Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Siddis: a slice of East Africa in India

I was reading Owais Mughal's post on his blog about the Sheedis of Karachi and it got me thinking about the Siddis who live on the West Coast of India. I remembered the old documentaries on Doordarshan from my childhood that referred to them. My interest was piqued and I tried to find out more about them.

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Siddi community, they are of East African descent. Their ancestors are said to have arrived in India between the 11th and 19th centuries. While most seem to have been brought to India as slaves by Arabs and Europeans, many were also apparently free men - merchants, soldiers, administrators etc. Some of them even rose to prominence, (source: Wikipedia page) though it is not clear if these were actually Habashis (Abbysinians) who are being confused with Siddis.

A Smiling Siddi Girl


The origin of the name 'Siddi' for the community is not completely clear. In Western Arabic and in Egypt, the word 'Siddi' has the same meaning as 'Syed', i.e. somebody who can trace his origin to Prophet Muhammad's family and is a honorific title. One theory suggests that the name was used by them on conversion into Islam. On the other hand, Siddis are not exclusively Muslim. Many of them are Hindus and a few (particularly in and around Goa) are Catholics as well. Hence, this explanation for the origins of the name is not perfect.

In Pakistan, they are referred to as Sheedis, and not Siddis. In that country, they are mostly concentrated in the Karachi area. In India, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 Siddis in Gujarat, with some exclusively Siddi settlements inside the Gir forest near Junagarh (incidentally, the only abode in the wild for the Asiatic lions). It appears that most of the Siddis in Gujarat were brought there by the Nawabs of Junagarh in the 15th and 16th centuries. There are also significant settlements in the areas around Goa (where the Portuguese brought them as slaves and from whom they escaped into neighbouring areas currently in Maharashtra and Karnataka).

Siddis have largely assimilated into the local populations where they live, adopting local religions, languages, food habits and clothes. The only remaining cultural traits from their African origins are their music and dance forms. The dance form that they are most famous for is called Dhamal.

Dhamal Dance


While they are culturally assimilated, there has been little, if any, intermarriage between tribals and others in the areas they live in and hence they have remained a distinct community. They have also faced discrimination and isolation. In Saurashtra, they are the only tribal community and are at the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy. They are an extremely impoverished community and either live off the land inside forest areas or are employed as agricultural labourers. The Government of India has designated them as a Scheduled Tribe, thereby giving them access to affirmative action e.g. reserved seats in educational institutions and in Government jobs and financial assistance. However, their small numbers, coupled with low development status and general apathy of the Government has ensured that very few Indians even know about their existence. One famous Siddi is the goalkeeper of the Salgaocar SC football club of Goa (one of the most prominent and successful clubs in the premier division of the national football league) - Juje Siddi. But apart from him, I was unable to come up with contemporary examples of Siddis in any significant modern occupation.

In sum, the Siddis constitute a unique element in the diverse society that is India and the same is the case in Pakistan. While facilitating the preservation of their unique culture and allowing them to retain whatever level of distinctiveness they wish to retain, it is incumbent upon our Governments and socieites at large to help this community develop and gain access to modern education and employment.

References and resources:
1. Wikipedia page on Siddis
2. K. L. Kamat's photo essay "The African Connection"
3. Team Members of Salgaocar SC, Goa
4. Essay on the Siddis of Janjira and the Dhamal dance

Photo credits
1. Siddi girl: The African Presence in India: A Photo Essay: by Runoko Rashidi, originally from K. L. Kamat's photo essay on the Siddis.
2. Dhamal Dance: Press Information Bureau, Government of India.

1 Comments:

Blogger Owais Mughal said...

Great post Sridhar. It is very well researched. Good to see you here. I am looking forward to see more articles from you.

8:53 PM  

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