Homepage

Accessibility links

  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
BBC Account
Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Bitesize
  • Arts
  • Taster
  • Local
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Three
  • Menu
Search
News

BBC News Navigation

Sections
  • Home
  • Video
  • World selected
  • US & Canada
  • UK
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Stories
  • Entertainment & Arts
  • Health
  • In Pictures
  • Reality Check
  • World News TV
  • Newsbeat
  • Special Reports
  • Explainers
  • The Reporters
  • Have Your Say
Asia selected
  • China
  • India selected

In pictures: Indian Africans

  • 3 June 2013
  • Share this with Facebook
  • Share this with Messenger
  • Share this with Twitter
  • Share this with Email
  • Share this with Facebook
  • Share this with WhatsApp
  • Share this with Messenger
  • Share this with Twitter
  • Share

    Share this with

    These are external links and will open in a new window
    • Email

      Share this with Email
    • Facebook

      Share this with Facebook
    • Messenger

      Share this with Messenger
    • Messenger

      Share this with Messenger
    • Twitter

      Share this with Twitter
    • Pinterest

      Share this with Pinterest
    • WhatsApp

      Share this with WhatsApp
    • LinkedIn

      Share this with LinkedIn

    Copy this link

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-22637058
    Read more about sharing.

    These are external links and will open in a new window

Photographer Ketaki Sheth's images of a small community of Indians of African descent.

  • Sidis

    The Sidis are a small community of Indians of African descent. Photographer Ketaki Sheth has documented their lives for a new book, A Certain Grace: The Sidi - Indians of African Descent, published by Delhi-based gallery Photoink.

  • Sidi girl

    An estimated 60,000 to 75,000 Sidis live in the western state of Gujarat and the southern state of Karnataka. There are smaller numbers in the state of Goa and in the cities of Mumbai and Hyderabad.

  • Sidi man

    Their ancestors, say historians, were slaves, soldiers, traders, pearl divers and Muslim pilgrims who arrived in India over centuries. A large number of them, they say, also arrived in India as free citizens.

  • Sidi woman

    Historian Mahmood Mamdani says the ordinary Sidi were descendants of slaves brought by Portuguese down the coast of East Africa, mainly from Mozambique. "The big difference with Atlantic slavery was that hardly any slaves were brought to India to provide cheap labour... Their main attraction was not their cheapness, but their loyalty," he says.

  • Sidi girls

    "Except for one or two people I photographed, no-one has visited Africa," Ketaki Sheth says of the Sidis she has met in India. "The older generation too feel rooted in India."

  • The Sidi

    "Except for their dance (called Goma, from the Swahili word, ngoma, meaning both drum and dance) and some exorcism rituals which have roots in Africa, they are Indian in language, customs, dress, food and temperament," says Ms Sheth. The Sidis of Gujarat, for example, speak Gujarati as their mother tongue.

  • The Sidi

    The Sidis are "poor for the most part", Ms Sheth says. They get some affirmative action benefits from the government as they are classified as "scheduled tribes", one of India's most disadvantaged groups.

  • A Sidi woman

    Mahmood Mamdani says a Sidi elder told him that a girl marrying outside the caste or community is usually thrown out. He said the prohibition on marriage outside the community is more because of "interest than identity". Outsiders, the Sidis fear, will take advantage of the affirmative action benefits.

  • Sidis

    "Whenever I asked a Sidi person I met whether they thought of themselves as African or Indian, I inevitably got a quizzical look. What, they seemed to think, was wrong with me: they were of course, Indians," says Mahmood Mamdani.

  • Sidi people

    "The Sidis are unfussy and easygoing people. Once you gain their trust and friendship they are open and warm and friendly," says Ketaki Sheth.

Share this story About sharing

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Messenger
  • Messenger
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • LinkedIn
Why you can trust BBC News

BBC News Navigation

Asia Sections
  • Asia
  • China
  • India selected
  • Home
  • Video
  • World selected
    • World Home
    • Africa
    • Asia selected
    • Australia
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East
  • US & Canada
    • US & Canada Home
  • UK
    • UK Home
    • England
    • N. Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Election 2019
  • Business
    • Business Home
    • Market Data
    • Global Trade
    • Companies
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Technology of Business
    • Connected World
    • Global Education
    • Economy
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Stories
  • Entertainment & Arts
  • Health
  • In Pictures
  • Reality Check
  • World News TV
  • Newsbeat
  • Special Reports
  • Explainers
  • The Reporters
  • Have Your Say

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On your connected tv
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Explore the BBC

  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Bitesize
  • Arts
  • Taster
  • Local
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Three
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Get Personalised Newsletters
Copyright © 2019 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.