Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

He was born and raised in Vaghnagar, Kathiawar in 1883. He was a persuasive religious since childhood. His father, Ghulam Hussain Padamsi was once a famous hostage of Imam Hasan Ali Shah, who died on September 15, 1927.
Manji Ghulam Hussain came to Bombay in 1896 at the age of 13 years, and worked in his uncle's glassware shop, Saleh Muhammad Padamsi. He controlled the whole business after his uncle's death, brought it on steady progress, and became one of the business magnates in Bombay. He formed The Bombay Glassware Merchant Association in 1923 and became its first President till his death.

His appearance in the arena of community services began through the membership of the Panjibhai Club in Kandi Mola, Bombay and was soon appointed its Kamadia. He also served as the Hon. Auditor of the Ismaili Dharmik Library, Khadak, Bombay in 1905. He became the first honorary chief secretary of the Recreation Club Institute. He established the Kandi Mola Girls School on January 16, 1909 and served as Honorary Secretary with Rehmatullah Devji as a President.

He strove much to promote the notion of education amongst the girls and served many years in the Kandi Mola Girls School. It was his oft-repeated words, 'By educating a boy, one gets an educated individual; but by educating a girl, one gets an educated family. So long as girls are kept in the miserable ignorance, all the universities and colleges are a waste.' He would also say, 'Women are treated in society as a lifeless machine, incapable of participating with men in the pursuit of education. Let her world not be confined to her home, beyond which she does not know.'

He spent colossal amount for the marriages of girls who completed their education. He was also a member of the Ismaili Council. In 1922, he was made the member of the Supreme Council for Kathiawar, and in the same year, he was appointed the member of the Central Education Board for Kathiawar. In 1924, he became the President of the Supreme Council for Kathiawar, and also the President of the Central Education Board for Kathiawar. In the second grand conference of the councilors of the local and Supreme Councils for India, held on March 4, 1925 at Jodhpur, he was elected to preside over the conference. He was also a member of the cabinet council for The Aga Khan's Bombay Volunteer Corps. He was also generous and granted a princely fund for the premises of the Ismailia Central Free School in the name of his father, and for the new Jamatkhana of Sarthan

He died on November 24, 1925 at his Padamsi Seaview Bungalow, Bombay at 6.00 a.m. The Imam said at the Bombay Jamatkhana on January 22, 1926 that, 'I am sad for Manji's demise. He served me tremendously. His services are glorified in all places. He was a chief (sardar) in the Kathiawar Supreme Council.'