It was ruled by Abyssinian Muslims called – SIDDI. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch a glimpse of sunset over the beauty of the Murud beach. An architectural beauty in the Arabian sea, off the coast of Murud, the fort is about 50 feet high. The fort and its buildings lacks architectural ornamentation. Habshis ruled Bengal 1486-1491 by overthrowing the ruler Jalal-al Din. Therefore, the island of Kansa near Janjira was the site of a fort named Padmadurg to counter the Siddi. In the second decade of the sixteenth century a European traveller named Armando Cortesao noted that: “The people who govern the kingdom [Bengal] are Abyssinians [Ethiopians]. In studying and recording the group’s music, they had recognised a common melody and similar themes in the music to that which was sung by a certain ethnic group in Tanzania. Siddi Ambar the Little is accordingly considered the first Nawab of Janjira state. The majority of Indo-Africans are Muslims, but other similarities are hard to find. ... in front of shrine of 5 Peers(peerpanchayatan). Originally the fort was a small wooden structure built by a Koli chief in the late 15th century. It was captured by Pir Khan, a general of Nizamshah of Ahmednagar. Many of the Indo-Africans who arrived from eastern Africa came as sailors and traders engaged in the vibrant Indian ocean trade and stayed on in India, usually around the main ports, from Kerala in the south to Gujarat in the north. Habshi Amir al-Umara (1487-1490) This beach is truly an analogy of love at first sight because of its sceneries of waters, glistening sand surrounded by green hilly areas. Around that stand Khasha Siddi Masjid and ruins of houses. 00:00. Malik Sarwar, described as a Habshi, was appointed governor of Jaunpur. SHARE . Ambar, like a number of Africans in medieval India, elevated himself to a position of great authority. Their descendants still live in and around the coastal village of Murud. Nonetheless, most of the groups have largely assimilated into Indian society. Visit for other original content. Amongst them are the three major cannons, Kalal Bangdi, Landakasam and Bhavani, the cherished weapons of the Sidis, built from five metals.”- Discover India. In Western India (the modern Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra), the Siddi gained a reputation for physical strength and loyalty, and were sought out as mercenaries by local rulers, and as domestic servants and farm labor. Perhaps the most interesting example of Indo-Africans in Indian history was the establishment of the Habshi State in Bengal during the 15th century. Afro-Indians, like all other groups that sought shelter in India, were given the freedom to assimilate without the pressure to lose their ancestral traditions. Well-conceived and well-defended, it was never conquered, though attacked dozens of times. Jambur, a village in the Gir forest is an exclusive Sidi settlement. Prominent Indo-Africans in history of India. These men are looked upon as knights; they are greatly esteemed; they wait on the kings in their apartments.”. This process of assimilation was interrupted with the advent of British rule in India in the 19th century. The everliving rastafari makonen emperor haile selassie i, america was Black before columbus came – YouTube Video, The very aboriginal americans – YouTube Video, African Roots of Famous Euro-American Families, JENdA: A Journal of African Women Studies & Culture. “Once the fort boasted of five hundred canons, today only a handful are left, still intact and able to tell their story. In Pakistan, which also has a small Indo-African population, Indo-Africans are substantially more visible as performers and athletes. The Siddis of Janjira were Abyssinians by origin. As the story goes, the ruler of the state was killed in a palace coup d’etat led by an Indo-African general serving in the king’s army, who went on to proclaim himself king. Owing to the castle's fortifications, the Admiral could not attack conventionally. Created with Sketch. Originally known as the Janjira Fort, it is one of the strongest marine forts of India. What brought them to India? Janjira Murud. Abstract A good example of “Jal-Durg” (Fort amidst water), Murud Janjira is quiet unfamiliar to peoples. Photo: The Kenneth and Joyce Robbins Collection/ By Special Arrangement) 8/24 The fort of … It was the dynasty that built the famed Janjira fort! Under the leadership of a wealthy merchant known as Baba Ghor, the Shemali became prosperous through the mining and trade of the precious stone Agate. From then onward Siddis became independent, owing allegiance to Adilshah and the Mughals as dictated by the times. I am grateful to him for his help in writing in this article. We go back in time and explore the ruins of a once grand fortified city in Vasai which today is lost and forgotten. Janjira Murud. India has always welcomed immigrants from around the world, giving them acceptance and taking from them certain cultural attributes that have further enlarged the Indian mosaic. Interestingly, while in Zanzibar she became a respected member of the Indian Muslim community and was a highly demanded performer for their weddings and other such occasions. Murud Janjira is a good example of water body fort located near the south Konkan coastline. The first Siddis are thought to have arrived in India in 628 AD at the Bharuch port. “Siddi kingdoms were established in western India in Janjira and Jaffrabad as early as 1100 AD. The latter group are believed to have been soldiers with Muhammad bin Qasim's Arab army, and were called Zanjis. Malik Ambar - The Deccan’s African Defender | Tales & Trails. A king of Ahmadnagar had had enough of his manipulative mother & conniving nobles, so he took a sabbatical. According to Professor Amy Catlin, an ethno-musicologist from UCLA, who is making a special study of Sidi culture, “In Gujarat, affinities with African music include certain musical instruments and their names”, she says, “and also the performance of an African-derived musical genre called “goma”. Different communities speak different languages and culturally most consider themselves Indian save for a few African cultural remnants. It’s betwixt the distance of 5km to Murud-Janjira Fort and again 48km just from Alibaug. A study of this Indo-African population offers a realistic portrayal of Africans as traders, warriors, and sailors. Habshis were present in Colombo, in Ceylon, where Ibn Battuta reports that Jalasti, “the wazir and ruler of the sea”, had “about five hundred Abyssinians”. The State of Bengal was ruled by Ethiopians for three years before being defeated and two Princely State’s, Janjira and Sachin in Western India controlled hundreds of miles of coastline for centuries. Like these groups, the Indo-Africans have full claim to being Indian, even if they maintain some of their ancestral traditions. They are a vast and diverse population spread throughout India with separate histories and unique roles within the Indian strata. Indeed, the island Janjira was formerly called Habshan, meaning Habshan’s or African’s land. It is filed under Thoughts/ Articles and tagged with africa in india, blacks in india, india ethnic tribes, racial minorities india, siddi tribe in india, siddi tribe photographs, siddi village sasangir, siddis of gujarat. Mubarak Shah, his son, later succeeded him. There are conflicting theories on the origin of the name Siddi. They couldn’t take the Janjira fort but … Later, the fort was strengthened by Malik Ambar, the Abyssinian-origin Siddi regent of Ahmednagar kings. Siddi signifies lord or prince. 147-154, 2019 Being the capital of the Siddis, Janjira was once inhabited by a large number of people. Jamal al-Din Yaqut – a royal courtier in the kingdom of Delhi who was believed to be close to the then reigning sovereign Queen Raziya (1236- 1240). The Sidi … Today, except for the Royal Sidis and their descendants who are largely integrated into the Muslim upper class, the Indo-African population remains largely farmers or unskilled workers, although some have also become professionals such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and businessmen. Little research has been done on this unique population, but slowly literature on this small group is growing. In the year 1736, Siddis of Murud-Janjira set out to recapture Raigarh from the ravaging forces of Baji Rao, on 19 April 1736, Chimnaji attacked the gathering forces in the encampments of the Siddis during the Battle of Riwas near Riwas, when the confrontation … Inside the Janjira Fort, you can see the water tanks, beautiful tombs and stone sculptures. You can find 19 burj inside the Janjira … Ivory, gold and other valuables from Zimbabwe and the Congo found their way to the East African coast to areas such as Kilwa, Mombassa and Zanzibar from where they were further shipped across the Indian Ocean and on to India, Southeast Asia, China and even Japan. Janjira Murud. It is often called the unconquerable or impregnable fort because it evaded conquest for over 500 years. It is difficult to speak of the Indo-Africans as a singular group as they came from vastly different parts of Africa and through many periods of history. “..the most famous among the Indo-Africans was the celebrated Malik Ambar (1550-1626). Early in the 20th century, a woman named Langi Nur-Bai arrived in Zanzibar from India where she had been a drummer and singer. Memorials of Sovereignty: Funerary Architecture of the Siddis of Janjira at Khokri (Maharashtra) Arts Asiatiques, vol 74 (2019), pp. This manual mentions that the Aksumite port of Adulis, on the Red Sea coast of Africa, “traded extensively with various parts of Western India, which supplied Ethiopia with both textiles and spices.” Later texts mention trade with Ceylon as well. How did a young boy sold as a slave in Ethiopia rise and become so powerful in India? More than 250,000 descendants of Africans still live amongst the Indian people. Most of the Sidis live in Gujarat, a state in western India. Those Sidis who settled in Janjira prospered as warriors and great sailors. Mediums of reaching Murud-Janjira Beach Car Sidis also settled in Murud, once the capital of the erstwhile state of Janjira (from the Arabic ‘jazirah’ meaning an island) on the western coast of Maharashtra. It’s designed in a way that reservoirs of fresh water stayed inside the fort enabling the Siddi army of nearly 2500 soldiers to live there for months. This group of Indo-Africans retains quite a few African customs, and Baba Ghor and the story of their arrival in India is proudly remembered. Nawab Siddi Ahmad Khan, the nawab of Janjira from 1879 to 1922. This group of Indo-Africans are sometimes known as the Royal Sidis, and they only marry amongst themselves or with upper class/caste native Muslims. In 1997 I met a group of American researchers who had just arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from Karnataka in South India. They are calling it India’s ‘Lost Civilization’... but is it really? Scholars generally consider the Indo-Africans de facto Indians as they mostly speak Indian languages, although some groups do retain many African words. It is further said that Siddi is an expression of respectful address commonly used in North Africa, like Sahib in India. Under the extensive Indian affirmative action programs, most Indo-Africans are classified as scheduled tribes, which entitles them to reservations in university seats and other government support. Those who did return have largely been assimilated into the cultural mix that characterises the island. This fort had a total of 500 canons previously but now only a few of them exist. Ratnagiri Petroglyphs: A Window into the Past. In 1733, the Maratha Empire took aggressive action and embarked on a campaign against the siddis of Janjira. Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team. Siddi Palace is located to the left of Revdanda-Murd road and can be encountered just before entering Murud. The monsoon winds that blew across the Indian ocean powered an extensive trade system that shipped spices from Kerala through Northeast Africa and on to Rome and other parts of the European continent since before the time of Christ. The island fortress was under control of Adil Shahi dynasty until the reign of Ibrahim II where Janjira fort was lost to the Siddis. Located 50 k.m. Shivaji’s all attempts to capture Janjira … Little is known about Africans who moved from the African continent to the Indian subcontinent, some as slaves, but others purposefully and freely. At the gate, the sculpture of six elephants by a tiger is very impressive. The name of the fort is a concatenation of the Konkani and Arabic words for Island, "morod" and "jazeera". Janjira state had always faced rivalry with the Marathas especially with the Angrias, a Maratha Koli family with forts and ships. The African Dynasties of India: African Kings of India. The island fortress was under control of Adil Shahi dynasty until the reign of Ibrahim II where Janjira fort was lost to the Siddis. From then onward, Siddis owed allegiance to Adilshah and the Mughals … 00:00. The word "morod" is peculiar to Konkani and is absent in Marathi. Several others followed with the first Arab Islamic conquest of the subcontinent in 712 AD. He was subsequently killed by another high-ranking Indo-African general who remained loyal to the original ruling family and placed the young son of the murdered king upon the throne. These tombs were infact those of a Siddi dynasty that had ruled Murud for more than 300 years, through the periods of the early Islamic Sultanates, the Mughals and even the British, Marathas and Portuguese, building a small but powerful state. The Janjira Fort at Murad was “once the stronghold of Abyssinian Sidis, who played an important role in the history of Bombay in the latter half of the 17th century”. A former alternative name of Janjira was Habshan (i.e., land of the Habshis). According to Dr. Richard Pankhurst, commercial contacts between Ethiopia and India are mentioned in the Periplus – a Graeco-Egyptian commercial manual written around the first century AD. The palace of the Nawabs of Janjira at Murud is still in good shape. Bassein: The Forgotten City. The African Siddis of Janjira LHI Team. The Murud-Janjira Fort is situated on an oval-shaped rocky island in the Arabian Sea, near the coastal town of Murud, 165 km south of Mumbai, India. Descendants of these dynasty’s still survive today. Descendants of Bantu people of East Africa, Siddi ancestors were largely brought to India as slaves by Arabs as early as the 7th Century, followed by … Siddi Ambar the Little is accordingly considered the first Nawab of Janjira state. There are identifiable Sidi communities in Gujarat, Maharashtra (around Bombay), and Hyderabad. The Sidis here have retained their lineage of music and dance – their only link now with Africa. The term Indo-Africans refers to Indians of African origin and was coined by Professor Abdulaziz Lodhi of Uppsala University, Sweden. Each day, Live History India brings you stories and films that not only chronicle India’s history and heritage for you, but also help create a digital archive of the 'Stories that make India' for future generations. Spanish Proverb:- “Africa empieza en los Pirineos”. A B S T R A C T Janjira - The Undefeated Fort Janjira Fort is situated on the Murud beach in the Arabian sea along the Konkan coast line. To keep a check on the Portuguese power, Sindhudurg was built near Goa, and at the entrance to Mumbai harbour, the fort of Khanderi was built in 1679. Nonetheless, this group of Indo-Africans spoke only Kannada (an Indian language) and their idea of home was only India, although a few of the older members of the group knew sketchy details of tales that spoke of certain ancestors who had come from another land. It was actually built by the Nawab of Janjira and was intended for administration purposes. A smaller group of Sidis lives in Junagadh, a town not far from Jambur. The African Diaspora in the Americas was an unwilling one, but the Indo-Africans came willingly to India, and regardless of their ups and downs in Indian history, they have chosen to stay there. Major historical figures from Murud-Janjira include men such as Sidi Hilal, Yahya Saleh and Sidi Yaqub. Murud is the nearest town to the fort which is located at about 165 kms from Mumbai. Murud was once known in Marathi as Habsan ("of Habshi" or Abyssinian). Africans also came as midwives and herbalists, and as musicians, sailors and merchants. Some Indo-Africans, descended from powerful soldiers, administrators, and even rulers, are indistinguishable from the general population, for their ancestors were considered higher class and married freely amongst the elite Indian population. Only a small number of Indo-Africans have tried to immigrate back to Africa, mostly during the British rule of Zanzibar. Their fort still stands today in Murud – a small fishing village – as does the Sidi Palace on the outskirts of the village. Their history speaks of the African ability to integrate into a land other than that from where they originated. http://www.indo-african-society.org/pages/indo_african_diaspora1.htm, Before Columbus: Black Explorers of the New World By…, Study Finds that the Yorubas Are Genetically 99.9%…, The rise of Ms Tanzeela Qambrani - The Sidis (the…, KAFA KUDZO DZREKE: How “IVRI” Became “Hebrew”, The countries that attended the US Embassy opening…, 13th Century African Coin Found in Australia. 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