Ismail Sait was born on March 7, 1859 to Hajee Saliah Muhammad Sait of Bangalore. Originally from Cutch migrated to Mysore. In 1870, his family moved to Bangalore when the British established their cantonment in Bangalore, four years later, when his father passed away in 1874, Ismail Sait, all of about 15 at the time, plunged into the business of buying and selling goods. It is said that he was educated at Bangalore and Madras; but no clear indication as to where he studied is not readily available. According to Arif Hussain, at the Hazrat Haider Shah Jeelani Dargah in Bangalore,  retold by Aliyeh Rizwi in Bangalore Mirror, May 5, 2014, an unverified anecdote about his early years has it that he was advised by the saint, his spiritual mentor, to initially trade in goods that were white in colour (like eggs, garlic and milk) to ensure wealth and success. Ismail Sait, through his various businesses, not limited to milk powder and egs, catered to the needs of the British, from milk powder to machinery, everything imported from England. Hajee Sir Ismail Sait’s first commercial venture was a shop called the English Warehouse, strategically located on St Mark’s Road, close to where his (mainly English) customers were. The shop flourished and soon, there were branches of English Warehouse in Madras (now Chennai) and Secunderabad. He later diversified into a variety of businesses. By the early 1900s, Ismail Sait was one of the richest merchants, not just in Bangalore, but in all of south India. What distinguished this businessman from others like him was his contribution to the growth of Bangalore.  

 

At the age of 22, he became a director in the newly-established Carnatic Mills (which later merged with another mill to become the well-known Binny Mills). He owned and operated mines in Kolar Gold Fields and Shimoga. He supplied various provisions to the British army establishment in Bangalore, including horse gram. He traded in timber. In 1913 he obtained from the Mysore Government the Abkari contract for Mysore  and ran a distillery (Asthagfirhullah) He also ran a carbonic acid manufacturing unit in Calcutta. He served as director in the Mysore Sandalwood Oil company, the Mysore Sugar company, Mysore Bank Limited and the Bhadravathi Iron Works. 

 

Almost a decade before petrol, Chennai got to see kerosene for the first time. This was thanks to Best & Co, one of the giants of First Line Beach, Madras. But the credit for first bringing kerosene to the city belongs in reality to Haji Sir Ismail Sait. As early as 1881 he was importing kerosene oil from America in cans and selling them through Spencer & Co. By the 1890s, he had developed a system of branches and depots upcountry and was firmly entrenched in the trade. In Madras, Haji Sir Ismail pioneered the sale of kerosene through carts, a system that survived well into the 1970s. Best & Co studied Haji Sir Ismail’s methods and given their financial muscle, went on to make a name for themselves in kerosene. He was also the first individual to start retailing of petrol in Madras.

 

[A contemporary stalwart from Trivandrum was Haji Yunis Haji Dawood (late H.D. Yunis) who brought the first automobile to Trivandrum and established petrol outlets in Trivandrum and Kottayam. He established spare part vending units under the style “Motor Sales and Service”, the forerunner of MS&S (Motors) Pvt Ltd. In Kochi, which is the largest Hero Honda dealer  in Kerala, now being managed by his grand children.]

 

In 1888, became a magistrate in Bangalore and was made a Khan Bahadur in 1911 and knighted in 1923. The then Maharajah of Mysore conferred the title Fakhr-ut-Tajjar on him. Ismail Sait was nominated as a member of the Madras Legislative Council in 1911. Hajee Sir Ismail Sait, businessman and philanthropist, was invited by the British to inaugurate Russell Market on August 5, 1927. The British also handed over a memento — the replica of the key made in silver, which is still held by Sait's family as a treasure. It has the British crown on the top and an engraving that reads: “Presented to Hajee Sir Ismail Sait KT, on the occasion of the opening of Russell Market.”

 

Ismail Sait’s heydays were also when the Independence movement was gaining ground around the country. His great grand son Zaffar Sait says, his grandmother recalled how people often gathered in front of the English Warehouse shop, protesting Ismail Sait’s business of importing and selling English goods. Though he did not support the non-cooperation movement (among other things, he refused to give up his titles!), at the same time, Ismail Sait helped set up the Khilafat Committee in Bangalore. But personal differences amongst those involved led him eventually to distance himself from the movement.

 

His club memberships in several distinguished clubs including the Willingdon Sports Club, Bombay, Calcutta Club and the National Liberal Club of London were key to his business beside the great business sense and wonder-ful PR skills. But public service was a priority for him. Healthcare and education were major concerns. Being successful in business was not the reason for honours being heaped upon Ismail Sait. Throughout his life, he donated generously to many causes. His most well-known act of charity was to donate Rs 1,50,000 towards the construction of the Gosha hospital in Bangalore, set up so that women who observed purdah could also avail of modern medical care. The hospital opened in 1925. The Out Patient dispensary attached to the Government K.R. Hospital, Mysore was built in 1927 by  Hajee Sir Ismail Sait to commemorate the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the then Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Krishnaraja Wodiyar. He also donated the land and Rs. 50,000 to build the mosque in Fraser Town that still bears his name. A road in Bangalore also bears the name of Hajee Sir Ismail Sait. Sait also constructed a number of mosques and hospitals in Bangalore, Madras and Bombay. Sait Colony, a locality in Egmore, Chennai is named after him. 

 

He died on 24th April 1934 in the tuberculosis sanitarium at Arogyavaram, Chittoor District, now in Andhra Pradesh. He was buried in the open space adjoining the main prayer hall of the Cutchi Memon Masjid in Mysore. Notably, this Masjid was also built by Sir Ismail Sait in 1239 A.H. He was survived by a widow, Ayesha Bai, five sons and a (two ?) daughter. He had seventeen grandchildren. One of the grandsons, Abdul Sammad suddenly died during his life time, between 6th and 13th April 1934, while at Aligarh Muslim University.  

 

 

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