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.
BBC: In pictures: India’s African Communities
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.
ethiopians look different from the rest of native africans..ethiopians are of mix race,these people are mix with the east india race.thin lips,fine skinny feature,big eyes ect.
Indian are you brainless. life begin in Africa Ethiopia and Ethiopian travel all parts of the earth and inhabit it they were the people of Indian when Indian was call indo Cush before the arrival of the Aryan. then how on earth they the Ethiopian are east Indian when east Indian care from them. think first brother and do you history .
Most East Indians are in denial as to the truth of their origin. Many believe the bollywood lie of all east indians looking or being near white even if they themselves have black skin. East indians like to classify themselves not as brown skin but wheatish in complexion even if they are black like tar. Sometimes i would say to them you are blacker than me. Then they would show me the underside of their arm. Then i would show them mine which was much lighter than theirs. Of course their are fair skinned east indians but they and even the darker ones are hybrids – a direct result of europe adamixture of the black native populations.
I have only ever met one east indian who admitted to his black origin. I attended an assembly designed to empower black students in high school and it was organized by an east indian who said like us, he’s black. I wish was still people like him around to give those talks to black student because they are still needed. All the kids are getting know are jews drilling in their heads that they are victims of holicaust as if black people are not faced with agendas of current genocide through foods that are causing disease and increased incidence of homosexuality (yes, albinos are fucking with the food that’s why there is an increased incidence of homosexuality and inflammatory diseases).
In any event, due to the legacy of the caste system most east indians hybrids would rather not associate with anything darker than themselves muchless anyone black. This,”indian” who is claiming that east indians are ethiopians is more than likely white. I live in the epicentre of multiculturalism. There is no such thing by the way. But in canada where i live many of us sharing each other’s culture so we come close. Most of these so called multicultures set up their own banana republic – coexisting in the same areas but never really mixing. Thus, I have been to ethiopian restaurants and has eatened at ethiopian restaurants and i have yet to see one that looks likes an east indian. And yes, i have met ethiopians and soma
Plians who deny their africanness. Self hatred is one of the legacies left behind by the invaders. Its one thing for a black person who was born on this hemiphere with no direct linkage to africa aside from the tales of enslavement and slave ships told to them by albinos say they are not from africa but to hear some who has family and history on the continent say the same denotes some kind of sickness.
I once met a fair skin east indian woman who told me that she never wanted to marry a man as fair as herself. She desired a man with much darker skin to balance out her fairness of skin. Im not sure why she told me this but then again i had previously read a book on why white woman prefer black men. Unlike the picture presented by insecure albino men as to this being a fetish, it is simply not true. These women are responding to a genetic coding that gives them the desire to go back to the original.
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.
hello rani, how are you?
Keep in mind your socalled defintions of people are very europeam – austroloid , negroid , and caucusoid . The socalled aboriginal people are thought of to be people who mirated from africa as well
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.
Caucasian is a term coined by a Russian anthropologist at the turn of the nineteenth century and like Aryan has no proper meaning – even though it is used by many ill informed people. In the nineteenth century the people of Ethiopia were wrongly classified as Caucasians. The word itself refers to the Caucus Mountains and refers to a geographical area, while Aryan refers to a Linguistic area. The Russians refer to the Caucasians as black; the western Europeans refer to “Caucasians” as white; the word Aryan itself means Iranian. There is confusion!
The Dravidians are blacker than most blacks of obvious African descent. When does a skull denote a non member of the African race – which is the most diverse race in the world? I say race because I am trying to address ignorance – the Afar of Ethiopia, and the Amharas are examples of this diversity; the former are Kushites, while the latter are Semites. It seems to me that people tend to discus things from their own state of blissful ignorance. These terms such as Caucasian and Aryan are conflicting terms based on unproven theories about the past. The Europeans reckon that they are Aryans (Iranians); the Iranians say they have no record of their being in Iran as aborigines. Let us not be baffled by theories; that is what they are and are not worth sleepless night or dying over. I am suer oft his, however, Rani is good at passing down the gospel according to bwana; she has no observations of her own and that is regrettable.
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.
hello dana, how are you?