Moona Kader Sultan: Singapore's Cattle King and the Rise and Fall of a Trader

Who was Moona Kader Sultan?

Moona Kader Sultan was the trader the Singapore press called the Cattle King. He did not raise cattle. He imported cattle and sheep from across the region and sold them in a city that needed fresh meat and milk, and for about 20 years he was the dominant name in that trade. At his peak he was among the wealthiest men in Singapore.

The main source for his life is an article from BiblioAsia, the National Library Board of Singapore's magazine, which tells the story through the mansion he built, Karikal Mahal.

From Karikal to the Singapore docks

Kader Sultan was born in Karikal, a French colonial possession in India, and was a Tamil Muslim. He arrived in Singapore as a teenager in 1879 and began as a moneychanger near the docks. He later said his pay was food and three dollars a month.

He entered the cattle and sheep importation trade after seeing other Tamil Muslims profit from it.

Building the Straits Cattle Trading Company

With partners he built the Straits Cattle Trading Company and, in 1914, acquired the firm outright, which made him the dominant cattle trader in Singapore.

His standing grew outside business as well. He was a member of the Mohammedan Advisory Board, created in 1915, and was named a Justice of the Peace in 1919. He also set up a company football team, served for many years as president of the Malaya Football Association and launched the Kader Sultan Cup.

Karikal Mahal, the palace by the sea

Near the end of World War I he acquired land near Telok Kurau, in the area now called Katong, and built three bungalows on adjoining plots, one with a three-storey tower. The style mixed late-Victorian, Italianate and Indian influences. He claimed the development cost $500,000. The name joins Karikal, his birthplace, with mahal, the Hindi word for palace, which BiblioAsia notes also sounds like the Malay word for expensive.

The estate hosted society events, including a January 1930 tea party attended by more than 1,000 guests. In 1925 France made him a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, and the award was presented at a garden party there.

Investigations, scandal and ruin

Rumours and investigations followed him. His company was investigated for illegal livestock exports in 1897 and charged in 1906 with supplying adulterated milk to hospitals. The Commission on Profiteering looked into it in 1920, and in the same year his name was linked to an attempted murder by mail bomb.

In early 1934 two of his employees assaulted Ferthal Khan, who worked for a rival firm and later died. Kader Sultan denied ordering the attack and was cleared, but the scandal damaged him. His Justice of the Peace appointment was revoked later that year, the company closed in 1935, and in 1936 he was declared bankrupt after failing to pay a creditor just over $50,000.

Death and the fate of Karikal Mahal

Kader Sultan died in June 1937, aged 74, while visiting his hometown in India. He left six sons, five daughters and many grandchildren. Karikal Mahal was auctioned to settle his debts. It was valued at $150,000, but the highest bid was $90,000, and in 1938 a bank acquired it through probate. It later served as a magic club, a Japanese internment camp and a hotel, and part of it is now used as preschools. Karikal Lane is the only remaining trace of the name.

Sources and further reading

The story is told in full in the BiblioAsia article on Karikal Mahal, with a downloadable copy at the National Library Board PDF and a second copy at the issue's alternate PDF. Readers curious about the cattle trade can visit the ranching section of farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about cattle trading.