In a little village called Talala in Junagadh district of Gujarat, India, two men are avidly discussing cattle, rains and other local gossip. Under normal circumstances you would not even look twice in their direction. But here, something is visibly different. Because although the men are speaking Gujarati, the local Indian language, they do not look Gujaratis, not even Indians but people from the distant land of Africa! As you look around slowly you are confronted with hundreds of similar men and women all around you, who look Africans but are otherwise eating, speaking, living like any other Indian in India.
Welcome to the land of Siddis- the Afro-Indian tribes of the world!
Courtesy Ripple SM from Flickr
From Africa to India
It is said, that the siddis are people of different tribes of East Africa, specifically Ethiopia, who came to India centuries ago some looking for work others taken as slaves. India has since early times traded with Africa. Sea trade between east and southern Africa, and Gujarat in India was established more than 2,000 years ago. Historians also suggest that contacts between Ethiopia and India have taken place since the times of the Greco-Roman Empire. Hence, even before the first people of Africa were brought to America, Brazil and the Caribbean, the sea-trade between the continents of Asia and Africa, ensured many Africans to work live and later settle in India.
As time went by, siddis became part of India like any other community of the country and came to be highly regarded for their honesty, strength, loyalty and ability to work very hard. Some Siddi leaders established principalities like the Janjira Island and the city of Jaffrabad as early as 12th century. Some also rose in hierarchy as noblemen in Indian courts and close confidants to rulers. A prominent Siddi figure called Malik Ambar established the city of Khirki now known as Aurangabad and was even feared by the great Mughals for his intelligence and war tactics.
The name
Siddis were not known as siddis from the beginning, because it was not a specific group of tribes from Africa that came to India but many people from many tribes.
It was mostly Muslim traders who brought them to India. These Arab traders were called Saiyeds and therefore it is believed the name Siddi was used to denote the people brought by Saiyeds.
Another theory is that this word was the term of respect in North Africa and thus the group from Africa was addressed that way.
Some Africans were also part of an Arab invasion on India in the 7th Century by Muhammad bin Quasim and these people were earlier known as the Zanzis but later they too came to be known as Siddis.
The language
The people of Ethiopia, who came to India for work, were from different tribes with similar languages and cultural habits. But in India they were all in small groups and in the beginning though they spoke in their native language, communication became more and more indianised with Indian languages so frequently used around them.
That is why, today, they speak fluently in Gujarati in Gujarat, in Goanese in Goa and in Kannada in Karnataka, the main three regions of India where Siddis can be found.
It is like a cultural concoction where they have formed their own ethnic enclave by retaining some of the Eastern African cultural uniqueness and also adapting to the Indian way of living.
Courtesy Raveesh Vyas from Flickr
Religion
Majority of the Siddi today, are Muslims owing to the influence of the Muslim dynasty they served and also the Muslim traders. But some also follow Hinduism and Christianity in Diu, Daman, Goa and Karnataka states.
The dance
Go to any Siddi village today, and you will not find any specific habit, custom or culture that reminds you of their African past except perhaps their energetic dance called the dhamal in Gujarat. This is the Goma music and dance form which is believed to be derived from the Ngoma drumming and dance forms of East Africa.The Goma also has a spiritual significance and, at the climax of the dance, some dancers are said to be the vehicles of Siddi saints of the past.
Like the vibrant dances Africa is associated with, this dance too performed by the Siddi youths on special occasions, is colorful, vibrant and full of life. While the dresses and face painting grab your attention initially, once the dance starts, it is the rythm and the ritualistic chant and movement, the beating of the drums that takes you to a new high with each beat.Some also show various antics like breaking coconuts on the head or forming a human pyramid etc.
Ongoing Performance, Courtesy sanjayausta from Flickr
In a country where every few steps you will find a new custom, tradition, or ethnicity , the Siddis offer yet another global angle to the multicultural diversity of India.
