Bali Mauladad

Bali Mauladad
Born Muhammad Iqbal Mauladad
(1926-08-30)30 August 1926
Nairobi, Kenya
Died 18 February 1970(1970-02-18) (aged 43)[1]
Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Occupation Professional game hunter
Spouse(s) Riaz Mauladad
Children Ahmed, Zahid, Shahid, Neelam and Frah
Bali won the Shaw & Hunter trophy in 1966 for guiding a hunter to an Oribi gazelle whose horns were 7 inches long – a new world record.[2]
A late-model Humber Super Snipe similar to that used for the Safari Rally
He died after being gored by a buffalo.

Muhammad Iqbal Mauladad (1926–1970), nicknamed Bali, was a big game hunter in Kenya.

He was born into a rich and influential family of Kenyan Asians but, rather than joining the family engineering business, he became a professional guide, leading parties on safari to hunt large animals, especially elephant. He was the first Muslim to be recognised as a white hunter and won the Shaw & Hunter trophy for best professional guide in 1966. He also competed in the Safari Rally, placing fourth in 1961. He died in 1970, following severe goring by a Cape buffalo.

Early life

He came from a rich family as his father, Chaudry Mauladad, was a successful civil engineer in East Africa.[3] He attended the Government Indian School in Nairobi and his father then taught him construction and contracting.[4] But, from the age of ten, he had learned to shoot a rifle and so, rather than join the family business like his brother Basheer, he chose to be a professional hunter in Kenya where he was born and spent his life.[3][4][5]

Career

He joined the well-established business, Safariland, after World War Two and was successful as a big game hunter, leading rich clients on safari and killing many game animals, especially elephant.[3][6]:179 The hunters he guided included the King and Queen of Nepal and the Governor of Colorado, Teller Ammons.[7] British shooting-brakes were converted into safari cars for these shooting parties and he designed a lightweight rifle rack for these which was made in Naroibi for him and most of the other hunters by the gunsmiths Wali Mohamed & Co.[6]:175

Though he was from a Kenyan Asian background, he was admitted to the East African Professional Hunter's Association which was normally only open to white hunters.[3][8] He was the first Muslim to be recognised in this way.[2] His closest colleague in the hunting business was another Asian, Ikram Hassan, whose business was African Hunting Safaris, and they hunted elephant together in the coastal regions of Kenya.[6]

He was a large, powerful man, weighing 250 pounds and standing over six feet in his prime.[5] He had a distinctive moustache and a warm, extrovert manner which made him popular with clients and the other hunters.[9] He liked joking and jazz, racehorses and rifles, fast cars and food, women and whisky – his favourite was Johnny Walker Black Label.[6]:235 Besides hunting, he was also an enthusiastic cricket player and rally driver.[3] He took part in the Safari Rally four times.[3] In 1961, he and Californian doctor, Lee Talbot, placed fourth, driving a Humber Super Snipe over 3,000 miles.[10][11] He also took part in the 1956 production of the movie Bhowani Junction on location in Lahore.[12]

He was awarded the prestigious Shaw & Hunter prize for leading a client, Donald Harris, to the finest trophy of the year on October 4, 1966.[2][13][14] This was an Oribi antelope whose horns measured 7 inches, beating the previous world record of 6¼ inches.[2][13] The small size of the antelope was incongruous because Bali was himself known for his prowess in hunting elephants with enormous ivory tusks of up to 152 pounds.[2][13]

Hunting was dangerous as he was once mauled by a leopard[3] and finally gored by a buffalo in Kibwezi.[6]:235 The buffalo inflicted injuries which ruptured his liver and, despite treatment and recuperation, complications subsequently led to his death in 1970.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "In the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi: Probate and Administration", Kenya Gazette, vol. 75 (6): 107, 2 Feb 1973, ...grant of probate of the will of ... Mohamed Iqbal s/o Mauladad of Nairobi aforesaid, who died at Nairobi on the 18th day of February, 1970
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "The winner of the Shaw and Hunter Trophy", Nevada State Journal, May 16, 1967
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Iqbal Mauladad (Bali) (1926-1970)", Africa Hunting, 20 July 2010
  4. 1 2 "Mohamed Iqbal Mauladad", Hunting and Safari (10): 70, 2012
  5. 1 2 Jan Hemsing (1994), Encounters With Lions, p. 118, ISBN 978-1882458059, Mohamed Iqbal Mauladad, 'Bali' as he was always called, was a huge man. Born in the mid-1920s he stood six foot one (two meters) in his socks, weighed 250 lbs (113 kilos) and sported a magnificent moustache.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Herne, Brian (2001), White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris, Henry Holt & Co, pp. 174–75, 179, 234–35, ISBN 978-0805067361
  7. ↑ "Bali Mauladad, with the King and Queen of Nepal on their East African Safari". African Life. 1958. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "White Hunters' Business Booms", Mansfield News Journal, p. 4, 6 February 1966
  9. ↑ Omar Kureshi (2003), Home to Pakistan, p. 198, ISBN 978-9690018236
  10. ↑ "East African Safari 1961". Youtube. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Marshall Smith (25 May 1962), "The Wildest Auto Ride on Earth", Life, pp. 78–82B
  12. ↑ Syed Abid Ali (August 31, 2003), "The Way It Was - Frolicking fifties", Daily Times (II)
  13. 1 2 3 "1966 Shaw and Hunter Trophy". East African Professional Hunters Association, Records. October 4, 1966. p. 27.
  14. ↑ "Shaw & Hunter Trophy". Africa Hunting. Retrieved Mar 18, 2011.
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