Mullah Abdullah, A Mullah? A Reassessment of the Assertions and the Evidence

Abstract On January 1, 1915, Gool Badsha Muhammad and Mullah Abdullah shot at a picnic train as it left the city of Broken Hill, Australia, headed towards the village of Silverton, killing four and wounding seven. Had it not been for this horrific act and tragic loss of life, it is likely that little would be remembered of the perpetrators. The focus of this paper is to provide a reassessment of the often-reiterated claim that Mullah Abdullah was the mullah, imam, or “Islamic priest” of the Cameleer community in Broken Hill. After examining scholarly literature evidence will be drawn, primarily from newspaper reports of the period to assess what, if any, support there is for this claim. The paper will utilize comments made within the newspaper reports regarding Mullah Abdullah in order to examine the extent to which he could have been considered a religious leader amongst his community.