Thursday, July 9, 2009

Descendants of Mohammed Ali Jinnah

There has been a lot of confusion in the news lately about a supposed descendant of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Aslam Jinnah claims to be his grandson however according to Liaquat Merchant, the grand nephew of Jinnah, there is only one grandson and his name is Nusli Wadia.

1) Poonja Gokuldas Meghji
2) Jinnahbhai Poonja (1857–1901)
3) Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
4) Dina Jinnah (1919- )
5) Nusli Wadia
6) Ness Wadia (1970- )

The above is the ancestry of
Ness Wadia who is the great grandson of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Dina Jinnah who is married to Neville Wadia has 2 children, her son Nusli Wadia and a daughter.
Even if Dina Jinnah's daughter had children (I don't know if she does) their surname is not likely to be 'Jinnah'. Aslam Jinnah can not be a direct descendant of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. However he could be a distant relative but he would need to prove his ancestry to the government of Pakistan to claim any share.

Further information about the extended family:

Jinnahbhai Poonja had 2 brothers, Walji Poonja and Nathoo Poonja.
Descendants of Walji Poonja are Muhammad Ali, Jaffer Ali, Hussein Ali and Ghulam Ali.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah had 4 sisters and 2 brothers, Mariambai, Fatima Jinnah, Rehmatbai, Shirinbai and Bande Ali and Ahmed Jinnah.

Ness Wadia has a brother called Jehangir Wadia.

Are you related to anyone famous? Or do you know someone who has famous relatives? Tell me by leaving a comment.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poonja Gokuldas Meghji- a Lohana.Lohanas (Persian: لامياحاءأنأ, Gujarati: લોહાણા Sindhi: لوها ڻا Hindi: लोहाना) or 'Master of Swords' are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group and are a Ranghuvanshi Kshatriya[4][dubious – discuss].In India, they mainly reside in Gujarat, Mumbai and other parts of the country. In the last 150 years, some Lohanas have lived or do live in parts of Africa, such as Uganda and Kenya, and parts of the Western world, such as the U.K., Canada, and the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Ancestry part II
Sir Ness Wadia
Sir Neville Wadia
Nusli Wadia
Ness Wadia

It is known that when Dina married Neville – an Indian national and Parsi, Jinnah said to her that she was not his daughter any more. Jinnah disowned her and the father-daughter relationship and she became 'Mrs. Wadia' in the eyes of Jinnah. Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl. Dina's son Nusli Wadia is a Parsi Gujarati. Dina did not travel to Pakistan until her father's funeral in Karachi in September 1948. Neville Wadia is a strong nationalist. To add to all this Jinnah’s lineage comes from Poonja – a Hindu Bhatia – of Kathaiwar – devotee of Lord Krishna –Shreenathji.

The Pakistan ancestry link loooks very very weak. Vested interests seem to be overplaying the Pakistan part and underplaying the Neville Wadia part.

Anonymous said...

Ancestry part II
Sir Ness Wadia
Sir Neville Wadia
Nusli Wadia
Ness Wadia

It is known that when Dina married Neville – an Indian national and Parsi, Jinnah said to her that she was not his daughter any more. Jinnah disowned her and the father-daughter relationship and she became 'Mrs. Wadia' in the eyes of Jinnah. Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl. Dina's son Nusli Wadia is a Parsi Gujarati. Dina did not travel to Pakistan until her father's funeral in Karachi in September 1948. Neville Wadia is a strong nationalist. To add to all this Jinnah’s lineage comes from Poonja – a Hindu Bhatia – of Kathaiwar – devotee of Lord Krishna –Shreenathji.

The Pakistan ancestry link loooks very very weak. Vested interests seem to be overplaying the Pakistan part and underplaying the INDIAN Neville Wadia part.
WADIA GROUP IS PURE INDIAN AND NATIONALISTS.

Anon said...

This post was about the descendants of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and so I don't see why Neville Wadia who married Jinnah's daughter should be highlighted as much. Thanks for the added information however, many Muslims in India and Pakistan have Hindu ancestors because they converted. Jinnah's grandfather converted to Islam.

I, myself was not born in Pakistan but I still consider my identity to be Pakistani. Strange huh?

Anonymous said...

Well only Muslims are from holy makka in Arabia. All those in India and in pakistan are forcefully converted by Arabians.

Average Joe Bodybuilder said...

We hope one day that "Mrs. Wadia" fully accepts herself as being part and parcel of Pakistan. Maybe that day will never come, but hope is there.

I was born in Pakistan but spent most of my life in America. 100% lover of Pakistan. 100% hater of Pakistani politicians.

Anonymous said...

Hyper Nasal tone speech is called Jinha or Junho in Sindhi and called also written as jinah in Urdu and English
Brief of Family of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Hypernasal speech or hyperrhinolalia or rhinolalia aperta is inappropriate increased airflow through the nose during speech that is called Jinhah in Sindhi language but it cannot be written and pronunciation in Urdu and English so it is now called as Jinah and his father Ponja was called Jinnah as nick name.

Pashtun said...

Muslim are Monotheist

Hinduism will rot in a hole soon