the first afghan cameleers arrived in australia on june 1860.
when did the first afghan cameleers arrive in australia?
june 1860
although afghans without camels are reported to have reached australia as early as 1838, in the latter part of the 19th century several thousand men from afghanistan, baluchistan, kashmir, sind, rajasthan, egypt, persia, turkey and punjab, but collectively known as "afghans", were recruited during initial british development of the australian outback, especially for the operation of camel trains in desert areas. the first afghan cameleers arrived in melbourne in june 1860, when three men arrived with a shipment of 24 camels for the burke and wills expedition. they continued to work in the arid interior of the continent from the 1860s to the 1930s, until finally being superseded by the development of railways and motorised road transport. the afghans played an important supportive role in the exploration and economic development of the interior through carting water, food and materials to remote pastoral stations and mining settlements, as well as for the construction of the overland telegraph, and the port augusta to alice springs railway. they also had an important role in establishing the muslim faith in australia.
afghan australians
at first a special room set aside in someone's house served as places of prayer, but as time went on, the muslim communities wanted to have dedicated places of worship. at marree, an important junction of the camel trade, the afghan cameleers built the earliest mosque in australia in 1861, a simple mud and tin-roofed building, but this subsequently fell into disuse and was demolished.





























over time, as some members of the afghan community prospered through trade and camel breeding, they contributed towards the building of the oldest permanent mosque in australia, the central adelaide mosque in 1888–89.
afghan cameleers in australia