mosques & ghantowns : a history of Afghan cameldrivers in Australia, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-554976-8
  3. Kimber, R. G. "Smith, Walter (1898–1990)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  4. ^ Kimber, R.G. (1986). Man from Arltunga: Walter Smith, Australian bushman. Victoria Park, W.A.: Hesperian Press. ISBN 085905084X.
  5. Kimber, Dick (2008). Northern Territory dictionary of biography (Rev. ed.). Darwin: Charles Darwin University Press. pp. 112–113. ISBN 9780980457810.
  6. Office of the Government Resident. "NTRS 4870, Minutes of Licensing Bench of Central Australia and related papers". Library & Archives NT (Archives Navigator).
  7. "Out among the People". The Chronicle. Vol. LXXVI, no. 40, 122. Adelaide. 14 December 1933. p. 66. Retrieved 19 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Alice Springs general cemetery conservation and management plans, prepared by R. Gregory & Associates Pty Ltd with D. Pecorari and Associates Pty Ltd for the Alice Springs Town Council" (PDF). Alice Springs Town Council. December 2018.
  9. "Afghan Cameleers | Monument Australia". monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  10. "Afghan Cameleers". Monument Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  11. Traynor, Stuart (2016), Alice Springs : from singing wire to iconic outback town, Wakefield Press, ISBN 978-1-74305-449-9
  12. "Place Names Register". www.ntlis.nt.gov.au. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  13. "History". NT Schools. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
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