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Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi
Sylheti restaurateur who advocated for the welfare of London's South Asians
Other names
Moina Meah
Place of birth
Date of arrival to Britain
Location(s)
London
W1T 2DA
United Kingdom Dilkush Delight
Windmill Street
London
W1T 2JU
United Kingdom
Date of time spent in Britain
1936–46, 19??–67, 1975/6–
About
Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi was born in a village in Sylhet, the eldest of three brothers and a sister. His father was forced to sell his land after spending much of his income on educating his sons, and the family lived in impoverished circumstances. To escape a life of hardship and help his family, Qureshi decided to follow the example of many of his fellow Sylhetis and try to get work on a ship with a view to migrating to America or Britain. With this in mind, he left for Calcutta in 1934. After various failed attempts, he finally managed to escape from a ship docked at Tilbury, making his way to east London where he found lodgings with other recently arrived Sylhetis.
Qureshi began his working life in Britain selling chocolates in pubs. He soon moved on to working in various Indian restaurants (including the Bengal Restaurant in Percy Street) and, in 1938, opened his first restaurant, Dilkush Delight, in Windmill Street, Soho. By 1944 he owned a different restaurant off Charlotte Street. This became known as the 'India Centre' because numerous politically active South Asians congregated there for meetings. During this period, Qureshi himself became involved in political and welfare activities concerning the South Asian community in London. He was an active member of the Hindustani Social Club and co-founder (with Ayub Ali) and President of the Indian Seamen's Welfare League. He also attended some India League meetings. A Muslim, Qureshi worshipped at the East London Mosque and helped form the London Muslim League with Abbas Ali.
Qureshi married on his first return trip to Sylhet in 1946 and eventually, in the 1970s, brought his wife and children to England, where the family remained.
Attended Indian Seamen’s Welfare League meetings
Attended Hindustani Social Club meetings and events
Abbas Ali, Ayub Ali, Mushraf Ali, Taslim Ali (early pioneer of facilities for Muslims in Britain), Surat Alley, Syed Tofussil Ally, Mulk Raj Anand (both attended inaugural meeting of East End branch of India League), B. B. Ray Chaudhuri (on the executive committee of the Indian Seamen's Welfare League), Abdul Hamid (barrister and involved with Indian Seamen's Welfare League), Kundan Lal Jalie, Krishna Menon, Narayana Menon (both attended inaugural meeting of East End branch of India League), Mr Nandev (helped him out with restaurant), Mr Rahim and Mr Yassim (original owners of Shafi’s Restaurant), Said Amir Shah (both attended inaugural meeting of East End branch of India League), Maharaja of Siraikullah (served him and his party at restaurant), Dr C. B. Vakil (on the executive committee of the Indian Seamen's Welfare League).
Adams, Caroline, Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers (London: THAP, 1987)
Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto Press, 2002)
L/PJ/12/455, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras
L/PJ/12/630, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras
L/PJ/12/646, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras
In 1938, I saved enough to open my own restaurant – in Windmill Street. I can claim that I was the first Sylhetti man to own a restaurant...At that time most of the customers were Indians...We used to get English customers too – those English people who had been in the Indian Civil Service and all that...Then the student community from Bengal, they started coming, because they knew that they wouldn't have any worry for shelter, and they could find work as waiters, and at the same time they used to take admission in the Law Institutes, or in any institution. Students from all Bengal – East and West, Hindu and Muslim. So all the credit goes to that fellow who started the restaurants.
Caroline Adams, Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers (London: THAP, 1987), pp. 140–77
Image credit
© Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1930s – present
