Who are the Siddi people?
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Post In: African tribes, arts & culture
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At least, there are 20,000 African-origin ethnic tribes who have been living in India for centuries. Siddis, as they are called, are descendants of the Bantu people of East Africa. Siddi ancestors were largely brought to India by Arabs as early as the 7th Century, followed by the Portuguese and then the British later on.Others were free Africans who came to India as merchants, sailors, and mercenaries and stayed. When slavery was abolished in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Siddis fled into the country’s thick jungles, fearing recapture and torture.These first African settlers in India were originally known as Habshis, which is Persian for Abyssinian (Abyssinia means Ethiopia). But those who rose through the ranks of royal retinue were honored with the title Siddi, which is most likely derived from the Arabic word for master, sayed/sayyid.It is not very clear when the use of the term Habshi declined and Siddi replaced it, but today, Siddi refers to all people of African descent in India. (BBC, 2016 documentary,” India’s forgotten African tribe”)
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