Marree Mosque & Marree Factsheet

On my daily mission in real estate sector serving agriculture clients. Sometimes, I feel I am driving in Baluchistan/...

Posted by Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia on Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Marree is a small town located in the north of South Australia. It lies 685 kilometres (426 mi) North of Adelaide at the junction of the Oodnadatta Track and the Birdsville Track, 49 metres (161 ft) above sea level.[1] The area is the home of the Dieri people. At the 2011 census, the Marree district which is the entire NE corner of South Australia had a population of 634, with 70% of the population being male.[2] The town of Marree has a population of approximately 60 persons. The major areas of employment are mining, agriculture and accommodation services. The town was home to Australia's first mosque, which was made of mud brick and built by the Afghan cameleers employed at Marree's inception. At one time the town was divided in two, with Europeans on one side and Afghans and Aborigines on the other.[ The Dieri is an Indigenous Australian group and language from the South Australian desert—specifically Cooper and Leigh Creek, Lake Howitt, and Lake Hope, Lake Gregory and Clayton River and low country north of Mount Freeling. Diari Diyeri Dieyerie Deerie Dayerrie Dthee-eri Kunari (Cooper Creek) Koonarie Wongkadieri (by Arabana) Tiari (by south. Arrernte) Urrominna Kujani Tirari Diyari I wonder it may be derived from Dera as we call in Pakistan like Dera Murad Jammali & Dera Ghazi Khan. At Iraq Turkish border we have a town called Diar Bakr. Above alternate names ending on style of arabic culture. We have so many Kunars in Punjab or Pakistan. The Marree Mosque was built in Marree, South Australia around 1882 (some sources indicate as early as 1861[1]), by member of the Australian "Afghan" community.[2] These "Afghans" were generally Muslims from then-British India, although some came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. They worked as cameldrivers and breeders in the region.[3] Figures indicate an approximation that 3000 "Ghans" were involved in this type of work until it was overtaken by the car and train in the 1930s.[2][3] The mosque was constructed by camel breeder Abdul Kadir (Australia), owner of Wangamanna Station.[4] Another camelleer, Mullah Assim Khan, became imam of the Marree mosque in the early 20th century. The town eventually had two mosques, the northern of which was abandoned around 1910.[5] Another report indicates a mosque was deliberately demolished in 1956 by its elderly caretaker, Syed Goolamdeen, who could no longer maintain it, since many descendants of Afghans no longer practised Islam.[6] As of 2003, the descendants of the Afghans in Marree have rebuilt the mosque.[