Its construction was financed by the African nawab Sidi Surur II, formerly an officer. The large, fortress-like structure erected on a knoll was the palace of the Nawab. It was built around 1707. The walls and floors of several rooms were decorated with colored glass. About 4,000 Africans built the fortress of Colombo in the late 17th century.
Photographer: © Himanshu Sarpotdar
Author Kenneth X. Robbins discusses his book, a series of snapshots, in the form of essays by specialists in the history numismatics, architecture, and art history of South Asia.
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In the 14th century, the ruler of Colombo employed 500 Ethiopian soldiers. During the Dutch and British periods Africans from Madagascar and the East African Coast were introduced into Sri Lanka. They assisted the Portuguese in seizing or controlling the strategic ports of the Indian Ocean, beginning with those in Sri Lanka. About 4,000 Africans built the fortress of Colombo in the late 17th century.
All the structures below were built by Africans
nypl.org/blog/2013/01/31/africans-india-slaves-generals-and-rulers
The island of Janjira (from jazeera, island or peninsula in Arabic) was a formidable fortress entirely surrounded by large walls with 22 rounded bastions. It was also known as Habsan (from Habsha, Ethiopia).
Photographer: © Iyer Rajgopal
The first African to be posted at Janjira was Sidi Ambar Sainak, appointed by Malik Ambar in 1617. In 1621 he became the first independent nawab (prince, from the Arabic naib, or deputy) of Janjira and reigned until his death in 1642. The fortress was built between 1701 and 1728. Its construction was financed by the African nawab Sidi Surur II, formerly an officer. The State of Janjira covered an area of about 325 square miles, part on the island and part on the mainland. The Siddis, who were all related to the nawab, lived on the island. A British official wrote in 1883, “They are either landholders or state servants, and, except a few who are poor, are generally well-to-do and able to meet special charges. They are Sunnis of the Hanufi [sic] school, and, except a few of the younger men, are religious and careful to say the daily prayers.”
Photographer: © Iyer Rajgopal
The Siddis had made their island self-sufficient. Their water needs were fulfilled by two reservoirs of fresh water.
Portrait of Malik Ambar. Southern Indian, 1610-20, Ahmednagar, Deccan, India. Opaque watercolor on paper 36.7 x 23.9 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Ross-Coomaraswamy Collection, 17.3103.
This portrait, putatively of Malik Ambar, is believed to be of his son, Fateh Khan. Fateh Khan married the daughter of another Habshi (Ethiopian), one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom. In 1631 vizier—top official—Fateh Khan deposed the sultan and installed Hussain Shah in his place. Khan held the real power until 1633, when both were exiled to Delhi and the kingdom was annexed by the Mughals.
Tomb Of Malik Ambar
Photographer: © Henry Drewal
“A mile outside Raoza [now Khuldabad] proper, north-west, stands the tomb of Malik Ambar, the celebrated minister of Ahmednagar and the founder of the city of Aurangabad. It is built of plain stone, and is surmounted by a lofty dome, the interior of which is carved in various devices, and is remarkable for the echo which it possesses. The grave, which consists of a small stone-covered mound in the usual Mahomedan style, occupies a raised platform in the center. It contains no inscription of any kind.”—Syed Hossain Bilgrami, ed., Historical and descriptive sketch of His Highness the Nizam’s Dominions (Bombay, 1884)
Mughal or Deccani Painting, c. 1640-1660. Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection.
Sidi Sa’d was a follower of the Ethiopian-born Deccan ruler Malik Ambar. He is shown playing the typical Nubian lyre.
Today these lyres, called nangas by the Siddis, can be seen in their shrines, but no one knows how to play them.
Photographer: © Akshay Charegaonkar, Mumbai, India
Well-conceived and well-defended, Janjira was never conquered. Originally, the fort counted 572 cannons; most were made in India, and seven came from various European countries. Siddi rule over the island lasted 330 years. It was inhabited until 1972.
Photographer: © Himanshu Sarpotdar
There were two Muslim and one Hindu neighborhoods, which contained hundreds of houses. “The Sidis deck their walls with swords, shields, lances, muskets, guns, knives, and daggers. Most well-to-do families have male and female servants, and a stock of cows, buffaloes, goats, and bullocks. Rich families have four to eight bondsmen and bondswomen, generally the children of poor Hindus who have been bought and made Musalmans. These bondsmen and bondswomen are not hereditary and they can at their pleasure leave their master who feeds them and clothes them.”—Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, 1883.
Photographer: © Akshay Charegaonkar, Mumbai, India
Janjira is considered one of the best specimens of naval fort architecture. Its inner buildings that housed a full court and garrison were powerful and elegant. Plaques with inscriptions in Persian to the glory of the nawabs decorated some walls. The fort had a grand entrance, a secret exit door and underground passages.
Photographer: © Pradosh Biswas
These tombs of nawabs and noblemen are located opposite the Jamal Masjid.
Photographer: © Khalil Sawant
The palace is built on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea. Its Turkish architect designed it so that it appears to be a different structure depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The palace itself is more than 20,000 square feet, and an extension covers more than 10,000 square feet. The palace, with its magnificent rooms, stained glass ceiling, marble staircases and unique decorations is still inhabited by the nawab family.
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library.
Between 1770 and 1834, more than 6,200 people from Mozambique were transported to Diu and Daman in Gujarat, and to Goa, the Portuguese enclave. Between 1830 and 1875 Africans liberated from slave ships were sent to Surat and Mumbai—half the Africans in that city worked in the maritime professions—and some migrated to Hyderabad to the southeast, where an African Cavalry Guard was formed in 1863.
Photographer: © Henry Drewal
Siddis—also called Habshi, Kaphri or African—number about 50,000 in India. It is estimated that 18,000 live in the state of Karnataka, 10,000 in Gujarat and 12,000 in Andhra Pradesh (mostly in Hyderabad). Many Muslim Siddis left after Indian independence in 1947 and settled in Pakistan.
Pakistan has the largest number of people of African descent in South Asia. It has been estimated that at least a quarter of the total population living on the Makran coast are of African ancestry—that is, at least 250,000 men and women can claim East African descent on the southern coast of Pakistan and in the easternmost part of southern Iran. In Pakistan, African descendants are called Sheedi (Siddi.) Many are also called Makrani, whether or not they live in Makran.
Historical records indicate that in the 19th century 874 African soldiers served in the 3rd and 4th Ceylon regiments. In 1865, when the 3rd Ceylon Regiment’s detachment in Puttalam was disbanded, soldiers from the African garrison were given plots of land in the area, where they retired.
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