Zahira College Hostel : Chronology

1921, November
College Hostel inaugurated by the Principal : Hr. T. B. Jayah in a building adjoining the present New Olympia Theatre premises, Darley Road. Maradana. First Boarding Master : Mr. Shams Cassim. First Boarder : T. S. K. Muthalib.

1921, end of December
Hostel moves into Forbes Road. Boarding Master : Mr. A. S. Abdul Cader. Hostel No. 3, at Middle Cot in Forbes Rd. Management : Mr. S. A. C. Issadeen.

1923, January
Hostel No. 3. Jt. House Masters : Mr. I. L. M. Zackariya and Mr. T. P. S. Laxana. Amalgamated Hostel at "Pottathamba" House or Fountain House. Jt. House Masters Mr. A. S. Abdul Cader and Mr. S. A. C. Issadeen.

1927
Moves into Norris Canal Rd., Maradana.

1928
Moves into "Cambridge House" Darley Rd., Maradana. Boarding Master : Mr. S. A. C. Issadeen. Hostel re-organized and divided into 4 dormitories. each in charge of a Master; who is at once the Tutor and the Guardian of the students.

1931, January
Depression sets in and Hostel receives a set back.

1931, July 18
Hostel moved in to the College premises and a section of the Umbichchy Block is occupied by 30 Boarders under Mr. S. A. C. Issadeen.

1935, December
Mr. Aliossen succeeds as House Master. Moulavi A. Habib Mohamed and Mr. T. Suhayb take charge of the Hostel for sometime each.

1939, September
Numbers come down owing to the emergency situation created by declaration of the Second World War.

1942
College closed for 2 months. College premises commandeered by the Military authorities. Hostel is once again without a Home after College re-opens. Makeshift arrangements to tide over difficulties are made during this period. Hostel moves from one place to another. For bigger boys : Vandervert Place. Dehiwela; for smaller boys : a house at Borella.

1946
War Clouds disappear. Hostel comes back to the College, premises with the return of the College buildings by the Military authorities.

The need for a separate permanent building with necessary amenities to house the College Hostel is strongly felt.

1947
Mr. Jayah, Principal, conceives the idea of constructing a hostel building to provide accommodation for 250 boarders and to include a Pavilion and a Guest House. Alhaj N. D. H. Abdul Caffoor makes a donation of one lakh of rupees towards the proposed building.

1948, February 14
Foundation stone for the New Hostel and Pavilion building is laid by Hon. Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Minister for Communications Pakistan, who visited Ceylon to represent his government in the independence celebrations. This function formed a part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the College and the Silver Jubilee of Mr. T. B. Jayah as Principal. At these celebrations, the tablet commemorative of Alhaj N. D. H. Abdul Caffoor's generous gift of the College Hail as well as the portraits of Mr. A. M. Wapichchi Marikar, Alhaj P. B. Umbichchy, Mr. I. L. M. Abdul Azeez and Proctor Siddi Lebbe were unveiled by Hon. Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar. This was followed by the College Prize Distribution presided over by Hon. S. W . R. D. Bandaranaike, Minister of Local Government, in the unavoidable absence of the Rt. Hon. Lord Soulbury on account of sudden illness.

1948, August 23
Mr. A. M. A. Azeez succeeds Mr. T. B. Jayah as Principal.

1949, March 26
Prize Giving. Principal refers to the magnificent gift of one lakh of rupees towards the erection of the New Hostel Block by the late Alhaj N. D. H. Abdul Caffoor and says "it is a profoundly melancholy reflection that Mr. Caffoor was not spared to see the fruition of this great scheme which will eventually equip Zahira with, perhaps the most splendid hostel building among all Colleges in the island."

1950, March 25
Prize Day Speech, Principal refers to the proposed new hostel building and to an additional sum of Rs. 15,000/- contributed by well wishers besides the Rs. 100,000/- donated by Alhaj Abdul Caffoor and says “as this sum is not sufficient to put up the whole block with its three floors it has been proposed in the first instance to erect only a section of the building which will be self-contained and to complete it when the full amount is collected. On completion of the first stage of the Hostel Block, the Umbichchy Block which was really meant for the Primary Classes and which now temporarily houses the Hostellers could be restored to its proper use. The Hostellers themselves deserve more spacious buildings with better amenities.

1950, November
Construction work on the new block begins.

1951
Az-Zahira, the College Magazine, in its Editorial, captioned“Our Urgent Need ", appeals for assistance towards the construction of the New Hostel Building, estimated to cost in all 5.5 lakhs of rupees.

1951, March 17
Prize Day, Principal appeals for financial support to complete the First Stage of the New Hostel Building scheme.

1952, March 22
Prize Day Report “Work on the New Hostel Block has for the time being been suspended due primarily to the rising cost of building materials. Whether the great enterprise of a New Zahira with buildings worthy of her will remain a dream or become a reality rests largely in the hands of the Muslims of Ceylon. Several donations have been received during the year to the Zahira Hostel Building and Equipment Fund.”

1953, March 30
Prize Day Report “The completion of the New Hostel Building, work on which has been in abeyance now for over an year is also a matter of pressing urgency. We hope to restart work shortly and are depending on the munificence of our benefactors”

1954, July 6
Principal sends out an urgent appeal to well wishers for financial assistance to complete the New Hostel Building. “It is hardly necessary for me to describe in this letter the very unsatisfactory condition under which the present Hostellers are being housed, purely due to circumstances beyond our control.” He informs the well-wishers that Zahira College has been declared as an Approved Charity by the Minister of Finance (vide Pg. 647 of the Government Gazette of Friday, May 8, 1953).

1955
Principal through the Haj Flag Day Committee appeals to the Muslim Community for donations to complete the First Stage of the New Hostel Building, which is now estimated to cost about 3.5 lakhs of rupees. “The New Hostel is indispensable to Zahira. A Hostel is now acknowledged an integral part of a good school, but if a hostel is to serve its real purpose, it has to be a building capable of providing the environmental inspiration which can exert so profound and influence on its residents. The present buildings used by our boarders were never intended for a Hostel.”

1955, May 8
Principal appeals once again for funds to complete the First Stage of the New Building, the estimate of which has been out down from 3.5 to 2.5 lakhs; the cost of the entire scheme being 5.5 lakhs. He says that “without the expenditure of the sum of 2.5 lakhs, it would not be possible to shift the Hostel its present shabby habitation. and if this shift does not take place by January 1956.

1967, August 1
Mr. Noor Hamith, a veteran teacher at Zahira for over 25 years succeeds Mr. Amjadeen (who resigns to take up duties in the College Office) as Boarding Master.

1968, January 26
Messrs. P. S. K. V. Pallak Lebbe & Co., Colombo, agree to meet the cost of one floor of the New Hostel Building. Work started on the 1st and 2nd Floors. Alhaj A. H. L. A. Saleem volunteers to organize the project.

1969, June 29
Work on the 1st and 2nd Floors nearly completed. Religious ceremonies take place. Asar prayers conducted in the New Building followed by Mowlood and Khatham Recitals.

Senior boarders from the old dilapidated Bungalow in the Small Mosque premises and the Juniors from the basement (ground floor) of the Hostel Building move in jubilantly into the airy, spacious and well-lit dormitories on the 1st and 2nd floors. What a relief after years of untold hardship and suffering for the boys and the staff! Alhamdulillah!

Work commences in earnest on the conversion of the ground floor to provide for additional Dining Hall, Sick Room. Reading Room, Prayer Room. Recreation Room. Visitors' Room, etc.

1969, July 11
Red letter day in the history of Zahira College. The Honourable Dudley Senanayake.  M.P., Prime Minister, declares open the New Hostel & Pavilion Building in the presence of a large and distinguished gathering including Ministers of State, Foreign Diplomats, Members of Parliament, Senators, Chairman of the National Council for Higher Education. Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, Colombo and the Chief Donors. Function presided over by Alhaj Dr. M. C. M. Kaleel, President of the Zahira College Welfare Society.