African Indians
Compared to the fate of Africans of the Americas, the history of Africans in India is still largely unknown to the west.
There are small communities like Jambur scattered along India’s west coast. They are the home to the descendants of Africans who arrived on theIndian continent thousands of years ago. Many of them travelled there as mercenaries, merchants and sailors.
Sea trade between east and southern Africa, and Gujarat in India was established more than 2,000 years ago.
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Many of India’s kings and princes recruited Africans as their ministers, personal bodyguards, and musicians. In some parts of India and Pakistan Sidis even rose to be powerful generals or kings themselves.
Hye,
I’m an african and i would like what is exactly the situation of black people there in India…just give the thruth.
thanks
bladeboxe
i was just reading about Africans in India. check out a book called “African Elites in India – Habshi Amarat” by Kenneth X Robbins & John McLoad. Inda had links with Africa long before Europens arrived on the scene. some africans came as traders, merchants, or mercenary soldiers. others came as slaves. though it appears to me that this sort of slvery cannot be compared ti european trans atlantic slavery like in America. More like internal slavery within africa and the arab world, slaves were not regarded as lesser human beings and in many cases rose to prominent positions of power. In india up until independence two kindoms (Janjira and Sachin) were run by african dynasties. Its a pity how little we actually know of our history. In many ways India was a more global and less bigotted place few hundred years ago
what i really wanted to know was can a Trinidadian that comes from a blood line of Indians become a Rastafarian? leave your comments at trinicolada@yahoo.com
thank you bless
greetings in the name of jah rastafari. teachings, no to racial pride , no to national pride,yes to one world ,yes to one race THE HUMAN RACE.throw out evil teachings. there is only one race, the human race.
My name is Adam Mikael Taalam. An African. A muslim is what I am. A rastafarian is what am striving to be. In solidarity with all who preach one race, the human race. If your faith inhibits you from becoming a full Rastaman then you can join the Friends Of His Imperial Majesty (FOHIM) and help showcase the Rastafarian cause by words and did in your neighbourhood and the world will be a better place. Long live His Imperial Majesty (HIM).
The history of so-called African Indians is a mystery to the writer as well….smoking too much weed me thinks.
The Sidi are just negroid slaves brought to India by the British…..God knows why….its not as if India needed any more low-class thrash, but there u have them….Sidis living in the bushes and jungles like animals, totally excluded from Hindhu society. It is a fallacy to things that there was a great, ancient naval Negroid migration to Europe and Asia……Negroid tribes had not even discovered iron and metals….how could they conquer any army or build a ship???
Hindhu society has a strict caste system, where untouchables (dark skinned people) are not allowed anywhere near a higher caste person……therfore it is impossible for Africans to serve with Hindu kings or satraps……. or even walk on the same street.
Dear Khalsa
you’re obviously poor and bitter; in additiion to this you need an education. Such a small mind, as your, limits your life and ability. You, of all people, are no better than anyone else. And you’re an embarassment to our community.
With that beng said, I DON’t CARE IF YOU’RE (european/white, African, Arab, Asian, Indian)
AT THE END OF THE DAY ALL OF YOU:
BURP, FART, POOP, PISS / URINATE, SLEEP, BREATHE, EAT, PASS GAS, SMELL (without the practice of bathing) and EVentually PASS AWAY- or become DECEASE or di
I DON’t Care what race you are: NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER (no one)
and with that being said
NO ONE IS ANY BETTER THAN THE OTHER
I t doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters is the life that you live/legacy that is left behind
You really need to shut the f^%k up honestly, you do now know what you are talking about. I am from an extremely wealthy family and we respect people from all castes and race. These people are put down everyday and people like you make things worse. You need to keep your mouth shut and go back into the hole you came from.
@ Khalsa please go do some basic reading before commenting.There was Malik Ambar whose original name was Shambu,who was born in the Harar province in Ethiopia in about 1550.The circumstances of how he became enslaved is unknown. but he ended up in India.His master at Mocha,Kazi Hussein,recognizing that Shambu possessed intellectual quilities,educated him in administration and finance.It was during this period that Shambu became a Muslim and was named Ambar by Hussien.
Around 1575 he was purchased by Chingiz Khan,The prime mister to Nizam Mul-Mulk Bani, king of Ahmadnagar. Chingiz khan was himself of African origin and may well have been a desendant of African mercenaries who served as far back as the 13th century in many parts of India. At any rate Chingiz Khan was one of several prominent Habishis in the area. Chingiz Khan was impressed by Amber’s knowledge of Arabic,his loyalty, and his general intellengence. It is likely that those qualities also won him the respect of the other Habishi slaves. In short he promoted Ambar to a position of military and administrative responsibility. He later served under another King at Bijapur where he became a military commander and was well respected by the Arab troops he commanded.
In about 1590, when the king refused to grant him additional funds for Arab trainees,he deserted and took several Arabs eith him.Malik Ambar and his Arab supporters attracted other men ,both African and Deccani, and eventually built up and independent army of 1500 cavalrymen and infantry who fought as mercenaries for various kings. He was able to gain control over King Murtaza 2nd , and with that he started his career as king and not a bad one at that. He stopped the Mughuls in their tracks attracted more trade to the Deccan and bulid public works . and yes he an Ex slave had Brahmins working for him as his principal financial officails and tax collectors.
Iron making goes back to Nok culture in Nigeria over 900 yrs bc other base metals thousands of yrs before that, steel making in east Africa is hundreds of yrs old, and the Sawahelli peoples and their ansectors has been sailing between India, Arabia , and possibily China from at least Greco-Roman times so go smoke on that.
Ackee people like Cheikh Anta Diop,J.A. Rogers,Runoko Rashidi, & Ivan Van Sertima
have written on this topic…great to have knowledge shared amongst those willing to read.
Khalsa enjoys stereotyping & going along with the “program” so as not to disturb certain folks.
The Siddhi were first brought by the Arabs descendants of the Zenghi of Africa – not the British. Today Indians are not Africans and Africans are not Indians. Nevertheless, in ancient times peoples of almost identical appearance and culture once lived in both Africa and India. Among them were the peoples Herodotus and the Periplus of the Indian Ocean called Ethiopians. The Ethiopians of Saurashtra south of the Indi of the Indus were very tall, black pastoral peoples according to the Periplus of the Indian Ocean ascribed to Arrian of the 1-2nd c. . Herodotus said the culture of the Eastern Ethiopians was identical to those of the equally tall black pastoral Western Ethiopians otherwise known as Sabaeans (Josephus). The only thing that differed about them was the character of the hair. These people were possibly the indigeous Jats or so called “black Zotti” of Iranian writers also called tall lank and dark brown by Arabic speaking historians.
Many Dravidian speakers such as Irula, Tamil, Telegu, Kurumba and in fact who in their unmixed form in rural areas are very short and kinky haired and black as many Africans- are obviously not the same people, as the taller Ethiopians .
The skeletal evidence from Lothal found by early anthropologists claimed they were similar to the Kenya Capsians or Elmenteitans and were thought to have dated from the same period who have since been found to have been originated from southern Saharan culture. This is just one of the populations of pre-Scythic India related to Africans both culturally and biologically.
As for the Hindu caste society some “untouchables” or daalit Professors in the U.S. have told me in their opinion the Indian upper castes are the most racist people in the world, and one certainly doesn’t have to be dark in color to experience it .
The daalits of whatever color also experience the same discrimination by upper caste Indians living in the U.S.
salaam
funny you said that.im new to this site,but maybe you should read into more articles.your statement supports all historical events and current conditions and reasons behind African suppression.truth crushed to earth shall rise again.
It is also true that many such people as the Puliyar Kurumba, Kota, Kola, Kader, Paniyan, Sambavar still called Adi-Dravida appear in photographs in European colonials’ books indistinguishable from Africans. Thus Harry Johnson’s book, The Negro in the New World, presents some photographs of these Dravidian daalits in a section called The Negro Sub-species pp. 27-28.
Dana,
Two things. Tamil and Telugu are languages not peoples. Secondly, Paniyar, Kurumba, Kota, etc., you refer to are the original aboriginal people of India commonly known as the tribals. They are less than 8% of the population and lead secluded life in the hills and are not part of the greater society. Also, they are related to Australoids who migrated from SE Asia after the Toba volcano 60,000 ybp which annihilated the population of India and Pakistan.
Dana,
Also you are confusing Dravidians with Australoids. Dravidian skull structure has been studied extensively and repeatedly shown to be caucasoid. Only the Australoids have kinky hair. Dravidians for the most part have straight and in some cases wavy or curly hair. The only Dravidians with kinky hair are those from lower castes that have intermarried with the Australoids. The vast majority of the Dravidians are Caucasoid.
You are wrong about the Jats. They are the most similar to Western Europeans of all Indians both in stature/features and coloring.
Finally, it’s ironic that you speak of the racist upper castes. Do you realize that what people like you and Clyde Winters do is racist as well. By attributing Indian history and legacy to blacks, you are implying that Indians are somehow incapable of achieving these themselves.
Rani,
Are these the Tamils you are talking about ?
The same one that a Dr K.Loganathan Jan 2003 speaks about below on a blog?
“Dear Friends
The issue of the linkage between Africans and Dravidians is not something that can be dismissed as something that has no substance in it at all. Anyone who sees the Ethiopians and Tamils could see a remarkable physical resemblance and during my stay in London I mistook some Ethiopians in fact for Tamils.”
Are these the Caucasoids they are talking about Rani. Well fine have it your way.
The good doctor goes on to talk about Dr. Aravanan’s, (the anthropologist) book:
“The book also contains many photographs that reveal the presence of Muruka worship among the East Africans where the Vel, the Spear and the Mayil, the peacock are unmistakably similar to those in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
I shall select only some relevant parts from some of these essays so that they enjoy a wider publicity and the issue of the African connections, among others, of the Dravidians folks becomes a lively again. This may also serve as an antidote to the very popular and highly publicized Aryan Racialism of many scholars both European and Indian.”
Dr K.Loganathan Jan 2003
Rani, I think you are confusing Aryan Racialism with common sense Tamils may be related more to Ethiopians then they are to Austronesians but neither of these is Caucasoid in the sense that you wish it to be. There are many Shri Lankan Dravidians or Tamil with kinky hair who have had nothing to do with intermarrying with “Australoids”.
Furthermore the Dravidian “tribals” I mentioned have been found by geneticists to have entered India later than Austronesian speakers. Leaving them aside, however, until you can explain to me why black Africans have dozens of the same cultural features in common with ancient Dravidians and why the dialects of the Dravidians resemble so closely those of the black Elamites (who by the way look more like the tribal Dravids then the Ethiopian looking Dravidians) then I suggest you start researching this question like some of us the rest of Dravidian scholars are doing.
I personally am not attributing history to blacks. If certain people had a black appearance and were connected to Africans, however, that should not bother anyone. Of course if one is a racist upper caste Indian, that might be another story.
And lastly Rani – “The comment that Jats – are the most similar to Western Europeans of all Indians both in stature/features and coloring.” is not really relevant since I was talking about the early Jat populations. I know what Jats look like they are varied in color and appearance as are most North Indian groups today.
Some are dark brown and some are very light in color. The early Jats are only described as tall, dark brown and lank- haired in midieval and early Iranian and Arabic texts. Furthermore one can google blogs on line at anytime and read about dark and light colored Jats arguing about who is the real Jat and calling each other names like monkey and that sort of thing.
Ok slightly off topic, I was watching a video on youtube about the Sentinalese people of the Andaman islands, who are known to be one of the more agressive tribes. Anyway on one of the first “peaceful” encounters with outsiders, a group of Indians came with coconuts on a boat as a gesture of good intentions. They were trying to communicate to the islanders by saying “Lam, Lam” which means come here in another andaman language.
Straight away i was shocked for three main reasons. One, I know for a fact that in a few north solomon languages “Lam” also means come here. Two, I realised that these people shared a mixture of African and Bougainvillean / Solomon Island appearance. ( also the andaman islands are roughly halfway between Africa and Bougainville) . The third reason I was shocked was, even though some scientists claim that oceanic people have different genetic make up to Africans, the fact that some languages are similar might prove that some people in the Pacific are of more recent african ancestry than previously thought. Who knows? Just google image search for Bougainvillean and Andaman Islanders and you’ll see for yourself the similarities.
If this where true once apon a time this group of people (possibly of more recent African decent than previously thought) occupied the whole area stretching from Africa all the way to the Pacific ocean. Well, either that or they sailed there. I just found it interesting because i see similarities in Bougainvillean and Africans (the people of Bougainville are darkest skinned people in the Pacific who have been described as being so black they look blue) They are classed as melanesians but are easily distinguishable to other melanesians from New Guinea all the way to Fiji whose people ethnically are a mixture of these original dark people and south east asians, Indians, polynesians and micronesians.
Nubians were in Indi-Kwush long before these mixture of caucasians in India Calling themselves indians. The word indian is not a race of people. The word indian means an indigenous person of that land!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These people ruling present day india aren’t the original people of that land, and they know it!!!!!!!!
im mixed with black and pakistan, and i also have a twin. and we are mainly more accepted by the black population, rather than pakistani one. my dadleft when we where young, and he remarried and have 3 other kids whom are fully pakistani. it hurts sometimes to be looked down upon.