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Gans of Australia
Mariam Babar
Publishing Date: Saturday, December 25 2004
It is a surprisingly little-known fact in the Frontier province that some of the earliest settlers in Australia were Pathans.
In the early 19th century, when Australia was being opened up and its pastoral potential was being realised, the harsh and arid heartland presented seemingly insurmountable problems. The opening up of that area urgently required a railroad to link the South to the North and an overland telegraphic line was also planned. But, the transportation of the material and goods that would be needed seemed impossible in that cruel climate and terrain.
A plan was formulated for bringing in camels. Their ability to carry loads of up to 600 pounds for long distances in a very dry area made them the only viable option. However, no one knew how to handle camels. In 1838 James Bruce brought over 18 Afghans to act as future cameleers. The first camel was brought over in 1840 but was shot six years later because it killed the explorer John Horrocks.
The Afghan community slowly grew to strength of 3000 and became a real force in the opening up of the vast Australian outback. They were an enterprising and hard working people who soon controlled all the supply routes. The White settlers were totally dependent on them all along the train tracks, in the gold fields, for exploration of new routes and in their remote cattle stations.
The Afghans, who were soon given the nickname of "Gans", always lived apart from the rest of the community. In fact, most small towns at that time were divided into three sections: White, Aboriginal and Afghan. Even today, the little towns of Marree and Farina have their own Muslim or Gan graveyards.
One of the first things that the Afghans did was to build themselves a small mud mosque in the town of Marree. It exists to this day and is proudly listed by the South Australia Tourist Department as a historical monument. The other lasting memento of their presence was that they planted date palms where ever they went. To this day, the date palms dotting the Australian outback flourish and remind us of those lonely men who never stopped dreaming of home.
Trying to trace what happened to the decedents of these early Pathans is not easy.
The men who came did not bring their families. They had planned, as migrant workers do to this day, to make a lot of money and then go back. Some married local women of indigenous origin and a few married white women. These women converted to Islam, turned their backs on their own race and religion and soon became invisible to the greater community. They lived with their husbands behind the high tin walls of Gan Town and many even made the pilgrimage to Haj.
In 1903, when Australia passed the White Australia policy, non-White residents were not allowed to acquire nationality or bring in their wives and dependents. A number of Afghans left Australia at this point. After this it becomes more difficult to trace what happened to the ones that stayed on. Though records of the late 1800s and the early years of the twentieth century tell of many successful Afghan camel troop companies, little is known of them or their decedents today.
The camels remained and multiplied. They soon became feral and were shot on sight. Census takers and the Marree police had, at one stage, used camels for patrolling the outback. But, camels were not popular with the stockmen and most were destroyed. Recently an effort was made to actually round them up and export them to the Middle East. I have no idea how successful this venture proved!
When we first arrived in Australia and heard about the famous Gan express, romantically named for the Gans who had made the building of that railroad possible, we were fascinated and tried to learn something about present-day Gans. Unfortunately, we never managed to get any closer to solving that mystery. The closest we came to them was at a reception given for us by the mayor of Perth. Two very European-looking women in head scarves came up to us and said that their forefathers had been the original Gans. They knew nothing of their family history or their roots and asked us, with great interest, about the Frontier, Pathans and Islam.
Afghan Camel Teams Opened up Australia
While researching the history of the early Pathan settlers in Australia I came across some very interesting though unrelated facts. The last census taken here shows that the Muslim community is the fastest growing sector of Australia's population. Muslim Australians have the highest rate of intermarriage within the community, the lowest rate of divorce, the highest birth rate and the lowest number of women without children. In 1991 the Muslims of Australia numbered 150,000; in 2001 this number had increased to 300,000. Unfortunately, their rate of unemployment is 25 percent as opposed to the national rate of 9 percent.
Afghan Children at Marree
Though the recession of the 1990s might explain this to some extant, the prejudice factor has to be faced. Our names and dress code do set us apart. There is an inherent fear among employers that people with names like Mohammad, Ahmed, Abdullah, Ayesha and Fatima will have a problem dealing with the general public. Though Australia keeps stressing its multicultural policy and all the cities seem to teem with Chinese, Vietnamese and other East Asian faces, our beards and head scarves seem to frighten people.
It would be naïve to ignore the impact of 9/11 and other events of the recent past. We are viewed as a strange, violent people committed to a path of terrorism. The fact that of the 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today, only a small percentage falls into that category, seems to be irrelevant to the vast majority of Australians.
Learning to live abroad, we now have to learn to live as a disadvantaged minority. Prejudice is no longer just a question of race or colour. The early Gans were never really assimilated into the population of their times and it looks as though the same fate awaits all Muslims living in non-Muslim countries today. Once people were kept out of Australia because of the colour of their skin, now they may be kept out because of their faith. After all, Muslim Albanians were classed as white and encouraged to migrate to Australia, as were Cypriot Muslims and others from Bosnia and other Balkan states. Now it is not a matter of colour or race. All Muslims are made to feel unwelcome.
Farina Ruins; Central Australia
Despite this generally depressing view of ones position in Australia, there are occasional bright rays of light that can cheer one up. I walked into my local bank the other day and saw their new security guard. He was a nice warm brown, with a neat beard and a little cap that declared his identity to one familiar with it. Yes, it was a Pakistani. I wondered what enlightened recruiter had seen beyond the typical scary terrorist image and employed this man. Perhaps, there is hope for us still.
References & Pictures:
- South Australian History; Marree http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/marree.htm
http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/ghan.htm
http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/afghans.htm - Statesman Report
http://www.statesman.com.pk - Our Outback Experience
http://community-2.webtv.net/tomnrustyfla/AustraliaATripofa/page2.html - Range Rover Club
http://www.rangeroverclubqld.org.au/gallery/ - Australian Landscapes
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