At the age of thirty and upon the death of his father he left home to wander India, embarking on a career as an itinerant peddler.

[4] In 1895, A.M. Jeevanjee of Karachi — as he was called at the time, was awarded the contract to supply the Imperial British East Africa Company with labour as they built the Uganda Railway.

Most of the workforce were Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims who worked as skilled labourers, artisans, bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, tailors, motor mechanics and electrical fitters.

It was estimated that at the turn of the century, he was the leading property owner in both Nairobi and Mombasa, owning the greater part of the former and half of the latter.

[11] His plans were thwarted following the outbreak of a plague in 1908, which authorities blamed on unhygienic conditions in his market and resulted in the colonial government restricting lower class Indians and Africans to specific quarters for residence and small time trading.

During the First World War, he offered his services to the government to help alleviate food shortages suffered by Indians in German East Africa and Zanzibar.

[15] When construction of the Uganda Railway reached Lake Victoria, Jeevanjee began taking an active role in political life, and launched the African Standard which was a weekly newspaper.

[19] In September 1910 he visited London and gave an interview to the Daily Chronicle criticising attempts by European settlers to exclude Indians from a share in the country's commerce.

His appeal failed to attract the attention of the Indian National Congress but he did receive support from the Aga Khan, then head of the All India Muslim League and Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

[24] In 1920, he gave a fiery speech attacking racist settler policies restricting Indian access to the franchise and White Highlands and citing discrimination in taxation, education, municipal services and residential areas.

In 1926 his protege Manilal Desai died and he returned to the forefront when asked to preside over the sixth session of the East African Indian National Congress to help a rift between radicals and moderates.

The youngest remaining daughter of Jeevanjee, the late Shirin Najmudean moved to Nairobi to stop the planned development on the piece of land.