Uncovering the History of Africans in Asia

Uncovering the History of Africans in Asia

Uncovering the History of Mricans in Asia EditnJt,·

Shihan de Silvajayasuriya and Jean-Pierre Angenot

BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2008

C'.«wr iJJIIStrtltitm: "'''he Nizam's African Dodyguanl 81 du: 1877 Imperial Durbar: Mounted Toy Soldier by \V.M. Hocker... With kind permission of Kenneth mdjO)"Ce Robbins.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Uncov-ering the history of Africans in Asia I edited by Shihan de Sih"ajayasuriya and Jem-Pierre Angen01. p.cm. Includes bibliographical rcf"et"Cnces and index. ISBN 978-90-04-16291-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) I. Mricans-Asia-History. 2. African diaspora. I.Jayasuriya, Shihan des. n. Angmnt,.Jem-Pierre. DS28.A35U53 2008 950.0496-dc22 2008009473

ISBN 978 90 04 16291 4 Copyright 2008 by Koninkl!jke BriO Nv, Lc:iden, The Nedu:dands. Koninklijke Bril NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotc:i Publishing, JDC Publishers, Maninus Nijho8" Publishers and VSP. All rights resenoed. No pan or this publicadon may be repmduced, trmslated, scored in a reaia'lll syscem, or transmiw:d in any ibrm nr by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, reconling or odu:nwile, without prior written permission from the publisher.

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CONTENTS

Foreword by

Tukumbi I.Aimumba-Kasongo ........................

Chapter One

General Introduction .................................... .. Shihon til Si/DQ Ja:~asur{1a & ]«m-Pil"e Angtnol

Chapter 1'Wo

Identifying Africans in Asia: \Vhat's in a Name? ......................................... Shihon til Si/DQ Jtgasuri.JO

Chapter Three The Afro-Asian Diaspora: Myth or Reality? ............................................................ G~n

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

vii

7

37

Campbell

The African Slave Trade to Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands ..................................... &bm a CoUins The Makran-Baluch-African network in Zanzibar and East-Africa during d1e XIX Century ........................................................... &atria Nt&Oiini Somali Migration 10 Yemen from the I9th 10 the 21st Centuries ........................................... UiJa lngron1s & Richard Ponldttmt Nineteenth Century European References to the African Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula ......................................................... C/Vfiwd Ptreim Migrants and the Maldives: African Connections .................................................... Shihon til Si/DQ Jtgasuri.JO

57

81

107

121

131

vi

Chapter Nine The African Native in lndiaspora .....................

139

}tanllle Pfnto Chapter Ten

Atligrants and Mercenaries: Sri Lanka's Hidden Africans .............................................................. Sllilum de Silva ]t9VlSUfiJVJ

155

Extensive Bibliography on the Afro-Asian Diaspora ................. Jtm~-Pil"t Angtnol & Gtralda til lima A,.,.ot

171

Notes on Contributors ................................................................

189

Index ...........................................................................................

193

FOREWORD BY TUKUMBI LUMUMBA-KASONGO Why, how, and when bad Africans or Blacks from the African continent found themselves in Asia? What pans of Africa did these Africans or Blacks originate from? Who were these Africans or Blacks who migrated to Asia? Where in Asia are there the majority of the people of African descent? Who and what have they become? How had they been grouping, integrated or disintegrated into various social and cultural fabrics of the Asian counuies? What is the level of social consciousness of their African-ness or Blackness, if any? And what contributions have they been making to the development of their communities in Asia? It is necessary that I firsdy describe the general background behind these interesting and complex studies; secondly, I would like to present a sincere CIJU/1 de dulptou to the Guest-Editor for a work well done; and thirdly, I invite our readers to read and use this book critically. I am working with the same Guest-Editor to produce another similar work on the same topic to be published in another special issue of 1111 Jt.ftiean ond Asian Sbulits in the Fall of 2007. By some ad hoc common historical knowledge and some limited anthropological, ethnographic and biological studies, it is known that there are people of African descent in many pans of Asia. However, d1e scholarship in this area though not static, is still minimum. It is limited in relationship to irs potential as it calls for questioning the conventional paradigms, and it is not intellectually legitimate yet. Many empirical and historical research projects are still needed to study collecti\'e and individual memories and stories of these people and how they bad become Asians like other Asian ethnic groups for centuries. "Thl4ftiean DiiJsfJIWa in ilsia: Historieal Gltllnings" whose Guest-Editors are Dr. Sbihan de Silvajayasuriya of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, and Professor Jean-Pierre Angenot of Federal University of Rondonia, Brazil, is a monumental and rich work. It is an innovative coUection of well-studied su~ects undertaken by established scholars dealing with various forms of migration of the Africans to Asia from an interdisciplinary and a multidisciplinary perspective. I thank them, including the authors, for having analyzed various aspects of a topic that goes beyond a simple logic of linear history in the process

viii

TUKUliBI LUKUitiBA•KASONGO

of studying the movements of people with their traditions, their hopes and dreams, and their power of social reproduction. Because of the complexity of the issues examined in d1is volume, I would like to invite the readers to contextualize d1e whole work within a broader intellectual discourse and historical perspeclives, to raise general issues related to the qualitative nature of the work itself, and to see how this work could help project the implications of the locations of large communities of people of African descent in Asia. After carefuUy reviewing each article included in this coUection, I shared my satisfaction with Dr. Shiban de Silva Jayasuriya. Thus, I decided to push for the publication of the special issue of the A.fiimn tmd Asian Sttulits as a book. In shon, it is my hope that the readers will appreciate d1e value of this work within a bigger historical and sociological picture as an important step in d1e further studies of both Africa and Asia. In 2004,1 was invited by ProfessorJean-Pierre Angenot to participate in one of his conferences organized through the TADIA International Network, to be held in Goa. In the same year, he made a request to me to explore any possibility of publishing some papers in lht A.ftictm tliUl Asian Studies. After l'e\riewing the abstracts he submitted, the list of possible contributors, and their professional affiliations, I appi"O\'ed the project for publication in the A.fiimn tliUl A.sion Situ/Us. "I11us, with high enthusiasm, I worked closely with Dr. Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya of the University of London, the Guest Editor, who carefuUy paid close attention to all the details for producing this work. I read each article with high interest and inteUectual curiosity to make sure d1at this work could produce high quality intellectual debates and d1at it stimulates funher discussion and scientific investigation. "I11e questions related to, and/or about, the African Diaspora at large have been extensively studied mainly through two main interrelated historical perspectives, namely European-American transatlantic slavery and European colonialism. "I11ey are the dominant areas of interest, which are part of the imperialist paradigms. The studies on African internal, regional slavery and the African autonomous or independent international migrations have been limited until recently. Thus, \\rithin the existing world system and its international commercial routes, communication technology, and the axis of power, Africa bas been more directly connected to Europe than to any other part of d1e world. For some, the phenomenon of Africans in Asia can be considered as enigmatic, random, individualislic or atomistic. But this is not the view shared with some aud1ors in this coUection. In d1is publication

FOREWORD

ix

a broad basis of motivations and trends have been studied. As W. E. Burghardt Du Bois expressed in his work entitled: Till WlWid tlllll Aftita,

(1985, p. 176): Tiac: COimection belween Asia and Amca has alwa)'S bc:e11 dose. There was probably actual land connection in prehistoric times, and l.lac: black race appears in both continems in the earliest records, making it doubtful which continent is the poinl of origin. Certainl)~ the Negroid people of Asia have played a leading part of history. The blacks of :Melanesia have scoured dae seas, and Charles Taiiber makes l.lac:m inventors of one of the world's finl wrillen lan~ thus, this gn:atest of all human iiM!ntions was made b)• aborigines whose descendants today rank among l.lae lowest, the proto-Australians.

"11te logic of this ciaation was clarified by ahe empirical facts in specific case studies in this volume. The work dealing \\litlt 1he specific hisaorical, physical and social movements or migration of Mricans or Blacks in Asia over 1he centuries is clearly a complex historical, sociological, ethnographic and pioneering work. It is a work that can help demystify, deconstruct, and attempt 10 reconstruct eahnicity (Black ethnicity} and its cultures and some of its history. No single tlteory can provide sufficient tools which would explain comprehensively the facaors that have led to movemenls of Mricans or Blacks and the implications and the consequences of their migrations. As such, I hope that this work will engender an imellectual curiosity and the space needed to challenge the conventional push-pull theory. The value of this work also lies in tlte fact ahat the authors have diverse academic and cultural backgrounds and 1ha1 they are intel· lectually located \\lithin ahe major schools of tltoughts in their various disciplines and interests. Also, the book is published at a time when the real and potential political debates about eahnicity in its various dimensions are, in moSl cases, fused and reduced in the languages of religions, power struggles, and in ahe forms of international security and capiaalist regionalism. While the arguments of the positive role of cultural diversity and multiculturalism are becoming internationaUy appreciated wluable tools and 1opics wiah which 10 formally assess institutional performances and their development, especially in academia and multinationals, the studies of specific eahnic groups, tlte races or cultures, are still considered \\litltin ahe existing world politics as threatening to the grand paradigm, namely tlte world system and its various categories. Slates and their institutions and many private and public institutions the world over

X

TUKUliBI LUMUitiBA•KASONGO

are still politically resistant to dialoguing wid1 specific human histories. However, in the contexl of d1is book, the studies of the African Diaspora as a human and social history can create mechanisms of understanding people, a sine qua non condition for learning about them. 111e paradigms, methodological and analytical perspectives developed in this book were examined and appreciated wid1in d1e frameworks of the dynamics of d1e world political economy and the contemporary state and its cultures. ·1ne world of the states has defined the world using some precise tooJs such as physical territoriality, imagined and/ or real sovereignty, and population defined as citizens. But the call is to be critical to the state centric power as it has tendencies of obscuring history. ·1ne centrality of African historiography in the making of the world history or me humanity at large as the cradle of the humanity, though is sliD intellectually and historically controversial in some milieux, has been scientifically proven by African and non-African scientists. This centrality also challenged the arguments of the state-centrist in defining Africans or people of African descent. Cheikh Anta Diop, the Senegalese scientist, who popularized and internationalized the concept of Africa as the origin of civilization, ad\ranced the view that ancient Egyptian civilization, which is essentially Black or African, was in d1e origin of the Greek civilization, a civilization which had been appropriated as the foundation of Western European civilization. While dus work does not address Cheikh Anta Diop's propositions, various types of arguments advanced complement Diop's Afro-centric logic in terms of the necessity of the recognition of me contributions of the African and Black cultures in any pan of the world. ·n1is work covers many subtopics such as the nature of the relationship between Africans and the Arabs who live in Africa and are Africans, the Arabs in d1e Middleast, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Indian involvement in the commercialization of the slave trade before the transatlanlic slave trade, the lack of d1e intellectual and historical recognition of the African presence in the conventional historiography, etc. According to Roben 0. Collins, one of the authors in dus collection, between 800 AD and 1900 AD, the estimated population of Africans in Asia was approximately d1e same as the population of Africans sent to the Americas in four and a half centuries i.e. 12, 580,000. DemographicaUy, this is not a small number that should be ignored and/ or neglected in a monolithic and unilinear descriptive llistory.

FOREWORD

xi

"Unctmtri"lllu Hislmy of A.fiicllns in Asill" is a work of reference that can stimulate further debates about d1e contributions of the Africans in the contemporary world.

&fermcu Du Bois, \\~ E. Bulldwdc (1985} 'nt Hfdlfllfll ~ A• IRf'l!? iNti~ J!lrl ultidt .4ftit• lltu pllgttJ iR woriiTIJistD,_,: .4Jt <tlgrrnml NlititM, lllitiJ liiW rt'lilmg.s 1111 A.fritll, New \"ork: Jnccrnadonal Publishers.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INrRODUCTION StntiAN DE Sn.vAJAYASURJYA

(King's College London, University of London) & JEAN-PIERRE ANoJENar (Federal University of Rondlmia, Brazil)

Asia and Mrica were both subjected to western intervention and commercial interactions, becoming part of a global economy. \Vhile West Mrica became a trading place for the Ponuguese from the 15th century, the interior of Mrica was not explored until the mid-19th century. Contact with the Portuguese inevitably resulted in exporting Mricans to Europe. The internationalization of the slave trade arguably weakened Mrica. Colonisation by European powers, each scrambling for a piece of Mrica, divided tribes and ethnolinguistic groups who had lived in harmony for centuries and put together rival groups. Asia also feU victim to western commercial interests, beginning wid1 the Ponuguese who controUed Indian Ocean trade for a hundred years, turning it into a Ponuguese lake. This was possible by breaking into and disrupting old and weD-established intra-Asian trading networks. Building farftung empires, olbtit maritime ones, took its toll, resulting in the shonage of human capital, loyal personnel, military men for acquiring and then defending territories. Within this process, Mrica feU victim to d1e exploitation of human resources, d1e already established sla\te trade o&ering a mechanism for it. Mricans were moved to far flung domains, not simply to the Middle East and South Asia but also to Southeast Asia, up to Japan and China. Japan, however, had staned to modernise, beginning from d1e Meiji ( 1868-1912) restoration. This enabled the Japanese to hold their own against American and European powers during the 20th century. Despite d1e setbacks foUowing the aftermath of World War II, Japan was able to rebuild its developing industrial base and compete in world markets, beginning in the 1950s. Initially mimicking western technology and manufacturing at a lower cost than d1e West, Japanese C 2008 l
2

SUIIIAN DE SILVAJAYASURrYA AND .JE"N•PIERRE ANGENOT

products began to take away a proportion of the maJicet share previously held by European countries and America. The emergence of the four tigers-Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong--J>OSed a real threat to d1e West. India and China are now foUowing, about two decades later. Colonisation, the slave trade, indentured labour, aU affected Asia. People moved in several directions geographically \\rithin the Indian Ocean. However, we must not forget d1e Mrican-Asian trade that existed at least from the 1st century onwards. Abyssinians were trading in South Asia during the Aksumite Empire, from the I st to the 7dl centuries. There was, d1erefore, free movement of Mricans to Asia. While uncovering Mrican-Asian history, we must not 0\'erlook the fact that Mricans mainly came as slaves. Yet some slaves rose to positions of power and influence through their military capabilities. The Mro-lndian dynasties of Sachin and Janjira are a reminder of the influence that Mro-lndians wielded in parts of India. While this glory was not to remain forever, the cultural contributions made by Mricans are still alive, particularly in music and dance. Uncovering the history of Mricans in Asia offers a challenge to scholars as it requires a multidisciplinary approach combining history with other disciplines such as anthropology, edmon1usicology, folklore and linguistics. It goes beyond traditional historical analyses and requires taking into account cultural expressions. Migration of Mricans to Asia, both free and forced, has gone on for several centuries. Yet there is little awareness of an Mrican presence in Asian countries. The extent of their acceptance to kinship networks, marginalisation and lack of political clout may partially account for their low profile. Jean-Pierre Angenot and I invited scholars who had both a wide knO\\•Iedge, and expertise in case studies of Asia, to write articles whid1 could be published in a book, in order to emphasise the Mrican presence in Asia. In ...fl1e problems of identifYing an Mrican presence in Asia: What's in a Nan1e?", Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya (King's College London, University of London) draws attention to d1e problems of recognising an Mrican presence in Asia. Eastwards Mrican migration was di&erent to d1e transAdantic migration in terms of d1e time scale involved, the types of demand for Mricans and perhaps most imponandy the nature of interactions wid1 the host societies. The many terms that have been used for Mricans throughout time and space, masks the Mrican presence in Asia. Using her expertise in historical linguistics and history,

GENERAL INI'RODUCTION

3

combined wid1 fieldwork and regional knowledge, she draws attention to me rationale for me various edlnonyms and terms used for Africans. An awareness of d1e emnic origins that are encapsulated in mese terms is necesS&I)' for mose attempting to undertake studies on me eastwards African migration. In '"'n1e Afiican-Asian Diaspora: Myth or Reality?", Gwyn Campbell {Department of History, McGill University, Canada) questions if d1ere might be an African 'slave' diaspora in the Indian Ocean world similar to dlat of me well-documented African diaspora of me Americas. There has been increasing scholarly interest in this topic probably heightened by the International Year to commemorate the struggle against slavery and its Abolition, in 2004. Roben Collins {Department of Histo~ University of Santa Barbara, California, USA) has written on history for the past fifty years. He is of me view mat history is not a social science, but a member of d1e humanities family. He points out that me historian carries out his task by searching for every available source, using any discipline, to narrate a story and that she or he is not bound by any rigid theoretical or med1odological concepts. A Historian's approach to the 'Wrican Slave Trade to Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands" is based on narrating a story as best as he can, as to what happened, where, when, how and why. In "The Makran-Baluch-African Network in Zanzibar and East Africa during me XIXth century", Beatrice Nicolini (History and Institutions of Africa, Faculty of Political Sciences, Cad1olic University of d1e Sacred Hean, Milan, Italy) evaluates me cultural synmesis of different local realities combining material from her field work wid1 archival sources. She brings in the new historical perspective of viewing me relations between me coasts, islands and interior of d1e continents as areas mat are in contact with flows of people, goods and ideas influencing and changing local societies. She acknowledges that studies on d1e history of the western Indian Ocean should take into account several historical-political-institutional factors. Her article emphasises slavery and examines the role played by the Makrani-Baluch tribes during me XIXm century. Leila lngrams (Kent, UK) and Richard Pankhurst {Depanment of History, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) draw attention to "Somali Migration to Aden from me 19dl to me 21st centuries" combining archival sources and oral histories. Of particular interest is an autobiography of a Somali migrant to Yemen. lngrams and Pankhurst draw attention

4

SIUIL\N DE SILVAJAYASURIYA AND JEAN•PIERRE ANGENOT

to free migrants who moved to Yemen for trade, in search of employment, and also as refugees due to d1e breakdown of 1he Somali slate machinery. Clifford Pereira (Royal Geographical Society, London) discusses elhnicity and the process by which Mricans become Arabs. Drawing on geographical sources, in "Nineteenlh century European references to d1e Mrican Diaspora in lhe Arabian Peninsula", he demonstrates lhe Mrican presence. By taking into account bolh oral 1radilions and historical accounts, Shihan de SUvajayasuriya (King's College London, University of London) demonstrates lhat Mricans migrated to the Maldives. The Maldives is racially heterogeneous, and moreover, exogamy has diluled 1he Mrican gene pool. Using music as an indicator of cultural expression, in "Migrants and the Maldi\res: Mrican Connections'', she illustrates lhe Mrican legacy of lhe Maldives. Jeanelte Pinto (ll1e Heras Institute of Indian Histol)' and Culture, Bombay, India) demonstrates lhe geographical spread of Mricans in India lhrough her anicle "The Mrican Nati\re in lndiaspora". She points out lha1 slavery \\'35 not limited to Mricans in India, as it had existed in Ancient Inc6a. The Mricans in India are mainly lhe result of Ponuguese and Arab slaving activities. ·n1e position of Mricans in India, hO\\re\rer, was ambiguous. On lhe one hand, lhe African slave had no freedom of choice, wilh female Mrican slaves being objects of sexual indulgence. Yet, on lhe oilier hand, he or she was a prized possession and a staiUs symbol, prompting Indians to boast about the number of Mrican slaves d1a1 lhey owned. In this respect, lhe Mrican slave was a highly tradeable commodity. Pin1o also draws a11ention to lhe heights d1at some Mricans were able to reach in India. In "Migrants and Mercenaries: Sri Lanka's Hidden Afiicans", Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya (King's CoUege London, University of London), explores the reasons for lhe concentration of Mro-Sri Lankans in the Nonh-Westem Province. She demonstrates d1a1 Mricans lived in o1her parts of lhe country but explains why lheir presence is significant in Puttalama today. Finally, Jean-Pierre Angenot and Geralda de Lima Angenol (Fed· eral University of RondOnia, Brazil) provide a useful reference list for lhe scholar embarking on research into these fields in d1eir "Extensive Bibliography''. Study of lhe Mrican diaspora is now a dynamic field of research in lhe area of Mrican history. Unlike lhe transAtlantic diaspora, eastwards

GENERAL INI'RODUCTION

5

Mrican migrants have received litde attention. Studies on communities of Mrican origin in Asia have increased. Some studies have restored the gaUantry and glory that once belonged to some African migrants in Asia. New hypotheses are, however, necessary when considering the eastwards Mrican migration.

CHAPTER TWO

IDENTIMNG AFRICANS IN ASIA: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

SuntAN DE SILvAjAYASURJYA*

In Asia, Africans have been raerrcd to by various names over time and space. Many Africans wlao migrated 10 Asia were assimilated 10 the host societies making identification problematic. The difti:rentlabels given 10 Africans in Asia aa:entuate the problem. Moreover, Africans were not pen:eM:d to have come from a unified entit')t Tiais paper draws attention to the diOi:rent terms used for Africans in Asia and considers the: rationale for tlae existence of numerous terms. The problems of identification have to be oven:ome before a comprehensi\oe stud)• of African migration to Asia is conducted.

JntrodU£1ion I have taken into account the \rarious names by which Africans in Asia have been referred 10 in historical documents, and other literature, and also 1he local lerms by which Africans were known in Asia. I have dra\\'11 on my fieldwork in Asia, expertise in historical linguistics and history in analysing the numerous 1erms, which have been used for Africans al different limes in various pans of Asia. nle varlet)• of ethnonyms makes any comprehensive Sludy of African migration to Asia a difficult 1ask to undertake. It is 1herefore necessary to identify the African presence masked under dil1eren1 lerms in Asia and in the scholarly works available worldwide. African migration to Asia, both forced and \'Oiunlary, has continued for almost two miUennia. Afro-Asian communilies, however, remain

• Depanment of Ponuguese & Brazilian Studies, King's ColleF London, Unkoersity

or l.ondon, SO'ancl, London WC2R. 2U, England. E-maU: de\;[email protected]. c 2008 Koninklijllie BriD Nv, l.eiden

8

SIUJ.IAN DE SILVAJAYASURIYA

'invisible' or as forgouen minorities. Africans in Asia and 1heir descendanas have been called by many 1erms and ed1nonyms ahroughout 1he centuries. This lends to blur 1he African presence in Asia but it also raises questions about iu origins. An e1hnonym is a proper name by which a people or ethnic group is known, and especially one which it calls itself. The etymon of Africa is Afti, a Berber tribe who were living in Nonh Africa around Canhage (funis). The Romans called Ibis province Africa ('d1e land of the Afii'). This term became lhe name for 1he entire Continent and replaced the previous 1erm called Eahiopia. The Arabic word is 4fri/agw. Therefore 1he older liaerature does not refer to people from Africa as Africans because d1e Continen1 was known by 01her names. Enslavement of Africans can be 1raced back 10 the Pharaonic times, as is iUUSiraled in Egyptian An. Black slaves were also found in 1he HeUenistic and Roman worlds. The geographical proximity of Africa to 1he Middle East and d1e maritime links across d1e Red Sea meant that Africans migraaed to ahe Arabian Peninsula. ror instance, Ethiopians, Somalis and Nubians, who were mosdy enslaved, migraaed to Arabia. Ethiopian warriors who came to Arabia musl have remained in Souah Arabia and elsewhere and laaer have been absorbed into lhe indigenous population. Arabic lilerat")' sources indicale that Africans were in Arabia before 1he adven1 of Islam (falib and San1ir 1988). Today, Africans in Asia are small ethnic minorities (de Silvajayasuriya 2004). From a political point of \riew, an ethnic group is distinguished from a nation-stale by ils lack of sovereignty. Eahnic minorities are connecaed to anod1er nation-s1a1e, outside the one in which d1ey are situated, giving ahem an alaernal.i\'e histocy. ror people to belong to a particular elhnic group, d1ey should ascribe 1hemselves as such and olhers muSI also see them as such. An elhnic group shares a common genealogy or ancesuy and has perceived common cultural, linguistic and religious practices.

Sudan, HobtuluJ, Zontfi, Nubtl In medieval times, Africans were referred to by d1e region from which 1hey originaaed. According to medieval Arabic sources, the inhabiaants of 1ropical Africa belonged to the Sudan, 1he Habasha, the Zandj or the Nuba (Pelliot 1959; Hasan 1967; Desanges 1962). TI1e lerm as-sudan (d1e plural of the Arabic word al-aswad 'black') generally referred to

mENTJFYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

9

aU people who are black in colour irrespective of the place of origins. Sometimes, even Indians and Chinese were included in this category. Sudan or Bilad al-Sudan ('the land of the Blacks') gradually came to mean the Black Africans li\ring to the south of the Maghrib. The Ethiopians (Habasha), due to their geographical proximity to Arabia and also their association with Prophet Muhammad's history, were the best known group. The term, Habasha, was used by some for people living as far as the Niger on the frontier of Egypt. ,(,1111t!j (or <Jntfi) mosdy referred to Bantu-speaking people from the East African Coast who had been enslaved and brought to Arabia, Persia, and Mesopotamia since pre-Islamic times. Popovic ( 1999: 14) points out that the word ,(,a,Y was borrowed by the Arabs. Its etymon could be Ethiopian (,(,mugt~ 'to babarise/pratde/stammer') or Persian (Qlng/qmgi which means 'negro1. The term ZtliU/i goes back to early antiquity. Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer, mathematician and geographer knew <Jngis tllaa and Kosmas lndicopleustes, the 6th century merchant and traveUer spoke of 16 .?jngion. The 14dl century Moroccan traveUer, Ibn Batuta refers to d1e Swahili Coast as Biltul tzl ?.1119 meaning 'land of d1e ?.1119' in Arabic. In 150 AD, d1e Greeks and the Romans called d1is area Azania. lbe Chinese called this area Tsengta. In East Africa, Zangibari is a term which means 'person from Zanzibar'. After the conquest of Egypt, the Nuba and its people (Nubians) becan1e known to d1e Arabs. Talib and Samir ( 1988) suggest that it is likely that Africans from the South of Nubia who came to the lands of the Caliphate were also called Nubians. Slaves had to be obtained from outside the Muslim world because after the conquest was over, nobody within the frontiers could be reduced to slavel')' (Lombard 1971 ). Areas of Africa inhabited by the Black-Nubia, Ethiopia, and Central and Western Sudan became the major areas of slave supply. Agricultural dC\'elopment in lower Iraq and the expansion of international trade in d1e Indian Ocean demanded slave labour, long before the rise of Islam. People who could not defend themselves, such as d1e Bantu-speaking people, who became increasingly known as the Zmu!i, were captured in raids or bought as commodities in exchange for goods from the petty kings of the African hinterlands. These slaves had been shipped from d1e island of Socotra and the emporium of Aden, which were assembly points. Slaves went to Egypt via the Red Sea and to Mesopotamia via the Persian Gul( The largest number of black slaves were in Iraq in d1e 9th century and this resulted in the Revolt of the Ztll!i. a major episode in Iraqi

10

SJIII·IAN DE SILVAJAYASURIYA

history which occurred from 869 to 883 AD. It marks the first major uprising of the Mrican Diaspora. Tite Z,tmj, were slaves who had been shipped from East Mrica to Iraq and thq• worked in salt mines and plantations under harsh conditions. Tite re\'Olt had triggered solidarity among the Mrican diasporists who desened the Caliph and joined the revolt. Some of these rebels were free Mricans. Of the Mrican slaves, only a few were from the Swahili Coast. Most of them were from other pans of Mrica. The re\'Oit that was initiated by Ali Muhammad is undoubtedly dte abandonment of Lower Iraq's barren lands by the servile workforce and the definite disappearance of the large work sites. This episode brought about improvements in dte living conditions of the slaves who had worked there previousl)•. Anodter imponant outcome was that dte Zmd survivors who had enroUed in the Abbasid army, did not return to their former service condition (Popovic 1999: 154). The Abbasid Empire was founded in 750 AD, by Abu ai-Abbas al-Saffim (descendant of the Uncle of Prophet Muhammad-Abbas) who, seized power with the help of Persian troops, and put an end to the Umayyad dynasty {661-75). Baghdad, which was founded in 762 AD became dteir residence. Edtiopians were imported along the valleys of the Blue Nile and the Nile or passed dtrough dte pons of Aydhab and Zayla which were on the Mrican Coast of the Red Sea, into Egypt or Arabia. Somalis were shipped to Aden via Zayla and were sold in markets at Hidjaz, Syria and Iraq. Slaves from the Sahel (Ghana, Gao, Kanem and Zaghawa) were also taken to the Muslim East as there were colonies of Muslim traders in many Sub-Saharan countries, panicularly in Ghana and Gao. Muslim merchants were middlemen for the trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves. In the merchant city of Mecca, dte protection and defence of its caravan routes had been entrusted to a troop of mercenaries called Allobish which is beliC\red to be connected with the Arab name for Ethiopians-A/ Hobosh. Though the term would suggest that they were exclusively Ethiopians, on the contrary, it included other Africans and also Arabic nomads from lihana (the coastal plain along the Red Sea and shore) and Yemen. Abyssinia is known by many historians as one of Sub-Saharan Mrica's oldest countries. Hamitic people migrated to Abyssinia in prehistoric times. Semitic traders penetrated the region in 7 BC. The Semitic-speaking Ethiopians caU dtemselves HobtsluJ or Abulta. A variant of Coptic Christianity was brought to Ethiopia in 341 AD and it became the state religion. Ancient Ethiopia reached its peak in the 5th century only to be isolated by dte rise of

mENTJFYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

II

Islam and to be weakened by feudal wars. Abyssinians were trading in Sri Lanka, on the Nonh-West Coast in MiiiDia (Mollo 10ta meaning 'Big Port') in the 5th century. Although it is not clear how deep the contact was at that time, it is likely that there was a contact language (perhaps a Pidgin) in J\-liiiDta to cope with the demands of being the emporium of d1e Indian Ocean. It has been suggested d1at some vowels of the Amharic script were borrowed from the script of Sinhala, d1e lndic language on the Island. Pankhurst (1964: 228) estimates the export of Ethiopian slaves at 25,000 per annum which conveys the significance of Ethiopia in the slave trade, which is probably comparable to that of East Africa, and establishes its demographic significance. Perhaps it is not surprising thai in Asia, People of Mrican origin have been known as Abt.tin, AbtiJtm, Abi.si, A~ Habslti, and Habsie. Black sla\'es from the Coastal strip of Ed1iopia to Mozambique were carried by Arab slave traders to various parts of the Muslim world, including India. TI1eir presence is recorded since the early estab6shment of Muslim rule during the Sultanate of Delhi (13th to 16th centuries). Mrican slaves continued to be imported to Westen1 India until the lale 19th century. Teotonio de Souza (2006} reports on manumission in Goa, the headquarters of the Portuguese Esllldo da India ('State of India'). This is substantialed by a document in the Archives at Goa which covered almost a century-Codex 860 entided Carlos de A!forria oos Estrlll/OS 1682-1759. He reports of a slave, Natalia, who was recorded as belonging to Abasg (i.e. Hobshi) caste. It seems that the Portuguese chroniclers equaled ethnic groups to castes in India. A few Africans occupied privileged positions in India. TI1e best-known is Malik Ambar, an Abyssinian sold to slave!'); who becan1e the Regent Minister of Ahmednagar ( 1600-1626}. The Habshi dynasties of Janjira and Sachin continued until the 20th century (Robbins 8t McLeod 2006}. Today, some groups of Afro-Indians are classified as Scheduled Tribes and they receive special privileges relating to education and employment. Mricans elsewhere in Asia, for example in Muscat, were known as Hubslws which meant an Ethiopian or person from Nord1east Mrica. In Arabia, Abyssinian sla\'e-soldiers were called Alulbish (plural of Holulsh), a term which stems from the early centuries of Islam. In Iran also, people of Mrican origin were caUed HaiJashis. Pankhurst ( 1964: 220-228} confirms that the slave trade which was of grea1 antiquity in Ethiopia, continued to exist in the 19th and 20th centuries. Ethiopian slaves were exported to other lands from d1e Indian Ocean ports. During

12

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the early 19th century, there were Habshis in the coun of the King of Cabul in Afghanistan (Andre-Baptiste 2006). Abyssinian slave-soldiers in the early centuries of Islam were called Askir which means 'soldier' in Arabic. Pereira (2006) mentions thai Galla was used as a derogatory term for Black Africans. The people who live south of the Amharic-speaking people (i.e. the Oromo or Galligna-speaking people are called Gallllh (meaning 'surf')). nte word has its etymon in Amharic. The ruling people of Ethiopia, the Amhara enslaved the Gallo and other peoples in Ethiopia. The term Ga/111 was used by Arab slavers and the British for non-Amharic speaking people of Ethiopia. It therefore seems to have been used for Ethiopian slaves. However, the Ga/111 call themselves Oromo. As Go/Ill is thought to have deri\'ed from the Arabic word Qszl-111 (meaning "said no" or "refused" to be converted to Islam). Today most Ommo are Muslims, who converted due to both conquests and missionary activities. African slaves were brought to the Maldive Islands on Arab dhows until about the mid-19th century. They intermarried the indigenous Maldivians and worked mosdy as 10Mis or coconut plantation keepers. In 1834, two British naval lieutenants who visited Male reported that: "From dte information we were able to coUect-it appears dtat Muscat vessels do not often visit this place: when they do, dtey generally bring a cargo of sla\•es. Five years ago one cante and sold about twent)'·five lads, a1 an average price of about 80 rupees each" (Forbes and Ali 1980: 19). When Ibn Batuta \risited the Maldives in 1346, he reported on "a hermitage situated at dte extremity of the island (Male) and founded by the virtuous Shayklt Najib". Forbes and Ali (1980: 15-20) state thai dtis is a dear reference to the Habshigefanu Magan ('shrine of the African worthy'), a memorial erected to a Sha)•kh Najib whom the Maldivians be6e\'e had traveUed through dte Maldives Archipelago spreading lslant before dying at Karendu Island in Fadifrolu AtoU.

&buru The term used for Africans in Maldives today refers to a geographic area. •.1\fricans are identifiable by their Negroid physiognomy. ntey are in the capital, 1\.fale, and some of the islands such as Felidhoo and Feridu. I met people of •.1\frican descent who knew about their African ancestor's arrival to the 1\.faldives. I was told about Sangoaru, an African who

mENTJFYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

13

was brought by a Maldivian Sultan who went to Mecca on pilgrimage. Altogether, five slaves (Sangoaru, Laalu, Maljan, Masud, Muizz) had been purchased in Mecca by d1is Sultan. &du Btru ('big drum') is played by the descendants of Sangoaru who live in 1he Island of Feridu in Ari AtoU. It is also played in other islands in this AtoU and in Felidhoo island which is in Vaaw AtoU. Today &du &ru has become commercialised and is a tourist attraction. The song accompanying this drumming is called &bum l.mJa ('Negro Song) and d1e words in the original songs were not comprehensible to Maldi\rians. The dance that accompanies the drumming is called &b11m .Nuun ('Negro Dance). Most such sla\'eS are reponed to have come direcdy from eastenl Africa via Zanzibar and d1e Omani port of Musca1. Othen were bought in Jeddah, on one occasion by d1e Maldivian Sultan Hasan Ill, who brought 70 slaves from the Hijaz to Male in the mid-fifteenth century. In the Maldives, Africa was known as &lnlru Kam. Tile word &lnlru means 'negro' as in &bum nisun ('negro dance1, &lnlru lrtliD ('Negro son'), &bum kqjja ('Negro boy), Ba/Juru lauling ('Negro child') and &lnlru l.mJa ('negro song') (Malonq• 1980). The word &lnlru could be from 'berber' which has its etymon in the Roman word 'barbara' which was used to denote barbarians. Formerly, the North African Coast was caUed Barbary. Tile Berbers were descendants of the pre-Arab Nord1 Africans. TI1e Arabs would refer to a non-Arab Muslim as a &r6mi.

Tokrun~ A~

Mowalid

In the 1\.fiddle East, Africans were referred to as Tokrun~ Sombo, AbUJ and MouYIIid. Tolrruni is an Arabic term for a West African or West African slave. Tolcrur was the Sahel area which is modern-day Mali and Niger. In Arabia, the term Tolmmi was used for Africans. In Dhofar (Sou1hern Oman), the term Sombo is applied to people with connections to East Africa. TI1e Oxford English Dictionary states that Sambo is a nickname for a 'negro'. 1bis could also be due to Slulmbu being the personal Danle of the Ethiopian slave, whose name changed to Ambar after being enslaved and who became famous as Malik Ambar having ruled Ahmednagar in d1e 16th centul)t In Q.atar, d1e Arabic word obid (which means 'a male sla\•e') was applied to black people of African descent. In Arabic, a female slave is caUed J05.1'· In Iraq, Thawra Youssef (2004), an Iraqi of African descent states that she is caUed obUJ ('a slave) even today due to her

14

SJIII·IAN DE SILVAJAYASURIYA

physiognomy. Ahhough she is not a slave, the terminology has been retained to describe a negroid person. It is interesting that she seems to be called by the masculine form of the Arabic word for a slave. MauYJlid is a term applied in the Middle East for a group of Arab and African descendants, sla\'e or otherwise. Slaves who converted to Islam were manumitted because tl1ey were clients (mowiili) of the Prophet and other powerful Muslims. The best known mowili was Bila Rabah, an Ethiopian slave whose mother Hamaamah was a slave in Mecca. He was freed by Calip Abu bakr, who bought him and became the first Miil}odbdhi (one who calls to prayer) in Islam and took part in all the early Islamic campaigns including those to Syria and subsequendy died in Damascus.

Words which the Arabs used to describe non-Muslims became edl· nonyms for Africans as the Europeans adopted the Arabic term. English travellers reponed of co.lfim (a word they used for Africans) in India. Apparendy, the majority of ro.Jjm in Goa had come from Mozambique. Africans in Asia have also been known, and in some parts of Asia are still known as Ctd", DdJie, Qdfttt, Irqforo, Irqfto, IOJphirs, Kluifris, JrJgits, Ir'!lfirs, Iropiris, Kapilis and HopTis. In Sri Lanka, people of African descent were called Ktdfin by the British and they appeared as a distinct ethnic group in the population census reports of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The word has its etymon in Arabic {f'!ft means 'non-be6C\•er1 and the Arabs called d1e non-Moslem •.1\fricans fJofos. Ibn Batuta commented that villages in the Muslim setdements were inhabited by Kojin ('unbe6C\•· ers') who were victims of the sla\'e raids (Defremery and Sanguinetti 1969). Portuguese historical documents, however, refer to etfres, negros and uatnJos, all of which could include people of African origin. When the Portuguese entered the Indian Oceanic waters, they borrowed the word from the Arabs and referred to d1e Africans as agm, continuing to use the same term that their predecessors d1e Arabs had used for the Africans. A tqftin/18 Jo"o ('a young free black'; nho is the Portuguese diminutive) from Mozambique who was brought to Goa by a Gon~o Pinto Brandio from Lisbon. In the last quarter of the 17th century, some Goan households had up to I 00 Irqffirs. A Cqfrinho was purchased to serve in the Augustinian Convent at the end of the l8tl1 century at

mENTJFYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

15

Daman, India. Sometimes, ef!ftt is used disparagingly with reference to any Black African. It is worthwhile noting that the Sri Lankan popu· lation census reports during the British Era refer to Mricans as bod1 KJdlits and also Africans. The term J(}dfir was current along the East Coast of Mrica, when the Portuguese arrived in the 15dl century. TI1e term has been borrowed by the Dutch and the British who followed the Portuguese into the waters of the Indian Ocean. The Frenchman, TI1evenot, commenting on the Portuguese slaves in Daman stated that "the Portuguese live very great in India, both as to their tables, clothing and number of Cqfres, or slaves, to serve them, having some of these to carry them in Palanchines on d1eir shoulders and other great UmbreUoes of Palm Tree lea\'eS" (Sen 1949: 116). De Sil\l'a ( 1972) lists the fixed annual expenditure of Kotte, in Sri Lanka, during the period 1617-1638 which includes the costs associated with the Ktdfrs. The cost of mats and ropes used to bundle 1350 bahars of cinnamon and for clothes of the Kqffirs was 700 xerafims. The salary of 280 KJdlits at a fanam a day was I ,708 xerafims. The rice allowance for 280 KJdlits of 2 measures a day was 2,800 xerafims. In 1640, I 00 Kqffir archers had fought for the Portuguese against d1e Dutch in Galle (Southern Province), Sri Lanka (de Silw 1953: 274). On 13dl March 1640, Galle had been seized by the Dutch and some Ktdfn and Canarese had been retained to repair d1e ramparts (Pieris 1973: 77). A few years later, in 1644, when the Portuguese were defending Negombo fort from the Dutch, Dom Philippo de Mascarenhas (d1e Portuguese Captain General 1630-1 and 1640-5), had 300 Ktdfn in his force (Pieris 1973: Ill). The Dutch priest, Phillipus Baldaeus, who li\'ed in Sri Lanka from 1656 for 9 years, describes a Cajjr trumpeter who came around with a Portuguese free merchant, in his memoirs, a 'Description of the East-Indian Coasts of Malabar and Choromandel, its neighbouring Kingdoms, and the Mighty Island of Ceylon' {Brohier 1960: 192). He also describes how the King's slaves and JGdPs and aU other black sen'31lts were each given a quarter of a measure of rice daily {Brohier 1960: 130). Captain Robert Knox ( 1681 ), who kept a diary in the late 17th century Sri Lanka, recorded that in 1681 Kqffir soldiers were employed by the Kandyan Kings. These soldiers seem to have deserted from the Portuguese army perhaps after 1656, which is generally taken to be the end of the Portuguese era. Baldaeus describes two Ctgjrs (the King's trumpeter and drummer) who came over to the Dutch on d1e 20th July 1656, and ga\'e them details of the Sinhalese King's

16

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movements in the count!')' (Brohier 1960: 267). Baldaeus describes the ceding of the Fora of Saint George in Mannar (Brohier 1960: 283). Among the Portuguese prisoners in the Mannar fora was a CaRer who was a Captain and who had made much of his rank and refused to bear arms or to do other kinds of labour and insisted that he would rad1er submit himself to a sound thrashing than so degrade himself. Baldaeus accompanied Ricklolf van Goens, as Chaplain in the 1658 expedition against Mannar and Jaflhapatam. His account is therefore an eye witness account. According to the Dutch Governor, Van Goens Junior, (who served in Sri Lanka from 1675-80), 4,000 J(}dfirs were engaged in building the Dutch fortress in Colombo, at the beginning of Dutch rule of the maritime provinces. The VOC slaves li\'ed south of the Fora across a lake. TI1e Dutch formed the Kqjfin into a labour pool when they set out to build their fortress in Colombo. In the early eighteenth century, the Kaffirs had become aware of their increased numbers and had staged an insurrection within the ramparted citadel. They had sparked off many acts of violence in the streets, had caused damage to properties, and had conspired and murdered the FIScal, Barent van der Swann, and his wife. The insurrection had been suppressed by containing the Kqffin within the citadel. They had been housed in an open stretch of land, which lay below the outerface of the southern rampart hedged in by d1e Beira Lake, after their day's work in a domestic house or in an institution. They answered a roD-call and were marched along a Jmrrow passage and then ferried across the Beira Lake to what was once a jagged peninsula. Thq• spent the night in lines and shanties. The old and sick slaves were also housed d1ere. According to Brohier ( 1973: 31) old Dutch maps marked the tract known as the Echelon Parade Grounds as d1e Kaffirs Veldt ('Ka8irs Field'). AI. the end of Dutch rule in the late eighteenth century, the Dutch gendefolk of Colombo went to Wolvendaal Church on Sundays in trildctl ('d1ree-wheeled') carriages or in palanquins pushed or drawn by Kqffos of both sexes (Roberts et al. 1989: 22). TI1e confusion regarding ethnicities is iUustrated in an eye-witness account of the people of Sri Lanka. For example, Robert Pen:ival (1803: 114--115), a British colonial oflicerstated that "There are also a number of Africans, Cafrees, Buganese, a mixed race of Africans and Asiatics". Africans married and co-habited with the indigenous Sri Lankans, the offSpring of these unions are not classified as a separate race. The child assumes the father's ethnicity for ofticial census purposes in Sri Lanka. The Buganese are neither African nor Negroid.

mENTJFYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

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Anthony Bertolacci who served the British government in Sri Lanka from 1800 to 1816 and who held several oflices including that of ComptroUer-General of Customs and Acting Auditor-General of Civil Accounts, remarked that though 9,000 Jr4in had been brought for the regiments (presumably by the Ponuguese and the Dutch) in Sri Lanka, they were not \>isible. He added that the Kldfir soldiers served in the colonial regiments and that they were from Mozambique and other countries on the African Coast and from 1\.fadagascar. He observed d1at a new race was springing up due to the intermarriages between Kidfir soldiers and Sri Lankan women. This new progeny was not thought by him to be sullicient to maintain the existing levels in the local regiments (de Silvajayasuriya 2003). When d1e 4th Ceylon Regiment was disbanded at the end of d1e 1815 campaign and the 3rd Ceylon Regiment was also disbanded in March 1817, d1e Mrican soldiers were passed on to the 2nd Battalion, which then became a mixed unit wid1 5 companies of Stpoys and 5 companies of Jr4in (Hardy 1864: 239). About 25% of the first 600 Kidfir recruits died during their first year in Colombo. The survi\'Ors are described as ''fine, hardy, tough, good-humoured feUows, and exceUent road-makers" (CampbeU 1843: 9). TI1e British Government also had retained a body of Kt!lfits, brought by the Portuguese from Mozambique, to construct mountain roads. In addition, 700 Jr4in had been added to the British garrison in Colombo and then formed into a regiment (Cordiner 1807: 213). According to Emerson Tennent, Colonial Secretary of Ceylon (18451849), the Dutch had kept up the strength of the Ktdftrs by immigration from the Cape, and the British had maintained the numbers by buying slaves from the Ponuguese in Goa (Tennent 1860: 259). He seems to imply that Jr4in did not mO\•e as slaves from the Cape. Frederick Nonh, the first British Go\'ernor in Sri Lanka (1798-1805) formed a Regiment of Ca./ftts. In 1808, the second Governor, Sir Thomas Maidand ( 1805-11) had been able to increase the number of Kqffr soldiers to 800. When Roben Brownrigg became d1e Governor in 1812, and he continued until 1820, there were four "nati\'e" regiments caUed the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ceylon Regiments. The 3rd regiment consisted of Ktdftrs only and the 4th regiment contained a mixture of Kidfirs and Malays. In 1813, the Malays were transferred to the 1st regiment which consisted of Malays only, as there was a serious scuOie between the Ka.Jfos and Malays in the 4dl regiment. In 1815, the 4th regiment which consisted of Kidfirs was incorporated into d1e 3rd Ceylon Regiment (Tylden

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1952: 125).1n 1816, the third Ceylon Regiment was also abolished on the orders of the British Government.• The Secretary of State wrote "dull d1e Kandyan war has ended favourably" and with d1e present climate of Europe (favourable to England), the Ceylon Goven1ment should dispense with the services of the 3rd Ceylon Regiment. The Ceylon Regiments were gradually awarded rifles, and becan1e known as the Ceylon Rifle Regiments in 1848, and the Irqffir soldiers received rifles. After the 1830s, the number of Irqffir companies was reduced from three to one. TI1e Boys' School of the Ceylon Rifle Regiments had 28 Cqjfits in 1835.2 It is interesting that d1e list of promotions that took place in the Ceylon Malay Regiment in 1802, includes a Malay Officer named "Kaftir Boonkoos... He could be the offspring of a Malay father and Ktdfo mod1er. A Minute by Major Thomas Skinner, in 1861 , reports that "flat nosed, d1ick lipped woolly haired K'!IJir from Mozambique is I think to be preferred, for in addition to his soldiery qualities he is of a powerful athletic frame, he is innured to labour, and is less artificial in his habits than the Malay". 3 Major Skinner went on to suggest d1at if it were possible to recruit Ktdftn from Mozambique to d1e regiments, it would be a mistake to introduce beef-eating Ktdftn who are unaccustomed to li\>ing on rice which is d1e staple food of the countr)•. General Braybrooke had considered the climate of Sri Lanka as being unsuited to the Jr# of Mozambique. The Jr# Companies of the Ceylon Rifle Regiments employed on the public worlts of the colony, had for several years penetrated the depdlS of the jungles and tl1e mountain ranges where it would have been impossible for any other men to have worked. It had been difficult to estimate the age of these K1dJits but judging by d1e length of service with the British, it was estimated that many of them were efficient hardwortcing men until the age of 60. Thq• had lasted for longer than any other men could have lasted under similar circumstances. He also commented that d1e climate of Sri Lanka was inimical to d1e Jr4ir and that it was thought difficult for them to rear children. In 1861, there had been 126 men and 655 married women in the Regiment, which included Malays, Hindoos, and KldJits. There had been only 995 children of both sexes. In 1861, there had been one company of K1dJits in the Regiments. If

S.L.N.A., 4/3, Bathurst to BI'OWJ'Irigg No. 46 of 8th june:, 1816. S.L.N.A., 6/1479, A.M.S. to C.S., 9th Dc:cembr.r IR3.'i. s S.L.N.A. 2/50 (Cq..on) E~utio.-e Council Proor.cdings, 27th l'ebruiU)' 1861. 1

~

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

19

K#f could be obtained from Mozambique, it was thought that two or three di\risions of pioneers should also be composed of them as they could be com•ened to soldiers at any time and might act as feeders to the Regimem. The Ceylon Executive Council had considered the possibility of sending a recruiting pany to obtain Kqfftrs from South Africa but had postponed the mission. As early as 1545 the Ponuguese Crown forbade the sons of Ponuguese settlers in the colonies from being enlisted as soldiers, d1ough d1is proved impractical and by 1634 only soldiers of a high degree of European blood were enlisted into the higher le\•els of d1e military and naval forces. h1 the 16th and 17th centuries, d1e Ponuguese raised some Indian auxiliary troops called Lastorins {lA.seatS} and Sipais (Stf»ys). They found that the Konkani-Marathi troops of d1e West Coast of India did not make good soldiers, and as a result they did not make as much use of them as the French and British (in later years). Instead the Ponuguese relied much more on the African slaves. African sla\•es defended d1e Macau fon against Dutch freebooters in 1622. Africans also helped the Ponuguese to defend Hormuz against a Persian assault in 1622. In 1651, the Governor of :Macau requested "Negro, sla\res rather than Eurasians from India. An artillery regiment raised in Goa, in 1773, included Europeans and also Europeans born in J\sia. It was only after a royal decree enforced b)• Pombal in 1792 d1at racial discrimination was eliminated from d1e armed forces of Ponuguese Asia. The Dutch also employed African militian1en and bandsmen in Ceylon prior to the island falling into British hands. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portuguese had successfuUy excluded other Europeans from the Mozambique, and indeed the East African slave trade. By 1800, however, d1e Portuguese had ceased to be a world naval power in the Indian Ocean. Clifford Pereira (personal communication) who has carried out archival research in d1e National Maritime Museum, London, has demonslrated lhat by d1is time Ponugal was relying increasingly on East India vessels to transpon people (soldiers, administrators, clergy, setders and domestic servants} as weD as mail and goods between Asia (Goa, Macau and Timor} and the Adantic (Brazil, the Azores, Madeira and Lisbon). At this time there was a shonage of soldiers in British Ceylon which became a British colony in 1802. The British Governor, Sir Frederick Nonh appealed for a regiment of West Africans, perhaps by buying slaves and training them as soldiers. At first the idea was to create a "Ctdfte Corpr' but then Sir Frederick Nonh decided to expand this to a regiment of perhaps

20

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I ,000. 111e most olnrious sources were the Portuguese settlements of Goa, Daman and Diu and a series of correspondences were initiated between Sir Frederick North and Sir \V'Il6am Clarke, the British ambassador in Goa at that time. Between 1802 and 1810 British troops of the 84th regiment were based in Goa and the creation of se\'eral battalions of Goan troops took place. The English merchant, Charles Forbes, corresponded with a Goan "to pay the bearer the sum of Rs 150, Bombay Rupees, the price of one Ctdfit, and take his receipt for the amount".• lnjuly 1804, the British Ambassador had collecced fifty Africans through a Colonel Ta)•lor, a buying agent, to ship co Colombo and found a Captain Scou co cranspon any number of them for 2000 rupees on board the Hercules. It appears d1a1 there was some friction between the three parties regarding the pricing of d1is human cargo, suggesting chat these Africans were slaves. The process of sending these Africans 10 Ceylon was later hampered by the actions of the Catholic church in Goa, which refused the sacrament to any Portuguese who sold slaves 10 the Protestant Eng6sh. Despite Sir William Clarke's insistence that be could work around chis, Sir Frederick North decided it might be beuer to purchase d1e soldiers at their source in Mozambique.) A ship was subsequendy despatched co Mozambique and loaded with almost fh•e hundred African men (and a few women}. Despite the loss of many Africans due 10 fighting (with the Indian St~·s) and disease aboard the ship, the majority made it to Colombo. Additionall)~ some Africans were taken from captured French ships. Hence the Third Ceylon Regiment was created, predominandy with Africans. Two years later, in 1808, the British parliament passed an Act oudawing slave trading by all British subjects. l11e Third Ceylon regiment fought in the 1815 war against the King of Kandy, where the British were \rictorious and the entire Island came under British rule, a feat that the two pi'C\rious colonisers of the island-the Portuguese and the Dutcb-w·ere not able lo achieve. In the 1820's there was a se\•ere drought and famine in the Zambesi valley. The effect of this natural event on the Afro-Portuguese (~o) landlords was 10 undermine their agricultural activities. The trading fairs (Ftim.s} were slopped and banditry became common place. Thousands of destitute and starving Africans were sold as sla\•es. During the 1820s and 1830s the British started pressurising the Portuguese to put an

1

~

Mhamai House Ra:corcl~: 7January 1813. Sla\-es fmm C'.oa to Bomb&)t Nonh/Ciarke correspondence in PRO C055/34.

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

21

end to the slave trade. The establishment of an independent Brazil, in 1922, and the move by Brazil to allow Britain the right to search ships canying slaves in 18261ed to a decline of slaves being exponed around the Cape of Good Hope and new markets were sought in Asia (including Goa). When the drought broke out in the 1830's, the econom)• had changed to one based on slavery and Brazil had declared that slave-running was an act of piracy. The Tonga peoples returning to dle river valley and d1e Mro-Ponuguese families combined to raid people from far inland in the Shire and Laun""a valleys. At the sanle time the PltlQ) families had developed closer ties with the coastal Swahi6, who would transpon the slaves to the matkets of dle Middle East via Mozambique Island, Kilwa, and Zanzibar. Slaves were shipped to Goa and Macau while others were often recruited into the militia eid1er in Mozambique or in Asia. The slave trade from Zanzibar to dle Middle East was only abolished b)• the Hamenon Treaty of 1847. British naval patrols covered dle area from Nonhero Mozambique to Baluchistan {Pakistan). By 1881, d1ere was a considerable British anti-slavery naval force in Eastern Africa, utilising Zanzibari, East African, Arab and Goan seamen. The term Kqffir has been borrowed by the African people themselves as KtfultL The term has no ethnological value as the Kqffin have no national unity. According to d1e Encyclopedia Britannica (1911), it was used to describe d1e large famil)• of Bantu negros inhabiting the larger pan of the Cape, the whole of Natal and Zululand and the Ponuguese dominions on the east coast, south of the Zambesia. K'!lfir is also loosely used for any negroid person in South Africa. Tile Bechuana, for example, in the Transvaal and Orange Free State are usually called Kqffin. The Kqffirs in South Africa are divided into Amo Zulu, Amo SuYLti and Amo- Ton/Ju. The Kqffin proper are represented by Amo-Xostl, the Ttmbu and the Pontlo. Therefore all the Kqffir people are collectively called .{,ulu-Kqffir. Se\•eral broken tribes were intermediate between these two branches and are called Amo-lingr1 i.e. 'wanderers' or 'needy' people, from the word/tngUQl ('to seek senrice'). The .{,ulu and Amo-Xaso regard the Amo-Ftngu as slaves or outcastes, who do not have aD)' rights to dle pri,rileges of the true-born Kqffirs. I was told by people of African descent in Sri Lanka that some of their ancestors have come from South Africa {de Silva Jayasuriya 200 I, 2003, 2005, 2006). The South East pan of the Cape Province of Soudl Africa was called Kqjpllrill. Kqffonia (or 'land of the Kidfn') is not an officiall)• designated area presendy. Hunter (1873: 338-342)

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reports that the c'!lftes (who occupied a region more eastward to the Hollmtos) were not of the proper negro race, but chat they ha\re woolly hair like the negros. The people of K4foist11n ('land of the infidels'), a province of Afghanistan were called K:Jdits. They are mostly descended from the broken tribes of eastern Afghanistan, who refused to convert to Islam, in the IOth centul'); and were driven out I>)• tl1e swordsmen of Mahomet. Before the conquest of Abur Rahman, all the K'!/firs seem to have been ancestor-worshippers or fire-worshippers. So, a native of tile Hindu-Kush mountain in the north-west of Afghanistan is also called a Kqftr but they are nol negroid and are not from the African migran1s. Kafiris1an was renamed Nuristan ('land of light or enlightenment') after tile people convened to Islam at the turn of che 20th century. Burnes ( 1833: 306-307) disagrees witl1 tile suggestion 1hat the)' are of Greek descent, and descendants of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. He considers ahem co be "aborigines of the plain who fled to their present ele\rated abode in the wars tl1at foUowed the introduction of Muhammedanism. Bowen (1944: 56-7) wrote on the 'Rtd K:Jdits' and 'Bitldc KAjirs' and tried to distinguish between lhem by "tile filtl1 in which tile Bl«k Kt~firs live, and the fair hair and complexion of lhe Rtd KAjirs". Some Afro-Sri Lankans seem to connect tl1eir ethnonym with a place called JGNjJ, which according to their oral history is an island. In 1907, the Capuccin missionaries calculated that 6,000 to 8,000 sla\•es were exponed annuaU)• from Kaffi (Pankhurst 1964: 222). Kf!!fo is a region in Etl1iopia and some Afro-Sri Lankans believe 1ha1 it is tl1eir ancestral homeland. They are not able to describe it in delail. Some Afro-Sri Lankans believe chat the place of their origin has gi\ren ahem 1he ethnonym /(#. The term Kqffir is a colonial carry 0\rer which has been borrowed by tile indigenous languages as AII/Jiri in Sinhala and Atl/Jili in Tamil. /("#. was pan of tile Abyssinian empire and was in Nort11 Ease Africa. The people of JGNjJ who are called kt~ficho are said to have been from che same stock as tile Northern Abyssinians. They intermarried with the Muslim Gal/tiS but remained Christians.

Sitli Terms used by the British for African seamen became echnonyms. ~ StW, &idee, &it!J, &itltlu, Sgdee, SllutJi, Sitli, Silf1, SUIIli, Silll!1 and Sillhi are terms used for Afro-Indians and Afro-Pakislanis. In Pakistan, Skid~ Sltidi

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

23

&lu&k4 S/tjJij Situlri, SU/i are some of the names that describe people of African descent. According to Badalkhan (personal communication), dle term SIIUJi is used in the Sind and Karachi but rarely in Balochistan. Abdulaziz Lodhi ( 1992) suggests that the word Siddi has its origins in StyvJi which means 'captive' or 'prisoner of war' in Arabic. Slaves were chattels, similar to livestock in many respects. They were not slaves because d1ey were 'outsiders'; they were slaves because d1ey were born to sla\res, or had been rightfuUy ensla\red. Despite dle clear legal definition, slaves were allocated a bewildering variety of social roles, from emirs to outcastes (Ciarence-Smidl 2003). Rulers relied on militaJy and adminis1rative slaves 10 such an extent 1hat they sometimes seized power. Eunuchs were treated as officials and harem guards as their genitals had been partially or entirely remO\red so that 1hey could not fadler any heirs (Toledano 1998). A connection, between commercial penetration of Eastern Africa by outsiders and dle appearance in the interior of new political structures, was occurring as the 19dl century progressed. The de\relopment of Zanzibar under Omani rule is pan of d1is process. As the demand for slaves, ivory and plantation products grew earty in d1e century, traders were attracted to the island of Zanzibar and Indian financiers serviced the trade caravans and provided goods on credit. Seyyid Said carefuUy nurtured Zanzibar's commercial community and it rapidly atlracted much of 1he inland lrade dlat for lhree centuries had been brought to Mozan1bique Island and dle Zambesi towns (Newitt 1995: 267). Sa)ryid Said was 1he first Sultan of Muscal, Oman and Zanzibar, in 1821. He died on 19th October 1856. At that time, the Omani kingdoms included Oman, part of Yemen, Hormuz and Makran Coast {modenl·day Iran and Pakistan}. Clifi,rd Pereira {2006: personal communication) found the ethnonym, SUJi, appearing in shipping records referring to people from dle Omani Sultanate from 1851 onwards. It appears that people from the Sultanate were simply called lhe Sidi (a contraction of the Arabic word StwUJ). Tile contraction would probably have been made by Bantu-speakers. The word Sitli seems to have then become an ethnonym for some Africans in India. Tiley could have been Swahili, African or Arab from Aden. Ewald (2000: 83) confirms that the British called African seanlell O>Oth enslaved and free} &ttlil.s, in the 19dl century. Ommanney (1955: 162-3) refers to 'Bombay, a 'SU/i boy', who was a survi\'Or of a larger number of Arabs and African ratings taken on as firemen and stokers in His Majesty's ships before and during d1e

24

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Firsc World War. They were called 'Sidi boys' by the navy as they were subjects of the &yyid, as the Sullan was known in his dominions. There had been several 'Sidi boys' in Zanzibar at thai time. They had been distinguished by their old-style naval rating, directness, sophistication, self-pride and by their fluency in English. An Eng6shman was astonished to be greeted by his friend's "coal black" cook who said "Back in 11 ji/Ji sit. Jut gorn tltllln lilt m~~d.for 11 lulll OllJios; clullk!". AU d1ese 'SU/i boys' had drawn a pension from d1e Admiralty. They were \rery proud of d1eir service in dle navy, in the hot stokeholds of coal-burning ships. Bombay had spoken English, French, German, Arabic, and his mother-tongue Kiswahili. 'Bombay' had been a tourist guide in Zanzibar after his retirement from the navy. Sidi was originally a tide of honour given in Western India lo African Muslims holding high positions under the kings of Deccan as in SUk/i 'Jiuplt, for example. Nowadays il is also a clan name and some Afro-Indians have names such as Laurence Siddi andjohn Siddi. Basu (1992: 260-261) slates chat d1e ethnonym of the Siddis is Hllbshi. Many scholars have implied chat SUJi derives from S;vl meaning 'master' or 'ruler' in Arabic. Pereira (2006: personal communication) points out that the word Sidtli has its etymon in the Arabic word Styidi/Sq)wtli/ StgtdJti meaning 'lord or master' and d1a1 it was app6ed to people of African descent as a tide (i.e. Master or Lord) because it was the term with which they called their masters. He adds that the term Sut/i or Sidi does appear in 19th century British sources as applying to people of African descent in Western India (Maharashtra, Gujarat) or to the men of African and Arab descent who worked as stokers in the boRerrooms of steamships. Initially, Africans in India seem co have been called Hllbshi TI1en the word mfte seems co have been introduced by the Portuguese from the late l6d1 century upto dle 18th century. The word Kidftr (from the Arabic word ql!ft which means 'non-belie\rer1 does not imply thai one's origins are African. It is not a derogatory term, in this context. In Sri Lanka, the population census reports from d1e colonial era recorded Kqffirs as a separate ed1nic group. The term was retained in independent Sri Lanka. There are Kt!ffin in Soud1 Africa and in Kalash in the Nord1-West Frontier of India, for example. TI1e Kt!ffin in Kalash are not African in origin. Ia is not clear exacdy when d1e terms Hllbshi and Kil.ffir began to decline in use. The term Sitli seems to ha\re been introduced by the

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

25

British in the 19th century. Sidi describes Africans in Gujarat and K.arnaraka today. Africans in Andra Pradesh caD themselves CJu.sll as they identif}• themselves with the Yemeni Muslims. They hm'e a multiple identity and also call themselves Sidi among other ethnonyms.

Mokrani, S]oll, Dodo, Gulom, Zongi/Hlri In addition to being called Sllidi, in Pakistan, people of African descent are called Mokroni, Dodo, Syoll, Gulam and Zongibtwi. According to Badalkhan (2005: personal communication), the terms most commonly used are S)Vlh ('black') or Gulmn ('senranllsla\'e') in the interior of Balochistan. In Karachi one also hears Dot/a (both 'd' are retroflex} but it is considered a pejorative term and not liked by the Sllitlis themselves. S)-oh ('black') and Gulam Cslave' or 'servant') are of Persian deri\ration while IJoJIJJ could ha\'e its origins in the Urdu word Dotlogiri which means 'strength or strong'. The meaning of Dodo is ambiguous and according to Badalkhan (2005: personal communication) the word means 'champion' or 'athlete' in Karachi today. Afro-Pakistanis never use this term to identifY themselves; only others call them as such. Therefore, it does not qualifY as an ethnonym. Mokrai is simpl)• a person from the Makran region. Its origins stem from the early migrants from Balochistan to the then newly cosmopolitan city of Karachi, who were blacks from Makran, who called themselves Mokrtuti. Now the term has got rooted among the non-Baloch population of the Sind and Punjab but it is not correct to call them Mokrani for the reason that they are black. Indeed skin colour is not a determinant of race or ethnic group in .1\sia, where there is much variation in hues. Zongibtzti probably is a reference to people who have come from Zanzibar which is nowadays in Tanzania.

Although Hobslti, Kidfir and Sidi, are more often used, Africans are called Oulusll in India. According to Esma Durugonul (2005: personal communication) d1e term Clltlush is an Ottoman military term and is still in use. II means sergeant or llolbmlilr (from d1e French word lltlltbtlrtk which means 'a soldier with a pole and an axe or spear') of d1e Sultan's

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bodyguard; herald, messenger, musician of the Palace. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Clulush is a Turkish messenger, sergeant or lector. Chaush is the name given to the Yemeni communities living in Hyderabad. Afro-Indians in Hyderabad also caD themselves Chaush as they identity themselves with Yemenis (Minda 2005). The etymon of Chaush could be the French word dulussts which refers to hose, covering the body from waist to foot or breeches. In Medie\ral times, it was used to refer to the armour for the legs and feel. The word may have been used to refer to the Yemeni army in British India whose military uniform includes dulusses. The Oxford Eng6sh Dictionary states that chausses (plural of the noun) are pantaloons or tight cO\rerings for the legs and feet, especially of males, forming part of a knight's armour.

.Maeuo Sometimes the African tribal name was used to refer to Africans probably because d1e incoming Africans called d1emselves by d1eir tribal name. Agostinho do Rosario, a black of 'mama caste' was enslaved to Father Marinho do Rosario, Commissary General of d1e Hospitalliers of Stjohn, in Goa. The m«UUIS are an ethnic group in Africa. As castes are considered distinct groups in India, the reference to a 'maaJil caste' is understandable. This most probably refers to people of the INI&Ua tribe who are in Mozambique. Eduardo Medeiros (2003) points out d1at the term .~1akoo refered to Africans being taken to Madagascar as slaves.

Ortmg Btlontla Hilllm African migrants to Indonesia were part of the Dutch colonial regime. They were called Orang <ulllo Hilom (which means 'Black Dutchman' in &htlStl lntltnwio). TI1q• were Ghanaian soldiers who were recruited by the Dutch in d1e mid-19th century. The Dutch had paid salaries to the &/ant!JJ Hitom and had offered them passages back to Elmina once they retired from the army. Some remained with their Indonesian wives and families but after 1955, d1ey had been forced to leave Indonesia ~d1er with the Dutch and the people of European and Indonesian descent (Van Kessel 2005: personal communication).

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K'unlun An examination of Chinese sources reveals another term for Africans. In China, black slaves were called K'unlun, a term which describes darlt-skinned people including Africans. K'unlun were employed as divers in Chinese pons to caulk the seams of boats with oaksum due to their strength and ability to keep their eyes open underwater (Invin 1977: 71). The Chronicle of the Sung Dynasty in 976 recorded that an Arab merchant bought 'a black K'un Lun slave with deepset eyes and black body' (Chou Jukua 1911: 599). ltsing. a Chinese Buddhist monk visiting Srivijaya (the Buddhist kingdom in Indo-Malaysia with its headquaners inja\ra) in 671 AD reponed that the Chinese Buddhist monks, besides studying Sanskrit, mastered a language called K'unlun. According to Sneddon (2003: 41), the Chinese called any indigenous language, K'unlun, and in this instance it referred to Malay. According to Asher (1994), K'unbm was almost certainly a form of Malay and was widely used as a &ngua franca in the area. TI1e Chinese Tang era (618-906 AD) refers to K'unlun or black African slaves, described as a rare luxury item of no economic importance (Balazs 1932: 13).

Ftd.tulto and FaltJShmum In Israel, there are se\reral terms to describe Africans. According to Kessler (1996), Falasha is from ancient Ed1iopic, or Ge'ez, meaning 'an exile' or 'a stranger'. TI1ey have a Bible and a Prayer Book in Ge'ez. Kessler is not convinced that it is a derogatory term unless it is used as an insult. The idea of exUe is because they were living in Galut or Exile from d1e Promised Land and he points out that it did not apply when they came to Israel. The Falasluls are believed to ha\re been comrened by Jews living in southern Arabia in the centuries before and after d1e Christian Era. TI1ey have remained faithful to Judaism and ha\re not coanrened to Christianity when the powerful kingdom of Aksum convened in the 4th century AD. Thereafter, the FalllslltJS were persecuted and were forced to retreat to the area around the Lake Tana in nonhen1 Ed1iopia. From 1980 to 1992, some 45,000 Falasluls fted drought and war-stricken Ethiopia and emigrated to Israel. Falaslul is a person wid1 no right to own land. It refers to Ed1iopian Jews since d1e time d1e Ed1iopian Negus (emperor) took away their tide deeds. The FaltJShmuras

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are FolllSiuu (Edliopian Jews) who have convened to Christianil)• due to various reasons such as economic hardship and persecution. Due to the Israeli law of return, they are entided to come lO Israel if d1ey can trace a maternal Jew in their geneaolog}t Man)• Folasha families have Falashn1ur11S within d1eir family. In addition, there are several thousands of "Black Hebrews" now in Israel and most live in dle soud1ern mwn of Dimona ffadmor 2003). The "Black Hebrews" are a community which emigrated to Israel in the 1970s from the United States. They had claimed to be 'the originaiJews'. Most of them came lO Israel as tourists and simply stayed after their visas had expired. The lsrae6 goven1ment decided to give them permanent resident status in July 2003.

Mulallo The terms used for the offSpring of Africans and Portuguese unions reveals their African ancestry. Mulatto was a Spanish and Portuguese term which means 'a person of mixed African-European' heritage and was used in the Americas after the 16th century. Gemelli-Careri, the Italian docmr who visited Goa in 1695 found dlat the city of Goa was teeming with multlltos. He stated that "There are also an abundance of Cqfrts and Blacks; for there are Ponuguese that keep d1irty or forty, and the least six or twelve; lO carry their umbrella, and Andora, and other mean Employments; nor are they at an)• other charge to keep dlem, but a Dish of Rice at Noon, and another at Night; for d1ey have no other Garments but what d1q• brought out of their Mothers' Wombs" (Sen 1949: 188). The statistical record of Goa and its neighbourhood in 1797 records Mulllltos.6 Jeanette Pinto ( 1992: I 06) points out dlat people of Afro-Ponuguese descent were called Mulattos in India. The British also borrowed the term mulatto lO describe any person of mixed ancestry including those with African and Asian parentage.

SltDJtS and Frttd Slovts 'When historical documents refer to slaves and freed slaves, their ethnicity is not specified. As tstrtllNJ (the Portuguese word for sla\re} and ka.ffir were synonymously used widely, Jeanette Pinto ( 1992: 97} deduces

h

MoDCiOr.s do Reino, MS 177-A(l7796-98), p. 317.

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

29

that it indicates the widespread usage of Africans as bondsmen. When the term slave is used without an adjective it is not possible to work out d1e ed1nicity of the slave. TI1e term slave could be confused wid1 indigenous systems of sla\'el')'. In Ancient India, the slaves were mainly Indians who lived in the region and were bonded to labour; thq• were insolvent debtors who worked for their masters to pay off their debt. In later Medieval India, the ethnicity of d1e slaves changed with the arrival of d1e Moghuls and the Europeans. TI1en the word sla\'e referred to a multiplicity of ed1nicities: African, Arab, Indian, Chinese andjapanese {Pinto 2006: personal communication). Pinto {1992: 32) draws attention to the fact that sometimes African sla\'es were simply referred to as {the Portuguese word for cargo) in ship records. A ship that came to Daman had listed several slaves under the heading of Cargo.' De Silva (1972) distinguishes between Kqffirs and slaves and also becween servants and slaves. Pieris (1973) describes the Dutch defeat of the Portuguese in jaffi1apatam where "300 armed Toupas and Kil./ft!s•••• slaves. ..." emerged from the fon. Pieris (1973) in his book "Some documents relating to the Rise of d1e Dutch Power in Ceylon, 1602-1670, from the Translations at the India Office, London refers to Kidfirs and slaves as distinct categories. Kqfftr mercenaries are mentioned. TI1ere is no mention of Ktdfo sla\'eS. Perhaps the Portuguese bought KidJir sla\a in Africa and then trained them as militia in Goa to whom they then paid salaries. VOC officials employed African and Asian slaves as domestic servants, housemaids, concubines and seamstresses. In this pool of multiethnic slaves, the Dutch stereotyping of slaves diftered across time and setdements. They ge11erally considered Asian sla\'es to be cleaner and more intelligent than d1e African slaves, who were, according to the Dutch, more suited for hard physical labour. This ethnic stereotyping meant that the male African slaves were put to work in the fields and to build fortresses while the Asian slaves were engaged in domestic work or as artisans. However, African slave women were not employed in d1e fields; they were housemaids, wet nurses, seamstresses and domestic servants. A system of gender stereotyping existed within the ethnic stereotyping of slaves. TI1ere were two different categories of Dutch in Sri Lanka: d1e VOC (' Vtrm,gdt Oost-JtuliKht Compagnir} employees and the Vljburgen ('free burghers'}. The distinction between these two categories was not maintained in the British era and both groups became

Cowa

1

Afliw/lgd ill .Ddmao, MS 6777 (J 796-1841), p. 19.

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SIW·IAN DE SILVAJAYASURIYA

known as Burghers. The Jtfjburgm came to the Island for private business and trade. They ran bakeries, inns and taverns, for example. Colombo became the seat of goven1ment since the Dutch capture in 1656. Its inhabitants were mainly Sinhalese Buddhists. The Jtiibutgm engaged their sla\"es in their businesses as artisans or as labourers. When the British took over and the Burghers (who included bod1 the VOC o8icials and the J+gbutgm) were reduced to a lower socioeconomic status, their slaves also suffered. Ne\"enheless, slaves were an income general· ing asset and were hired out by their owners when they needed extra income. Benolacci ( 1817: 59) commented that a few Burp)m supported themselves by hiring out their slaves to work as bricklayers, palanquinbearers, house-sen•ants, and in od1er similar jobs. Slaves were bound to give their masters whate\"er part of their wages that exceeded what was required for the supply of the mere necessities of life. The slaves that the Dutch possessed at the time of capitulation, in 1796, were looked upon as their private property and were doomed to continue in senritude and so were d1eir descendants in all future generations; their master had d1e right to dispose of d1em to Dutchmen, Burghers or Sri Lankans. There were nearly an equal number of female and male slaves. In total, d1ere were about 8,000 to I 0,000 slaves according to Benolacci (1817). When d1e parents were unmarried, the child of a slave by a free woman was not a slave, but a child of a free man b)• a female sla\"e is a slave to the woman's master. This was based on Roman Dutch law •on d1e principle that the fruit follows after the womb'. The rate of reproduction in female slaves was low, probably due to malnourishment and their physicaU)• demanding occupations, and was therefore an insignificant source of suppl)' for captive labour.. The Dutch, however, introduced humanitarian ideas about slavery almost a century prior to the British. The Dutch applied the same principles and code for dealing with slaves in Batavia and in Sri Lanka. By 1771, the Dutch had reduced the number of slaves in Sri Lanka. The transfer of slaves was made more difficult by 1787. Christian slaves were not transferable. Dutch law to reduce and abolish sla\"ery was already in place in Sri Lanka when the British arrived on the Island; it was confirmed in 1802 after the British had taken over. Anyone who attempted to enslave a freeborn person was fined I 00 rix dollars. Ne\"erdleless, slavery continued in the Dutcll era and when the Dutch capitulated, female slaves were wonh I 00 ridis (£3 4s 8d) and males were valued at 50 ridis (£1 13s 4<1). A female cl1ild slave was wonh 3 rix doUars (£0 4s 6d). Emancipated slaves of the Dutch were called libertines (from Rom. Antiq. meaning •a Freedman' or one manumitted

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

31

from slavery). A son of a freedman was also called a Libertine. Some Libertines would have had African ancestry though aU slaves may not have been African. The number of libtrtints had increased as slaves received freedom on death, or depanure of their masters. The Libtrlin6S gradually merged with the Tupassts ('descendants of the Portuguese and Sri Lankan unions'), and the name Iibtrlint fell into disuse (de Silva Jayasuriya 2003). TufJtlssts were called mulifOS by the Ponuguese; they are called Portuguese Burghers today. Certificates of Burghership which were originally given to the Dutch entitling them to reside in the toWns and to enjoy ci\ric rights, were later given to the Iibtrtinu. The only obligation associated with Burghership was the enlisnnent in the reserve militia. The question of redeeming or transferring slaves arose when the British encountered the institution of slavery in Sri Lanka. The Commander of the British Expeditional')' FOrce extended the meaning of propert)' to include sla\a. The sla\a were restored to their owners. All sla\"eS had to be registered. The British oftered a sum for d1e maintenance of d1e slaves. Sir Alexander Johnston, President of His Majesty's Council and Chief Justice of Ceylon (1806-1819), had adopted various measures to raise the political, moral and intellectual character of the people in Sri Lanka. He had obtained a charter from the Crown to extend the right of sitting upon juries to aU Sri Lankans; a privilege not possessed by any other Asian nation. In return, he had urged the gradual abolition of domestic slavery in Sri Lanka. TI1en the proprietors of domestic sla\"es can1e to a resolution that all children hom of dleir sla\"eS, after 12th August 1806 (the birthday of the then Prince Regent, later George IV, was chosen so that the slaves might associate the freedom of their descendants with the reverence of the Crown), should be free, thereby putting an end to d1e state of domestic sla\"ery that prevailed in Cq•lon for three centuries. Slavery was abolished in Sri Lanka during the Governorship of Edward Barnes (1824-31), and a group of sla\"e· owners in Galle and Jaflila freed all children born of their slaves. Sri Lankans had been anxious to show themselves worthy of the privilege which had been granted to them. In the 19th century, sla\"ery became a subject of debate and was finally abolished in Sri Lanka in 1845. According to Saunders (1982: I) the number of black slaves in Ponugal in the 15th and 16th centuries was striking, though they had not out-numbered the native Ponuguese. The Africans were called pmos ('black1 or negros. When the Ponuguese set out for India, their ships would have included some Negroid Africans.

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Last:arins When historical records refer co last:atins, their echnic origins are not specified. De Silva (1972) scates that lllstarins were distributed as sla\res and servants to the captains and mulialjyor.s, if they were rebellious. De MeUo had realised chat the key co conquering the lands of Sri Lanka depended on the loyalty of the lllstarins. According to Charles Boxer (1991: 389) a lascorin was a native soldier in Ponuguese Asia. In che 16ch and 17ch centuries, che Ponuguese also raised auxiliary Indian troops which they called lllstarins (Boxer 1991 : 301 ). They cherefore punished the rebellious lascllrins and rewarded the loyal. ClifiOrd Pereira (2006: personal communication) who has carried ouc archival research on shipping records stales that before the 19dl centul')~ d1e cerm lascar was used for anyone east of d1e Cape of Good Hope-Mricans, Arabs and Asians. In addition to being sailors, lasum also served as cooks and cleaners on ships.

Afto-ltlliillns/4friU111-Itlliitms/lndo-A.ftiet~~~s/4fro-A.sitiiiS The more recent terms used for Africans in India also confuse d1e ethnic origins. Few scholars are using the term Indo-African when referring to people of Mrican origin in India and Indonesia. The Dutch coined the term Indonesia recently, which means 'islands in the Indian Ocean'. The label Indonesia was in keeping wich Polynesia (many islands), Micronesia ('smaU islands') and Melanesia ('black islands'). When 'Indo' is prefixed co Africans it implies India, che Indian Ocean or the Indian subcontinent. TI1erefore the term lndo-Africans means Indians who have migrated to Africa. h1 the late 15ch century, when the Portuguese made contact with Ease Africa during Vasco da Gama's voyage co India, chere were many Indians crading in East Africa. During Portuguese rule, the number of Indians increased further as East Mrica and Portuguese India were part of the Esllldo t!Jllllllia ('the Scate of India') and Goans (caUed Canarins by the Portuguese) were moved to East Africa for various jobs. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many of these Indians were given /JrfLtiJS ('land grants') and most of them took African wi\res. TI1eir children are called Afro-Indians (Newitt 1995). TI1is could be confused wich the cerminology used for people of African origin in India which is also Afro-h1dian. In addition, the

mENTJPYING AFRICANS IN ASIA

33

Nonh Americans, tend to call the Africans in India, African-Indian. Here the Indian does not refer to an American-Indian ('Red Indian') but one domiciled in India. Similarly, the term Afro-•.1\sian refers to Africans or people with African ancestry in Asia. Africans have intermarried with other ethnic groups in Asia and their physiognomy has been dUuted. Many Africans became a pan of the kin s)rstem of Asian societies. Assimilation has concealed their genealogy and histor)~ This is in contrast to the African Diaspora in America. Although some African-Americans have become wealthy and hold imponant positions, they are outside the kin system. Historians will have 10 take a dillerent approach when researching the Africans in .1\sia. Reliance on archived documents only, can be misleading as Africans in Asia had many ethnonyms and sometimes their ethnic origins were not recorded. A Levi-Straussian approach of combining history and anthropology would be more effective than dating the cargoes and counting the men and piastres.

Condusion Many African migrants ha\re now assimilated 10 the Asian societies. Some names used for Africans in Asia reveal information about their origins while others conceal them. l11e numerous terms are partly due 10 changing names of the geographic locations from which thq• originated. Other names were given 10 them by the people who dealt with them, through commercial transactions, the sla\re trade, missionary activities, and colonial expansions. The terms used for Africans in Asia varied across time and space, and even overlapped in some parts. A knowledge of the terms used for Africans in Asia is necessary for scholars undenaking a comprehensive study of the eastwards African migration.

I should like to thank Dr Hemal Jayasuri)•a, Schiller International University, for his critical and constructive comments on this paper.

SIUI·IAN DE SILVAJAYASURJYA

Andli-Bapd.1re, F. 2006 "Habshis in late IRth C.E. Afghanistan: A Research Note", ('AlUm dis .4~J~~tt~~~M tllla Mimflitr 9. Asher, R. E. 1994TN~ Dj ~ twlli.,nma. Oxford: Pergamon PreAS. Badalkhan, s. 2005 Persnnal Communicalion. BaiUs, s. 1932 ~, wiu¥sJtsmitJIJt • r,..zn~ (618-906), & oslluislist~~t SlwJim Milllilllllgm tlls smtiflllTS /fir Orimltllisdtl ~- 35. Ba.1u, H. 1992 "Sidi''. in P. Hockinp {t.d.), ~· '!/ l·llril OJ~rt~a.: SwJk Jlfia. bon, Mass: G. K. Hall &. Co. Bcnolacci, A 1817 ..4 ~itw" IAt t1frinlllJiml, (~ -~ mlnr.fll" QJo/011. London: Black, Parbury a Allen. Bowen, R. 1944 "Rttl Ksfrn"'. ,li'Ott.f twl Qptils 186-187, London. Boxer, C. R. 1991 TN PimlttJitst&.Aomt &yin U/5-1825. UK: C.rcanet. Bmhic.; P. (h"ans.) 1960 ..4 TIW twl Elc«l Dl.fttipliOII " • GmH ('.g/011 ~ Plril/ipttf lltJI/ets Mill 1M SKiiOII RltUi"lill Qyltm of • ''Btstllrfl.oiitg • Ornl /Rdiulu Jiutm AW..4.&4R m CHORO.WANDEL dlr ~tlur ~ ~ m lltt NtAJWt Et"/..4ND CE'J1.0}1 J.litmt mr trr ptfit./1 tltxwqxllk ~ trr ~- til .4FGODERJ"E DEN OOST-IND/Sl'JIE HE'JDENEN., ~ 1M RnvJ Pllillifllls BtlJJMs f1diU/tttl ;, Dllllk ;, .4msl611'11m, 1672. Dehiwala, Sri Lanka: Tuara Prabsakayn. Bmhic.; R. L 1973 Dis£tR.wri"l q,IM. Colombo: l.alre Houe I~cmc:n11. Burnes, A. "On the Reponed Descendants of Alexander the Great. In the \Wlcy of 1833 lhc Ocean" }tntnull 'If IAt Afitllit Sod~!! of /Jnpl2. CampbeU, G. (eel.) 200417tt StnitiMtr tf Sltawy;, IAt lwlia Ot-, 4ftit•llllliAria. London: Frank C&!IS. Campbeli,J. 1843 Emmioru, At!'41111RJ flllll Filii/ Spom U. C¢M London: T. Bt W. Boone. Chou .Ju-Kua 1911 C/r011 ]11-lillll." Hit lllorA: o• tht CIUMst llllll Art1h Trflll't U. tl~t TwtlftA t~•ll' 77filwRda C".tt!traVV tlllitlttl Qu,{a-ali, (trans.) F. Hinh and \\~ \V. Rockhill, St Petersburx: Imperial Academy of Sciences. Clarcnce-Smich, \V. G. 2003 /sllllrJ twl 1M .diJoliJitm '!/ ~ London: C. Hurst Bt Company. Cordiner,J. 1807 ..4 Dtsai/Jiitm t{ ~lim, ('.tJIII.Iflini"liDI AtCGIIRI 'lf IAt Co~ /llluJJiJJmtf 111UJ llt~IIIRII Protl.titms. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees a Ormc. De Sil\'8, C. R. 1953 Ceylon under the British Occupation 1795-1833. Colombo: Colombo Apothecaries Compall)t TN PimlttJitst;, Cglrm 1617-1638. Colombo: H. \V. C8\oe a Company. 1972

/Jtj""'

biiiNI"

0111,_.,

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35

De Silw ja)'B.~uriya, S. 2001 Us Cipl tit~- II t""- fJtlt'ltrllit lAJrim tlls .4RMU dt Ill AllmDiR 3. 2003 ':An African ~sence in Sri I:anka'' in S. de S.Jayasuri~ & R. Pankhursa (eels.), Tilt A.ftitllll Dio.pr• iR 1M llllliml Ot-.. New Jersey: Africa World PRSS. Us J - ttl't.ft-. a Sli IAitht. c.Aim tits AIIIWI' dt Ill Mlmtirr ~­ 2003 "Trading on a Thalassic Network" in /sma of M-.,: OI.U., to Tmns wilh 2001 1M Sl&~ Tnllltllllll ~·· A Conference helclat UNESCO, Paris, France. 200.5 '"The Ponuguese ldc:nliay of the Afro-Sri Iankans'', UJSO'TOPIE. Defremery, C. e1 SBDgUineni, B. R. (eel~. andcrans.) 1969 ~ tl'liM &itrllt1, Reprint of 1st edition 18.54-R with 11C11CS by V. Monteil, Pant: Anthropos. Desanges,J. 1962 OIJfiJDgrus tits ll'illw qftit.-,.f dt l'tmlifuitl tlfl.uitp/1 d I'Otst d11 Nd. Dakar: Uni\oersity of Dakar, Section d'Histoire. Durugonul, E. 200.5 Personal Communication. Enc:ydopc:dia Britannica 1911 Chicago: Eneylopedia Britannica Inc. Ewald,J. "Crosses of the Sea: Sla\a, Freedmen, and Other Migrants in the North2000 western Indian Ocean, c. 1750-1914" Ammtllll Hiflolitlll Rlr!iiiiJ 105. Farhes, A. and Ali, F. 1980 "''Re Maldi\oe Islands and their Historical links \\oith the Coast of Easaem Africa''~ Ptut tiRtl l'mt1112. Hanly, S. 1864 _7ullii«MtrntriJbof 1M m.~MiuiOII, &.tA Qr~M 1814-1864. Colombo: '.Yesleyan Mission Press. Hasan, Y. F. 1967 TIII...Ws tiRtl 1M .SW... Eclinburp: Eclinburp Uni\'CI'Siay PRSS. Hunter, R£v R. 1873 Hiww)• of tilt Alissioaf of 1M Fm Clamlt of Stot/111111 fllfll AjiW. London: T. Nelson a Son&.

mi-.

lnvin, G. 1977

Kessler, D. 1996 Knox, R.

Tilt Ftll4W..f: A SMtt HistJwy of EIAi.,m}tUll. London: Frank Casa.

1681 Air HitiDIWJ IWttlitJII of 1M bJmltl of~- Sri Unka: TISIIIB Prabsaka)o Lrd. Unschotm, Van ISM Tilt J~ of ]o/JR HwJtm Y1111 lia.ffMttlt. London: Hakluyt Society. Lodhi, A. 1992 ~African Senlemcnts in India'' Tilt A'on/M }otlnuiJ of A.fiita ShMiil.f 1(1). Lombard, M. I 971 L'/sfltm tlas 111 J1m1ti1rr grandeur (VIII•-XJ• siede~ Pari.~: Flammarion. Maloney, C. 1980 Prop/~ of tAt MflllliN lfllllllls. India: Orient Longman. Medeiros, E. 2003 ··Concribution of che Moumbican Diaspora in the Dc\oelopmenc of Cuhural ldenrilics" in S. de S. Jayasuri)'a a R. Pankhurst (Ccb..), Tilt 1lfiV1111 DifiS/NJm iR 1M IRIIMm Omm. New jersey: Africa Wolld Press. Minda, A. 200.5 Personal Con1municarion.

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Na,oiu, M. 1995 .4 Hisll6)• .J' MDl.fllfflJUptl. London: C. HunL Ommanlle% F. n 1955 lfll " O..~a: .4 lw of z~- London: Longmans. Pankhursa, R. 1964MThe Ethiopian Slave Trade in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Ccnmries: A Swislieal Inquir)•'' ]efiTIIIJI t/ SmriJic Sluiil.r IX (I). Pelliot, P. "Qanghibar" in P. Pdliot.Ne ,. Mdrro Pols. Paris: lmprimerie Nadonale. 1959 Pen:ival, R. MAccounr of the Island of Ceylon'', Till Hist«imm Jr-rul 22. 1803 Pereira, C. ~he Bombay Africans and rhc Fn:n:to\\'n Sculemcnr'' lAJrim tla AIIII!VIIa 2006 til Ia Mimoirt 9. 2006 Personal Conununieaaon. Pieris, P. E. (ed.) 1973 Somlt~~Jtumnw RltUi"lltJ 1M Rist of 1111 Drddr lbu.w itt('~ 1602-1670.ftom 1111 Tl'tiiiSiiJiitar Ill tAt /IIIIis Offo'- London: Curzon Press. Pinro,J. 1992 S111NFJ ;, ~~~ /Nii4. Bon1bay: Himalaya Publishing House. Personal Conununicaaon. 2006 Popovic. A. 1999 Till RnVJ/1 .J' A.ftinm Slmlt.r ;, lldf i• tAt 3rd/91A ~·· Princeron Nc\\' Jenqr: Mutus Wiener Publishers. Robbim, K. and Mcl.end,J. 2006 .4foa Eliks ;, llllk Hd6slli ..._.,_ Hydcrabad: ~lapin Publishers. Roberts. M., Rahecm,J. & Colin-Thomc, P. 1989 Ptop/11~ Sri Lanka: Sarwdaya Book Publishing ServittS. Saunders, A C. de C. M. 1982 .4 Sotilll Hisllll)• tf Bliri Slar.vs tl1lll .Rm6Nm iR ~ 1441-1555. Cambtic~F Can1bridge Univcnity Press. Sen, S. N. (ed.) 1949 llfllifBt TntJ.'Iis of 1Mvnot IDlll a-i New Delhi: Indian Records Seric:s. Sneddon,J. 2003

Ct_,-

Tadmor, U. 2003 Personal Conununieaaon. Talib, V. & Samir, F. 1988 ~e African Diaspora in Asia'', in M. Elfasi (ed.) llJIIESCO Gmmd Hislot7 .J' Afiira, Pam: UNFSCO. Tcnnent,J. E. 1860 Ceylon: An Accoum of the Jslanci-Ph)'llic:al, Hisrorical and Topographical. London: Longman. Tolc:dano, E. R. 1998 Slm.wy diUI d!JoliliDR ;, 1111 0111JmdR Midt/11 EArL Seaule: University of Washington Pma. Tyldcn, G. 1952 MThe Cq..on Rqimenrs. 1796 co I 974" Joll¥1tlll t/ tAt SotUf1 for Al'll!' HislllliuJJ Rtsttlldr 30. Van Kessel, I. 2005 Personal Conununicalion. Youssef, T. 2004hnp://W\\'\,\8Jiraqi.org/forums/an:hi,vindcx.php/c-27475.hnnl.

CHAPTER THREE

THE AFRICAN-ASIAN DIASPORA: MYI"H OR REAU"IY?

Since joseph E Harris' The African Presence in Asia: Consequences of the East African Slave: Trade (1971) there has been a growing scholarly interest in the possibility of an African 'sliM:' Diaspora in the Indian Ocean world similar to that of the weD-documented African Diaspora of the Americas. However, while the number of studies on communities of African origin has blossomed, there has been little auempt to evaluate if those communities fit the criteria--weU-eslablished for the Americas--of a victim diaspora. In pursuing such an exercise, this paper concludes that in the Indian Ocean world the criteria for the historical or current existence of an African Diaspora of sla\oe origin are not met.

lnlrodutlion Scholarly incerest in che African-Asian Diaspora 1 is ~ an extension of researdl inco the African-American Diaspora. This highlighu six key characteristics of such a diaspora: displacemenc from a homeland co two or more peripheral or foreign regions; che formation of a 'relach'ely scable communicy in exile';2 social rejection by, and alienation from, the locally dominant sociecy; an awareness, real or imagined, of a common homeland and heritage, and of che injustice of removal from ic; efiOns to maincain links with and improve life in chat homeland; and a desire ultimately to return permanendy to the homeland.3 Also critical is d1e

• Depanmen1 of Histol'); McGill Uni\'ttsity, 855 Sherhrooke Slreet W., Montreal, ~ehec:.

Canada H3A 2T7. E-mail: [email protected]

African' is here defined as a member of a family or group lhat had been living in ~ of Africa or its i.~lanck for more than two FncralionL · Wilson, ''Conceptualizing the African Diaspora'', p. 118. 1 Okpcwho, Davies and Maznai (cds.), 1M 4/iitllll DiarJilJrtl; Ak)oe~ng. "Africans in the Diaspora", pp. 184-6; Hinc & McLeod (cdR.), Cios.rifll &lllfllt~rus; Thompson, 1

C 2008

~BriO

Nv, (..,un

38

GWYN CAMPBEU..

formalion of a diasporic 'consciousness', for which there are duee pre-requisites: geographic concentralion; common living and working condilions markedly dift"erent from the polilically dominant group; and a leadership which arliculates the diaspora's interests-defined in opposilion to those of the dominant group. It is here argued that the pre-condilions for an African-Asian diasporic consciousness did not exist in most of Asia, which in turn undermines the argument for the existence of an African-Asian Diaspora.

Tht H1111Uiond

The first prerequisite for a diaspora is the dispersion of its members from a geographical centre of origin to several distant regions. African slaves exported to Asia were cenainly dispersed throughout d1e Indian Ocean World {lOW) &om the Middle to Far East 1 in a trade that was mullicfireclional, involved overland and marilime routes and changed over lime:~ However, they possessed no common centre of origin. Rather, they came from many dift"erent regions of Africa and the islands, and represented widely varying ethnicilies and cultures.' Terms applied in Asia to African-Asians often supposed to indicate precise origins (e.g. Zanj I Sidi Swahili littoral; Habshi Ethiopian; Kunlun African), tend nuher to be generic. Thus 'Zanj' indicated someone from the 'uninhabitable' regions of sub-Salumm A&ica; 'Ethiopian' meant any dark-skinned person, African or Asian/ while 'Kunlun' referred both to the east African island of Pemba, and generally to anyone with dark pigmentation, notably from Africa, Papua New Guinea or Melanesia.8 On Maurilius, the term 'Mozambique' covered at least thirteen cfifferent

=

=

=

.4/Rt(JIU •f 1/Jt Diarf!J~m; see abo inarocluctinn in Ma1suoka a Soren11011, Glttls.ts 111111 ~r, Jlasu, ;,fndian SiCii". 1 Hunwick, "Black Africans", p. 31; VCrin, "Madagascar''; van Goor, ·~Hybrid Srate, p. 196; Chaba\~&ni, "The Ducc:h East India Company and Sla\~ Trade'', pp. 81, 8!'i; Boomgaard, "Human Capital'', pp. 83-96;Jayasuriya, '1'he Cqolon KtJffn"; Bhargava, I111Bt111 ex.- Strt~ll:fits, p. 30. ~ Schnttcnhammcr, "Simoes and rorrns of Slave!)' in Lare Imperial China", pp. 14354; Wmk, JJI·HiNI. ,d. I, pp. 36-1; C.oocly, "Slave!)· in Time and Space'', p. 18. h Trimingham,/slitm iR &sl.4jmll, pp. 2-3; Hunwick, "Black Africans'', p. 31; Vhin, "Madapsc8r.'' ' Lewis, ;'111c African Diaspora", p. 37; Ro-, "Africa in Islam'', pp. 12-13; Irwin, 4fdri11U ,16rN( p. 16. 8 Fibi, 4fiir11, p. 21; Irwin, ,fftit- JJJmxuJ, PP. 169-72.

au. •

niE AFRICAN•ASIAN DL\SPORA

39

edtnicities from southeastern Amca.9 'Sidi' Hindus of Kamataka possess a low incidence (6%) of the sickle ceO trait, probably indicating that few of their forebears origina1ed from East Africa. 10 Moreover, except in recent concentrared setdements, such as Hyderabad, few AfricanAsians today have a clear idea of their African origins. 11 ht other cases, oral histories do not seem to match historical accounts. 12 Again, 'a diaspora by its nature cannot exist widtout a homeland and tbe quest to re-altain that homeland'.•s However, there is scant evidence amongst African-Asians of a desire to return to Africa. ·nte few ex-slaves in dte lOW who were olfered passage to dteir region of origin found re-integration difficult. 11 African-Asians returned to Africa only because of Western pressure: from 1874, CMS missionaries to India sent some African ex-slaves to establish a mission at Freretown in Mombasa, the activities of which continued to dte 1930s. I) Otherwise, altempted returns were sporadic, generally escape bids by freshly c~ tured young adult male slaves, and in no way represented an African diasporic consciousness. 16 lndeed, when oflered passages back to Africa, many African/African-Asian slaves refused. 17 Currendy, most AfricanAsians reject identification with what they consider an undeveloped region.•& An awareness of the injustice (or '\rictimisationj of forcible removal from the 'homeland' is also weak, although slaves exponed to Asia underwent dislocation and suffering. Malagasy slaves to dte Mascarenes commonly believed that they would be eaten by whites, 19 and some Mozambican sla\•es chose suicide to exile.-. Slave monality was high; possibly 12 per cent of slaves shipped to the Mascarenes died en-route,

• Alpers, ;'Br.coming 'Mm:ambique', pp. 1-2. Vljayalwmar, "Gmc:cic: sludies among 1he Siddis", pp. 118-9. 11 Harris, ,Jfiict~R Prt.ftRtl in JJsi11, pp. 111-2; Bhulachai')'B, ;'Indians nf African Origin", pp. 579-82. 11 Jayasuriya, ;,Ceylon KiiJiin.. '' ., Q.uoled in l..oi."Cjoy (eel.), J~ DituJHim J(nJJSIIIIIr 4, p. 3; see also iclan, "'The African Diaspora". 11 Sec e.g. Wam:n, "Sinlcrure nf Sla\tc:ry in 1hc: Sulu Zone:'', pp. 111-28. ·~ Ak)'l'.al1lpnng, •:Afriams in 1he Diaspnra," 197; Basu, "Indian Sicli''. lh Alpers, ''Flight ro freedom'', pp. 5Hl8; Mampilly, "African Diaspnra nf the: Indian Sub-continent"• ., Sc:c: f'~ Miers, ;'Sia\tC:ty and the: sbn.or: 1radc: in Saudi Arabia", pp. 120-36. •• Mnnagny, ;'L'Afriquc: ouhliCc", pp. 223-4. •• Grillilhs, Hdllts Millltt§utiiT, p. 26. ~r c:omparalhtc: ma1c:rial sc:c: Pic:rsc:n, "While Cannibals, Black Manyrs", pp. 147-59. :10 Rr.a, &-m~s Dj 1M .
40

GWYN CAMPBEU..

a rate which rose as distances grew. Also, slaves were wlnerable to disease carried aboard or encountered at their destination: approximately 25 per cent of African male slaves imported into Sri Lanka in 1817 died within a year.2• Moreover, most slaves were ascribed a low social status. In Imperial Madagascar, India, and South China, they were categorised as a hereditary 'outcaste' status based on a ritual distinction between 'purity' and 'poUution'. Such distinctions continued after abolition which rarely conferred full citizenship. 22 Most ex-slaves were incorporated as inferior members of the host society or retained, as in most Islamic societies, in hereditary servitude.29 This reflected in part their weak economic position as, unlike many exslave holders, few recei\red compensalion upon abolition, or assistance in adjusting to a post-slave economy. Dominant groups continued to consider ex-slaves 'impure' and 'poUuting', and to caD them the traditional terms for 'slave'.21 Moreover, indigenous traditions were reinforced by colonial European, notably Dutch and British, racial codes. 2) Emancipation released large numbers of ex-slaves onto the local labour market, which favoured the employer. Subject to the harsh laws of supply and demand, many failed to secure wage labour. Some, like the African-lranians of SMk, the Sidis of the Gir forest in Gujarat and the Western Ghar forests, 26 and the ex-slave Creoles of Mauritius, became economically and sociaUy marginalized.21 Exceptions included the nizam of Hyderabad's lrllsllllQlh advisers, for whom he provided a trust fund, and ex-slave professionals in Saudi Arabia accepted as pan of the Arab elite.28

~· Jayasuriya, "C9oion Kojirs"; ~ also Lewis, Rllu fiNl Slsrny i11 1M MUIJ/11 FAst, p. 10; CampbcU, "1"11e &ate and Pre-colonial Demognphic Hisrol)•", pp. 415--45. 21 Watson (r.d.), JWan fiNl Jtfi'ita ~mu of Stmwv~ E"~rs, "Siigmadzalinn", pp. 137-56; idem, '"So6darity and Antagonism", pp. 565-71. :zt Bnmsch\oig, '"Abd". 21 Enn, "'The abn61ion of sla\oery'', pp. 83-93; Even, "Siigmalizatinn"'; Watson, "Transactions in People'', pp. 237-R. 246--7; Harrit, .A.fn'ra Prtsmfl, 116--7, esp. n. 4. 2.\ Harrit, .Aftita Prtsmu, II H; R.eid, st~ BfJIIiJJgt tmJ Dtf11Nllll9, p. 18. :lll Harrit, J!Mca I'N:ulw, 103, 113-4; :Mirzai, •:African ~sence in Iran"', p. 236; Bhatlacharya, "Indians nf African Origin,'' 579-82; Vijayalmmar, et al., "Genedc studies among the Siddis nf Karnataka," 98; Boi\in, "La Condicion senile dans Je Sindh colonial". .n Benoit, "'Les nublit.s de Ia libene"'. ,. Cole and Ahndd, "FamUy in Changing Saudi Arabia''.

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41

Diasporic Consciousness What, then, explains the lack of an African-Asian diasporic consciousness? One factor may have been the desire to forget the role of feUow Africans, from warrior kings to impoverished kin, in enslaving and selling their own kind. 29 More important was tbe lack of the three bases for the rise of a diasporic consciousness: geographic concentration; common living and working conc6tions markedly difterent from those of the locally dominant group; and a leadership to articulate d1e diaspora's interests.•

Gtogmpltic Ctmctnlralion Slaves in Asia often comprised 20 to 30 percent of d1e population (rising to 50 percent and over in Indonesian pons). However, concentrations of purely ~an· slaves were rare as almost every Asian society possessed both indigenous and foreign slaves drawn from many different regions and ethnic groups. The Middle East, a major market for African slaves, also imported large numbers from d1e Caucasus, Central Asia, Pakistan and India, and smaller numbers from furd1er east. African slaves in the lOW also served a variety of masters, indigenous and foreign. "l11us in Asia, 'slave' was never equated with African or Black, or slave-owner with Muslim. 31

Commtm Liuing 1111d Wonting CoiUHiions In the 10\.V, few examples exist of concentrated numbers of slaves living and working together outside imperial Madagascar (c. 1790-1895} and d1e east African plantation islands (Mauritius and Reunion from c. 1750; Zanzibar and Pemba from the 1830s). Neid1er was there an

'"' Boivin, "La Condilion senoile.'' to Q.uoled in l..oi.T.joy (ed.), ~~ DilupDrfl Nnmlllw 4 (200 I}, 3; see aiiiD idem, •"'fhe Afric:an Diaspora." 11 Boomgaanl, "Human Capiral''; Kim, "..V~i: A Korean S)'!ltc:m of Sla\tc:JY", pp. 155-68; Kopytol' and Miers, •:African 'Sia\.:ry'", pp. 60-1; Reid, "lnaoduccion,'' 12, 29; Campht.U, ''Sla\ICJY and Fanompoana", pp. 474--5.

42

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identification wid1 fellow 'Africans'. 32 In part dtis reflected internal divisions, such as ethnicity. Slaves of the same edtnicity as d1e slaveholding society were generally ascribed superior starus to those obtained extemall)~ while fresh arrivals raised dte starus of resident slaves. Thus a mass influx of Makua slaves in nineteenth-century Madagascar placed the newcomers at the bottom of the slave hierarchy.n Similarly placed were recaptured fugiti\'e slaves, whose inferior status was often visibly clarified through branding or tattoos.31 Another sign of superior slave status was avoidance of menial or ritually degrading activities.:L\

lbe development of a diasporic consciousness also requires a leadership to express thar diaspora's interests. Some Mrican-Asian communities produced highly educated figures. 36 However, dteir interests lay less with fellow 'Africans' than with the local elite: thus Ala ibn Abl Rabah, born in Saudi Arabia of Nubian parents, became a celebrated Muslim teacher and jurist at Mecca,97 and Abo AI-Qiahiz, probably of Edtiopian slave descent, became a leading inteUectual in early ninth-century lraq.58 'lbe leaders of the 860-83 'Zanj' revolt in Iraq, traditionaU)• considered to have been East Africans,:19 were in fact non-slaves involved in local power politics. 10 MoreO\'er, the sla\'e elite often became slaveholders, reflecting a distance from fellow 'Africans' and a communality of interests with the slave-owning society.''

S~

see e.~ Tcdoclc, ""The lnRuence of Sla\,~ in the FOrmation of Creole ldentit)•", a.~sens such a consciousne&S c:xisled, but produces nn e\oidence of it-Aipr.rs, "'Becoming 'Mozambique'," csp. p. 18. st CampbeJI, ''lntniduction: abOlition and its aftcrmaah'', pp. 1-28." se Rdd, ''Introduction," 12. "" Schotrcnhammcr, ''Sla\,-es''; Klein, "'lntroducrion: Modern European Expansion and Traditional Senoirude in Africa and A~ia'', p. 7; Chauhan, Jf,6i£dR.f in llfflill, pp.

pp. 3-8; Alpen

12-117. !II Though fr.w n:ceh,'UJ a Wesrern education-Aipc:rs, ''Rccollc:cting Africa'', pp. 84-5. 51 Irwin, J~RS AbmtJ/, 66. !II Pc:Dat, •)\).Qjlhiz''. !II Allen, Suxlltili tJriiiU, p. 73. IU Jbid., 73. 11 Schotrenhammcr, ''Simoes''; Klein, "Introduction," 7; Chauhan, Jyritas ilr /IIIlis:, Colr. and Alrorki, ''Family in Changing Saudi Arabia.''

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Dtnial of 4fiW Despite being generally impoverished and socially stigmatised, Mrican-Asians overwhelmingly claim a local Asian, and deny an Mrican, identity.·~ ·n1us African-Asians in Sri Lanka and the Middle East stress a local identity;19 Mrican-Q.atars even claim to be members of noble, second-ranking Arab tribes. u Some former Mrican slaves in Madagascar constructed tombs in omer to claim a Malagasy ancestry, and Sunni Sidis insist thai d1ey are 'Muslim Sidis' and claim direct descent from Mohammed. n Mall)• ex-slala have retained strong emotional bonds wid1 the former slaveowning famUy with whicl1 they identified far more closely than with others of Mrican origin and descent."" Some Diaspora scholars emphasise the existence of Wrican' cultural traits, notably music and possession cults, as proof of Diaspora 'memory' and 'consciousness'. However, evidence of this is weak. Of the music of Wrican' inspiration played by people of Mrican or part-Mrican descent in Q.a1ar, Anie Montigny comments: It is above all for iiS &berty of expression that music is taken up, and Blades do not search through it to return to their roots, nor to contest their social condition. Rather, they emphasise iiS a.rabic:ised character, taken as a proof or their Arab rooiS. 17

Similarly, Sidi devotees of Bava Gor claim an Indian and deny an Mrican identity. 18 Passington Obeng's study of Indian Sidis produces evidence not of an Wrican-Asian' but of a class or caste consciousness incorporating Wrican' and 'non-Mrican' groups, d1a1 is based on common economic interests.e In such contexts, it is futile to search for a 'slave mode of production', a construct which bears 6tde relation to historical rea6ty in the lOW outside planwion economies. 50 u mr Iran, see Minai, •:African Presence in Iran,·· 241; For India, sr.c Basu, "Indian Sidi''; l\fampill)~ •:African Diaspora.'' mr Sri Lanka, see Cooper, "Within Sowh Asia"; see alto Alpers, ;'Rt:collecting Africa," 8..';. u Jayasuriya, ;'Ceylon Ksjin''; Montign); "L'Afrique nublih-.," 215. ~• Momign~ ;,I:Afriqur: oubliCc;" 214, 216-7. n Ali, Jtfiirtm Dispmfll, p. 226. • Monlil"% ;•I:Afriqur: oubliCe." ~ Ibid., 223-4. • ShmO: "Sidis and Panis". D Obr:ng. ;•Survival Scraar:gies''• .10 La.or:~ 7~rmfllioiiJ iR Slm~, pp. 234, 238-9; Klein, "lntrocluclion," 10-11; Campbdl, "lntmduclion: abolition and its aftermath.''

GWYN CAMPBEU..

Assin~ilalion

In the Asian world, in contrast to the Americas, most slaves were subject to forces promoting assimilation into local society rather than separateness and alienation from it.51 First, 'violence', considered a characteristic of slavery in the Americas, was not universally employed against slaves in the Asian world where violence or the threat of violence was rarely used outside Europeanmanaged plantations. Elsewhere, harsh working conditions did exist and could provoke revolt, suicide and attempts to cunail reproduction. 52 However, slaves represented a capital asset d1e value of which was wonh maintaining or even enhancing. Moreover, maximum slave productivity could only be achieved through acknowledging the essential humanity of slaves.!1:1 In general, however, slaves in the lOW generally enjoyed an array of traditional and prescribed rights unknown on dte American plantations. In the parts of the 10\V, outside the Mascarenes, where European law was applied, treatment of slaves was tempered by local economic and political forces. 51 Igor Kopytoff and Suzanne 1\ltiers stress that large complex societies were more likely to institutionalise inter-generational slave status and slave stigma than simpler decentralised polities.5:1 However, even in Korea and China, where the most extreme systems of hereditary slavery were practised, slaves nevenheless possessed a legal status and some rights: 11tey were immune from state corvees, could be punished but not kiUed by dteir owners, their marriages were in general respected. Such rights, it could be argued, meant d1at they were not true outsiders as they had entered into the dominant society's system of reciprocity.!IG As such, dtey were, like 'free' subjects, bound to serve those of higher status, but were in return guaranteed protection from external predators and at least basic food, clodting and shelter.57 Some ~· Campbell, "lnuoduclion. Sla'ltc:ry and o1hc:r forms of Unfree: Labour'', pp. \oii-xxxii. lll Alpc:rs, "F1ighl 10 f~m''; Boomgaard, ;'Human Capilal''; Sheri&; "The: sla\tc: b'adc: and ils falloua'', pp. 103-19. lll Klein, "lntroduclion," 11-12; Mc:Wassoux,.41111mpolqc)• ff Slra~, pp. 9-10. ~ Boomgaarcl, "Human Capiaal''; \\Wdc:n, ;'lncUan Ocean sla\tc:l)'", pp. 29-49. !.\ Kop)'l08' and 1\fic:rs, "African ;'Siavc:ty'," 42. lli Schollc:nhammc:r, "Sia,~··; Kim, "..VtJtt'; sec: also Salman, '1'hc: meaning of sla\tC:I)'", pp. I R0-97. ~1 Ounpbr.B, "lnaroclucdon: aholilion and illl aftc:rmaah''; Klein, "lncroduclion," 25; sec: also Kopycofl' and Miers, ;:African ;SIM'el')''," 26-7.

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slave staruses overlapped with those of free people, the lot of elite slaves being invariably better than that of the vast majority of free people. In such circumsta~ such as in nineteenth-century imperial Madagascar, this was so even for ordinary slaves-to dte extent dtat dtey refused freedom to avoid being subject to corvee. 58 Also, slaves in the ,A,ian world quickly adopted the language, religion and general culture of the dominant slave/ex-slave-holding society. Many, possibly dte majorit); of African slaves in the lOW were employed in sensitive positions--widtin the household, court, administralion or in commerce--where some, notably child and young female slav~ forged intimate relations with their owners forbidden to non-kinsmen. fur most slave-owners, it was vital dtat the sla\re spoke the local language or, at the very minimum, understood orders. Children, particularly, rapidly learned dte local language and customs, and there existed strong incentives for slave wives to do likewise if dtey wislted to advance their own and their children's prospects. Many developed close dependent relationsllips with dteir owners who often used for slaves terms that were frequendy cognates of dtose used for 'children', 'fOster children' or 'nephews' and 'nieces'. 59 In suclt circumstances, the native languages of slaves quickly ceded to that of the dominant society. In China and lntperial Madagascar, language classes were established in slave reception camps to facilitate the process. liO By the second-generation, African-Asians had largely shed their cultural origins; many became monoglot speakers of dte host community's language.111 African-Q;ltars base their claim to be Arab in part on their knowledge of, and contribution to, Arabic language and literarure!l~ Currendy only dte elderly Afro-Sri Lankans speak Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole (otherwise known as the Indo-Portuguese of Cq•lon), the former mother tongue of that community.119 Vestiges of other singular ~rican' languages, such as Makhuwa in Madagascar, "' Campbell, Msla,oc:ry and Fanompoana.'' -'- Kim, "'..'N'ollt'; Sc:honenhammer, MSIB\a"; Klein, "Introduction," 8; Reid, ''lntmducaon," 9. .., J)coJaye, "SIB\'t:l')' and Colonial R.epresmwions", pp. 129-42; CampbeU, Mll.fada. p.'ICar and the Sla\tc Trade'', p. 224. 61 Harris, Jfjiita Prtsnru, 99-100, 111-2; Minai, '"African Presence in Iran," 241; Chauhan, AfiittiiU in /111M, 261, 263; Jayasuriya, ''Ceylon Ktdfits''; Bhauachar)'B, "Indians of African Origin,'' 579-80; Ali, Ajritllll Di.f/Jmlll, 224; Drews~, "AAiens and Homelands''. 61 :Monagn~ ''L'Afrique ouhliCe," 223. ~ jayasuriya, ''Ceylon Kqlin''.

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are fast disappearing." Swahi6 is an exception. However, dlis reflects its role as a lingua franca, utilised in coastal areas of d1e Middle East not only by African-Asians but also by numbers of sea-faring and coastal Arabs.6) Similarly, most African-Asians accepted the locally dominant religion, from Islam in Muslim regions, to Hinduism and Christianity in parts of India and Sri Lanka, to Christianity and ancestor worship in Madagascar.66 Acceptance of the local religious ideology was vital for slaves employed in sensitive and inter-personal activities. As crucial was the conversion of imported child brides and concubines to local belief systems so that these might in turn be transmitted to d1eir children, especially those who had an opponunity to be integrated into the slave-owner's lineage.67 Moreover, African-Asians often sought higher status through religion. Many who adopted Islam constructed d1eir own mosques.ClB In nineteenth-century Madagascar, many sought positions within the early Christian church, or as trac6tional ancestral mediums.G9 Afro-centric scholars interpret this as an assertion of African heritage. 70 However, while African-Asians employed practices and a vocabulary that sometimes demonstrate an African aJ6liation, these were employed in a local context, in which the local language and traditions dominated. 11 Rather, in a process of empowerment, African-Asians sometimes used religious ideology to gain higher status in local societ)t 72 For example, d1e Bava Gor cult gives its Sidi mediums ritual power over their former owners and an honorific place in local history and societ)t73 It thus cements

"' Alpers, "'~lecdng Africa,"' 93-4. "" Mirzai, Wrican ~senc:c in Iran,'' 237-8; Alpc:rs., ··Recolleeting Africa,'' 93. "' Harris, AjritaR Pranr£~, 99-100, 111-2; Mirzai, •:.-\friean Presence in Iran,'' 241; Chauhan, 4,6it'tliiS in IIIJliJI, 261, 263;Jayasuriya, "'Ceylon Kqffin''; Dhauaeharya, "Indians of African Origin,'' 5 79-80; Ali, .1~ DU/Jmal, 224; Dn:wal, "i\liens and Homeland~.··

•' Kopytofl' and Miers, ":.-\frican '"Siavel')·'," 28-9; Waason, "Transactions in People; •• 249; Kim, "'Noln..; Schollenhammer, ''Sia\or:s''; Sheri&; '"The siM-e arade and ias fallout". 111 H~ Afia PrtSIIIIU, 122; Mirzai, "'Afriean Pre:sr.nee in Iran," 235. "' aunphrJI, "Crisis of Faiah", pp. 409-53; Idem, "lnaroclucdon: abolilion and illl aftermath.'' ru Alpers, "African Diaspom'', pp. 67-8, 73; Idem, '"Recollecdng Africa,'', 90-1; Drewal, •i\Jiens and Homelands''. 11 Mnnaigny, "'L'Afriquc oubli&.,'' 221-2. tJ See e.~ Ghatwai, "Shrine When: Crime Suspects Face Unusual Trsa". t.t Basu, "'Indian Sidi"; ShmO: "Sidis and Panis....

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their identiry as Gujaratis. 14 Other Sidis used similar saint cults (Mai Coma, Sidi Mubarak Nobi, Bava Habash, Mai Mishra), to assen local Indian, rather than African identity.'!\ 11te No/JOn and Gwali/Dtmllll healing ceremonies of southern Iran and Baluchistan respectively, and dte essentially female-dominated
Shro&; MSidis and Panis.., Basu, ;'Indian Sidi". Hunwick, "Black Africans,'' 37. Bhaaachar)'B, ;'lndiaiL~ of African Origin," 579, 581-2; HaniA, A.ftittm l'w:urw, Mirzai, •:African Prtsc:nce in Iran,'' 241-5. Basu, ;'Indian Sidi";Jayasuriya, "Ceylon Kq/ils.'' E.g. me Gnjarali Muslim saint Baba G~ of rcputcclly Ethiopian origin---sec ~rs, "African Dia."Pora in me Nonhwcstem Indian Ocean,'' 74. Nd!IOn, "public and pm'BlC politics", pp. 55.'1-6; Lc:wis, Rlu1111111Slta¥ry, 13; Pdlat, ;,Ka)'RB''. •• Lewis, RM1 flllll Slmrn)\ 19, 26--7, 37-41; Hunwic:lc, "Black Africans," 35-6. •r Good); "SIM'CI')' in 1'imc and Space," 29. as Irwin, 4ftiti111S ,flmltlt/, 54, 58. 114 "Sia\-ery and Gender in the Indian Oao.an''. II

n "' " 112; •• ••

48

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was legally restricted to four wives but the number of concubines he might possess was unlimited). As in European territories in the 10\V, Muslim slave soldiers were usually freed after a period of service, married local women and were assimilated.85 In Hyclerabad, the Nizam encouraged his Mrican soldiers to marry Arab girls.116 In Bahrein, a few 'free' women married slave men.87 Of Bahrein's ~rican' pearl divers in 1831 and Kuwait's ~rican' population around 1900, an estimared one-third were non-slaves.• Again, in Dutch Sri Lanka children of slaves gained their freedom if they converted to, and were married by, the Dutch Reformed Church, while their parents could not be sold, and were freed upon d1e dearh of dteir master.89 Slaves employed by British families in Bombay in the late eighteenth century were usually freed by ·n:stament Will following the death of their owner.90 In Imperial Madagascar (c. 179D-1895), traditionally categorised as possessing a 'closed' system of slavery,91 manu-mission was considered meritorious for QJql/ltRJtl (Merina enslaved chiefly for indebtedness) with whom slave owners shared a common religious and cultural heritage, but not for non-Merina Malagasy or Mrican slaves91 who, however, assimilated relatively easily into lowland societies such as the Sakalava.9S Moreover, proscriptions against sexual Haisons across the slave-free Hnes were frequendy ignored, as is confirmed by genetic studies.91 In Imperial Madagascar some female slave-owners broke fundamental taboos against taking male slaves as their sexual partners.!k\ In the

1ft

Bl

111 111

of

Rllu-

uwis, Sltawy, 10, 15; Oasu, Mlndian Sicli''. Harris, .Afia PrtsniU, 112. Sherifl; "'Thr. sla\
me 11'

ja)'BSUriya,

"Cq~n

Kq/its''.

w Chakra\'llrli, "The Duu:h East India Compan);'' 83. 01 the debate; which een1res around thr. concepts of 'kin' and 'sla11~·. see MeUlusoux, JIRJIJmflologr " Sftwv•, and Kopytoll' and Miers, "Afriean "Slavery','' 3-84; see also Waaon, Mlna-oduction: Sla\~1')· a.• an insdrudonM, pp. 1-15; Bloch, ''Modes of

mr

production". 111 Poirier, MUn '1\fenahr.''', pp. 122-4-; Campbell, "History of Nineteenth Century Madagascar'', pp. 331-79. 10 l..amhek, "RtNohed hut Not RevoltingM; £\
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Makran and Gujarat some Mrican males formed liaisons wilh local members of low castes and with tribal peoples.96 The Sidi Hindus of Karnataka, who intermarried to a great degree with local Hindus, display fewer physiognomically negroid characteristics than Christian or Muslim Sidis.97 For some, intermarriage resulted in positions of high ollice and weald1. Thus d1e Sidi elite of Janjira merged through intermarriage with the lsmaili 1)'abji who in the nineteend1 century emerged as leading entrepreneurs and bankers.98 The trend may have been e\•en greater in Southeast Asia, which possessed many 'open' systems of slavery where e\'en adult male slaves found it relatively easy to fit into their 'host' society.99 Such inter-mixture inevitably promoted assimilation of slaves into local society. For example, in early nineteend1-centu~· Ceylon, 'Ka8ir' soldiers (from Mrica, notably Mozalllbique and Madagascar) interJnal'o ried with Sri Lankan women to the extent dlat it depleted the Mro-Sri Lankan conununity-despite d1e nominal ruling dlat all children of such unions assumed the father's 'ethnicity'-and continued intermarriage threatens to lead to its disappearance. 100

Until d1e recent interest shown in them by 'Diaspora scholars,' Indian Sidis possessed little awareness of being ~rican' or of pan-Sidi cause. 101 ·n1e oven"Vhebning tendency of Mrican-Asians to seek a local Asian identity runs counter to d1e desire of 'Diaspora scholars' to awake an Mrican-Asian diasporic consciousness. Reacting to the burgeoning interest in the Mrican Diaspora outside the Americas, and possibly provoked by Edward Blyden's comment that 'The countless caravans and dhow-loads of Negroes who have been imported into Asia have not produced, so far as we know, any great historical resuhs,' 102

• A1pen., ''commc:nrs''. "' Ati, Ajtit1111 /Jistltrsdl, 22H. 111 Basu, "Indian Sidi". 111 Rcld, "Introduction," 13, 2H. IW ja)'BliUri)'A, "Ceylon Mjits". 101

Prashad, "African-Dalits'', p. 195; Cooper, "Widlin South Asia''; Ohmg, "Sul'-

vival Sttatcgicll. .. IIQ Bl).ten (1880), quoted in Shcppcnon, "lnaoducdon", p. 4.

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academic •essenlialists' have since 1982 joined Joseph Harris' search for the African-Asians and their ~rican' heritage.•os Scholars of dus 'Diaspora' are backed b)• politicians whose purposes it serves. In the belief dmt Sidis were genetically supremel)• gified for sports, the Indian government Sports Authority in 1987 established a special programme to recruit and train them for international competition. The strategy failed due, according to government spokespeople, to poor Sidi motivation. 101 Again, upon Nelson Mandela's \risit to India, Gujarati Sidi gtmla dancers sporting so-called traditional exotic Wrican' costumes (peacock feathers) were summoned to perform before the visitor. Bollywood has subsequendy ponrayed them in d1e same costumes to embeUish films. 10~ Such external pressure carries social, political and economic risks for African-Asians precisely because it accentuates d1eir •foreign' and often 'slave' origins. Affirmati\re action programmes aim at promoting the status of ~rican' communities in the West and its historic enda\res, such as Soud1 Africa, do not exist in most of Asia. The much vaunted exception, d1e recognition in India of some Indian Sidis as a 'Scheduled Tribe', is not cenain to improve their lifestyle. 106 By contrast, some might argue d1at the best way to promote d1e status of African-Asians is to downplay d1eir differences from, and promote their integration into, local society.

In contrast to d1e Americas, where communities of African descent either underwent creolisation or developed an ~rican' diasporic consciousness, the 0\rerwhelming majority of people of African-Asians quickly, and often deliberately, slled consciousness of d1eir African origins, and sought assimilation into local society where d1ey assumed a new 'local' ethnicity. lndi\ridual sla\res sought to forge linkages not with other slaves but \\rith slaveholders who alone could ameliorate their conditions and lUI Prashad, ')\frican-Dalirs.'' 189-201; 'Wilson, "Conceprualizing me African Diaspora,'' 118-22; Alpers, ')Vrican Diaspora in the NonhYoacc:rn Indian Ocean,'' 62-81; Alpers, ''RccoUccdng Africa," 83-99; Rashidi, "African Presence in India"; Ohcng, "Sun,;val Strategies." 1u1 Dn:\\•al, ')\liens and Homelands"; Cooper, ''Within South Asia." 1u1 Shm&; "Sicli.~ and Parsis''; !ICC al.~o &.rnandcs, ms.

1"'

Singh, ''l.etter From Mumhai''; Drewal, ':Aliens and Homelands."

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station. Currendy identifiable African-Asians, often the product of the nineteenth-century slave trade, are equally undergoing assimilation. Vestiges of cultural origin, such as the ,?pr healing ceremony practised by ex-slaves in the Gulf, are insufficient basis for a separate consciousness to be maintained. 107 Indeed, most African-Asians continue to den)' an African, and instead aftirm, a local Asian identity.

Africa Diaspora Forum, Yolk Unkocnity "'Sia\oery and Gender in the Indian Ocean," African Diaspora Forum 2005 Topic. Harriet Tuhman Resource Centre on the African Diaspora, York Unk'CI'Si~ hnp://WW\,~york.ca/nhp/forum/10ld/forum05.as

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Boivin, M. 1999 "La Condition servile dana le Sindh oolonial-rcmarqucs preliminaries," paper prrscnred a11hc conf'ercnc:e on ·SIM~ Syscems in Asia and lhe Indian Ocean: Their Strucwre and Change in the Nineccenlh and T\\oentieth Cenwries', Uni1r't!I'Sity or A\oignon, 18-20 May. Boomgaard, P. 200.(. "Human Capital, Slaow:ry and Low races ol Economic and Population Grow1h in Indonesia, 1600-1910," in CAMPBELL, Gwyn (ed.), 1M Sln61111r D/ SftaotQ• ill /Niilltt Otta Afiit• flllll Asia. London: Frank Cass. BIUI'IICh ' R. 1999 VI& "Abee,"

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17tt &,11£/llw sf SltltW.J ill llflliM Ottt~R Ajii£11 tiN Asi& London: Frank Cass. "lnwduc:tion. Slaow:ry and ocher rnrnw or Unfree ubour in the Indian Ocean World," in idem Eel., SlriiClfllr tf Sltlm.J illllllliltn Otta 4,6i£t1 111111 .4sia. London: Frank Cass. "The History of Nineteenth Century Madapsc:ar: 'le royaume' or 'l'empire'?" Omtii.J-!J' .t.io 33-36. "Crisis of Failh and Colonial Conquest. The Impac:t of Famine and Disease in lace nineceenth-c:enwry Madagascar," C'Aitim tJ•»wwls 4/Nfliiiis 32.3-127. "The State and Pre-c:olonial Demographic: History: The: Case: of Nineccenlh Cenwry Madagascar,'' }o111111JI sf Ajiita Hilkw.J 31: 3. "Sla\oel')' and Fanompoana: The: Stmc:wre of Forced ubour in lmerina (Madapsc:ar), 1790-1861," }ollrRIIIDj' ..ync,. llistilry 29:2. "Maclagasc:ar and the Sla-w: Trade, l&lo-1895' }oiiiiiiJI sf ~ffiita Hi.flfl17

22. Chakravard, S. 1997 "The Ducc:h Easllndia Company and SIMoe Trade in Seow:nteenth Cenw~ India: An outline b)• Pieter van Dam, An Adwc:arc of the Campa~ }oiiiiiiJI tf dlt Asitllit S«it!J• 39: 2. Chauhan, R. R. S. 1995 Afo.tW ill lui& From Sllzury to ill1pJ!J: New Delhi: Asian Publication Senoic:e. Clarenc:e-Smilh, \\~ G. 2004 "Islam and the abolition or lhe sla-w: trade and slaow:ry in the Indian Ocean'' in CAMPBELL, G~. (Ed.), A6oliliDR 1111tl ils ~fllmtWA ill IRflillll 0..811 ~ffiiltlllllli ~I.Jitl. London: Routledge.

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Cole, D. P. and Allorti, S. (2005) ''Family in Changing Saudi Arabia (1): Substamnoc De\dopn'lmt, drca 1955-1975,'' hup:flisl-socrates.berkely.edu/-mesc:ha/famabtracrs/ allorlci%20 and%20eok.html Cooper, K.J. 1999 "Within South Asia, a Uule Toueh or IVric:a" (12 April), hup://www. maxpagrs.com/apu/Anicles_rmm_:Mc:mbc:rs Dc:laye, K. 2001 ''818\ocry and Colonial RepresmtariOIW in Indochina from lhc: Seamcl Half of the Ninerc:enth 10 the: Early T~nrieth Ccnwries,'' in CAMPBEll., G"'fD· (Ed.), SlrrNhlrr f( Slm.\9 ;, /Rtlimt ex- ..f,htz tiRII ..4.U. London: Frank Ca-.. Drc:wal, H.J. 2002 ')\)ic:ns and Hnmc:lands: lderuit~ Agc:nc:y and the: Arls among the: Siddis of Nonhc:rn Karnatab,'' papc:r pn:sentc:d uthc: 'Conferc:ncc: on Cultural Exchange and Translbrmation in the: Indian Occ:an '\\'odd', UCLA (5-6 April). Eno,OA. 2005 "The: abolition or sla\ay and the afternwh Sligma: the: ca.~c: of the Balli/ ]111MF people on the: Oenadir coast of southc:m Somalia,'' in CAMPBEll., Gwyn. (Ecl),AbolilitJft 111111 itf .A.Jimmrdt ;, lwlia Or«~~~ 4/ri£• 111111 A.a London:

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"Shrine Where Crime Suspects Face Unusual Test" (5 October), hup:// www. indianc:xprc:ss.com/ie/dail)•/20001005/ina05039.html "Sia\U)' in Tunc: and Space," in 'Wi\TSON,James I. (c:d.), Jlfia 111111 1y;itt111 ~f t{ SlmWJL Oerkdc:)• & Los Angeles: Uni\oersity of California Press.

Grifths, David UNO Hfllll.f Mfld4t/l.fltzr. Muhynlleth: Richard jones. Harris, J. E. 1971 Tlll4{rita Pmmn ill Jf.sitz: Ofutq~~t~~t.a Dj dlt Etul A.ftita Sldllt Trlllll. E\'81'1· scon: NorthYoacem Uni\ocrsity Prc:ss. Hinc, D. C. &: Mcl.eod,J. (Eds.) 1999 ~ A CtnnptmtliN Hi.wty Dj Bl4tl: l'tolk ;, DituJ-, Bloomington &: Indianapolis: Indiana Uni~nity Prc:ss. Hunwick,J. 0. 1978 "Black Mricans in the Islamic World: An Undc:rsrudied Dimension of the Blac:lt Diaspora," TllriM 20. Irwin, G. \\~ 1977 JVftttiRJ .4Jmllll.. New York: Columbia Uni~rsity Pm.s. Jay.asuriya, Shihan. de: Silva 1002 ''The Ceylon Ki1ffn: A Crc:olc: Conlll'lunity in an lnc6an Occ:an Island," paper presmcc:d at the 'Conferc:ru:c: on Cultural Exchange and Transformation in the Indian Ocean '\\'odd' (S-6 Apri~.

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GWYN CAMPBEU.. .Jmlcin.~,

T., Hewin, R., Krause, A., Camphel, G. and Golclman, A. "8-Giohin Haplocype Analvsis Suggrses that a Major Source of 1\>~ Ancc:scry is DC:rivCCI from 8anru-8pcalcing Negroids," .tllfttlictlft ~ ., HIIINIR c-ti£, 58.

1996

Kim, B. ".No6i: A Korean System of Sla\<ery'' in Campbcl, G"')'J'I· (Eel.), Till Slnielflw of~· in IRIIimt Octa Ap11 flllll Aria. London: Frank Cass.

2004 Klein, M. 1993 1993

Breaking the Chains: Sla\oe~ Bondage and Emancipation in Modern Africa and Asia. Madison: Uni\.:rsi~ of Wisconsin Press. "lnaoduction: Modem European EXpansion and Traditional Scl\oicudc in Africa and Asia,'' in idem (Eel.), ilrNllrillg dltt CMi&f: Sltaw:. BowlfJit tlllll ~ ;. Molmt .t!(Rta flllll .4.ri& Madison: Uoo"Crsit)' of W"JSConsin

Press. KopyroO; I. and Mien, S. (Eels) 1977 SliaWJ;. -i}nt11. HUirifllflllll ~till Pm!Jtdia Madison: University of \\'isoon.~in Prrss. 1977 "African 'Sia\oery' L~ an ln.~dtudon or Marginality," in idem {Eels.), S/4Nf7 in ...fJiic& Hisltwiclll twJ .tl~ PmJwiBt~ Madison: Uni\oersit)' of \\'isoon.~in Press. Lambck, M.

2005 Lewis, B. 1976 1990 La.'l':~

"Rewired but Noc Ra'Olring: Reflections on the Sakala\oa Division or Labor and Rmns of Subjectific:ation,'' in Alpers, E., Camphcl, G. and Salman, M. (Edt.). SI4Nf7 tlllll &sist4R" i11 Ajtitll flllll AsitJ. London: Roudcdge. '"'The A&ic:an Diaspora and the Civilizadnn of Islam,'' in Kilson, Manin L and Rotberg, R. I. (Edt.}, Tlu A~1111 DUuptmL I~ Esst{l~ Cam· bridge, MaD: Hal\'llld University Press. Rilt:t tmtl •..,., ;. du Milill EIIJI. A11 Hislotitlll &q.iry New York & Oldbrcl: Oxford Uni\t-enil)' Press.

P.

2001 1997

(Ed.) .4jtittlll DituJI«tl .Niwslllllr 4. "The African Diaspora: Raoisionist Interpretations or Ethnicity, Culrure and R.c:ligion under Sla\oef)( ShldJis in dltt ltfntJ ~~Wry of Slamy .411oiiliM flllll Emaiid/Jfll»ll 2: I. http://W\,'W2.h-nct.m~u.edu/~vety/essa)'S/tsy· 970llove.html TTtlM.fonntltitms ill Slaz~ Cambridge: Cambridge Uni\'CI'Sity Press.

1983 Mampilly, Z. C. 2001 '"The African Diaspnra or the Indian Sub-condncnt," thcosouthasian.com (September), hnp://WW\V,the-south-asian.com/Scpt200 II Indo-African_ diaspora3.han Matsuoka, A. & Sorcns~ 2000 Gliaftf flllll ('~of I~ tlllll ~in a4fottD11JitlsptmL Toronto: Uni\.:rsity or Toronto Press. Meiu-oux, C. 1991 Till ..4NArDJlrl/qg)• of~ Till HW of lm11 tmtl Goltl. Chicago: Uni\oersity of Chicago Press & London: Alhlone Press.

Micn,S. 2004 :Minai, B. A

2002

"Sla\<ef)' and the slave aade in Saudi 1\rabia and the Arah statts on the Persian Gulr, 19211..1,'' in Campbc:U, Gwyn. (Eel.~ .tiWiiM flllll iJs ~ in lflllitul Octa 4ftim flllll .4si& London: RoudedF. "African Presence in Iran: Identity and its R.c:construction in the 19th and 20th centuries," Rnw }iu(lli.ft d'ltisiDirt d'ollllrlrllr 89: 336-7.

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Montipy, A. 2002 '"L'Mriquc oubliee drs noin du Q.ara.:," ,_.,., da ~ffiitaislts 72: 2. Nelson, C. 1973 "'JIUblic and pm"ate policies: women in the Middle: Eastern world,'' ..4mmmJt Afllllmlo/'fi,ft I: 3. Obcng, P. 2000 ''Swvival Suarcgics. Mrican Indians or Kamataka South India," INSPIRE 4: 4, hup://ww~ptscnu.du/rc:ad/inspirc:/4.4/rc:a&urc:S/survivall.hun Okpcwbo, I., 08\oic::s, C. B. and Mazrui, A. A. (cds.). 1999 Tilt 4{rita ~ ~ ~ dllll Jllw HWi ltl6tlili4 Bloomington & lncliaDapolis: Indiana Univcnuty Press. Pellal, c. 1999 -:Al-Qilhiz,'" ~ t{ /Jlilm CD-ROM Eclilion v.I.O. 1999 MKayna," EM,JrloJwditl t{ IW.. CD-ROM Edidon \'.1.0. Picnen, \\~ n 1977 ''White Cannibals, Black Martyn: Fear, Deprc:!l!lion, and Religious Faith as Causes of Suicide 1\mong Nc"' Slaves," :fowrltlll t{ .~ Histsry 62: 2. Poirier, Ch. 1942-3 "Un 'Mcnabc' au coeur de Ia fom de I'Est," a.&lill til I~A:III.(pM 25. Prashad, v. 2000 •)\f'rican-Dalhs or the Eanh Unite!,'" ~fliirt~~~ StwJi1:s Rmlw 43:1. Ramana, G. Su, B,Jm, L tt aJ. 2001 "Y-chromnsomc SNP haplotypcs suggest evidence or gene ftow among caste; tribe, and the migrant Siddi populadons or Andhra Pradtsh, South India,'' Ellft/WII:Joumtd t{ H - Gtwtlits, 9: 9. Rashidi, R. ·"The African Prac:ncc in India: An Historical 0\~~·· hup://www. [2005) mumia.org/Yo,n\'boarcl/mcssages/1221.hunl Rca,\\~ F. 1976 Tilt E«mtmtit.f t{ du .(;,ttmllt~ MifsiiJII 158D-1759, Roma: Jnsliturum Historicum S.l. Reid, A. Ed., ~ Btmtltlfl ad lJtjlml/nlty ;, SsuJiwst ~lsi1.1, St Lucia, London & 1983 NCYo· Yoll: Unh.ocnit)' of Q.ucc:Miand Press. Ross, E. S. •)\f'rica in Islam: 'What the Arricanccntric Penpccmoe can Conuibute to 1994 the Sntdy ol Islam," lnlmlfllitmdl }ollnull t{ bldmu 111111 ~lmbit StwJtts II: 2. Sabnan,M. 2005 '"The meaning or sla\ocry. the: genealogy or 'an Insult to the: Amc:rican Government and to the F'dipino People:','' in Campbc:U, Gwyn. Ed., .tiWIiM ad itf .-fJttmrd/Ao ;, llldisR ex- 4ftit1.1 dllll..4si& London: Roudc:dF. Schonc:nhanmiCI', A. 2004 "SIB\a and mrms or SIB\oery in Late: Imperial China (Saoentc:c:nth to Early T\\oentic:th Centuria)," in Campbc:ll, C'"")'D (eel.), 71t StriiLlfllr of Slm'91it 1.- Ottt~~~ Apt.~ diiiiAsill.. London: Frank Ca.•s. Sheppc:non, G. 1976 ''lntmclucdon" in Kilson, L, And Rotbcrg, Rohc:n I. (Eels.), 71t ~ DillsJitlrtl. IRitrJitrllllit~ EUI!J'· Cambridge, Ma..s.: Harvard Univcnity Pras. Sheri&; A. 2005 ·"The sla\oc trade: and its fallout in the Persian Gulf," in Camphc:U, Gwyn. (Eel.), AIJolilitm flllll ils A}lmulll ;, /RIIiml OtMR Ap11 tift .4sid.. London:

Routlc:dge.

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GWYN CAMPBEU..

ShmO: B. 2002

"Sidis and Parsis-a film maker's notes,'' paper presented at the 'Con· fcrence on Culrural Exch~ and TransfOmwion in the Indian Ocean Wmtd', UCLA (S-6 April). Singh, L, Ramana, G. V., Wang, N., Chakrahon% R. [2000) "Shon tandem repeat-based Y-chmmosomc hap1ocypc data m~als a high la~l ol admixture in the migrant populalion, the Siddis, \\'ith local Indian populaliont," http://www.fasc:b.org/gc:nctics/ashs00/fl 194.htm Singh, R. "Lcucr From Mumhai," http://'Www.gulf-ncws.com/archivcs/17032000/ [2000) friday /fri8.htm Tcdock, V. 1999 "The lnftucncc of Sla\oery in the Formation of Crcolc ldcnli~" c-p.ra. tiL~ SbuJia 'fl SGuiA ..4sUr, A.ftit• flllll du Mitltlll Etut 19: 2. Thompson, V. B. 2002 ~ '!I 1M Dilu/JonL 1711 Ez.YIIMtitm .j A}iit1111 ('.tJIIStiotultlss fiJIIl 1.-Jm/tip itt 1M Amnitd.t, Trenton: Africa World ~ss. Trimingham,J. S. 1964 /slllllt mEtu14,6W, Oxford: Clarendon ~ss. VanGoor,J. 1998 "A H)obrid Srate: The Dutch Ec:onomic and Political Ncl'WOI'It in Asia,'' in GuUiol, Claude, lombard, Denys & PTAK., Roderich (cd.~.). tht Alldiltm1111t111 to 1M l.Jillll Sta. Wicsbaclc:n: HamwO\Vitz ~rlag. Vcrin, P. 1999 "Madagasc:ar," in~ '!flfltlm CD-ROM Edition v.I.O. V~avalwmar, M., 11 fll. 1981 "Genetic shldies among the Siddis of Karnaraka, India: A migrant popu· lation front Africa," .(.tilstllrflljiJr Mfii/JIItJ/ogilrmd A•~ 77: 2. Wurcn,J. F. 2004 "The Strucwre of Slavery in the Sulu Zone in the Lare Eighrccnth and Nineteenth Centuries,'' in Campbell, c,vyn. (Ed.), Stlwlllrr .j st-ry m IIU&n O«.a A.ftit• flllll .riJitJ. London: Frank Cass. Wauon,J. L 1981 Ed.,Asita tiH ~~~~~~~ '!! ~ Berldey & Los Angr.Jes: Uni\wsity of California 1980 "Introduction: Sla,~ry as an institution: Open and dosed systems,'' in idem, (Eel), .4.fituJ tiH 4jiU1111 ~' .j SIIRW!Jl Berlrdq• &: Los Angeles: Uni,~nity of California ~ss. 1980 "Transactions in People: The Chinese Market in Slaves, Savants, and Heirs,'' in idem, (Eel), Asia flllll 4fiU1111 -!J•stau rf ~ Bedrtley &: Los Angela: Ulli\oersity of California Praa.

mm

f::

\\~"lhon,

c.

1997 W"mk,A. 1996

"Cona:IJ!ualizing the African Diaspora,"

4/iU• Mil 1M Mia E4ft 17: 2.

~~ Slrltlits qf

S..fAo-

.41-Hi.t 1711 •\Wi"l qf 1M ID·Islllmie f·Hw/4' ,roJ. I. Leidcn, New York,

KOin: EJ BriO. Worden, N. 200S "Indian Ocean sla\~ry and its demise in the Cape Colon%" in Campbc:U, C'~. Ed., MoliliM tiH its ..ytmnatA itt /U. Om. A.ftitllflllll .riJitJ. London: Routledge.

CHAPTER. FOUR

THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE TO ASIA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS RoBERT

0.

CoUJN~

Unlike 1he Trans-Adanlic Slave Trade the transportation of slaves from Mrica to Asia and the Mediterranean was of great araliquily, bul the intense historical interest in the Trans-Atlantic Trade for the past two hundred years has overshadowed the stud)• of the Asian slave trade which, unlil 1his past clec::ade, has been largely ignored despite 1he fac1 that the total number of Mricans exported to Asia was spread out ovc:r thousand years (belween 800 AD and 1900 AD) bul has been estimated at approximate!)• lhe same as the number of Mricans sent 10 the Americas in four and a half centuries i.e. 12,580,000. This paper describes the Mrican slave trade to Asia across the Sahara Desert, ovc:r the lled Sea, and from lhe coast of East Mrica, and how this trade was conducted in each of lhese regions. HiSIOf)' is not a social science, but a member of the humanities famil)'. It is the search of every available source using any discipline to narrate a story and n01 bound by any rigid theoretical or methodological concepts. In the compilation or this essay, I have employed 1he latest information and interpretations on 1he Mrican sla\'C! trade lo Asia to wrile the history of that institution as lO what happened, where, when, how and why.

lntroduelion Unlike d1e Trans-Adantic Slave Trade the transportation of slaves from Africa to Asia and the Mediterranean was of great antiquity. ·n1e first evidence was carved in stone in 2900 BCE at d1e second cataract depicting a boat on d1e Nile packed with Nubian capti\res for enslavement in Egypt. ·n1ereafter throughout d1e next five thousand • Depanment ol History, University or California at Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. C 2008 l
58

ROBERT 0. COu.JNS

years Mrican slaves captured in war, raids, or purchased in d1e market were marched down d1e Nile, across the Sahara 10 the Mediterranean, or 1ransported over the Red Sea and 1he Indian Ocean to Asia. The dynastic Eg)oplians also look slaves from 1he Red Sea region and 1he Hom of Mrica known to them as Punt. Phoenician setdements along the North Mrican liuoral possessed Mrican slaves from the immediate hinterland or slaves from south of 1he Sahara forced along the established trans-Saharan trade routes to the Mediterranean markets. The Greeks and the Romans continued 1he ancient Egyptian raids inlo Nubia and sent military expeditions from their cities along the southern Mediterranean shore thai renamed wilh slaves from 1he Fezzan and the highlands of 1he Sal1ara. African slaves, like those from Europe, were used in the households, fields, mines, and armies of Mediterranean and Asian empires. However, it should be noted dmt Mricans formed only a modest portion of 1he Roman slave community as the abundant supply from Asia Minor and Europe became more than adequate for the economic and mililary needs of the empire. Not surprisingly, Mrican slaves were more numerous in the Roman cities of the Mediterranean littoral. There can be no reasonable estimate of the number of slaves exponed from Mrica to d1e Medilerranean basin, 1he Middle East, and the Indian Ocean before d1e arrival of d1e Arabs in Mrica during 1he se\renlh century of the Chrislian Era. Between 800 and 1600 the evidence for d1e estimated volume of slaves is more intuitive than empirical but belter d1an none at all. One can only surmise that during d1e previous four 1housand years when slaves were a common and accepted institution in most Mrican societies 1hose slaves marched across the Sahara or transported over d1e Red Sea and Indian Ocean to Asia during 1hese eight hundred years must have been a considerable number. Until the seventeenlh century 1he evidence is derived mosdy from lilerary sources whereby maximum and minimum numbers can at beSI be ex1rapolated gi\ren d1e paucity of direct data. There is a considerable amount of indirecl evidence from accounts of the trade, population, and d1e demand for black slaves for military senrice from which general bu1 not unreasonable estimates of the Asian slave trade can be proposed. When European states direcdy entered d1e world of international 1rade in the seven1eend1 century, the estimates of 1he number of slaves become increasingly reliable. ·n1ere is a striking similarity between 1he tolal estimated number of slaves exported across d1e Adantic and d1ose sen1 10 Asia. The 1rans-Adantic trade carried an estimated 11,313,000

'111E AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

59

million slaves from 1450 10 1900. ·n1e Asian trade numbered an estimated IOtal of 12,580,000 slaves from 800 10 1900. The imponant difference between 1he Trans-Atlantic and 1he Asia slave trade, however, is d1e time span in which the exponation of slaves look place. "lbe eleven million slaves of the Trans-Atlantic trade were exponed 10 d1e Americas in only four hundred years, an intensity that had dramatic eflecu on me Amcan societies engaged in d1e trade. The twelve and a half million slaves exported 10 Asia during eleven cenruries obviously did nol have me same traumatic impact experienced on the western African coast injusl four cenruries of me Trans-Adantic trade. During three hundred years, 1600-1900 for which mere is more credible evidence, dle volume of me Asian trade is estimated at 5,510,000 slaves, half mal of the Trans-Atlantic. At the end of the Napoleonic wars during d1e first half of 1he nineteenth cenrury an extensive plantation econom)' was developed on the East African coast and me islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and the Mascarenes in the Indian Ocean that required greater numbers of slaves from d1e interior. In a brief spasm of fifty years until me impact of d1e European abolitionists after 1860 dramatically restrained and lhen ended me trade 10 Asia, me eastern African slave trade \\'35 more reminiscent of lhe West African experience d1an in any of d1e preceding cenruries. Until the arrival of the Porruguese on me coasts of sub-Saharan Afiic:a in the fifteenm cenrury, Islam was the onl)' ideology 10 introduce a more systematic regulation of slavery in Africa. B)' me tend1 cenrury d1e Arabs, who had conquered Nonh Africa, the Middle East, and Persia, had absorbed 1he historic institution of slavery, but as Muslims d1ey shaped the ancient traditions of slavery to conform 10 d1e religious laws and practices of Islam. lbeir legal definitions and treatment of slaves, however, was more a modification in the starus and function of a slave than any fundamental change in d1e practice of involuntary servitude. ·n1e slave remained propeny 10 be used as me master wished as an agricultural laborer, soldier, domestic, concubine, or even a high oflicial, a WtJVr. Thousands of slaves were taken in d1e holy wars,jihOJl, during me expansion of the Islamic world, for meir enslavement was legall)' and morally justified because d1ey were not Muslims but unbelievers (kojirin) who were expected 10 abandon d1eir traditional religions and embrace in slavery the 1rue faith. lslanl recognized mat Christians, Jews, and Zoroasuians required a special starus. The)' were "People of me Book," d1e Bible, the Talmud, and d1e Avesta (Pure Instruction) who acknowledged one supreme deity, God, Allah, or Ahura Mazda. Consequendy, d1q• were regarded as protected minorities (dhin~mis) who

60

ROBERT O. COu.INS

were not 10 be enslaved, their propeny safeguarded, and permi11ed to practice their religion freely so long as they paid a special lax (fo;Joa). In reality, Christian,je\\~ and Zoroastrian aU were regularly enslaved in lhe tumult of war, raids, or pirac)' where legal distinctions disappeared before passion, bigotry, and a\rarice. As the Islamic empire expanded slaves came increasingl)• from conquests of non-Muslim Africans on dte frontiers of Islam for slave markets in the Arab Midclle East where women and children were more pliable and lherefore more 6kely to accept Islam. Young women became domestics or concubines for dte harem; young men were trained for military or administrative service. Except for the constant demand of lhe Moroccan sultans in lhe seven1eend1 and eighteenth centuries for young men as slave soldiers, mature males and women were preferred to perform the menial tasks of field and household under harsh conditions and a short life and had to be continuously replaced by newly acquired slaves, preferably females. Since the young were absorbed into Muslim society and the old perished, dte need for constant replenishment of slaves was not impeded by race or color. The only criteria for the Muslim was lha1 1he slave be pagan, and since African traditional religions were unacceptable, sub-Saharan Africa became the most important source of slaves for 1he Muslim merchants who established elaborale commercial nel\\rortcs to transport ahem out of Africa across the Sahara, the Red Sea, and 1he Indian Ocean. In order to justify sla\'ery Europeans frequendy argued lhat conversion to Christianity, the religion of the plantation owners, would by example bring civilization and salvation to slaves odterwise condemned to eternal damnation. Islam, howe\'er, imposed upon lhe Muslim master an obligation to convert non-Muslim slaves in order for lhem to become members of the greater Islamic society in which the beneficence of dte afterlife was assumed. Indeed, lhe daily observance of lhe weD-defined Islamic religious rituals was the symbolic and outward manifestation of the inward conversion without which emancipation was impossible. Unlike Christianity and African religions the act of emancipation was explicidy defined in Islamic legal tradition that enabled the slave to become immediately free rather than lhe lengthy African generational process of acceptance by social assimilation. Conversion also enabled slaves to perform different functions unknown in lhe slavery of dte New World. 11te Arab conquests had produced a far-flung empire of many edtnicities whose common denominator was Islam administered by a \rast bureaucracy that required slave officials

61

'111£ AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

Table I &timates of African sla\"C exports fn>m Africa, across the Sahara, Red Sea, and East Africa and the Indian Ot:ean, 800-1900 and 16()()-1900. Trans-Saharan African Sla\"C Expons: Period 800-1600

4,670,000

1601-1800

1,400,000

1801-1900

1,200,000

800-1900

Total

7,270,000

African Sla\-e expons across the Rr.d Sea: Period 800-1600

1,600,000

1601-1800

300,000

1801-1900

492,000

800-1900

Total

African sla\l: expons across

Ea.~•

2,392,000

Africa and lhc Indian QcQn:

Period 800-1600

800,000

1601-1800

500,000

1801-1900

1,618,000

800-1900

Total

2,918,000

African Sla\-e expons across the Sahara, Red Sea, East Africa and lhc Indian Ocean (800-1900) Total

12,580,000

Sla\l: Expons across the Sahara, Red Sea, and East Africa and the Indian Ocean ( 1600-1900) Total Soun:e: Paul E.

l..o~.-ejoy,

T-YOrmlllimu;,

5,510,000

sta-ay, 1ables 2.1, 2.2, 3.7, 7.1, i.i.

62

ROBERT O. COu.JNS

and sla\re soldiers loyal to the state, for their status was dependent upon their master and his religion. These sla\re officials were frequendy empowered to haw aud1ority over free members of the state. Often Muslim sla\reS became highly specialized in commerce and industry through the acquisition of skills in the more advanced technology of the Islamic \\'Orld d1a0 in Mrica or even on the sugar plantations of the Americas. Women also occupied a different status in Islam than in Mrican or Adantic slavery. Islamic law 6mited the number legal wi\reS to four, the sexual appetite of men being satisfied by d1e number of concubines tl1ey could afford. Slave women were gi\ren as concubines to other slaws, to freed sla\reS, or to d1e master•s sons. ·n1e relationship between the male master and the female slave, however, was clearly defined in theory by d1e legal Islamic sanctions that applied to emancipation. A concubine became legally tree upon the death of her owner. If she bore him children, she could not be sold and her children were free, but in practice d1ey had a lower status d1a0 children of free wives.

or

Trons-Soharon SlaDt Tratlt Although the numbers of the slave trade to North Mrica and Asia are more a benchmark from which extrapolations can be disputed, there is no doubt that there was a constant demand for slaves in the Islamic world Until the fifteenth century, the expon of slaves across the Sahara, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean was be6eved to be relatively constant, numbering between 5,000 and I 0,000 per year throughout these many centuries whose modest numbers mitigated the impact of the loss among Mrican societies. 111e estimate of d1e number of slaws, 4,670,000, exponed across the Sahara between 800 and 1600 can only be but a reasonable guess based on c6ffuse direct and indirect evidence acceptable for lack of a better figure. Whether more or less, there was a demonstrable demand for sla\res from sub-Saharan Africa that resulted in continuous contact between the Mus6m merchants, who organized the trans-Sal1arm1 slave trade, and the rulers the Sudanic states, who supp6ed them. The presence of Mus6m traders had a profound influence at the courts of Mrican kings. ·n1ey not only conducted commerce but also introduced 6teracy and Islamic law as it pertained to tl1eir transactions, principally slaves. Although d1e Biltul ai-Sudtlll stretched from the Adantic Ocean to the Red Sea, there were only six established

or

63

'111£ AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

vertical routes across the Sahara dull resulted in weD-defined markets at their 1erminals in the Sudan and North Mrica. 1bere was the Walata Road from ancient Ghana to Sijilmasa in Morocco; dte Taghaza Trail from ·nmbuklu a1 the great bend of 1he Niger nonh to Taghaza and Sijilmasa or to Tuwat and Tunis; 1he Ghadames Road &om Gao on the lower Niger to Agades, Ghat, Ghadames, and Tripol~ the Bilma Trail or 1he Garamantian Road thai left dte Hausa swes at Kano and Lake Chad north to Bilma, Murzuk in dte Fezzan, and on to Tripoli; the rorty Days Road or the Darb al-'Arbain &om EI-Fasher in Darfur nonh to the Nile at Asuyt; and 1he route furdtest east 1hat began a1 Suakin on 1he Red Sea, swung southwest to Sennar on the Blue Nile, and thence followed the Nile to Egypt. 1bere was also a vigorous and often ignored lateral eas1-wes1 trade which connected dte great markel towns of the Saltel overland and on the Niger Ri\'er along which slaves were moved la1erally for sale locally by dyula 1raders or to dte larger markets in one of the Sudanic termini of the trans-Saharan 1rade. Like dte Adantic trade, 1he larges1 number of slaves did not come from the same region throughou1 the millennium of the trans-Saharan trade, and although a very important source or revenue, dte savanna states of the wes1em and central Sudan were not dependent upon dte slave trade for their rise, expansion, and decline. They were imponant suppliers of sla\ti bul nol a1 the expense of their political and culrural independence. Sla\'eS associated with dte gold and sail 1rade and dte Ghana wars had long been taken from the headwaters of the Senegal and Niger rivers up the Walata Road 10 Sijilmasa in Morocco. During the 1hree hundred years ( 1235-1492) of lhe Keita dynasty and the expansion of the Empire Mali sla\'eS were captured south dte Niger and from its headwaters 10 Gao where they were exported from ·nmbuklu up the Taghaza Trail or less frequendy from Gao up dte Ghadames Road. The Songhai Empire (1492-1599) succeeded 1hat of Mali when Sunni Ali or the Songhai established his au1hority 0\'er dte whole of the middle Niger River \'alley. His wars and dtOSe his successors produced a substantial increase in the number of slaves exponed across dte Sahara in the sixteenlh cenrury partially 10 ofiSet the loss of revenue from the declining gold trade. When the Moroccan army crossed the Sahara to conquer Songbai in 159 I, the large number of Songhai caprured produced an ample supply of slaves in the markets of Nonh Africa before rerurning 10 the historic pattern of dte past. Funher eas1 in 1he central Sudan wes1 Lake Chad during dte same cenrury 1he Kingdom of Bornu acquired an excessive number of slaves

or

or

or

or

ROBERTO. COUJNS

The Trans-Saharan Routes

during its wars of expansion under ldris Alawma (e.l571-1603) who were exponed up the Bilma Trail to Tripoli. The moi {kings) of Bomu utilized this historic route that had been established many centuries before by the Saifawa dynasty in Kanem. In dle nineteenth century the largest number of slaves to cross the Sahara had shifted from the western and central Sudan to the two routes for the Nilotic slave trade, the Forty Days' Road (Dar ol- :Arbain) from Danur and d1e route from Sennar to Nubia and f«ypt. The estimated I ,200,000 slaves exponed across the Sahara in the nineteend1 century, compared to 700,000 in the eighteenth, can only be explained by d1e increase taken from the Upper Nile basin, for the numbers exported from the states of the western and central Sudan had steadily declined. 1 During d1e seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (1601-1800) the •~Saharan trade steadily increased to some 700,000 in each centul)' or sixty-seven percent of the total exponed across the Sahara in the preceding eight hundred years. This estimated average of 7,000 per year for these two centuries, based on limited evidence, may be greater than the real numbers, but the indirect evidence reasonably concludes that there was a considerable supply of slaves from the

1 Lovejoy, TriWjortiUI~tl.f iR Slm.on;o: .4 His1o17 f1 SbtNiy iR AJNQ, second edition, Cambridge: Cambridge Uni\ocnity Press, 2000, pp. 24-29.

'111£ AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

65

savanna and Sahel because of drought and warfare. When dte rains did not come, the fields were barren and the free cultivators vulnerable to slavers when wandering dte countryside in search of food. In order to suavive they often enslaved themselves voluntarily to those widt something to eat. These two centuries also experienced the dissolution of the old Sudanic empires into petty states whose warlords carried on interminable warfare with local rivals that produced an abundance of captives who became slaves. "flte extent of suffering from drought or war was painfully measured by the increase in the number of slaves during these two centuries. Between 1639 and 1643 a serious drought spread from dte Senegambia to the great bend of the Niger. After a period of adequate rainfall the severe dry years returned during the last quaner of the seventeendt century. Desiccation in the Billld 111-&u!Jm proved worse in the next century. A major drought brought famine to the middle Niger valley from I 711 to 1716 and again during dte earl)• 1720s, but dte great drought of the eighteendt century on the Niger and in Senegambia lasted from 1738 to 1756. Bornu in the central Sudan suftered correspondingly in the I 740s and 1750s. Thereafter sporadic and localized years of little or no rainfaU were recorded &om 1770-1771 at 1imbuktu, 1786 in the Gambia, and during the 1790s in dte central Sudan. The wars that followed the fragmentation of dte old empires were characterized by Muslims against non-Muslims, Muslims who claimed to be Muslims but did not practice orthodox Islam, and Islamicjhod.s led b)• holy men against infidels and those they regarded as renegade Muslims. "lbe historic goal of Muslims was to convert unbelievers to Islam and the enslavement of them for conversion was bodt legally and moraU)• correct. "lbese reasons, however, were often a euphemistic rationale for dte warlord to resolve the problem of replacing dte natural loss of slaves by exploiting new sources or whose sale would provide revenue for him and the state. The organized razzia became commonplace widt a variety of official nantes, pQIJtl or Stliatp'll in Darfur and Sennar for instance, to be carried out more often than not b)• slave soldiers. Some of the enslaved were retained, women as concubines, men as soldiers or agricultural laborers, but a far greater number were sold, and for most warlords slaves, after direct taxes, were the greatest source of his mrenue. During the innumerable petty wars among the Hausa citystates Muslim prisoners were illegally sold for the trans-Saltaran trade along with non-Muslims to the dismay and condemnation of Islamic jurists. Furdter west on the middle and upper Niger and the plateau of

66

ROBERT O. COu.INS

the Senegambia the distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim was more well-defined, but this did not inhibit the Muslim reformers from leading their foUowers, loiibts, in holy wars against apostate Muslims who were enslaved when they refused to accept Islam as practiced by dogmatic Muslim clerics or the political audtority of the theocratic lslamist states they founded Those who supplied slaves for the trans-Saharan trade were not always Muslims. The powerful Bambara pagan state of Segu established on the Niger soudtwest of Timbuktu was a major supplier for the traJlSooSaharan trade in the seventeendt and eighteenth centuries. The hunting associations of young Bambara men were easily transformed into mercenaries to loot for petty warlords or organized bands to raid for panache and profit. Slave soldiers were the largest contingent in the armies of dte Bambara and in dte states of the Senegambia where they coUected taxes, held administrative offices, and were often the powerbrokers at the royal coun. The reduction in the number of slaves crossing the desen that accompanied dte steady decline of dte established trans-Saltaran trade in the nineteenth century was oiiSet by dte astonishing gro\\rth of the Nilotic slave trade. In 1820 dte army of the able and dynamic ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, invaded the Sudan. Although nominally the viceroy of the Ottoman sultan, Muhammad Ali was in fact an independent ruler whose armies had conquered the Hijaz and its holy cities, Mecca and Medina, and advanced through Palestine to the frontiers of Syria at great human and material expense to his army and government. He dterefore invaded the Sudan to exploit its gold to replenish his treasury and to enslave the pagan Sudanese to rebuild his arnl)• and succincd)• summed up his purpose to his commander in the Sudan. "You are aware dtat the end of aU our e8on and expense is to procure Negroes. Please show zeal in carrying out our wishes in this capital matter. " 2 Hidteno dte Funj Kingdom of Sennar had exponed some 1,500 slaves per year to Egypt. Muhammad Ali wanted 20,000. A military training camp was constructed at lsna and a special depot to receive slaves from the Sudan at Aswan. From the administrative capital at

2 Muhammad 'Ali 10 sar-I 'aslcar [Commander-in-Chief) or abe Sudan and Kordo&n (Muhammad Bq• Khusraw, SaRardar), 23 Sepaember 1823 in Hill Et.J'I' in 1M Sllilul 1821-1881, p. 13.

'111£ AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

67

Khartoum the Eg)'ptian governor-general organized military expeditions up 1he Blue and While Niles to enslave dte Niloles. By 1838, despite heavy losses from disease and hardship on the march down lhe Nile and across the Nubian Desen I 0,000 to 12,000 slaves reached Egypt every )rear. Under pressure from lhe British government the 01toman sultan and the khedive of Egypt officially declared the slave trade illegal in the Commercial Convention of 1838, but on the Nile dte trade shifled from the Egyptian governmenl to an elaborate private commercial network constructed by Muslim merchanu to continue and expand dte trade 1hroughout dte upper Nile basin. By the 1870s tens of 1bousands of slaves were exponed to Egypt and to Arabia from poru on dte Red Sea, and although 1he numbers dramaticaUy declined during 1he years of the Maltdisl S1a1e in the Sudan (1881-1898), dte Red Sea trade only came 10 an end af1er dte Anglo-Eg)optian conquest of the Sudan in 1898. Table 2

Estimated slal.re exports across the Sahara 1600-1900 and its the total Asian trade 1600-1900. percentage

or

Period

Period

Period

1701-1800

1600-1700

'lo

700,000

12.7 700,000

Soun:oe:: I..IM!jo); T-for..lias;.

%

1801-1900

12.7 1,200,000 ~.

Ofo

21.7

Toral &: Pc:n:enaage Trans-Saharan: 47.1 2,600,000

Tallies S.l, 7.1.

The RnJ &d SltM Tratk "The Red Sea slave trade was ironically older than the trans-Saharan. The dynastic Egyptians regularly sent expeditions 10 dte Land of Punt, the coasu of the Red Sea and norlhem Somalia, to re1urn wi1h ivol); perfumes, and slaves. Slaves were undoubledl)' among 1he commodities exponed from Africa to Arabia across dte Red Sea and 1he Gulf of Arabia during 1he centuries of Greek and Roman rule in Egypt. Between 800 and 1600, dte direct evidence remains scanty, but the numbers of slaves 1ranspor1ed to Arabia were no1 large and localized ralher dtan organized. An estirnaled guess has been I ,600,000 slaves were expor1ed during this period or an annual average of 2,000 slaves per year. The sources of slaves for the Red Sea trade were limited to Nubia, the Nile norlh of its confluence at 1he modern capi1al of

68

ROBERT O. COu.JNS

Khanoum, and Ethiopia but the total Red Sea trade amounted to only thirty-four percent of the tran~aharan trade during these same eight hundred years. 1be ports were f~ Aidhab in Eg)opt until destroyed by the Ottoman Turlcs in 1416, Suakin in the Sudan, and Adulis (Massawa) in Edliopia. During the seventeend1 century the Red Sea expon trade appears to have been a steady but modest number of I ,000 slaves per year. The estimated number of slaves increased in d1e eighteenth century to some 2,000 slaves annually from Ethiopia and the Nile \'31ley that was, however, only a symbolically small portion of the increasing world wide expon of African slaves that continued into the nineteenth centul')t Throughout the eighteendl and early nineteenth centuries Darfur in the Nile basin sent se\'eral thousand slaves per year to Egypt but also to the Red Sea d1rougb Sennar on the Blue Nile and thence east along the established trade route to Suakin. The Funj Kingdom of Sennar itself exponed some I ,500 slaves per year until conquered by the forces of Muhammad Ali in 1821. 1bereafter, Egyptian government razzias and later in the century powerful merchant-adventurers organized the Nilotic trade for Egypt, but they also sent a substantial number of Sudanese slaves to Arabia d1rough the Red Sea ports which the Eg)optian government controlled. Slaves in the upper Nile basin were captured by the private armies (~ of these merchants that raided as far as Dar Fertit in the west and southwest into d1e kingdoms of the Azande and Bagirmi deep in equatorial Mrica. 1bese same centuries also experienced an increase in the slave trade &om d1e Ethiopian highlands. Slavery in Ethiopia had been an accepted institution in the long history of that Christian kingdom, and sla\ti had regularly been sent to the Yemen and Arabia from the ancient pon of Adulis dlat later becan1e Massawa. Although there had been constant conflicts d1roughout d1e centuries between Christian Edliopians in the fertile highlands and the Muslim Somalis on the arid plains below, it was not until d1e sixteenth century dlat d1e famous Imam of Harar, lbrallinl al-Ghazi, known as Grin, the left-handed, and his Somali warriors ravaged Ethiopia, destroying churches, monasteries, and enslaving large numbers of Ethiopian Christians until he was kiUed in 1543 by Ponuguese musketeers who had arrived to defend the emperor and his Christian kingdom. Thereafter Muslim control of the Red Sea continued to insure a dependable supply of Ethiopian slaves through Massawa during the se\'enteenth and eighteenth centuries when the centralized authority of imperial Ethiopia collapsed. Known as d1e MIISI!font, the

69

'111E AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

period of judges, E1hiopia dissolved inlo anarchy for two hundred years during which d1e rival warlords of me nobility obtained many slaves in meir petty wars and razzias. "They retained some slaves for agriculture and domestic chores selling me surplus captives 10 Muslim merchanu. In me nine1eenm century Sb'Ong emperors returned inlernal stability 10 Ed1iopia, but mey waged continuous warl"are on d1eir frontiers against me Egyptian governmenl, whose armies raided 1he border hiD country, while 1he Muslim Galla (Oromo) pillaged soumweslem Edliopia for mousands of slaves who were exponed across me Gulf of Arabia from me Somali ports of Berbera and Zeila. Children, girts, and young women were particularly prized in 1he Ed1iopian trade ouhlumbering males IWO 10 one and commanding d1ree times d1e price in me marketplace. During d1e first half of d1e nineteenm century me E1hiopian Red Sea trade peaked al 6,000 10 7,000 sla\•es each year numbering an estimated 175,000 exponed in d1e second quaner of lhat century. Table 3 &timated slave exports from R.:d Sea, 1600-1900, with the percentage of tbe total Asian trade 1600-1900. Period

Pl!riocl

1608-1700 %

1701-1800

Period %

1801-1900

.,.

Period l&oo-1900

TOI:II ~nt:~F

Reel Sea: 100,000 Soun:e

1.8

200,000

I~ T~t.iras;. ~.

S.6 492,000

8.9

792,000

14.4

Tllhlcs S.J, 7.1.

East Aftiton llllll 1/u lllllilm Octon Slave Tmu During me centuries of 1he early Christian Era Greek traders had been making d1eir way down 1he coas1 of Eas1 Mrica where mey conducted a profi1able 1rade mat included slaves. The Greek mercanlile presence in me Indian Ocean did not survive d1e dominance of Rome in d1e Medilerranean, bu1 trade on me East Mrican coast was continued as in d1e pas1 by merchants from Arabia, Persia, India, and China who plied 1he walers of 1he Indian Ocean on 1he monsoon winds of d1e Sabaean Lane. The Arabs brough1 goods from Asia-dolh, porcelains, glassware, and hardware-and af1er me sevend1 century Islam. "fl1ey returned 10 Asia wim ivory, gold, rhino hom, spices, and always slaves, called ZOI!i (Blacks), for fields, mines, armies, and households. The Arabs

70

ROBERT 0. COu.JNS

were followed by the Persians and lhe Chinese who craded on d1e East African coast during the Sung (1127-1279) and the Ming ( 1368-1644) dynasties for ivory, rhino horn, and tortoise sheDs that were highly valued in lhe Orient and a few slaves mostly as concubines. Ald1ough lhere is Arabic, Persian, and Chinese documentation and lhe writings of Arab geographers and travelers about East Africa and its trade, there is little direct evidence as to lhe number of slaves exported to A
Table 4

Period

F.- Mria: 8otJia,:

Period

1600-1700

.,.

1701-1800

%

1801-1900

%

1600-1900 •..-

100,000

I.R

400,000

7..!

1,618,000

29.4

2,118,000

Lo•:ejo);

Tra~Jm-li-r

38.4

ilr .4fiic- ~. Tahlrs .!.7, 7•.!.

In d1e first decade of lhe nineteend1 century 80,000 slaves are estimated to have been brought from lhe interior of East Africa Over a d1ird (30,000) were retained on d1e coast; d1e other 50,000 were shipped to lhe A
71

"111E AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE TO ASIA

I R AN

. Shuaz

A RA BI A . Medina . M ace

Aksum .

Maldi\'C ts.", :

Indian Ocean \

-=- --______ . . . -

' .;.. '·.''scychc:lle< •

•

:.morant• ~s.

SU~l~l[R EQUATOR!~ CURR.Etll

\ I _,/

-y.p~

The Indian Ocean, RA::d Sea, and the Sabacan Lane

experienced a modest bur firm increase to a high of 65,000 per decade in rhe 1850s and 1860s until 1873 when rhe Sulran of Zanzibar was forced by rhe British governmenr and ir.~ navy ro ban all trade in slaves by sea. Despite rhe British intervention ar Zanzibar the rerenrion of slaves ro work rhe growing number of plantarions on rhe Ea~t Mrican mainland coast rose an average twenty percent per decade from 35,000 slaves in rhe first decade of the cenlUI)' to a high of 188,000 for rhe 1870s ar a rime when the Indian Ocean trade wa~ firsr restricted and then suppressed. When confronted by rhe influence of Briti.~h abotitioni~ts and rhe power of the Royal Navy, rhe slaver rraders brought fewer sla\'eS our of Africa, yer from 1890 to 1896 as many as 16,000

72

ROBERT 0. COu.JNS

reached the coast, a good number of whom were smuggled across the Indian Ocean.4 This spectacular increase in the nineteenth century East African slave trade was caused by the development of plantations that required large numbers of unskilled labor on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba where Arab immigrants from the Hadhramaut and Oman and Swahili entrepreneurs from the mainland had planted extensive plantations of cloves, coconuts, and grain. The Swahili trallic in slaves from the mainland to the oftShore islands dates &-om the late sixteend1 century when pauician Swahili families, d1e Nabhany of Pate and the Mazrui from Mombasa, acquired estates on Pemba and Zanzibar at the end of the sixteend1 centuey. The fertile soils and timely rainfall of Pemba, in particular, produced sullicient rice and cereals to become the granary for the whole of the Swahili coast throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Under tl1e leadership of Sultan Sayyid Sa'id, who arrived in Zanzibar from Oman in the 1820s, cloves were being exponed by 1827, and thereafter the island became the principal supplier to the international market. The clove, like cotton, is a laborintensive crop, that required an ever-increasing supply of slaves, and it is no coincidence that the demand for slaves was greatest during the peak of clove production in the 1860s and 1870s. lronicaU~ the needs of d1e nineteenth century plantation economy of East Africa for slaves were similar to d10se in the Americas d1at produced the expansion of the trans-Adantic slave trade in the eighteenth centuey. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries slaves for the East African coast and Asia came mainly from the hinterland of the Zambezi \talley controUed by the Ponuguese. By the nineteend1 century the sources of supply had sllifted nonh where African traders, the Nyamwezi and the Yao, brought slaves to the coast from d1e interior of Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa {Malawi). Kilwa, which had been reduced by the Ponuguese to a commercial backwater, now became the principal slave entrep()t for the Zanzibar clove plantations supplying nearly ninety-five percent by 1866. After the prohibition against exporting slaves across the Indian Ocean in 1873, Kilwa continued to supply slaves for the mainland plantations by marching them up d1e coast.!\

I

l.cmj~

~ Cooper,

Trfllll{orlfllllilll&f ill ~. pp. 155-156. Pralillitlrt ~· •lilt &ut (".otJII t( ~tmm. pp. 115-130.

73

'111E AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

During the eady decades of d1e nineteend1 century Arab and Swahili traders from the East African coast developed a second route for slaves and i\oory using d1e historic road into d1e interior that led d1em to the Africans living in the \ricinity of the great equatorial lakes of "langanyika and Victoria. Their success brought them into competition wid1 the Nyamwezi and Yao traders and precipitated hostility with d1e Africans of d1e lakes who at first supplied slaves only to be taken as slaves themselves by the heavily armed agents of the coastal merchants. The interior of eastern Africa erupted in raiding and petty wars from which the African victims became slaves in these local struggles between rival warlords, traders, and 'W3J'rior bands known as d1e ruga-ruga. 111e ruga-rugs had fled north in the 1840s and 1850s &om d1e intense warfare of the Zulu in southern Africa in the 1830s, the years of destruction known as the MJ«afll, to plunder, loot, and add to the insecurity of the East African interior that made slaves readily available soud1 of the Lake Plateau of East Africa. Table 5 Estimated 8-e exports rrom East Mrica 1800-1900 and the pen:entage or the total Asian trade 1800-1900.

Regions

Volume

East Mrican Trade (pen:cntage)

Arabia, Persia, India South-east Mrica Mascarene Islands East Mrican Coast

Total

347,000 .W7,000 95,000 769,000

21.4 25.1 5.9 47.5

Asian Trade (percentage) 10.5 12.3 2.9 24.6

1,618,000

Source: l.ovc:j~ T~111 lit~·, Table 7.7.

Summaty 1111d Condusions "lne history of slavery in Africa and the sla\re trade cannot be measured only in terms of numbers or statistics of the slave trade which obscure the complexities of the system and the enormity of the misery that accompanied the institution. Yet numbers do serve their purpose for they quantifY to give a means, no maner how sterile, to understand this othernrise incomprehensible human tragedy of mankind. There are pitfalls to a\ooid in reading the numbers. There was, of course, no trade

ROBERT 0. COu.JNS

Indian Ocean

0

0

Tiu~

\\enid of the Swahili

30Dkm

zoo .es

'111E AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

75

witl1 dle Americas until dley were discovered at the end of dle fif1eentl1 century, yet slaves had been taken out of Mrica across dle Sahara, tl1e Red Sea, and East Africa for many centuries before Columbus. Their numbers can only be estimated, precariously, from indirect evidence and extrapolation after the coming of tl1e Arabs from 800 to dle great surge in dle Trans-Atlantic slave trade in dle seventeendl century at some seven million or less dlan 9,000 per year This figure is not very helpful, for tl1e number of slaves taken 10 the Medi1erranean and Asia varied dramaticaUy in time and place. Not until the seventeenth century did evidence, direct and indirect, permit greater certainty as to the estima1ed numbers of slaves taken out of Mrica. From 1600 to 1900 dle Trans-Adantic and the Asian slave trades togedler systematicaUy exponed 16,414,000 slaves from Mrica of which 10,904,000 slaves were taken to dle Americas, and 5,510,00 slaves were taken to d1e Indian Ocean islands and Asia. This represents a total annual average of 54,715 slaves per year or over 36,347 exported every year across dle Atlantic and anodler 14,000 yearly to Asia. In Mrica dlere are no statistics but many accounts and oral traditions confirm dlat the slave trade and slavery were \rery much a pan of Mrican life until tl1e 1930s. Thereaf1er numerous incidents of slavery have been reponed to dle present day and involuntary servitude remains under new names, but after 5,000 years the institution of slavery as a system has come to an end to leave behind myths and trudls. 111e historic obsession witl1 tl1e Trans-Adantic slave trade and slavery in tl1e Americas has often obscured dle trade to Asia and slavery within Africa. Sla\rery was as indigenous to Mrica as to Europe and Asia. Slavery was an institution in most Mrican societies, and its abolition came later than in the Americas. 111e international system of slavery tied dle Americas, Mrica, and Asia together, and tl1e task of emancipation was not complele until sla\res were as free in Mrica as in the Americas.

Adams, Y. A. I97 7 .Nrt/lill: lAtritltw to Ajtit11, Princeaon: Princccon Unil.ocnity Press. Ali, A. I. M. 1972 Till BnlUJI, 1111 Sftay Tnrdt, t111d SIIINiy U. 1111 Swi6R, 182D-1881, Khartoun1: Khanoum Unh,1!rsity Prrss. Alc:n, R. B. 1999 S&rzys, Frttdmm, 111111/Nintbtm//JJIJoms ;, ('.oloniJII Marililu, Cambridge:: Cambridge Uni\oersity Press.

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1896 T""'Y.Is filii Dirt~ ill Nfllda fiiiJI Cmlml,y;it.a, Duallap: New Yolk. Deachcy, R. W. A. 1976 OJ/JtcliM of lJotrunnw • 1M Silzr.t Trwk of &.s1m14fiie11, New York: Dames &Noble. 1976 TN Sldzy Trwk of Etulnrl ~ffiitll, New Yolk: Barnes & Noble. Denneu, N. R. 1978 ..4 HiJIIII)• t( 1M ..41116 SltJJI of <'a~, LDndnn: Methuen. DoviU,E.W. 1995 TN GtJ/m TntJJt of dtt AIO«S, inno. Robert Q Collins, Madrus Wiener: Princ:elOD. Briggs, L C. 1960 Ttilm of 1M SAttlm, Cambriclgt:. MA: Harvard Uni\oersity Pre.. Bmcle, H. 2000 TIJIIM Tlp, tram. H. Havdndc, Zanzibar. Gallery Publications. Burckhardt, J. L 1822 r,.,yJs ill N116is, A5sodation for promoting the diSCO\oery of the illlerior parts of Africa. London. Dunon, R. F. 1872 ~a.ti6wlr, London: Tinsley Bros. CaiUie, R. 1830 TRW~l 'Tktrlltt!JI Ciltlttll4J'N1110 Tri.-..lat4 tiiiiiAmw dtt Cmll Dtsnt 1D Mtlffi«D, London: H. Colburn & R. Den~ Campbell, G. (ed.) 2004TN SttlltiiiR t( ill 1M /Niia Omrn, 4Jiit11, ad Asitl, London: Frank Cass. Clarence-Smith,\\~ G. (eel.) 1989 TN &-its of 1M Wa Gwm S&a~ Trtllk;, dtt.}.WINrl!ll Cmia~JJ, London: Frank Cass. ..46olilioR ad/Lr ~IPtriiiiiiA ill 1M llllli4R Ot~ A.ftits, ad AriD.. London: Routledge. Cooper, F. Pllmlflli1111 SIIIMJ• 011 dtt Etl.st Cotul oJ A.ftit& New Ha,oen: Yale Uni,oersity

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Cordell, D. D. 1988 Dtu tll-Ktdi tlllll 1M /.lUI Jivr.r of 1M TRIIIS-oWtmm st-lmdt, Madison: Uni\OCrsity of \\"IIOORSin ~ss. Coupland, R. 196 l F.ml4ftic11 ali ils lm:flllm .ftom dtt &lilst T rllll!l' 10 1M DMIII oJ StyJitl s.itJ ;, 1856, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1969 Till LploiJIIJi• of F.iul.ffiW 1856-1890: 1M sliiN lmil ailllw .tm~~~tbll, London: Faber. Cosmas lndicopleusces 1897 TN Ollirhml TDf1tJinllllrJ '!/ ~ a ECJ.,- Mtmk, trans.J. \\~ MeCrindle, London: Hakluyt Sociel)t Das Gupta, A.

2001

Till Hfrii of 1M huliJm Uni\"Cnity Press.

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150D-1801J, New York: Oxford

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'111E AFRICAN SlAVE TRADE TO ASIA

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Afta &met in .tlsia: O..~if~~t~Na tf 1M &st ,y;itt111 SlllN Trfllll, E\'lmston, H.: Nonhwestern Unil.oenit)' Press. Gw.J ~ tf 11114/NIIII 1JitJspon1. Washingtoa1, D.C.: Howard Uni· \"Cnil)'

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Hasan, Y. F. (cd.) 1971 SWtlll in o~ffrita, Khartoum: Khanoum Unil.oersity ~SL Hikoichi, Y. 1976 Tltt ..W Dlltlw Tmil in IN/IIIIiltJt Otto, Tokyo: lnstitule for the Study of Languages and Culrurcs of Asia and Africa.

HW,R.L

1959 q,pt iR 1M .WS., 1820-1881, London: Oxford Unil.oersil)' Pre& 1970 0. 1M FroRiim tf lslsm. Clarendon Press: Oxford. 1980 Tltt /l..wopltwf in 1M Srtdtlll, 1834-1818, Oxfonl: Clarendon Press. Hourani, G. F. 1963 .tfrtlb Sttftrill ill 1M buJia Ot«~~r;, .tflrdmt tlllll ~ Alldimd 7ilfiiS, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Hunwick,J. and E. Troun·Powdl 2002 Tltt ~ Dillsportl ;, IN M~ UJwJs tf lslsm. Princeton: Markus Wiener. Ibn Danuta 1962 TrflNh t( 16R lltlltrlla, (~ram.) H. A. R. Gihb, New York: Cambridge Uni\"Cnil)'

lngrams, W. H.

Press.

1998 Artlbis aJ lllllfla, London: Kcgan Paul International Kanuner, A. 19ol-7-1952 u _, R.., l'.tf~uiltil tti'Ardit tkpais l't~~~liiJMill, Societe Royale de Geograhpique d'f«ypte. Lo\""Cjoy, P. E. 1986 Slll1 tf IN DIS/Ill .ida: " lrislm;• t( Still fmlt/Mtlitm tiJIIJ l1tlllt ill 1M CtJt1mJ SW.., Cambridge: Cambridge Uni\'Crsity Press. 2000 T_rfllll{orm.JiotU iR Slta~: .4/tUifll7 tf sltJmy ill Afta, New York: Cambriclgc Unil.oersily ~SL (ed.) 2001 Slm.WJ• .,. lilt FRIIItim tf /sa, Princeton: Marllus W"~encr.

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Lunde, P. and A. Porter (edt.} Tmlll flllll Tr411tl ill IMIW St. RqjM, Oxford: Archacoprcss. Maamiry, A. H. 1988 Omtllli SuJJas ill.('~ 1832-1964, New Delhi: l.anc:en Boob. Manplaza, E. 2000 u nndt da adm.YS, Paris: L"Harmaman. Manin, £.D. 1978 Oupts tf 1M &ul: 1M Ports. Tr. . flllll C,ltwt tf 1M Amtn.R &vu aJ Jtl!rlml /Niitm Otwr.., London: Ebn Tree Books. 20().1.

).fauny, R.

1961

Mowafi, R. 1981

"'!J"' .,, Dakar: Memnirc:s de

1illiiNIII g/tJgrtll/lif/111 til 1'0111st qfritt1ill till l'lnsdtut F~ais d'Afrique Noir, no. 61.

·~ SlaY T~ lllld A6o6Jitm ~·tlllltpiS iR ED/II aJ 1M Sudtm, 182D-/882,

Lund: Scandinavian Unh.'a'Sity Boob. Namdgal,G. 1971-1987 StiMm 111111 Suillll, trans. A. G. B. Fisher and H.J. F'Dher, New Ynrlc Barnes & Noble. Nibbi,A.

1981 Nwulia, M.

1987

Pnns,j. 1949 Rakoto, I. 1987

Rqrna, s. P. 1990

.btitRJ EtJJIIIIIIII Somt &.rttm Jlt;,}l'-n, Park

R.idF. ~: NO)a Pn::ss.

Till Hi*J• tf S6a¥!J• i• Mflllliliar fiiiiiiM ~-\ /8/D-1815, Rutherford, li{J: Fairleigh Diclccnon Uni~rsity Pn::ss.

17tt IW .W 111111 At§ttmt Coaltils t1t lhl ct-if IN .S.V.In/A Cm/11,., London: HalcJuyt Society. 11tstllngei M~,1\ntananariw: Jnstirut de Cir..Uisadons Mus&d"est et d'artbeologic:.

Jtfm willMittJ EM: lhl po/iliml «OIIItJfl!' tf 11 fW«rJD•illl 4ftiLa Sttlll, Hanow:r, N.H.: University of New England Pn::ss.

Rigby, c. P. 1935 GmmU ~ .('~ flllll 1M Sltlzy Trlllk, London: ADen & Unwin. Said Ructc, R. 1929 Stlitl Ilia Sui/a lliJn- if Omtlll aJ .('~, London: Alcxandcr-Dusclcy. Sa\'JIF, E. (cd.) 1991 Till H11111a Comtn~Jig: Pmpmil."«~oRIM Tm.v..W... S/i4y Trfllll, London: Frank Cass. Sherif!; A. 1987 SitaYI, Spius, - llvwy ill .('tadiNir. lllllf.rtllitm ., 1111 Etut 4fri£tl ('.ommtrtitJI E:mpiRill IMI·IbridEt~ 1719-1873, London:James Cui'R'!f. 2001 ..fPtt-A,_.IIIImlttitm ill 1M 1111/Um Ot-.- Sotitll c-t.flli'll«s if IN Dllflw Tmlll, Cape Town: Centre: lOr .Adr.oanccd Studies of African Societies.

TaUaami, G. H. 1979

S..flkiR flllli .WtU.rtiUVI lllllltr Uni~rsity

Tcdock, V.

1998

TIPJIUTip 1974

F.vltitlR Rid,

1865-1885, Washington, D.C.:

Plas of America.

·"WINatll Cmtla)' MfiMiililts, Moka, Mau·

Bilt16 Slld§r. Slip flNl S/izr.ny ill rilius: ).fahauna Gandhi Jnstirute..

/1~ til Hf1111Nl6m .W""--'1 ti-Murjtlli

Tl/lllll TIJI, trans. F~L• Don Iindt, Bruxclles: Academe m)oale des 10ences -d'nutrc-mlft.

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Vaughan,M. 2005 Omtiftg lht Orolllfltmll: st-., ill Eit/IJmllk ~· MfliiiWu, Durham, NC.: Duke UniW!nity ~ss. Walz, T. 1978 Trllllt BtlwNR EtJ/11 •Ri lilt Bilflll AI..S11iM, 1760-1820, Cairo: lnsdwc fran~ais d'~ orientale du Cairo. \Wiis,j. R. (eel.) SitaY.f flllll Sla'I!J' iR Mllllim Ajiit4, London: Frank Cass.

CHAPTERm'E

THE MAK.RAN-BALUCH·AFRICAN NE1WORK IN ZANZIBAR AND EAST AFRICA DURING THE XIXTH CEN''I''URY

Throughout the western Indian Ocean during the XIXth Century the~ were not just one; but people from nwa)' ~gions, merchandise and slave routes. They \VC:~ gc:nerall)• divided in two main monsoon directions: one from East Africa and the Reel Sea to Arabia, to India and to South East Asia, and the other in the opposite direction; consequently, slaves we:~ not onl)· black Africans, but also Asians. 1 African slaves \VC:~ imponc:d in ~t numben annuaUy from East Africa to Oman, travc:l6ng o1a Arab tlllfiUJS (strn6uq). Around the fint half of the XIXth Century the~ was an extensive comme~ee of slaves from Ras Assir (..The Cape of Slaves") and Pemba, and many African people we:~ bought with cloth and dates on Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, enslaved, and transponed to the Arabian Peninsula whe~ they we~ mainly engaged in fishing ),earls in the Persian/Arab Gulf.2 Slaves also became lords of African ..~iglas", as they we~ considered to be mo~ loyal than anybody else \Villain their dans and tribes. In this regard, Omanis used lO recruit mercenary troops also from the Baluch tribes, who developed a long-lived military tradition, rep~senling a real element of pcn~r within Omani areas of influence in East sub-Saharan Africa. This article examines the role played b)• the: Makrani-Baluda tribes during the XIXth Century's sub-Saharan East African apogee with the Omanis, and their influence: on the social, political and economic level giving special attention to slavery.

• HiscOI)• and lnstilutiom of 1\froasian t:lOUIIIries, Faculty of Political Scicnca, Catholic Uni\oersil)' nl the Sacred Hean, Milan-ltai)\ email: bcatric:[email protected]. 1 B. Nicolini, ''The 19th ccniUr)' Sla\oe Trade in lhc: \\'Csccrn Indian Ocean: the Role of the BaJoch Men:enaries'', in Carinajahani, Agnes Koru, Paul Titus (Eels.), Tlu &lodJ 1111t1 OtAm: l.illpulk. kistlwirlll 111111 sotitfHJilitlll JlmJI«ti'a • P6tmlism u. &Jtxlrislmt, W'aesbaclcn (Rdchen) 2008,81-106. The llanslitcralion of Arabic nan'ICS hen: follow a simplified sy11em nf the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Cd Rom Edition, BriO Academic Publishers, Lr:idcn, 1999. 1 From now on the PenianlArab Gulf will be referred In as the GuU: C 2008 KaniMiijb BriD NY, Leidaa

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Jnlmduetion In the Indian Ocean religious elements, such as Hinduism in India, Buddhism in the Malaysian-lndonesian Archipelago, and the spread of Islam through shon as weD as long-distance trade routes, strongly influenced, and in many cases, modified the concept and use of slavery. "lbe social, political and economic functions of slaves were generaUy: a) domestic patriarchal, b) productive-agricultural (bonded labour directed into intensive wet crop agriculture); c) military administrative. Within the Islamic world, armies of slave-soldiers came from Central Asia, mainly Turkish peoples from the Caucasus and from the Steppes tiD their islamization; while domestic slaves came chiefly from the coastal strip of East Mrica.

Mtlhodolog, This article evaluates the cultural syndtesis of different local realities through fieldwork and, at the same time, integrates this widt the archi\ral and bibliographical research that lies at the basis of the work itself. In this respect, dte new historical perspective which tends to the relations between dte coasts, islands and interior of the continents no longer a state of incommunicability, isolation and stasis but rather an intense and dynamic mO\'ement of peoples, goods and ideas-with marked effects on local societies-is also to be considered an extremely valid tool in pi'O\riding a more complete and up to date interpretation of events. It is weD known that studies in the history of the western Indian Ocean can no longer be considered merely as hagiographic reconstructions, but must take into consideration a number of historical po6tical institutional aspects. 11tese include: dte presence of different etlmic, social and religious groups togedter with the affirmation of Arab-Omani domination between the end of dte XVIIIth and stan of the XIXth Century; the fundamental influence of the Indian mercantile and other Asian communities; the impact widt the SwahUi populations of dte East Mrican coast and the sub-Saharan areas. All of these factors must, naturally, also be considered in relation to links with Europe.

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Sllllltly in lilt Western Indit111 Ott1111 Oman occupies the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula and is located becween latitudes 16° 40' and 26° 20' nonh and longitudes 51 °-50' and 5go 40' east. The coastline extends I, 700km from the Strait of Hormuz in the nonh, to the borders of Yemen in the soudt and overlooks the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. ·n1e total land area is approximately 309,500 square kilometres and it is the third largest country in the Arabian Peninsula. Oman's territory has a varied topography, consisting of plains, desens, mountain ranges and oases. The rock matter is predominantly sedimentary and is rich in metallic mineral deposits, such as copper, chromite and gold. ·nte two main mountain ranges are dte Hajar range, running from Musandam to Ras al Hadd; and the Q.ara range in Dhofar, which attracts dte light monsoon rains during dte mid-summer mondts. Around 82% of Oman consists of desen. Most conurbations arise on the coast. There are many caverns in Oman and the country is home to one of the largest caves in the world, Teyq Cave, which is 250 metres in depdt, 300 million metres in size. It is thought dtat dte cave was formed as a result of several chambers collapsing due to erosion. lnere are several islands located in Oman's waters, dte largest of which is Masiral1 in dte soudteast which is accessed by sea. lne climate difters from one area to another. It is hot and humid in the coastal areas in summer; while it is hot and dl)• in the interior with dte exception of the higher mountains, which enjoy a moderate climate throughout the year. Rmnfall is generally light and irregular; although heavy rains and dtunderstorms can cause severe flooding. In dte south, the Dhofar region has a moderate climate and the pattern of rainfall is more predictable with heavy monsoon rains occurring regularly between May and September. Average temperatures for the nonh of Oman are 32 to 48°C. from May to September; 26 to 36°C from October to April. Due to the monsoon season, June to September, Dhofar in the south of dte country maintains a fairly steady year-round temperature of around 30 to 35°C. ·nte average rainfall in Muscat is 75mm. In the Jebel al Akhdar region, the average rainfall can be from 250mm to 400mm. The monsoon season in Dhofar can bring rainfall of between I 00 and 400mm. From the descriptions of travel accounts by Europeans during dte XIXth Century, the picturesque ba)• of Muscat was a semicircle, enclosed by the mountains and with rocks dropping down to dte sea on

BEATRICE NICOLINI

which fortifications had been built to watch out for keeping a lookout for enemies. ·n1e town was suiTOunded by IUUs and rung round with walls and, with a green valley beyond the shore, it was a pleasant place. The hinterland of Muscat is so mountainous dlal, in the XIXth Century, it could only be reached on camel or donkey back.Just outside d1e town, the coast is mainly desert, hilly and desolate. African slaves were imported in great numbers annually from East Africa to Oman, travelling on Arab dhows (sanbuq). In the first half of the XIXth Century there was an extensive commerce of slaves &om Ras Assir "The Cape of Slaves" and Pemba, and many African people were bougbt with clod1 and dates on Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, ensla\red, and transported to the Arabian Peninsula where they were mainly engaged in pearl fishing in d1e Gulf. n1ey were forced to dive forty times a day or more and their monality was high. Slaves also became lords of African "reigns", as they were considered by d1eir masters to be more loyal than anybody else wid1in their clans and tribes. In this regard, Omani Arabs used to recruit mercenary troops also from the Baluch tribes, who developed a long-lived military tradition, representing one of d1e real elements of power within Omani areas of influence in East sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines d1e role played by the Makrani-Baluch tribes during XIXth Century's sub-Saharan East African apogee with the Arabs from Oman, and their influence on the social, political and economic level with special attention to slavery. It is imponant to emphasize that d1e Islamic Arab world's perception of slavery as an economic and power policy was entirely dift'erent from that of the Christian West which had undersigned d1e Holy Alliance and strove for abolition. In Islamic society, unlike many od1ers, slavery was not prohibited. It even finds precise dispositions in its support in the Koran: the equality of all men before God implies clear duties also in regard to slaves, but not the suppression of slavery itself, even though it is se\rerely forbidden to reduce anod1er Muslim to the state of slavery. In terms of rights, no political or religious function may be performed b)• a slave, but owners may delegate to slaves any responsibilil)• or task related to d1e exercise of their authority. Thus, the slaves of imponant indi\riduals enjoyed a privileged status and could often attain higber positions of power than free men, the cases of slaves themselves becoming princes not being entirely exceptional, either. In the context of lslan1, slavery is a highly-structured concept, regulated down to the smaller detail by the civil and criminal codes. As a result,

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it is diflicul1 to pass judgement on lhe moral or physical condition of slaves in lhe Islamic Mrican world as compared 10 1hose in olher societies. Conditions obviously varied, and mere were cenainly those who atlempted to escape, but there is no doubt 1hat d1is institution lay at lhe very foundation of lhe entire Islamic society of 1he cosmopoli1an commercial empire 'founded' on 1he seas by an Omani Sullan: Saiyid Sa'id bin Sullan AI Bu Sa'id ( 1806-1856). Moreover, as we have noted, it was inevitable that mere would have to be a dash wilh lhe Christian West, as represented by Great Britain, over Ibis question. s From lhe Islamic re6gious poinl of view slaves are considered persons, bul being subjecl to their masters lhey are not fuUy responsible, and lhey are at lhe same time a lhing. 1 818\"ery can originate 1hrough bird1 or lhrough captivity, if a non-Muslim who is protected neid1er by treaty nor by a safe conduct falls into lhe hands of lhe Mus6ms. Slaves can get married: 1he male slave may marry up to two female slaves; 1he female slave may also marry a free man who is not her owner, and 1he male slave a free woman who is not his owner. ·n1e marriage of lhe slave requires lhe permission of the owner; he can also give lhe sla\"e in marriage against his or her wiD. The permission implies dw lhe master becomes responsible wilh lhe person (l'tlka.66) of lhe sla\"e, for lhe pecuniary obligations lhat derive from 1he marriage, nuptial gifts and maintenance. Minor slaves are not to be separated from lheir near relatives, and in particular lheir parents, in sale. 11le children of a female slave follow lhe status of d1eir mo1her, except thai lhe children of 1he concubine, whom 1he owner bas recognised as his own (umm waltlll), and 1his was d1e case of 1he numerous sons of lhe Omani Sul1ans during d1e XIXd1 Century, is free wilh alllhe rights of children from a marriage wilh a free woman. And d1is rule has had lhe most profound influence on lhe de\"elopment of Islamic societ)t 111e Islamic law of slave!)' is patriarchal and belongs more to d1e law of On lhc history or sla\oety in Islamic African sociedes, amonpt che many. see 17u .tlfta Diluf111RJ: ~I~ 9/ ~ CIIIJMrt llllll Rt/igitm fllllkt Slia¥.ry; l.cM:joy, Tra.1formlllilltu ill SlaWJI.!' .tl HiJIIJty tf S&avry ill ..f.!Mr; Lovc:joy, .tl.ftittJIIJ ;, lltmltlt.t: StwJia ill s/twv• fUIII 1111 sit&-, lnlllt ill ,_,,. 9/ ~ D. C.rtilt; Cooper, From Sliaii'J tD SIJIIIIIIm: PiiDikJJitm IMor flllll .tfgritiiiJMrt ill ~.V6wu flllll Cotut4J M)IF, Pou\\oels &: Le\uion (Eels.~ 17u Hisltw.J 9/ l1ltmt;, ..yiim; see lhc papers presented at the Confel'enee on Slave~ Islam, and Diaspnra, H. Tubman Raouree Cenii'C: on the African Diaspora, Depanment of Histo~ Yod: Uni\oersicy, Toronto, Canada, 24-26 October, 2003 where it was considered chat comprc:hensi\oe stu~· on sla\"e!"f wa.~ needed. ~ Schacht, ..4, /11/nHJwtiiJit tD lslmnk IM, p. 127; Sh~ "'The TWilight or Slavery in the Persian Gulf... pp. 23-37. 1

Lm~joy,

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family than to the law of propeny. Apan from domestic slaves, Islamic law takes notice of trading slaves who possess a considerable 6beny of action, but hardly of working slaves kept for exploiting agricultural and industrial enterprises. On Swal1ili coast slavery was mainly characterised as an open and very much absorptive system, although during d1e XIXth Century the majority of slaves from the interior such as Unyanyembe and the Great Lakes region were destined to cultivations, and consequendy totally excluded from any chance of paternalistic generosity from d1eir masters. The search for a bener life on Zanzibar and on d1e Swahili coasl was tempted by slaves in many ways: those who were outside the master's household worked in the master's nlasham.611-from the French champ, or field, dlal is the plantatiortr-and were expected to take care of their subsislence, cultivating a small plot of the nuulunnbtl; the more privileged cultivated by themselves a small piece of land, pa)ring an annual or monthly tribute to their master." J.libtznma were hired slaves, mainly in urban centres; they were exaremely poor, but in some cases joined Hadrami Arab's caravans and succeeded in modifYing d1eir humiliating conditions of life. ·n1e trading sla\res, ""!{unuli, craftsmen, reached a decent level of dignity, but they remained under strict control of their master, and 'illegal' or personal initiatives were severely punished. In Mrica slaves were d1ought of as less than human and, even when they embraced lslam-Sunni and never lbadi as onl)• the Arabs of Oman-were thought of as being less d1an Muslinls. The burning question of sla\rery went hand in hand with another and no less relevant factor. 1 In the sub-Saharan East Mrican regions, and in d1e eastern Mediterranean, there was no local 'peasant class' d1at could be employed on the new cultivations which European demand had induced rich landowners 10 introduce and which were proving to be bod1 extremely successful and profitable (sugarcane, rice, copal, vanilla, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and, especially on Zanzibar, cloves). Consequendy, the use of slaves for tilling the land and other ~ Lodhi, OtiiRIIII lt~JI-tls U. Swdili. .4 Sbuf1 U. IARgudfl tl1ll/ CIJJMR Ctwtuu, pp. 46-47. • Gla.aman, !Wstf flllll RiDI, !Urtbj, lltlNIJitJR, (IN/ ~ CoastitMullaS t.1111 dtt ~ili Cotut, 1856-1888, pp. 79-114. ' On the li\orely debate on the ques1inn of sla\orery, amongst many, see Heuman, ~ 7M S/Ja-, T~ fJifll AIJolilillfl, in Winks (Ed.), Hif1Diitplp6.J, 1M Oxjwd Hislllr;• ~ dtt BtiJish /!.mtlilr. pp. 315-326.

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heavy labour on the plantations had become a question of routine; in other words, when England undertook her crusade againsc slavery, it was precisely this most miserable section of society which constituted the economic foundations of the entire region. We also agree with Barendse that trade and tribe relationships between Swallili coast and Makran littoral during the second half of the X1Xd1 Century were pre-existing to the power of the AI Bu Sa'id of Oman, and highly influenced by the role of lndian-bod1 Hindu and Muslim-merchant communities all over the region of the western Indian Ocean, who became extremely rich and powerful.8 Therefore, within this framework, the Makran-Baluch presence along the Swahili coast, apparendy was dosely related to their nlilitary and mercenary role within d1e tribes of Oman, further on developing in trading in East Africa, but this is an interesting hypothesis which requires further research. From d1e end of the XVIIIth Century, and for all of the XIXth, it was precisely these tribes of piUaging warriors who protected, bid, supponed and faithfully defended d1e AI Bu Sa'id of Oman, thanks also to the tribal structure and dan famil)• relationships of their society which, traditionally nomadic, could count on both 'Makran', on d1e today's Iranian and Pakistani coasts, and 'peninsular' and 'continental' so6darity. From the accounts of traveUers, explorers and British officials of the time-as weU as from Archive documents sources---we see emerge among other Baluch tribes in Africa d1e Hot, d1e Rind and the Nousberwani..9 The Baluch tribes from Makran, a very tough people, very skilled in the use of weaponry, adaptable to c6mate change and environmental conditions, were pushed from the extreme misery of their country towards Persia and towards the coasts of Arabia. Here, d1ey oftered themselves as soldiers, sailors and bodyguards for a salary that, though even modest, could represent the dift"erence between life and death for themselves and their families. During the XIXth Century d1e conc6tion of 6fe of d1ese people was so hard that the British explorer Sykes wrote: "they arr adst:ripli glllxM atul in misem/JU eo1Uiilions, nominal{1 ~'«tiDing 11 third of the mp ... only tntmgh lo lcttp IJot!1 muJ soul togtllur"'. 10 During

J-.

• Damldsc; nt AIYI6iM Situ: nt Otta Hfwitl tfllrl &r.VJt/Mt" CmbtQ•. • :Miles, Jl/tiiiJ ., 1M TriM '!/ Olna ~ LC.S.B. A#Uts, p. 94. 10 S)okes, Tt~t 'TNJarfllllls Mills iR PmW, p. I08.

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the XVUhh and XIXth Centuries the Baluch were known to British agents as 'ferocious freebooters', and they protected and hid the ~abs' of Oman in their desolate lands; they were mainly employed on the dhows of d1e Muscat rulers, or sent on military expeditions in the Omani deserts.•• Zanzibar is an archipelago made up of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, and several islets. It is located in the Indian Ocean, about 25 miles from the today's Tanzanian coast, and 6° south of the equator. Zanzibar Island (known locally as Ungqjo, but as Zanzibar internationally) is 60 miles long and 20 miles wide, occupying a total area of approximately 650 square miles. At that time the island of Zanzibar wu administered by governors representing Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id and exercised aU power on his behal( The military suppon which furnished these representatives with absolute aud1ority over the island and its afthlrs, consisted of special troops of proven trustword1iness, that is to say, the Baluch corps closely tied to the AI Bu Sa'id by fundamentally economic agreements. The local gO\rernors also had the suppon of the local, autochthonous Swahili aristocracy, mainly merchants. These came under the mwi'!Yi mAuu, subdivided into diwon, jumiH, l£lllQt; and were tied to d1e Omani elite by mutual interests in the exploitation of the resources ollered by the island and the eastern shores of Africa. 12 This mercantile empire, with Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id moved its economic and political centre of gravity to Zanzibar, making control of the neighbouring islands and d1e nearby African coast one of the cornerstones of its wst system of interests. 1\-lany years later, the Eng6sh explorer Richard Bunon, would claim dw: "If you play the flute in Zanzibar it will sound as far as the Great Lakes". 19 Wid1out a shadow of a doubt, European rivalry in the Gulf and the western waters of the Indian Ocean from the stan of d1e XIXth Century on, combined with related upheavals in pO\\rer and strategy, had a decisive impact also on the deviation of the maritime routes follO\ved by this immense commercial traffic mainly based on human ftesl1.

Hourani, .tlrd6 S«farifll, p. 89. Glassman, 1M ~'$ lltW dolllts: lht cORimtJicltJty cORS"-slus.f of slttN wm1t111t1 .... Su!fiiM ('.tJtUI, pp. 277-312. 19 A daim llw luiS been inlerpmcd in OWlY conflicling W8)'S. N"ICfllini, Mdru, Oma fJifll ~_.r. 'TIIw TtrJJJilfiiJ CIIIIMml C.tll'litiDr ill llrl u.'#Sitnl INIMm Oua (I 199-I 856). 11

•~

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Clearly, however, the ability and modernity of Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id in exploiting such political contingencies was also to cany a certain weight. Within d1is framework of trade, commerce, bargaining, conflict and struggle for the control of trade in dlis or that valuable merchandise, the island of Zanzibar inserted itself with the dynamism of its officials, merchants, cunning adventurers and slaves. Turning once again to the question of slavery, we must remember how the vety backbone of Zanzibar's economy at this sensitive stage in its rise was formed precisely by slaves, d1e key element in both the local economy and the immense wealth of its merchants. These, therefore, were the foundations on which Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id and d1e Indian mercantile communities built their great commercial emporium in the face of inevitable conflict with d1e English in the Gulf over the question of piracy. The contrast is self-evident between the two, profoundl)• dift"erent ways of perceiving objectives and strategies. On the one hand, we have an ~b' merchant prince and his traditional coun of advisers, warriors, merchants and slaves and, on the od1er, we have Great Britain which, gready influenced by marked public pressure, decides to launch a crusade against the slave trade and traders. In other words, an undenaking which has d1e aim of tearing up from the roots d1e real economic foundations of the entire western Indian Ocean region and of revolutionising both tbe traditional mechanisms of local power and traditional culture itself. We thus have a conflict between d1e force of superior technology and military power of d1e Europeans and the cunning and ambivalence of the merchant prince of Muscat and Zanzibm; Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id, conscious d10ugb he was of his own military weakness. Since 1800, when Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id received the model of a 74-gun ship as a present &om d1e visiting British envoy, Major-Generaljohn Malcolm (1769-1833), from the start he recognised the imponance of cultivating British friendship. And this was a relationship valued too by Britain. 14 In sub-Saharan East Africa during the XIXth Century, it was believed that slavery, if we go beyond d1e mere capture of human beings, was also caused by d1e tribes of the interior accumulating debts to the slaving

II

Davies, 17tt Blsod-IW .4mh Rtl§ "'" llll.~ltll ... QFmi Pir«y/191-1820, p. 55.

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merchanrs of the coast, as well as by the recurrent periods of drought su&ered along the Mrima coast, sometimes along that part facing the islands or Zanzibar and Pemba. In alternating phases, cherefore, the populations 'decided' to travel to Zanzibar and there sell d1emselves in1o slavery. 1!l The slave trade practised along the East African shores had cenain principal characreristics: the slaves did not come from areas or Swahili cultural influence, and were caUed ms/tntti (pl. ~l, thai is 10 say, barbarians, uncivi6sed. ·n1ey were not Muslims, as were all free Swahili within the domains of the Omani Arabs, and were d1e propeny of their owners, slavery being regulated by 1he principles of Koranic law. ·ne slaves formed a separace caste. There were wolumWil wqjinga, not yet assimilated into the coastal populations, the woladia, transponed as children to Zanzibar, and, in this category, also the wo,calia (pl. of mQllia), those generations born on d1e coast and fully acculturated into ooascal Islamic culture. enjoying more privileged conditions were, naturally, the domestic slaves. ·neir relationship wich their owners was more that of a member or the family than one or submission and they were called udugu yangu, my brod1er, and d1e women suria, concubines of their owners or nannies. As they were often entrusted with manual labour, household slaves thus became m.simami.ti, guardians, nokotl, ktJJJJJmu, first or second head slaves in the spice and coconut plantations on Zanzibar and along the coasts. Others had the task of leading cara\rans towards d1e interior. "lbe slave of the moshambo hoed the fields, sieved copal and carried che merchandise to the porrs. ·1ney could also be assigned a piece of land with which to suppon themselves, working there on lbursdays and Fridays, the two days or rest. They were also permitted, on payment of a tax, to gee married. 16 ·ne demand fOr slaves came, primarily, from the various pariS of the Arabian Peninsula, where the cultivation of date palms called for a continuous supply of labour, but also from western India, where they

·nlOSe

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were employed in local oases and on sugarcane and tea plantations from Central Asia, where cotiOn was beginning to be grown, as well as from various regions of the Occoman Empire and from the American continenL African slaves were also used as domestic help or in crafcwork in rich families and at the Arab couns. 1be demand was especially high for young women and girls 10 serve in the home. Slaves destined for the courts were given special training in entertaining important guests widt their singing and dancing. Another specialicy was that of the eunuchs, held in particular esteem especially in the Occoman Empire. 17 These were mutilated without any regard being shown for hygiene, a face reflected in dte sul'\rival rate for those transponed from Africa of only one in ten. According 10 Islamic law, mutilation is forbidden inside the dJJr al-/slmn, therefore, only slaves were mutilated, with some exemptions in Central Asia and in Persia. "11te eunuchs were highly priced, three times more than a slave, and reached high ranks within Islamic societies. 1be eunuchs were lllllim guardians, as well as guardians of everyching sacred, like the Holy Places, such as Mecca. "lbey retained great prestige and richness; black castrated slaves were powerful figures in the Ottoman Empire and eunuchs were highly respected within the whole of dar al-/slan1 being very close to Muslim sovereigns. •• Great Britain was the first nation 10 undenake an international campaign widt humanitarian goals. There remained, however, a weighty and complex knot 10 unravel. How could they combat slavery and, at the same time, ally themselves with the most famous and powerful proteciOrs of the slmoe traders, such as Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id who, in their turn, obtained their greatest profits precisely from this trade in human flesh? It was around this crucial question that relations during the XIXdt Century between dte Omani Arab Sultan, dte East India Company and Britain revolved, a problem which animated lively politic:al debate also within the \rarious forces in play. The slave trade, therefore, represented a highly destabilising elements for British policy, not only on the political but also on a social and economic level. To this was added the imposing humanitarian

" Clarence-Smith, s~~a.,., fllllllslmn. pp. 22 om,•ards; Tolcclano, Sltmny 111111 Allolilimt ;, 1111 em- Miitlll Etut 18 Vc:rcellin, Trt1 u/i t llldNmli. Rit11tlli socitlli t 11illl pril.'tiJIJ. Rti - • dtU'lflt~m, pp. 186-191.

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pressure brough1 10 bear by public opinion in Bri1ain which forced 1he Government 10 take decisive aaion with the specific aim of putting an end 10 such trade. 19

Conntelitms bttwttn Woard Communiliu During the XIX1h Century, dte growing eft"ectiveness of British measures aimed at abolition caused a reduction in the availabilily of African sla\"es. This lack was, however, pardy compensated for by Asiatic slaves, as shown by the commerce in Asian people from dte coast of Baluchistan destined to be sold in 1he squares of Arabia during 1he first decades of 1he XXth Century.:IO And this was one of the alternative, and litde studied, slave routes in the western Indian Ocean. At this poinl h is useful1o indicate another, important fac1or which played a part in dte impressive economic-commercial growth of Zanzibar, as weD as the labyrinlh of suspicion, diffidence, envy, misunderstanding and open conftic1 between Britain and Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id of Oman. And here we come 10 dtat delicate and precious material which had been exported throughoul dte Orienl since time immemorial: ivory.~• Since 1he II Century BC, ivory had been exported from East Africa 10 1he Mediterranean. From the Vlld1 Century A.D., India and China emerged as 1he main markeu for African ivory. Superior 10 Asian ivory in qualily, consistency and colour, African ivory had foDowed 1he maritime roules of the Indian Ocean until the end of 1he XVI111h Centuf)~ departing from Mozambique. New fiscal burdens and taxes, however, imposed by the Portuguese at dte start of the XIX.th Century and termed 'suicidal' by Sheri&;:rJ together wid1 1he mercantile ascendancy of France and Great Bri1ain in the Indian Ocean, caused a shift in 1he

1g

See the cxtc:nsi\re an:hi\'111 dncwnen1alion contained in

'111omtz.f

a.d:llllt 1tJpm e

LiNtt-J Pbpm, The British I.Jbrary, London. McCaslde, Cllllllml &t1111111m: IJ1iJIIm llltiJ .4.ftit• ;, 1M NIIWtlllh Cmtwy, pp. 66H89. w H.s.A.-A.G.G. Olice-E~tenlial Records, Daluc:hislan An:hives, ComplltiRI fliNiuJ txiflnlu tj ~· ;, Blllau~t~n,.fiwn C.apt. P. Cor, Ctm.mllllllll'oliMal ~ Allulrst ID liM. OJ. C. A. KimJJalJ, ..4§ Poliliml RlsiirRI iR 1M Pmitm GIIIJ 171A StptiiRINr, 1901, Political, 3-2/57. Nicolini & Redaclli, Q!rtftd: histDry 111111 .4rt.6m. .NDII tj 11 San'9 tj 1M .A.rtlriM "~ pp. 401-414. 21 Ykisakt:r, Tkt hory Trlllk iR 1M l.iJmlt AMI 160fJ-1870. ~ Sheri&; Simlt~ Spices & lrtWJ• U. ~dll.tiiNr. lllltpllieR of "" Etul Afi4R ~ EmpiR ;.,. tAt ltfri/ ~ 177()-187J, p. 81.

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ivory trade. The ports of Mozambique ha\ring been progressi\oely abandoned, the dealing and sale of this precious material would henceforth be conducted on 1he island of Zanzibar. Starting from the second decade of the XIXth Century, Europe encered che ivory markel wich its considerable demands. The splendid, shining Mrican ivory, pure white and strong but a1 che same time easily worked, was increasingly sought after in 1he wesl for luxury items such as elegant elements of personal toilette, billiard balls, piano keys, elaborace jewels, fan~ cudery and cloching accessories. In chat particular atmosphere of a fin tk silde Europe increasingly fascinated by all things Chinese or exotic, ivory was a must. ·ntis is made crystal clear by the fact that British imports of ivory rose from 280 tons in 1840 to 800 in 1875. The economy of the Ease African interior thus witnessed an immense growth in the demand for~. free men recruited from among dte Mrican tribes allied between eacl1 other (mainly Yao and Nyamwezij, and for slmoe porters.29 Women with small children were obliged by ~· slave craders and Baluch soldiers and bodyguards to abandon their oiiSpring in order to continue transporting elephant tusks. A complex exchange netWork soon developed bel\\oeen the interior and dte coast, leading 10 the introduction of rice cultivacion in the interior in those areas under Arab dominion such as Tabora, Nyangwe, in modern day northern Congo, and in nearby Kasongo. l..aler, thanks to dte entrepreneurial abi6ty of ·nppu ·np, the greateSI and most powerful slave trader of the XIXth Century,21 the borders of what had been identified by the Eng6sll as dte Otcoman Empire, pushed further to the north-west into modern-day Rwanda and Burundi. At that time, "their movement was 6ke a snowball". u Another wealchy protagonist in this chapter of Zanzibar's history, Jairam ~i, also profiled greatly from this opening up to wescern markels. A member of the 1bpan family, who was the richest and most influential merchant in Zanzibar, personally financed almost all of dte

11 Roclrcl, '':A Nadon of Ponen': lhc: Nyamwczy and the Labour Market in Nineteenth..century Tanzania", pp. 173-19!;. 1' At the end the XIXth Century, Hamed bin Muhammad AI Muljebi, nicbwned T!ppll Tip. owned 7 ~and 10,000 sima in Africa, a eapilal WDnh approximately 50,000 Maria Theresa chalen in total. Farrant, TI/JIM Tlp tlllll IN &ul ~ SJ.t Trfllll. Tappu Ttp's family has not died out, lhc: last descendant of this great XIXth Century slll\'1! and i\oory trader was a dnetnr in M~&tCat, Oman in 1993. n W'llkilwon, Tilt /..,1111 TrfMiititm " Oma, p. 60.

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caravan traffic, accepting responsibility for aU the risks and eventual losses d1is entailed. Throughout the firs1 half of the XIX Century, Jairam 1bpan represented the financial and political kingpin of all activity occurring on Zanzibar (around the year 1840, for example, he had four hundred slaves in his personal service). As such, it was wich him chat Europeans and Arabs had to deal. A somewhat singular political-financial phenomenon rhus came into being, in d1e figure of Jairam 1bpan who concentrated Arab, Asian and European inrerests in his own hands, conducting as though wid1 a baton 1he ancient, admirable and sophislicared sysrem of commercial currents, connections and links of the wesrern Indian Ocean.2G A further factor, and no less imponant than ivol)~ was the extraordinary and revolutionary expansion of dove cultivation on che island of Zanzibn ·n1e creation of a new niche for agricultural exploitation on Zanzibar and Pemba was destined to transform the twin islands into a true commercial empire. According to English publications of che lime, at the end of tbe eighteenth Century the introduction of doves (Eugtl!)'tl t:ti1)ViJih.JIIIIta, of the A(1rloeoe, Mynle family) alcered complerely the perceptions of the economic and commercial potenlial not, take DOle, in the eyes or the Europeans but in dlose of Saiyid Sa'id bin Sulcan AI Bu Sa'id and his Indian protlgls. Since the II Century BC envoys from Java a1 the Han coun of China had sucked dO\"eS to sweeren their heavy garlic breath during audiences with the emperor. Clove plants, originaling in the Moluccas, were first exploired b)• the Dutch who grasped the commercial value of this precious, perfumed spice whid1 also possessed medicinal properties. Around the year 1770, the French merchant, Pierre Poivre, succeeded in oblaining a few seeds wi1h whidl to scan a cultivation on 1he Mascarene Islands. It was, therefore, the French who, at the Slart of the XIX.ch Century, incroduced doves onto the island of Zanzibar. These initial at1emp1s proved successful, 1he environmen1 being perfecdy suited to this cultivation which eventually led to Zanzibar being the primary producer of doves in tbe world. From available English accounts, il appears chat Saiyid Sa'id bin Sulcan AI Bu Sa'id decided to inwsc his wealth and energy in a project of d1is kind. Such

"' Nicolini, A Glintl11 t1/Niitm Mmluml Ctmrmailia in ~a{iiNlr t6aing /800: 1M TO/Jtlll FtmriiJikmll#l /lliliw Adilvd StNms, paper pi'CII:nlcd 10 the lntcmabonal Conference TADIA/UNE!~CO, The African Diaspora in Asia, Goa,Janu~ 2006.

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a move required both courage and faidt, as dte plants take from sewn to eight years to reach maturity and produce che first blooms, and ten years for che firs1 crop. As budding does no1 occur at regular periods and dte buds themsel\•es must be removed before flowering, harvesting occurs in dtree phases, between August and December. This requires numerous and skilled labour, especially as the plancations also need 10 be weeded in continuation. t 7 We must also bear in mind che face dtat the culli\ration of cloves was very simUar to that of dates practised in Arabia and understood 10 perfection by dte Arabs, who proceeded to acquire land on Zanzibar, mainly by expropriation to 1he coasl of dte Swahili. ·nte management of land on Zanzibar was organised in chree dift"erent categories: wtlltlftJ, natural scrubland; lrillmbo, areas suicable for building upon; msilll, rural areas and lands surrounding villages. 11te legalised expropriation practised by the Arabs and a somewhat questionable interprecation of dte juridical institution of usufruct often led 10 Swahili lands eft"eccively being confiscated. The mtJShanlba of the Sultan of Zanzibar, initially concencrared around Mntoni and K.izimbani, gradually grew to include Bumwini, Bububu and Chiwini. In 1835, Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id possessed as many as forty-five mmhmn/Jil on the island. Clove 'fever', wich its high profit on initial expenditure, produced a real ~· landowning aristocracy, continually financed by dte Indian mercantile communities, thai slowly replaced the old Swahili aristocracy. ·ntis did not, however, cawe any kind of rupture, thanks to the dexterity of dte Indian exponents who gradually im'Oived the local African elite by delegating to them certain casks and responsibi6ties, dtus making them acti\oe participants in dtis major Indian Ocean business. On che coasts of che continent, on the conlrary, society experienced significant changes due to the massive influx of slaves from the interior and of Arabs and Asians from abroad (I"abora-a ke)' site on the commercial route towards the heart of the continent-practically became an ~· town with a considerable Baluch presence). ·ntus, profound differences de\oeloped between the cultural identities of dte islands, on dte one hand, and dte continenl on the other, where, from

~~ The euldwtion of dcM:s on Pc:mba wa.~ lela suc:ccssfulthan on Zanzibar due to a cyclone which destroyed most of the plants in the fine decades of the XIX1h Cenwry. Hennen, A Histtwy " 1111 Artlb Slllll " ~ad6dr, pp. 28-29.

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the third decade of the XIXth Century onwards, the opening up of cara\ran routes wrought a true revolution in economic, mi6taJy, social and cultural terms. This agricultural turning-point rapidly undermined the traditional order, and the plantations and slaves needed to cultivate them led to the phenomenon known as 'clove fever'. Naturally, hand in hand with the growth of the plantations went an ever increasing demand for slaves. In 1811, of the 15,000 slaves d1at arrived on Zanzibar, 7,000 were destined for labour on d1e maslulmba. 28 By 1822 d1e plants had grown to a height of roughly four and a half metres. This 'clove fever', therefore, pushed d1e annual number of new slaves up from 6,000 at the stan of the Century to 20,000 in the second half, and it was the clove plantations whicl1 would prove \~tal to Zanzibar's economic growth. Profits, in fact, rose phenomenally &om 4,600 Maria Theresa thalers in 1834 to 25,000 in 1840.29 For Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id, it was a triumph. Britain \~ewed the cultivation and exportation of tropical agricultural produce with an extremely favourable eye insofar as this could represent for oriental leaders a valid economic alternative to the slave trade. The increasing number of clove plantations on Zanzibar, however, also necessitated a notable increase in the labour force. High mortality rates on the maslulmba meant that almost d1e entire wortcforce had to be replaced every four years which, as we have seen, created enormous problems and far reaching changes within East African society. "lbe confiscation of the more fertile Swahili lands, the oven~helming influx of slaves and limited numbers of the Hadimu and Tumbatu tribes present on d1e island resulted in these latter being relegated to the \lei')' margins of society. In addition, the arrival of Arabs, Indians and Baluch drawn by this new and profitable market furd1er exacerbated

• Bhacker, Trfllkllllll E'.lllpiR ;, AlttMIIJ fl1lll .(;,~ RMis f1 Btilislt ~. p. 128. :a Clara Semple, The Snc:ic:cy for Arabian Studies, London, a&irmcd chat, since 1763, ~e:stimonies of German Crowns minted in Auttria came from Yemen and, even earlier, fmmjcdda; 11180)' coins were: sene on from Arabia 10 India during the XIXIh Cenhll}t The sil\oer content of 1he lhalers was kept cons1an1 at 833.3/1000, therefore it was con.~iderc:d very re6able, unlike 1he Spanish cloUar whieh was debased, alchoup it had a hiper silver con1a11. Also the Maria Theresa chaler could n01 be •dipped"

because icllad an elaborate edge inseriplion and this made il \"el)' popular-spreaaing chmughoul che \VC!IIem Indian Ocean a.oen reaching Central &ian bazaars---11nd people soon hepn to tnDC iL Semple, SiJM- UgmtJ. Till SrGr)' if 1M Mw Tllm• TkDIIr.

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the situation in the eyes of the English 6n 1819 chere were 214 Indians resident on the island). Maritime city state of the Swahili coast had always been sustained by intimate interaction wich the non-Muslims of d1eir rural hinterlands, and this concributed also to the consolidation of the coastal identity.:IO During the first half of d1e XIXth Century d1e demand for ivory came mosdy from western India. The Omani Arabs exploited che old slave trade rouces to the interior bringing new people to d1e coast of East Afiica with Elephant tusks. The Mrima was the major source of ivory's export for Zanzibar economy. The imports of cloths from India were given by the ~bs' as presenu to main African cl1iefs of che interior and dlis represented a clear sign of prestige and superiority within their tribes, alchough agriculture remained for long periods che primary source of che Swahili coast, long before d1e booming incroduction of commerce. Salted and smoked fish became an important item of trade: Zanzibar and Pemba islands soon developed d1e production of fish co provide che poners to d1e interior and for d1e \oery profitable exchange with ivol')t Also copal resin's demand grew during this period and was produced in Bagamoyo area and bought by the Indian traders, as weD as mangrove poles fOr vessels to be taken co Arabia and co the Gulf. There were three major sets of sla\oe and ivory crade routes to d1e interior often safeguarded by Baluch corps: I) the 'southern' route from soud1ern ports such as Kilwa to Lake Nyasa and the highlands of the soud1 western interior where the Nyamwezi carried tusks and ocher goods; 2) the 'central' ivory rouce from Bagamoyo in wesc and nonhwest directions, where d1e caravan trade became progressively monopolised by che Omani Arabs and by the Indian merchants; 3) the 'nonhern' route, che Masai rowe &om Mombasa and Malindi toWards Kilimanjaro where d1e Mijikenda were ivory hunters together wich the Kamba. 1be Saadani caravan route did not de\oelop an Arab merchant community, while the Pangani rouce led to d1e fOundation of Ujiji around 1840 and passed through the Bondei hills and along the foot of Usambara and Pare mouncains, weD watered and preferred by craveDers from ocher cowns of the northern Mrima; large quantities of ivory, Jlmlht, of soft and high quality, came from Pare and che Rift valley, and this route became d1e second in imponance after Bagamoyo. "lbe Taveta ttading scation never became dominaced by coastal Muslims, as it was too dangerous.

10

Glassman, IWISLf 111111 RitJt, p. 33 on.

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·1ne Nyamwezi caravan labour was cheaper than slave porters, and was seen as a way to proving manhood as inidation for young men. Caravans arriYed usually in Seprember and porters announced their approach by blowing horns and bearing drums.

Mttttnary Groups and Power Polities in 1M W~ttm Indian Outzn Another imponant item destined to change deeply the hinterland power balances was represented by firearms: during the first half of the XIXth Century matchlocks began to appear in the hands of Omani mercenary troops, who, imported them from the Ottoman Empire and from Europe.31 The Shirazi, the Swahili imponant families, gradually 'lost' their power and were pulled apan by the AI Bu Sa'id witbin the growing trade of Zanzibar, although they retained control of d1e nonhem carawn trade but the great wealth soon passed into ~· and 'Indian' hands. As the central route was d1e most controUed by Arabs, Tabora, near the hean of Unyamwezi, as we ha\oe seen above, became an ~b' town together with Ujiji. Here Baluch soldiers settled, intermarried, and soon became influencing figures. The impact of the AI Bu Sa'id political power and of the Baluch mi6tary power in Zanzibar on the African hinterland was therefore destined to influencing the 6ves of East Afiican men and women; considerable modifications underwent in traditional elire patrems of power relationships where c6ent patronage perspectives never were to be the san1e, and where new actors \\'ere destined to emerging on the new western Indian Ocean scenario in its connections with the East African hinterland. In this regard, the ivory trade became a means of travel, adventure and wealth offering a way to modifYing the status within tbe coastal communities. E\oerybody could share this ambition, but at the same time new tensions were introduced between Swahi6 rich fami6es, struggling to presel'\oe their precarious domination, and d1e demand of d1e 'parvenus' on whose suppon they relied.32

51 Nicolini, Till Trfl/k ~ .ti111U flllli.tllfiRIIIRiiiOR.f ill 1M Grllf fl1lll ill 1M Jtatm. brJia arlldwmt 1M mtl of 1M 19/I flllll 1M ~ of 1M 20llr 0Rfa9•, paper presented 10 the lnternalional Conference 'The Global Gulf', Exeter Uni\oersil)i Exeter,July 2006. s.~ Glassman, IW.fts fl1lll RiDts, p. 78.

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Although Great Britain in 1815, represented by Lord Casdereagh (1769-1822) had convinced the European powers to sign dte agreement for abolition of the slave trade, dte Arabs felt themselves in no way bound to respect its terms, and least of all Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id. While Britain continued on its anti-slavery crusade, motivated by dte more pragmatic purpose of weakening dte growing mercantile fortune of the Omani Arabs and other oriental leaders-without foreseeing dte enormous wealth that would result from the agricultural conversion introduced by Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id on Zanzibar-France, showing fewer scruples, took advantage of the situation to recapture some of its positions. To the English, Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id never allowed a chance to slip by to indulge in double-crossing. On the one hand he reassured the English, and on the odter he couned the French with a view to dtem possibly supporting him against enemy Arab tribes on the islands of Mafia and Kilwa and in Mombasa. The combination of these ideal conditions for the slave trade, furnished by the ~· in East Africa, was exploited to the full by French merchants. Under the Treaty of Paris in 1815, French had regained sovereignty over the island of Bourbon.99 The French explorer, Guillain, commented that: "ropports inlimes fUi eonlimlllitnJ d'txisttr tnJw I'Araltil tt Ia ~te orimtolt d'A.Jii'lw, od IUniS tlllons It eommert:t tks tstlovts fllJtlit litu tk limp immJmmiof'. sa

A synergy dtus developed between Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id and France of common interest in finding new ports and commercial bases. However, after taking the potential purchase of Zanzibar and Pemba into consideration, Paris instead turned its attention towards Madagascar.1' Given the by now unrivalled supremaq• of the Royal Navy, backed also by the Bombay Marine in the western stretches of the Indian Ocean, and dte defeats inflicted on dte pirates of dte Gulf, France did not really have any other choice.36

11 The Treat)• of Paris, 20 November 1815, pm.rided for lhe rr.stilulion of the island of Bourbon. Complete text in De Martens, .A'iuWM ll«wil II Tmitll 11/'EIIfO/JI. Tmill II Ptlft a 20 N• 1815 Ill.'« lis C.IJIIlltJtliiJIU s,m.Jts, pp. 682 onwanl.~. II Guillain, Dotttmntt .fliT I'Histoirr, lA ~ d II c..nmm.- tiii'.A.ftiflll Orinttfllt,

p. 11 6 II flU IJtll'tllitJns dll ....-. iJ dlll'isoltl tltl Al6tlilgare• A/tat rijlasiolti ;, mniiD. .. On 23 Man:h 1819the Gmremment ol Bourbon stipulated a secret Treaty with

~ iiosca,

~

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In 1817, wrd Hastings (1754-1826), the Governor General of Bengal from 1813 to 1823, proposed stnmgthening Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id and supporting his power policy in East Africa. 1be choice made by the Anglo-Indian Government was without doubt influenced by the c68iculties caused in thai period by dte continual raids of pirates in 'oriental' waters, by the commercial and political instability a8icting the entire region and, lasdy, by the presence of the French who continued to represent a threat to Great Britain. From a study of English documents it can clearly be seen how the fickleness and political digressions of Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id were a constant cause for alarm among the British. They were perceived as constituting yet anodter element of insecurity in a region which was by this time dte object of great interest and importance. Since a determined line had to be adopted, Hastings' decision represented a firm stance in favour of AI Bu Sa'id Sultan as a political point of reference for Britain, also in relation to those regions of East Africa in which the Omani Arab dynasty exercised an indirect form of control. 1broughout the XIXth Century the shame and humiliation of slavery in sub-Saharan East Africa had been imposed and exploited by numerous social groups for many lucrative purposes mainly originated from soudtern Arabia and western India. Amongst the many, the role played by the Baluch mercenaries coming from the southern coast of South-Central Asia, was identified initially within the Omani Arab elite. The Makrani-Baluch came to East Africa as soldiers, warriors, and body guards of the Arab leading dynasties. Later on during the XIXth Centul); we presume, the Baluch, called bulushi in Kiswahili, took gradually knowledge of lands and people, intermarried widt African women, and became traders dtemselves. Tite presence of Asians in East Africa, often identified by the available literature on the subject primarily with Indians, was therefore much more fragmented and diversified, due to the exercise of power widtin Arab societies of the time, and to the richness of dte western shores of the Indian Ocean.

chc: Sulran of Kilwa, under chc: cerms nf \vhich French would provide: military suppon ro the Sulran in exchange for suppon in rc:raking ~mba, Zanzibar and the island nf Mafia from Saiyid Sa'id bin Sulran AI Bu Sa'id for which the French would reclOgllise chc: authority of the Sultan nf Kilwa over chc: island of ~mba. This trea&y was to remain only in French hands ro prevmc the Sultan from showing ic co che English, but it DC\"CI; in face, came inro eh. The Minisllrr tills .U.UO. a RM fc:anxl British n&\'81 superiority and. as a result of funher political complicalions in Europe, che French decided not to place cheir rdadons with chc: increasingly imponanc Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan AI Bu Sa'id at scake.

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On the other side of the coasts of dte western Indian Ocean, that is on Soudt-Central Asian shores, slavery was practiced with similar patterns. During the second half of the XIXth Century, more precisely in 1874, a group belonging to the tribe of the Rind from eastern Baluchistan bought domestic slaves a1 Gwadar;s7 they came fi'om the coasts of East Africa. 11tis gave rise to a conflict of interests between the Rind and the representative "Va fb) of the Klum of Kalat in Kej (today's "furbat, capital of Makran); a conflict which ended in bloodshed and saw the death of four members of the "blue-blooded tribe" of Baluchistan. Sir Roben G. Sandeman (1835-1892), the Deputy-Commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan, affirmed thai the dead1 of four members of dte Rind tribe had nodung to do widt dte sla\..:o: trade at Gwadar. Sandeman, as described by biographers of the time was very charismatic and ambitious, understood the psychology of intertribal relations much better than Ius Political Agents, Ius representatives, as, in his opinion, they were not able to identifY dte real causes of tribe conflicts between the members of the Baluchistan groups.:18 In this regard he reminded: "tlmntstie sltwny is a liml honound institution in &ludtisltm as in other tllSltrn eountrits, fllld muth rf the IJJnd is cullilJtllttl ~ s!JIIJt ltlbour ... at the some lime il must bt rtmlltiiJtrtd that ma'9' rf tht idiJis attaching ID the wom ~/QZJ~~ wkidl a" so "Jltllmlto t:WiliQd minds, tm absmt.fonn lht 111111111m rf tht &luch lribti'.• "Ims a8irmation by Sandeman could be interpreted in difterent ways: for example as eurocentrist and fuU of contempt for local populations. Nevertheless, the following elements suggested different interpretations of the ·~ustification" of slavery in Asia within a wider scenario: the strategic importance of Baluchistan within Anglo-Russian rivalry; the second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80); the recent construction of dte telegraph line which connected Calcutta to London (Jndo-Europton Telegraph liM) after the political consequences of dte Great Mutiny in India of 1857; the growing importance of the Nonh West Frontier of British India; the need for definition of dte borders between Persia and the Khanate of Kalat which begun with the Commission directed by " H.s.A.-B.A. A.G.G. OFFICE Records, Fde 292/1874 1.\olisc.., SJ.ny in &lwllisltu&. Till ~rf &lldistJIII (Mdl:mrl), Q.ueua, 1906 (repr. 1986), pp. !MHOI. 11 Piaeendni & RalaeW (Eck.), ~: Tmtll""ff'ikL A lltW -~Ill fJ/I/IIfJIIdl ~ ~ hUtorittzl, flltiiJ¥1Dfiml- tllr6illlrlllral slliJJia. ,. H.S.A.-AG.G. Ollice-Essenlial Ra:onls, Fmm 1M A.G.G. 1D 1M Sm-lltlry te 1/u CGrmrmmt rf lntlia, FOreign Dcpanmen1, Q.uena, 25 March, 1884, R.cpon n. 942; Scla:dons &om lhe R.ec:ords ol che Gm-c:mmenl ollndia. FOreign ~nc, Nn. CCXI, Firs1 Adminiscration R.epon of 1he Baluchiscan Agenq~ Cidcuaa, 1886, p. 290.

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Sir Frederic Goldsmid in 1870 and ended with the sign of an Agreement in leheran on 24 September in 1872.40 In 1877 Sandeman became the Agent 10 the Governor General and Chief Commissioner of Baluchistan. During the first ~ars of the X.Xch Cenrury, dte British measures adopted against dte slave ttade contributed to diminishing the number of slaves from East Mrica; 10 dlis reduction corresponded a new slave lrade of Baluch origin, as testimonied by the trade in Asians coming from the coast of Baluchistan directed to Arabia to be sold in Arab matkets during dte firs1 decades of 1he X.Xch Century.41 As clear proof, on 20 May 1903 the responsible Agent of Jask area sene a telegram to the Direclor of the Persian Gulf section in Karachi saying that: "o grrot numbtr t{ limn ore lwouf)J ID these ploeu.fonn the K1j district .. . nol on{y4frit1111s but low easte &luchis ore now being S61tl ~ Jltll>' hlodn1m". 12 "lbe poorest among the Baluch were sold as slaves, and the cause was 1he foUowing: "/hi reoson 111m is sudl o tkmontlfor slovu.fonn these pods, is thlll 1/u lmtll.from lhe 4fiietzn Coast has betn fletua/1)• .stDppetl, ad &luchislflll is the onl)• ploce now open to them".u ·nte Baluch were coUecced widun 1he district of Kej and sent as slaves also in Persian territory. 11 Baluch slave women had cheir heads 1otally razed, dten covered wich quicklime, so dlal dteir hair could not grow, rendering 1hem perfecdy unrecognizable to their own tribes, and forbidding dtem coming back to dteir places of origin.

To conclude, the role of Baluch mercenary groups within lhe slave trade in sub-Saharan East Mrica was represented by a specific ethnic group who was enslaved in Souch-Cenlral Asia by ocher groups in a

111 Piacentini, Nw.s lilt lh DtjilliJitJR f1 1M Jlimr. BtmJm f1 BMr/J /RIIis iR Siltlllt flllll IWwiJisllllt ilt lhll9tJt CtRfa9•, pp. 189-203. 11 H.S.A.-A.G.G. O&ice-F.asencial Records, Cmrt/MilfiiiMt t.xis~LtM~ f1 SlaW!' ;, /Wwltisllllt, /irlm ('.spt. P. Ou; Ctwrd IIIIIIIWilitlll ~ MtuhJJ 1D lituL CoL C A. KmtiNIIJ. .41§ /WiJi(iiJ Rlsitltitt;, 1/u ltnillll Gtt!J 11tJt Stp~mtlltr, 1901, PoliticaJ 5-2/57. •~ H.S.A.-A.G.G. Ollice Confidential, 100.'~-1905, Yale 23, n. 1510, Tm#;, Sllavs jmm Ktj ID ltuitJ, fom lh .4.r.L Stt/Nrilfltllllntl }tut Slli-Diz.U.. ID 1M DirrciD~ Pmitm Gr4f S«liolt, Ktlmt/U, Ttllgmm dslttJ 20tJt M~ 1903. 19 H.S.A.-A.G.G. Ollice Confidential, 100.'~-1905, Yale 23, n. 1510, Tm#;, st-s jmm Ktj ID ltuitJ, fom lh .4.r.L Stt/Nrilfltllllntl }tut Slli-Diz.U.. ID 1M DirrciD~ Pmitm Gr4f S«liolt, Ktlmt/U, &tnv:t fl fl IAIW n. II tltJtsl 28tJt AIIITtll, 1904. " H.S.A.-A.G.G. Ollice Confidential, 1903-1005, Trqffit ill Slllus/irmt Kfi 1D AnV, fom Ru.rllll, lAt4or Sm. 1D lh Coa. fl buliflt. lh A.GG Qpdid, 1903, Fife 23, n. 1510.

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I03

much more powerful position; and this was a continuous process of shame and humiliation of weak and desperare people in this maritime part of the world, and a process of different perceptions held by \oarious powers between the land and the seaboard areas.

Adrnowltdgtmmt

I am grateful to Dr. Shiha.n de Sil\oajayasuriya, King's College, University of London, for her comments on a previous draft of d1is article.

AG.G. : Agent to d1e Governor-General B.A. : Baluchistan Archives, Q.uetta, Pakistan C.O.QD.A.: Commissioner of Q,aeua Archives, Pakistan U.S.A: Home Secretariat Archives, Q.uetta, Pakistan H.S.A-B.A AG.G. OFHCE Records, File 292/1874 Misc., Sla»ny in &ladtisltm. Thl Gol:tll«r '![ Boludtisltm (Mokmn), Q.uetta, 1906 (repr. 1986), pp. 98-10 I. U.S.A-AG.G. Ollice-Essential Records, Baluchistan Archives, ComfJitJinJ obout exisllntt '![ Sltmny in &ladtiston, .fom' Copt. P. Cox, Consul ond Po/ilieol Agmt, MmlrJJt to lituL Col. C. A. Km!Jol~ .Agg Polilicol ResU/ml in 1/u Pmian Guy; 17111 SeptnnbN, 1901, Political, 5-2157. U.S.A-A. G. G. 08ice-&sential Records, From tilt A. G. G. to 1/u StertlmJ' to 1/u GtmtrRmllll '![ lrulia, Foreign Department, Q.uetta, 25 March, 1884, Repon n. 942; Selections from the Records of the Government of India. FOreign Department, No. CCXI, First Administration Repon of the Baluchistan Agency, Calcutta, 1886, p. 290. H.S.A.-A.G.G. 08ice Confidential, 1903-1905, F"de 23, n. 1510, Trqft in S/avu from K!i to Pmio, fonn thl Assisltmt SuptrinJmllml Josk 8Mb-Division to 1/u Diru~ Ptrsion Gu!f Section, Kamdli, Tlltgmm t!JJIMJ 20111 M~ 1903. H.S.A.-A.G.G. 08ice Confidential, 1903-1905, F"de 23, n. 1510, Trqft in SltllJU from K!i to Pmio, from thl Assisltmt SuptrinJmllml Josk Sllb-Division to lilt Dint~ Persian Gulf &&lion, KmO&h4 ExiTO&t '![ o ulln" n. II tiJlJitJ 28111 Morell, 1904. H.S.A.-AG.G. 08ice Confidential, 1903-1905, Trtdfie in Sloves.ftom K!i to Pmio,.from Russe14 UndN Stmltlry to thl Gootmmmt '![ lntlill to lht A. G. G. Qptto, 1903, Fde 23, n. 1510.

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vv.

AA. 1999

17lt &~fJ of /slmn, CD Rom Edition, Lt:iden: Brill Academic Publishen. Akinola, G. A. 1972 "Slavery and Slm.: R.eo.'fiiiS in che Sultanarc or Zanzibar in che Ninccecnch Cencury'',.)llt'lltll oJ tlrl His10rittJI S«itg 'If Npitl. 6(2): 215-228. Alp:n, E. A. 1967 k«J 111111 SIJJN$ ill &st Cmlllll4,6im. ~ Altlml.r 'If /RIIntiJiiotltd Tm/1 ilt &1 CttdmJ ~ to drl ifJII.'A'iRtlmtlll Cmtwy, Be.tcdcy and Los Angeles: Uni,-enity of California Press. AJpen, E. A. 1975 '"'The East1Vrican Sian~ Trade'', HUisrWJ ~of T~i& 3(1). Ban:ndsc, R. 2001 TM .4.Uia &ru: TM /RIIitm Or«~~r HfwM oJ 1111 &r.'I.IIIMIIJI l'.mllr!)l, East Gate Doole, Ne''' Vcd: M.E. Sharp. Bennell, N. R. 1987 MA Hiscory of che Arab Scare or Zanzibar", Sbldia;. &u .4.fiit'dll Hislllry. 3(4): 28-29. Bhackcr, M. R. 1992 Tl'llllt fJllll £mtlin iR MIISitlll flllll .ttm.tiiNI1: &«s 'If BriiUJr Domilflllitm, London: Roudcdge. Clarcnce-Smich, W. G. 1989 TM &-it$ of • ltulitul Or«
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Hourani, G. F. 1995 .tlm6 ~I eel. 1951, ra-ised and expanded edition by J. Carswdl, Princeton: Princeton Unit.oersiry Press. Lodhi, A. 2000 Otimklll'f/I~~~~~Cts ill SudUJi ~• S1111f1 ill ~ fllfll OJIIIITt l'.Gilllllb, C'..&ehcq: Acra Uni\oersiratk Godanhurgensis. Lo\oejoy, P. 1983 TrtiiU.fomuttitms U. Slamy: ..4 Histery of Sllll.wry ilt 4,6V~~o "African Studies Series'' 36. 0\oejoy, P. 9116 ~ffiicQIU U. &lultlgt: StwJia U. slilmJ• tJRtl tAl slm:~ lnldt in ,.,_. of Pllilip D. C.ltilr, Madison: African Swdics Program. Lo\oejoy, P. 1997 •"J'he African Diaspor.a: Rmsionisllncerpre1alions of Elhniciry, Culture and Religion under Sla\oery", Studits in 1M JtW/ HisiiW)• of St.a~ .tliNJiilioR 111111 Emmuipllliott. 2( I). Manning. P. 1990 ''Sia\oery and African life: Occidental, Oric:mal and African Sla\oe Tr.adcn", l.o\1

.tlffittJR StwJia Stria. 5(2).

Manin, E. B. &: Ryan, '[ C. I. 1977 "A (baanlitad\oe Assessn1ent of the Arab Sla\oe Trade of East Africa, 1776-1896", ~ HiJttJNfll Rn.oitw. 5(1): 71-91. McCaskie, '[ C. 1999 C.IIMm/ Etwlmlm: lhilllill fllfll 4,6V11 in tAl Nrllllmlllt l'.mlllry, in, Pone~; A. (Ed.) 1M Oifortl HirloiJ of tlu BridsJt &!pitt, ''fll.. 3, Oxfold: Oxford Uni· \"enil)' Press.

Miles, S. B. 1984

MOL'ICa, L. 1994

•*

Trilla of 'a.-~ L C .£ B. Mills, 27 May 1981, in, Sirhan I. S. I. Sirhan (Ed.), ..411111lls of Onta ID 1728, Can1briclge: The Oleander Pres.~

Notts

npii IMll'•iglu t1t1 ....~~~~a: i1 ~ illl'istJIJI t1t1 Mfi/JJJg4rttJr. .tllnmt ri.JIIs·

m.ti in llllrikl, C.S.J.: Napoli.

Niootini, B. &: Redaelli, R. 1994 "(baena: History and Archiva. Note of a Survq• of the Archives of Qpelta'', .AWr.YIIliWIIl Storim. 78(2): 401-414. Niootini, B. 2001 .WMnm, Omtm 111111 {.fllt.dlNr. '11Im TtrmiRIII Otlluml Conillttlr in 1M we~tmt lntliM Oro~~~~~ (1799-1856), l.dden: Brill Academic Publishers. Piacentini, F. V. 1991 NotD 1111 1M DtfotititM of 1M l·futmt &rtlm of Brilish lllllitl in oSUttm dllll &I•· mum in* 19tk C.~·. in Scama Amoreui B.-Rostagno L. (Ed~). !Q.d }ltlllfll. In Altrntwia tli .tlil.utJRin &11.rtuti, 2 \'Ois., Rome: 189-203. Piacentini, F. V. &: Ralaelti, R. (Eels.) 2003 &111/IU.rlfln: Tm~~lnt:rJfllikL .tln~IIJ ~Ill~ MR6ilting llistoriml. ~ fllfll tlldtilltlllml .llll&s, OXfonl: Bribsh Aldlaeological R&:pons. Pouwc:ls, R. &: J..eo.'IZion, N. (Eels.) 2000 1M His!MJ• of /slllm in -1,6W, Alhens: Ohio Uni\'Cnil)• Press.

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Rocke~S.

2000

"~ Nation of Ponen': the Nyanawc:zy and the Labour Markel in Nineleenth-Cmrury Tanzania",prul of~ Histlwy. 41: 173-195.

Semple, C. A. 200.S Siktr 14f.'lll, 17u ~ tf tAl MdlitJ

n- 7'Adltr, Banan S111dies in Ar.abian

Cukun:, I, Manchester: Barzan Puhlishin&

106 Sehacha,J. 1993

Sheri&; A. 1987 Sheri&; A. 2005

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..4• htlmtJJIIIillll atlslmRic uw, I ed. OxJOnl, 1964, D cd. Hong Kon& S/mlt~ Spirts & lrory ill ~~iiNr. lllltplitttr of t11t EtuJ Afit~~t Comttwrtitd EmpiR ialtl 1M Jtflldl/ &.Gf~!~ J11D-J813, Aahens: Ohio Uni\oersily Press.

'"The Twiliglu of Sbn.~Cry in the ~rsian Gulf", in, A. Sheri&' (Ed.), ~/Iff ]ottrnAI M-111111 MiplliMs. 2: 23-37.

Sykes. P.M. 1902 Tm TlttNstmt/ Mila iR Pmitl, London: C. Scribner's Sons. Tnlc:dano, E. R. 1998 ~ flllll AWiitJn ;, 1M OIIAimtllt Mitli//t Etut, Seaade: Unh~Cnity of Wash-

ington Press. Vercdin, G.

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Tm u/i ~ IIHINmli. Rhllll/i soriJI/i ~ zikl priNk~ llti tiiDIIIJi dlll'hiJJm, Venezia: Marsilio.

W"dlcinson,J. C. 1987 TM /11t1111t1111 Tmtlilitttr of Oma, Cambric~F: Cambridge Uni,'l!rsity Prrss. 'VIvisake:r, M. 1982 "The lwry Trade in the Lamu Arra 1600-1870", in,J. De V. Allen and T. H. Wilson (Eds.), "From Zinj ro Zanzibar",~ 28: 221-231.

CHAPTER SIX

SOMAU MIGR.KilON TO ADEN FROM THE 19TH TO THE 21ST CEN'I1JRIES

The 6nlcs between the Somali Coast and Yemen are old, particularl)• the trade in goods, and the slave trade. The importance of trade between the Somalis and Aden under the British began because camel caravans were plundered &om the hinterland to Aden and because of the annual fair at Berbera on the Somali coast. The result was a substantial Somali community building up in Aden. A Somali Autobiography is renwlcable for its insight into the 6fe of a Soma6 immigrant and gi"a a unique point of view of the lives of Somalis in Aden. Many reports, however, were written by British o8icials. Trade does still exist toda)t but much more significant is the armral of Soma6 refugees landing on Yemen's coasts. Man)' of these refugees contribute to the menial workfon:e in Yemen but the Yemen Government has a huge task in processing them through the Kimmigration system".

lntroduelion The main objective of this paper is to describe the Somali migration to Aden and to consider irs eft"ecrs. "lbe period in question falls into several chronological phases: firsdy, dte commercial migration in the course of trade especially to pi'O\ride dte garrison after the British occupation of Aden in 1839; secondly, the migration in search of employment in Aden and on ships sailing to and &om that pore; and thirdly, dte migration in escaping from the breakdOWil of the Somali state and dte subsequent eruption of civil war in dte latter part of dte 20dt Century. "lbe first part of the paper is based on travel literature and archival • Uniled Kingdom. Email: [email protected]. ,... lnsdlulC of E1hiopian Studies, Uni~rsiry of 1\clclis Ababa, E1hiopia. Email: [email protected]. C 2008 l
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sources. The second pan uses oral histories including an autobiography of a Somali-a rare historical document-and interviews widt Somalis and Yemenis in Aden. lbe Somali connection widt dte Yemeni pon of Aden, is old, and owed much to trade, including the slave trade. Somalia is situated in the Hom of Afiica. ·nte British signed the first treaty with a Somali tribe in 1827. Funher treaties, tbe main purpose of which was to provide facilities on the Somali coast for the East India Company's ships, were concluded widt the Sultan of Tajura and the Governor of Zeila in 1840. Aden, situated on the soudt-west comer of the Arabian Peninsula. was long regarded as the 'Eye of the Yemen', the organ through which the outside world was seen and through which foreign contacts were made. When dte British seized control of Aden in 1839, from the Abdali Sultan of Lahej, their policy of encouraging trade with the Aden hinterland resulted in increasing the prosperity of Arab farmers, which in tum, fuelled Arab rebeUion against dte British occupation. Camel caravans laden with goods from the Aden hinterland and beyond came to the pon under heavy guard for fear of being plundered. Roads to Aden remained closed for a time, but pressure on Aden was removed by dte change in the monsoon, which opened trade with MukaUa and Shilu on dte Hadhramaut coast. This coincided with the beginning of the important annual fair at Berbera on dte Somali coast.

Adm and Btrlma Aden's population in the 1840s was exceedingly mixed, and shifting, because of the pon's nature as a coaling station and garrison town. Somalis at that time constituted a large and growing fraction of the population. A few Somalis had regular employment at Aden, but many others came during dte off-season at Berbera. lbe Somali population was then constandy changing, and nearly half left when dte annual fair at Berbera began. In 1848, Lieutenant Cruttenden of the Indian Navy, who spent much of his time dealing widt Somali a&airs, described Berbera's bustling commerce: The place from April to the earl)• part of October was uuerl)' deserted, not even a fisherman being fOund there, but no sooner did the season

SOMALI •nGRATION TO ADEN

109

change than the inland tribes commenced moving down toward tlae coast and )Hq)aring huts fur their expcc:ted \oisitors. Small crafls from the ports or Yemen anxious 1o have the opportunity of purchasing before tlae vessels from lhe Gulf could arrive, hastened across, foUowed aboul a fortnight later by their larger brethnm from Muscat, Soor and Ras al Khyma and tlae valuably freighted bugals from Bahrein, Bussorah and Graen. Lastly the fat and wealthy Danian traders from Porebunder, Manda\oisc and Bombay rolled across in their clumsy kolias and with a formidable 10\V or empl)• glaee jan slung over the quarten of their vessels, elbowed themselves up to the front tier of dae craft in lhe harbour, and by tlaeir superior capital and inRuenc:e soon distanced all compeli10n (GMrin 1975: 52).

Another description of the Berbera Fair in 1he 1850s is in Burton's Fwst Footsups in East Aftieo. BefOre vessels have cast anchor, or indeed have rounded lhe Spit, a crowd of Somali, eager, as hotel-touters, may be seen running along lhe strand. Tiaey swim oO; and lhe first who arrives onboard inquires lhe name of lhe Abban [protector); if there be none he touches the captain or one of the crew and constitutes himself protector. &r merchand~ sent funvard, tlae man who conveys i1 becomes answerable. The S)'Stem of dues has become complicated ..• Dollars form dae principal currency; rupees taken a1 a discount. The shopkeeper provides food for his Abban, and presents him at the dose or the season with a Tobe, a pair of sandals, and half a dozen doUars. Wealthy Banyans and Mehmans give fOOd and raiment, and befOre departure from 50 to 100 doUars. This dass, however, derive large profits: tlaey will give a few dollars to the Badawi at the end of the Fair, on condition of receiving cent per cent, at tlae opening of the next season ... or course Somalis lake every advantage of Europeans .•. Mr. Angelo, a merchant from Zanzibar, resided two montlas at Bulbar; his broker of tlae Ay)'al Gadid tribe, and an Arab who accompanied him, extracted, it is said 3000 doUan ..• Lieul. Heme calculates that the total money dues during the Fairseason amount lo 2000 dollars, and 1hal in the present reduced slale of Berberah, not more daat I 0,000/--\vorth of merchandize is sold (Burton 1894: 79-80).

Aden's role in relation 10 d1is commerce was d1at of the depository for 1he surplus unsold goods that remained in the hands of Indian merchants when the Berbera fair was closed. Anlong the exports from Berbera and other fairs on the Somali coast was coffee which came from far inland 81 Harrar. By 1852, Aden merchants were buying up practically everything sold 81 d1e Berbera fair, and what was not sold d1ere was carried across 10

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Aden later by Berbera 1raders. In 1855, Richard Bunon, lhe no1ed Orientalist, rernarlced lha1 Berbera, Tajura and Zeila were lhe only pons for d1e expon of slaves from the Galla country. He attribned pan of the decline of 1rade in the Berbera district 10 the increase in slave 1raffic ''which is easier and more profi1able lhan raising cotton or colfee". This slave trade in fact led largely to Yemen. In Aden, an outpon grew up on d1e Ma'alla beach. Legend has it that Noah's ark was built here. From Ma'alla, goods were shipped out to d1e vessels in Back Bay. Here also, d1e Somatis landed d1eir livestock, and began 10 build a shanty town for d1emsel\'eS. Some Somatis worked as servanu, and workers on coal vessels in lhe harbour, and several of them worked on ships sailing to England. A number of Somalis chose to stay in England, and constituted some of lhe first Somali immigrants to d1e United Kingdom. UntO 1855, lhe annual Berbera fair was supen~sed by one or more British naval \'eSsels, but d1ereafter lhe Aden Government no longer had a flotilla of Indian Navy ships permanendy a1 its disposal. It was lherefore unable, as in 1he past, to exercise direcl and continuous control over the politics of the Somali coast. In 1868, the British au1horities in Aden began to press 1he Indian Government 10 allow 1hem to station a man of lheir own al Berbera to preserve 1he declining influence of Aden. The aulhorities neverd1eless remained in touch wi1h wha1 was going on. Every official \\~th Magisterial or Police duties in lhe Aden setdement was in all too frequent contact wilh members of lhe Somali community down on lhe beach of Ma'alla. One of lhe subolulms (Indian Captains from the Urdu word SuW, a province in 1he Moghul empire) of Police, at Aden was a Somali who wielded great influence among his people on bolh sides of lhe Gulf, and 1hrougl1 him d1e Aden Residency tried 10 ac1 indirecdy on Somali politics. There was also lhe Aden Commissariat which purchased a large quantity of Somali li\•estock. The population of Aden and its British garrison were decidedly more dependent on the Somali coas1 for food supplies than 1hose d1a1 were on the Arabian hin1erland. The Somali community also contributed enormously 10 the labour force in Aden and still do. ·n1ey work as engineers, motor mecl1anic:s, taxi drivers as well as porters in lhe town and harbour, domestic workers, gardeners, nannies and prostitutes. In 1855, lhe Fair a1 Berbera closed on lhe 151h of April and 1he inhabilants of lhe town proceeded in1o lhe interior. Sir Richard Bunon

SOMALI .IIGRAnON TO ADEN

Ill

figure A Somali from Bcrbera, where the annual fair was held. Source: ~nzo Manzoni, El Yemeni tn: anni neD' Arabie Felice, Roma 1884.

and his party, who had organi~d an expedition to the Somali country at Aden, delayed at Berbera in order to receive their letters from England. The party had decided not to have any overland protectors. ·nle)' encamped ouL<~ide the town of Berbera. In the dark early hours of the morning, well-armed Somali<~, chieft}' from the Ea.<~a Moosa tribe, attacked them. Ueut. Stroyan was killed, Burton was wounded by spear-which passed through his cheeks-Ueut. Speke was taken prisoner and escaped, Ueut Herne remained unscathed. The cau.~ of this attack, Ueut. Lambert Playfair writes: It was mainly the hope of plunder, but partly, doubtlC$.5, suspicion of the tra\~Cllers' mothocs in remaining at Berbera after it had been desened by the tribes. In consequence of this unpnn."Okcd outrage, a demand was made on the elders of the Habr Owel tribe for dae surrender of the principal instigators of the attack . . . This was enlhn:ed hy a rigid blockade .. . which stopped the entire blockade of Berbera during the season 1855-56, thus inRicting a severe punishment on the otfcnding tribe, without materiall}' aflCcting the trade of Aden . . .

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Figure 8 Somali fmm Bullaar. Soun:e: Rcnzo Manzoni, El Yemeni tre anni ncU'Ar-.ahic Felke, Rmna 1884. Tiae elden of the tribe shmved C\<ery disposition to mmply with the demand made upon them, but they were reall)· unable to do so, to the fuU extent: most of the o&Cnden escaped to other tribes, and thus were beyond their reach; one man, who bore the mark of a gunshot wound on his hack, was sent to Aden as a prisoner. At last G("'<ernment, satisfied that all had been done ·which wa.-. within tbe power of the tribe, mnscnted to the withdrawl of the hl(M:kade, upon certain t:onditions, which were embodied in a treaty, and in NO\tember 18.'>6 the blockading \'CSSCI was re<:alled. (Piayfair 1859: 177).

lAter British &ports 'lestimony to d1e Somali presence in Aden at the beginning of the 20th Century is provided by the British tra\'eller Herben VIVian. He declares: "Somalis come to Aden to acquire wealth and wh~t!s and experience", after which they seek to "return to their own grey land". He therefore likened them to "the Irish of Africa" (Vivian 190 I: 59). Other Somalis, u.~ing Aden as a ba.~e,joume)'f!d funher afield, causing Major M. Rayne a generation later to recall dtat he was acquainted

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Figure C Somali from Anal Ahmed tribe. Source: ~nzo Manzoni, El Yemeni tre anni neD'Arabie Felice, Roma 1884.

with a Somali tobacconist in Cardi&; a Somali mechanic in New York, and a Somali trader in Bombay (Rayne 1921: 6). The presence of Somali immigrants, some of whom were obliged to earn their li\4ng by dubious means, was noticed by several British travellers to the East. One of d1em, the big-game hunter E.A. Pease, tells d1e story of a Somali at Aden, who was punished for house-breaking in the 1860s by Sir Lamben Playfair. ·n1e o&ender subsequendy escaped from prison, and returned to his own country, but later came back to Aden, where he was again detected in robbery, and condemned to a sentence of se\'eral years' penal servitude, but once more escaped. Several years later, Sir Lamben was sent on a mission to the interior of Somaliland where he was suddenly surrounded by armed men in full war array. He recognised their leader as his old Somali acquaintance, who, smiling, is said to have remarked, "Hah! Sahib Playfair, now I wiD give you two dozen, and two years hard labour". Sir l.amben was, howe\'ef, treated with evel')' respect, d1e chief guarding his guest's tent, and providing him with sheep and milk, all that he had power to bestow (Pease 1902: 232--4).

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Till Fmt &m1t1li .Autobiogmplg• Such accounts of the Somali migration by external, and sometimes critical, observers may be supplemented by a remarkable Aulobiography by a )'OUng Somali, which was published by the second au1hor of this paper (Pankhurst 1977). "l11is section is wri11en in a form of storytelling style. He was Ibrahim lsma'il of the Rerrhaji clan of the Warsangeli tribe from British Somaliland, who first left his native land as a child shortly prior to World War I. He relates that, while still an infant, he "heard of a place called Aden, a real Eldorado, from whence dates and aU o1her good d1ings came; there you could go into a market and help yourself 10 aU d1ese dainties as much as you liked; there were also many Somali children with whom you could play; and you could learn to speak Arabic and acquire all kinds of knowledge. "Before long young Ibrahim saw, on d1e beach, a man loading a dhow, or traditional boat, with IWo of d1e area's principal exports: gum and incense. Realising that 1he man was "going to that city of dreams" Ibrahim "begged and prayed" to go with him. Describing his arrival, the wonders he saw in Aden, and how he, like so many od1er Somalis managed to survive there, Ibrahim continues: ·~ter four or five days we reached Aden. "I11ere indeed I found many Somali children of my own age; but I was disappointed to discover 1hat food and other commodities were no1 free to all as I had expected. "I saw many things di&erent from 1hose to which I had been accustomed. People lived in stone and mortar houses placed in rows: most of d1ese consisted of a single room covered with a flat roof, and a back yard. I saw horses wid1 curious things running after 1hem, and I was a good bit puzzled to know what i1 all meant; it was some time before I discovered that the cans were not alive too. Caravans were cons1andy coming to 1own, bringing a great \rariety of d1ings new to me. ·~ter getting accustomed to aU these novelties, I came to like 1he life in Aden. I soon discovered that almost the only way in which I could get food at aU was by pilfering. "Necessity had taught us a variety of litde tricks 10 get d1e few coppers indispensable for our existence. '~ed with a piece of broken botde, we sometimes loafed about the quays, and ripped open a sack to take out a few onions, which we could seD for a penny or two just enough to ward off starvation.

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Or passing a coffee shop, we might spy a farthing, which a customer had laid on a table as paymenl for a pot of coffee. We had a special instrument 10 pick up such coins unnoticed, when d1e cusromer had gone, or was engaged in conversation: it consisted of a stick wid1 a daae a1 d1e end of it. "Knowing duu ahe religion of a Hindu forbids him to touch any portion of a dead animal. One of us would lhrow a bone on d1e d1reshold of a Banyan's shop and run away; his accomplice would fain great indignation a1 such an act. The Hindu was ahen sure to give a small coin to one of lhe boys for removing lhe oftending object. "Having been asked by Hindu women to seD some dough-nuas which they were making, I ofaen used to gamble wid1 d1e proceeds in the hope of increasing it. In d1e evenl of a loss, I would stir ahe dust of lhe road, and shed aears, until a passer-by asked wha1 I had losa and had given me d1e coin I was in need o( "1l1en, also, when ships came wid1 European passengers on board, we children used to swim to ahem, and ahe passengers would lhrow pennies into lhe sea-sometimes even shiUings and half-crowns. As soon as we saw lhe coin faDing inlo ahe water, we di\red to some depd1 and watched il sinking in wide zigzags above our heads. Sometimes lhere was a scramble. As soon as we goa it, we came up to lhe surface, showed d1e coins to ahe deHghted passenger and saored it in our cheek. Sometimes we would remain hours in lhe waaer. The game was not withoul danger as lhe sea was not free from sharks. Also d1e police would Slop us, but Ibis dilliculty could be setded quile quickly. ~ one time we used to swim lwice a day to a Htde island half a mUe from lhe shore, where Arab soldiers would give us rice when d1ey were having lheir meals. "When I had two fanhings at d1e end of ahe day I was satisfied, for Ibis meant a breakfast for ahe foDowing morning. When I had a penny I considered myself rich. "One day I found a gold lenshiiHng piece at MacaUa. I ran as fast as I could to Aden where I changed d1e coin at ajew money changer, in lhe street. Wilh d1e change, I bought two pieces of cotton to dod1e myself, at eight pence each, and I sent four rupees to my molher lhrough a man who had arrived &om 'Ad'addo [his home county in Somaliland)".

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Funher describing his life, and activities, in Aden, Ibrahim condnues: When night came, ~ used to lie down on the stm:t whe~r ~ might happen to be. We slept perhaps a dozen children together. None of us lilted to be tlae last in the row, for there was a belief, in Aden, that certain men roamed about the town at night lO steal human beings. We got up at the break of day to roam about looking for lost property or an)1hing 've could lay our hands on. (Pankhurst 1977: 170-1).

Ibrahim proceeds to relate d1at he subsequendy learnt that the Aden police were coUecting all Somali children without identification papers. He therefore left the pon, and made his way to the Lahadz country, where he worked for a time as a goat-herdsman. Recalling the other occupations he adopted-and by implication those then a\railable to young Somali immigrants, he relates: In Subur I helped a man lO feed his camels for a few da)os, In Dzilaadzil, the owner of a fruit garden, which lay about one mile from the village, employed me to look after his melons and pumpki111. In order to keep watch I used to climb on high lrees. For this sen-ice I was given the free run of the garden. When the fruit season was CM:r, I went to Hodda when: I found some Somali counlr)men, but no work to do. So I had to leaw: after a few days, and traw:Ued from plac:e lO place. In Oo'alab I stayed three v.oeeks with a man helping him to look after his Weld and milk his camel. At Hamra I stayed about four months with a man whose camel it was my duty to feed on dhurra straw. During that time a daild was born in the locality, and according to Arab custom, a barber was called to cimamcise him. I was asked whether I would like to take advantage of the opponunit)t I was very pleased to accept the: oJ&:r ... Having left Hamra, I \vent to Sufian, where I stayed with a man who was married and had a sick child. The family possessed a few sheep and cows: it was my job to look after these animals and to prew:nt them from straying over cultivated fields. (Pankhurst 1977: 173-4).

A year later, Ibrahim was apprehended by the Aden police, together with a number of other Somali boys, and taken by dhow to Berbera. There he met a relative serving as the bowswain of a small Arab dhO\\~ which later sailed to Aden, carrying a cargo of goats and sheep-both typical expons of the region. Ibral1im sailed to Aden on this boat, but, feeling Aden unsafe, went back to d1e Lahadz country. There he at first found work looking after a camel, and later a horse, but was subsequendy employed to carry fruit and vegetables. He was, however, soon once again caught by d1e police, and deponed back to Somaliland (Pankhurst 1977: 17+-6). This did not however mean the end of his Yemeni experience, for some while later, by d1en a youth, he sailed back to Aden, by dhO\\~

SOMALI •nGRATION TO ADEN

117

He took with him a goat, the sale of which enabled him to pay for his passage, as weD as to buy two square yards of decorated cloth that he sent as a gift for his mother. He then supponed himself "by performing various little jobs sucl1 as carrying stones and wood etc". Later, when the dates were ripe, he followed many of his compatriots to Dzool, in the \'81ley of Hadzar, where the date palms grew abundandy. He reports that all d1e poor Somalis of d1e district went there to coUect the fallen fruit, which they sold, or exchanged for od1er commodities, including oolfee, fish, tea and rice. A86cted by a bad attack of fever, Ibral1im was, howe\rer once again reduced to destitution. He was obliged for a time to pilfer from \tisiting dhows, but soon made a resolution never to steal again. Soon afterwards he met an Indian in d1e service of the Sultan of Mukalla, who recommended him to be employed at the chief's palace at Q.alib Q.a'aiti. Appointed a palace gardener, he was later responsible for cleaning d1e palace of the sultan's brothe.; and subsequently worked as a road-builder. Soon after this, he met a feUow clansman, who advised him to become a sailor. Ibrahim, like so many od1er Somalis, d1us left Yemen, and sailed to four of d1e world's five continenu (Pankhurst 1977: 355-84).

In more recent, post World War II years, many Somali refugees, escaping their war-torn country, have arrived on the shores of Yemen by smaU craft, similar to d1ose used by the above-mentioned Ibrahim, and are often literally dumped on the beaches and left to fend for themselves. "l11e Yemen Government has a momentous task in dealing with these refugees, by placing them in make-shift camps, and processing d1em through the "immigration system". Some Somalis find household or engineering work or any other type of work available in Aden and d1roughout Yemen. Interestingly, when the richer families of Hadhramaut began to own cars, they often travelled by them on the plateaux and valleys of Hadhramaut, but descending the I,OOOft clifiS between them made d1eir way by camel. ·n1e car had d1erefore to be dismanded, and twelve camels were needed to carry d1e various parts of the car. At the bottom of the eli&; the car was d1en re-assembled to drive through d1e valley. This work, d1e first aud1or of this paper recalls was "aiuJ19s done by a Somali"!

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Condusilm Aden, linking east and west, nonh and sou1h, was deslined to become an imponan1 trading and market place with its nahlral barbour and at its strategic posicion. It has, 1herefore, auracted people from all 0\rer 1he world 10 its shores to conquer, explore, 1rade and settle. The Somalis, from their side, exponed to Aden quanlilies of livestock (particularly after it turned into a fortress garrison to\YD). hides and skins, wood and charcoal, meat and meat products. Many Somalis came to Aden for work and conlributed substantially with d1eir skiDs. In 1he las1 years, Somalis left their war-torn counuy and sought refuge in Aden-many wishing to conlinue their journey to Canada and d1e U.S.A. Many Somali refugees enter Yemen iUegally and 1he U.N.H.C.R. has expressed concern over pi'Oiests about living conditions, resettlement and o1her issues in Yemen. According 10 the U.N.H.C.R., they are automalically granted refugee staiUS by the Yemen government and can live and work 1here indefinitely. What s1arted as a voluntary migralion has been transformed into a "forced" one resulling from 1he rise of warlords and ou1break of civil war.

Dunon, R. F. (Ed.) I. Bunon. 1894 Fml ~s in &ut 4frit"'- London. Gavin, R.J. 197:; .4dm IINllrlhilifll RMII, 183~1961. London: C. Hunt&: Compen)t Geographic~~ Handbook Series 1946 Jtiftm~.dmlliiJ 111111/M IW Std. Oxford: Navallnrclligencc Divi.~ion. lngranw, n I 949 .4 t/ Sotilllllllll Etoumie CtlfldiJilllll iR lkt .ddm PtokttDrfiM. Asmara: Printed by Brirish Aclministradon G~mmc:nt PmL Ingraftll, n and lngrams, L. (Eds.) 1993 R«tt''dJ of Jilnta 119/r/960, 16 Volumes. Slough, U.K: An:hiw. Ecli-

Su""'

ciont.

lngr&Rll, L 2006 rmrm &grtawl. London: Stac:qr Inrcmalional. Unle,T. 1968 S..dt Anr.6ill, .4m~~~ t/ OJnjliiL London: Pall Mall Prtss. Manton, T. E. Brilailt':s /,ma, &II in lkt IW St. An 1800-1818. Hamclen, Connecdcut: Shoe Scring PmL Panlchuna,R. 1963 "The: Ethiopian Sla~ Trade in the Nineteenth and EaJiy T'"endcth Cenruries: A StaaSlical lnquir)•", ]tntrrllll tf SmriJi£ Slwlits IX (3).

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Pankhunt, R.

1977 ':An Early Somali Autobiopaph)•'', A.fiit• XXXII {2-3). Pease, E. A. 1902 TrfiNIIIIIII Sfxwt in 4,6im. London: Anhur L Humph~q'll. Playfair, C.ptain R. L 1859 .tl Hisliwy of .4nr.6itr IYBx or Jimm. Bombay: Printed .Or Gmoernmenc at the Educ:adon Society's Press. Ra)'IIC, H. 1921 Sa, s-J flllll Sotrullitl. London: H.F. & G. \\'itherby. Vl\oian, H. 190 I ~~·mir.itr. t1urJ1f1t dfllitJit.'-J ltJ llrl t01111 " lllllior~ "}tldtlll. London: C. Anhur Pearson.

CHAPTER SEVEN

NINETEENTH CENTURY EUROPEAN REFERENCES TO THE AFRICAN DIASPORA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

nae geographic proximity of the Arabian Peninsula to Africa has raulted in movements of populations in both dim:tions across the ~d Sea for much of recorded history. An Abyssinian Dynast}' naled Yemen until around AD 5 70, around the time or dae birth or the prophet. This paper examines aridenc:e ror people or African desc:ent in the Arabian Peninsula within dae nineteenth century manuscript and jounml collections or the Royal geographical Society (U»adon), most or whida are written by European traveUen. The rererences primaril)• cover the mutes origin, dispersion and setdement Africans, and their occupations, customs and traditions. The sul~ect or African ethnicit)• within dae world or Islam, and dae process whereby Africans become Arabs, is discussed. This paper draws 011 geographical sources to prcMde historical evidence ror the study or present da)• communities or African origin in the Arabian Peninsula, the wider Middle East and areas the Indian sub-continent that came under the influence or Islam.

or

or

or

Jntroduelion TI1is study is based on d1e records of European travellers to the Arabian Peninsula in manuscripts, journals and books a1 the Royal Geographical Society. The collection and subject area had been largely ignored by British historians of the Middle East. Several Europeans traveUed around the coasts and into the interior of d1e Arabian Peninsula in the Nineteenth Century. Many of d1em recorded their journeys and the people they encountered. These • FRGS Royal Geographical Society, London England. E-mail: cliljpcrcira@ honnail.cnm 0 2008 KaninHij.., BriO Nv, Leiclal

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accounts provide a valuable historical geography source on the exisaence of an African Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula. They provide a strong historical background to recent saudies on the African Diaspora in Asia. In the absence of any agreed aerm in usage today by people of African descena in Asia, in this paper, the aerm Afro-Asian has been used as a generic aerm to cover people of African origin in Asia, as opposed to African-Asians. The latter is used as a term by which Asians in Africa describe themselves (i.e. South African Asian, East African Asian, eac.). The geographical proximity of the Arabian Peninsula to Africa has resulaed in movements of populations in bod1 directions for some considerable time. ·n1us, the African Diaspora that exisaed in the Arabian Peninsula, which daaes back to antiquity, was not exclusively a Diaspora of slaw: origin. In fact, an Abyssinian Dynasty ruled Yemen until around AD 570. The growth of lslanl into North Africa and along d1e coast of Easaem Africa increased the contacts between the Middle East and Africa, based on trade and the obHgatory Hqjj pilgrimage to Mecca. Additionally, Islam's growd1 in Asia and Europe also serw:d to diffuse the African Diaspora in those areas. The nineteenth century European traw:Uers in the Arabian Peninsula have provided much in the way of references to the African Diaspora. This was a period of slavery and more importandy, its abolition. Africans were not the only peoples to be enslaw:d in d1e Islamic World, although in this period, by far the largest numbers of slaves were of African origin. As a result many references to the African Diaspora refer to Africans as slaw:s; howew:r it is certain that European travellers (and some Arabs) may haw: not considered Arabs of African origin in free and high social positions as part of the African Diaspora. None-theless European travellers do provide references to the Afro-Arabs and Africans in many disciplines.

The Evidence Perhaps the most important contribution of nineteenth century European traveUers is in d1e references that d1ey provide for the geographical distribution of Africans and their routes of entry, and diffusion within the Arabian Peninsula. ·n1ere are references to specific African ethnic groups.

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Several ttade routes can be clearly mapped, and some of these are pan of a larger 'Slave Route' network and pan of the Hqjj pilgrimage routes. Perhaps the Nonhernmost route is the one that starts in Egypt and enters the Arabian Peninsula by way of Suez' and the Gulf of Aqaba, making its way up d1e Jordan Valley. 2 ·n1is route undoubtedly led nonhwards into Ottoman Turkey. Then d1ere were the Red Sea routes. On the Mrican side, this was from the Red Sea Hills of Egypt and the Nubian Desen, at ports such as Suakin. ·nese routes extended southwards by way of d1e Nile and westwards through various Trans-Sahara routes to the land of the Nubi (Sudan), &mbasa (Mali), and Tokruri (Senegal). Crossing the Red Sea, these routes entered d1e Arabian Peninsula along the Hejaz Coast of Arabia at Umm Laj,S Yanbu and Jeddah. This region was nominally pan of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century. The Nonhemmost of these routes led inland across the An Nafud to AI Jawf1 and Kaf and perhaps into modern day Syria and Iraq. Two other Hqjj routes led inland, one from Yanbu to Medina) and another fromjeddal1 to Mecca.6 The last Red Sea route was from Eritrea to the Yemen at AI-Mukha (Mocha) and AI-Hudaydal1. 7 The coast of the Yemen was a major receiving area for Mricans. ·n1ese Mricans were mainly Hobeshis from d1e Horn of Mrica transported by dhow across the Gulf of Aden to Aden, Ahwar,11 Keshin and mosdy to the pon of Mukallah from the slaving ports of Zeilah and Berbera. ·n1e slave markets of Salalah9 and Muscat11) in present day Oman were fed by the annual flotilla of dhows from Eastern Mrica (Mogadishu, Lamu, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Kilwa and Mozambique Island). The Hobeshi and ~ngibari Mricans arri\ring on the coasts of

• Bunon, PiftliRIIJlttB AI·Maslt tiiUl AINcDII. Vol. II, 1855/56, pp. 2-13. ' Molyneux, ~ ~icrll Sotit!J• .)ar~~t~l No. 18. 1842, p. 120. ' WeUsaacl, RlrJtd ~Ill S«ii!J• }o111111JI No. 6. 18.16, p. 67. ' Wallin, RlrJtd CtqviiJWtlll.s«itpo }ltlriUII No. 24. 1854, pp. loiG-143. ~ Dunon, Pi/gtiRIIJlt 111 AI·Maslt tiiUl AINtDII. Vol. II. 1855/56, pp. 2-13. • Dunon, Pi/gtiRIIJlt 111 AI·Maslt & Mmfllt. Vol. II. 1855/56, p. 232. ' Dunon, PiftliRIIJlt 111 AI·Maslt tiiUl AINtti!L Vol. D. 1855/56, pp. 2-13. • Miles, R~ ~II,Mr'tfll ~ .Z..,nlfll No. 41. 1871, p. 226. • Saunders, ~'tlrGifcm/lhitaJ S«V{J}wnlal No. 16. 18'16, p. 174. •o Pelgra\oe, &p ~- ~ J-11Uil No. 34. 1862/3, pp. 151-152.

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the Hadhramaut and Dhofar were probably destined for domestic slavery. 11 Many of d1ose arri\ring at Muscat were resold and passed on to the markets of Persia, such as Bushire, Baluchistan 12 and Sind 13 in Pakistan. Some of these Africans were also taken to the Arabian coast of d1e Persian Gulf where they were resold and ended up inland, even in d1e inhospitable oasis of the Rub AI-K.hali. 11

Oet:uJHltions Free Moslem Africans had always served as crew on board \'t':ssels in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and d1e Persian Gul£ There were also bonded and enslaved African crewmen on these vessels. The Cox Collection at the Royal Geographical Society contains a number of journals relating to Somalia, Oman and d1e Persian Gul£ One of d1ese contains the touching story of Mubarak, who "was captured in a raid by a large force and taken to Zanzibar". Mubarak was aged twenty-four at the time of d1e interview when he was brought overland to Abu Dhabi. Ha\ring explained the dead1 of enslaved members of his tribe en-route, Mubarak goes on to explain that Salama, one of tbe enslaved survivors of this passage was being coerced into di\ring by his master. 1!1 Photographic evidence &om d1e 1920's and d1e existence of a visible African among the retired pearl divers of the United Arab Emirates supports d1e theory that pearl divers were usually sla\'t':s or their descendants. Thousands of people of African descent were domestic slaves throughout the towns of d1e Hejaz and the viUages of the Tihamah (Yemen), Hadhramaut (Yemen) and Dhofar (Oman). Africans formed the agricultural labour force of d1e date groves of Hofuf and Tarut Island (Saudi Arabia) and possibly in present-day Iranian Baluchistan. 16 Free A&icans who had arrived as pilgrims from as far away as West Africa, often stayed on atjeddah and at Mecca and they were noticed by Sir Richard Burton and Lt.J. R. Wellsted.l 7 The Takruti mentioned

Bunon, Silulh till/1M rdn'.f dult iWIJil lilt ,..lkJ filM lltlbu. 2006. p. 253. PeUy, RlrJtd ~Dl ~· ]«muul Nn. 24. 1864, p. 252. 13 BaiUie, K'llrrtldlllt: PtBt; Pwstt11; dRil F1111t1r. 1890, pp. 21-35. •• Pelgra\-e, ~ ~ ~ }tntnltll No. 34. 1862/6.1, p. 122. •~ (Manuscript) The Cox Collcclion. Oman Coasts and Inland Roures (PZC 4). c. 1904, p. 14. ld Goldsmith, RlrJtd Gtogmflli£Dl ~·]eartull Nn.. 37. 1867, p. 240. 11 Wdlslc:d, Trt~~~th iR 1lmbi& Vol. 0. 1842, p. 270. 11

•2

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by Burton could have been a Moslem Mrican from the lslamicised state of Takrur ffukolor) in Senegal or an enslaved non-Moslem from the region. 18 There is evidence from Captain S. B. Miles for free African migration from Somalia to MukaUah and the Himyari Hills of Yemen, for the gad1ering of Frankincense 19 and Myrrh.10 Miles also explains that the Somalis paid the Arabs for d1e privilege of collecting the incense and oflen settled down at Mukallah and Shirr where they were incense sellers. Africans could hold high positions, as Charles Beke noted, on encountering d1e Black anendant of Sheikh Diab Ibn Freikh in d1e Jordan Valley..21 It is possible d1at many fioee-Africans in the Arabian Peninsula had domestic slaves of their own.J. R. WeUsted mentions that the Somalis of Berbera had domestic slaves, and he also mentions d1at there were free Somalis in Arabia. Considering that d1ese free Somalis were engaged in d1e incense trade, it is likely that at least some of the incense collectors were slaves.2".1

Cuslllms muJ troditions It is d1e geographer Richard Burton who provides the most interesting account of traditions among the African Diaspora in d1e Hejaz; "Late in the evening I saw a negro in a state called Malbus-a religious frenzy. To all appearance a Tokmri, .... The Africans appear unusually subject to this nervous state which, seen by the ignorant and unimaginative, would at once suggest demonic possession". It appears that Burton was describing a ceremony similar to d1e
•• Bilkhair, Spiril Pos.1e!Binn and ics Practices in Dubai. Mafi.tr-ln~emalionaJjoumal of Elhnomusicologiad Swdies. No. 2. Sounds of ldencil)t Ed. S. de Silva Jayasuriya 2006, pp. 56-57. •• Miles, Rf!Jfll Gtogrfl/1/titlll ~ ]M'IItlll No. 42. 1872, p. 65. :10 Miles, Rf!Jfll Gtogrfl/1/titlll ~ ]M'IItlll No. 41. 1871, p. 226. 1a &eke, ili!JYJI CNJgmfJiritlll ~ ]aa'lltlll No. 32. 1862, p. 97. 11 WeUs~ed, Trtllvls ;, ..4. .UI. Val. D. 1842, p. 362. n Bilkhair, Spiri1 Passcssinn and ics Practices in Dubai. Mlrir-ln~emalionaljoumal of E!hnomusicoJnsical Studies. No. 2. Sounds of ldencil); Ed. S. de Silo."Bjayasuriya. 2006, pp. 43-64.

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such as the tsnbumll (lyre) and unusually for a person versed in the Arabic language, Islam and Arab culture, there is no mention here of finn spirits. Bunon commented that wid1 regard to the Mandai or palm-divination "a Black-slave is considered the best subject''.

Etlmiei!Y Mricans arriving as slaves were identifiable by their places of origin. Writing in the early 1840's,J. R. WeUsted describes "Suahi6" (Swal1ili) slaves in AI-Mukallah. 21 He also mentions slaves in Muscat from Dongola and Darfur in d1e Sudan, and from Abyssinia and Zanzibar.:n The Nineteench century European traveUers also provide information on distinct communities, such as the Mricans that composed the "Messalliel Arab tribe" b)• the River Jordan. This community was mentioned by Lt. Molyneaux in 1848, when he noted d1at two-dlirds of the tribesmen he encountered were "Blacks".26 Dr. Wallin mentioned d1e MulllWtllllldin at AI Jawf in Saudi Arabia in 1854.27 Sir Richard Bunon mentions a Tolcruti in the Hejaz.• While the Mricans of the Hejaz, Tihamal1, Hadhramaut, AI-Maluah and Dhofar are mentioned by several travellers, no distinct name is used to describe these Mricans. Burton mentions enslaved "Golla girts" at Medina and Lt. john Parlcer mentions ·~other class of slaves were the Hsbsllm or AIJ.1ssinisns" when describing the Mricans of Karachi. 29 One assumes that since the Galla (or Oromo) were procured in Edliopia and were generally of a paler colour than the Bantu from East Mrica, d1ey were considered

Hsbslws. In his History of Sindh, Burton mentions d1e S/gJitls among the "stranger tribes setded in Sind". Burton explains that the SsJJids are of d1e family of Husain and Hassan. He also makes the statement d1at "Another peculiarity in Sindh is, that if eid1er parents be a Ss.»id, aU the children must be called ~s. It is, therefore not uncommon to see African features among them, and thus their great number is eas-

" Wcllsced, Trt~~~tb iR Ar8ill. Vol. II. 184-2, p. 434. ~ Wdlsced, Trt~~~tb to tilt Ci!Jo tf tilt Ctdiplls. \bl. I. IS.W, p. 58. ::.~ Molyneux, RopJ ~- .s.dtg ]H11Uil No. 18. 1842, p. 120• .n WalGn, ~wlCnpjhitfll SotilfJ}i»>irllll No. 24. 18S4, pp. 14(H43. ,. Bunon, ~ to.41-AIIIIIintJJl 61 Mttttlk. Vol. D. 1855/6, p. 175. :a BaiUic; liM1frlllltJt: Ptul; Prtstlll; fllllljlllllrt. 1890, pp. 21-35.

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ily accounted for". 90 Bunon mentions ocher Stgyid families such as the 1Wrqysh4 .AIIlWi and .Abbasi and is clearly describing d1e descendants of the Arab tribes who arrived in Sindh following d1e Islamic invasion.

Diseussion ·n1e growing recognition of the existence of an African Diaspora in the Americas, as weD as Europe has tended to atuibute d1is Diaspora throughout d1e world as entirely being the product of the institutions of slavery. In the Islamic-influenced world of d1e Indian Ocean and its adjoining land-masses and particularly in the Arabian Peninsula, slavery had undoubtedly played a pan in the development of an African Diaspora as is e\~denced by the accounts of nineteendl century European traveUers in d1e region. However, this evidence clearly demonstrates that while slavery was cenainly prominent, it was not the only mechanism for the existence of d1is Diaspora Trade, religious pilgrimage and free labour migration, also played their pans. The existence of African elements among d1e &!vids (111 Squidi) suggest that an African-Arab synthesis had occurred prior to d1e arrival of these groups in Sindh. n1e evidence suggests d1at this could be d1e origin of the ethnonym of Sitli for people of African origin in Islamic India. Bunon makes it known that Sitli was a name applied by the Sindhi majority (i.e. an exonym). ·n1e Africans who were non-SaJJidi (i.e. recent arrivals) had their tribal names (Makonde, Makua, Mrima, Nyamwezi, Nyasa, Zarama, etc.).31 ·This would also substantiate the proximil)' of Afro-Asian settlements and the close association between Afro-Asians in d1e Indian sub-continent wid1 some Islamic shrines. The use of terms such as Hobeslli, ?,ingi/Jori, &mbosi and Tolauri suggest that aliiation to a specific region, political domain or ed1no-linguistic group, was more prevalent d1an the concept of belonging to a continent (i.e. Africa) among Africans in the Arabian Peninsula in the nineteendl century. The Arabs are a people and not a race, whereby identity is based primarily on language (Arabic), religion (Islam) and tribal affiliation. Setded and pastoral (i.e. Btdu) communities in the Arabian Peninsula appear to have held free and enslaved members of the A&ican Diaspora who

10

11

Bunon, Sillll/r flllll tlu rw1s 111111 inNIMl 1M Nllly t{ dtt llllllu. 2006, p. 233. Bunon, Sillll/r flllll tlu rw1s 111111 inNIMl 1M Nllly t{ dtt llllllu. 2006, pp. 253-254.

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were of diverse origin, and who took on the Arabic language as a necessity for communication, thereby taking the first step in the process of "Arabisation". The Islamic concept of Ummola Wolaida (the one community) was inclusive of Jews and pagans and enshrined in the Constitution of Medina (AD 622) by the Prophet. TI1is would have appealed to enslaved non-Islamic Mricans and led to conversions. "lbe social mobility made accessible by Islanlic slavery combined with the process of ·~bisation", eroded the consciousness of a separate identity among the enslaved, and particularly among the free-born Mro-Asians of the Arabian Peninsula. A valid argument can be made that the notes made by European travellers in d1e Arabian Peninsula in the nineteenth century also describe a reverse trend-the gradual absorption of Mrican racial and cultural aspects into mainstream Arab-Islamic cultures.

Condusitm lbe most enduring of the cultural attributes are d1ose shared in large areas of Mrica, and thereby likely to be shared among a wider portion of the diaspora. lbe presence today of elements of Mrican culture, especially in music92 dance and ritual, remain part of the historic consciousness of the Moslem Afro-Asians in the Arabian Peninsula, within which the experience of slavery is a major component.

Baillie, A. F. 1890 Kurradlec: Past; Present; and fuwre. London. Bckc,C.T. 1862 Ro)'lll Geographical Sociery.Journal No. 32. London. Bilkhair, A. 2006 Spirit Possrssion and its Practices in Dubai. Musike-lnternational.Jnumal of Edmomusicolqpcal Studies. No. 2. Sounds of ldenliry. The Hague. Burton, R. F. 1855/56 Pilgrimage to AI-Maclinah and Meccah. \bl. II. London. 2006 Sindh and the races that inhabit the valley of the Indus. Nc:\\• Delhi: Asian Educational Services.

S1 Ingrams, L. Mrican Conncc1ions in Yemeni Music. MMiiU-IntenwionaJ.Journal of Ethnomusicological Studies. No.2. Sounds of ldentil)~ Ed. S. de Silvaja)'llliUriya. 2006, pp. 65-70.

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Cox Collcccion C. 1904 Oman Coasts and Inland Routes (PZC 4). London. lngrams, L 2006 African Connecdons in Yemeni Music. Musike-lncemalionai.Journal of Ethnomusioolngical Srudics. No.2. Sounck of Identity. The Hague:. Goldsmith, F.J. 1867 Royal Geographical Society. .Journal No. 37. London. Miles, S. B. 1871 Royal Geographical Society. Journal No. 41. London. Molreux 184 Royal Geographical Society. .Journal No. 18. London. Pelgrave, \V. G. 1862/3 Royal Geographical Societ)'Journal No. 34. London.

PeUy, L. 1864 Royal Geographical SocietyJournal No. 24. London. Saunders,J.P. l&lfi Royal Geographical SocietyJournal No. 16. London. Wallin, G. A. 1854 Royal Geographical SocietyJournal No. 24. London. Welllled,J. R. 1842 TrtiNI.J ilt Arubill. Vol. D. London: john Murray. 1844l Travels In the City or the Caliphs. \bl. I. London.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MIGRANI"S AND THE MALDIVES: AFRICAN CONNEC110NS SunL\N DE SILVAjAYASURJYA*

Asian migraniS have lefl an indelible imprint on Divehi, the language of the :Maldives. TI1e Islamic wave that swept in with the rising Arab trade,

washed over the :Maldives. Fonns or music and dance reveal cultural contaCt with other Indian Oceanic peoples. A&ican migraniS have introduced a rorm of music which has become popular in the ~laldives. By considering historical ac:c:ouniS and oral traditions, this paper demonstrates how Mrican culture spilt into the Maldives.

lntroduelion 111e Maldives is a part of an Indian Ocean maritime economy and migration is an essential pan of the overall activities that take place. This is the consequence of ias geographic location, but it is also reflected in the economy. Diversity makes the Maldives a special case in the Indian Ocean, but it also complicates the analysis of Maldi\rian culture. Consisting of I, 190 islands in total, d1e Maldives are situated in d1e Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka. lnese islands are in an area 470 miles long and 70 miles wide. There are 300,000 Maldivians today who call d1eir country Divi1ti &jje which means 'Island Kingdom• in their language Divebi. These coral islands are geological formations and each bas a distinct nan1e. ror administrative purposes, d1ese are grouped into 20 AtoUs. Today, the main income generator for d1e Maldives is tourism. 111e Maldivians have ensured that the tourists do not upset d1eir way of

• Department of Ponugucse &: Brazilian Smdics, King's College London, Unk~niay of London, London WC2R 21A England. E-mail: [email protected] 0 2008 KaninHij.., BriO Nv, Leiclal

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life. Some islands have been designated "tourist islands". Non-Maldivians cannot go to the other islands unless they are accompanied by a Maldivian. Roland Sil\oa ( 1983) made some recommendations on preserving the heritage of the Maldives whilst, at the same time, making them attractive to the tourists. lbe Maldives are believed to have been populated for about 2,000 years. Therefore an analysis of the migrant groups to these islands becomes complex. Each island could have been populated at a dillerent time. ·Ibis is complicated further by there being no recorded history of the Maldives until 1153, when com't!rsion to Islam took place. Its recorded history begins wid1 d1e TaNh (State Chronicle). ·1bday, all Maldivians are Muslims of the Sunni sect. According to oral history, a Sri Lankan Prince, "Koimala Kalo" and his princess sailed to Rasgetimu, in the Nord1 Malosmadulu AtoU, in the 12th century. They were invited to live there. ·lbeir son, Kalaminja was crowned as King of the Maldives. Kalaminja ruled for 12 years as a Buddhist King and for a further 13 years as a Muslim after conversion to Islam. It is undisputed that the Maldivians were Buddhists before conversion to Islam (Reynolds 1978: 155). H C P BeD's expedition to the Maldives, in 1922, and his monograph ( 1940) confirms this. Ancient historical chronicles make references to the Maldives. For example, in 300 BC, a Buddhist inscription, and in 200 BC, the MolumonstJ, d1e ancient chronicle of Sri Lanka, refer to these islands. As d1e Maldives has been a stO}>O\'t!r point for explorers and sailors, several traveUers have mentioned these islands. They are referred to by Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Persians, Arabs, Portuguese and French. I have listed d1e dates of some recordings and also the names of the travellers (see below).

150AD 362AD 412AD 6th century 629-645AD 851 AD 916AD lith century 12th century 1349 AD

Ptolelll% Gm:k Astronomer, :Mathematician and Geographer Ammia11us Marcellinus, Roman Fa-Hsien, Chinese Buddhist Monk

Cosmas lndicopleustus, GII'C!ek Hsua11 Tsang, Chinese Buddhist Monk

Sulaiman the Penia11 Meldwn of Siraf AI-A·Iasudi, Arab AI-Biruni, Arab AI-Idrisi, Arab Wang Ta-Yuan, Chinese writer

MIGRANI'S AND niE MALDIVES

1414AD 1512-1515 1602-1607

133

Ma Huan, a Chinese, who ~d the Cheng Ho 'lt'O)'DF

Tome Pires, Portuguese chronicler F~ois P)'l'llrd, a shipwrec~ Frendaman

In terms of natural resources and commodities, the Maldives has coir, cowry shells, ambergris and dry fish. 111e Malc6ves has bad trading relationships with Persians, Arabs, Malays. Indonesians, Indians and Sri Lankans. Maldives was not the immediate focus of western traders and colonizers as it c6d not have much commercial potential in comparison to some of its neighbours. 111e Portuguese got entangled in the Maldives because of their struggle with Mamale of Kannanur, South India (Robinson 1989: 165). The Portuguese bad a brief presence {1558-1573) in the Maldives. The early 16th century Ponuguese chronicler, Tome Pires ( 1944: 170) noted that Bantam, in the kingdom of Sunda, traded with the Maldives. In addition, Parsees, Turtcs, 1urkomans and Armenians sailed with trade goods from Gujarat to Malacca and on d1eir return journey stopped at the Maldives {Pires 1944: 269). Coir rope made from coconut fibre was sought after all over Asia. 1ne early l6d1 century Portuguese chronicler, Joio de Barros (1638), wrote dw "1ne commonest and most important merchandise at these islands, indeed, the cause of their being \risited, is the coir; without it, those seas cannot be na\'igated". The Maldives, however, became established as a place for repairing ships, as the coir in d1e Maldives was of good quality. The fibres of the many coconut trees that abound in these islands are convened into coir rope. In d1e 14th century, Ibn Batuta, mentioned that ships from Yemen and India came to the Maldives due to its hemp. Maldivian cowrie shells were considered the best in the world due to their whiteness. Cowrie shells were taken from the Maldives to Afioica, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and ancient China. ·n1ey were more than just a commodity. Cowrie shells were monetary units, and the Portuguese, for instance, exchanged cowrie shells for eaNfas de pessoas {heads of people) (i.e. African slaves). Maloney (1980: 126) describes d1e cowries paid to d1e Dutcl1 by d1e Maldivians. He remarlcs that 12,000 pounds of cowries bought 500 to 600 slaves for the Dutch from d1e Guinea Coast, through Arab mediation. Malone)' (1976: 658) states that Maldivian cowries paid for several slaves who were bought from West Africa and sent to d1e Americas. 111e Arab middlemen bad paid cowries to d1e African slave-raiders.

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After the change in ideology, the orientation of the Maldives turned towards Persians and Arabs. This wa<1 understandable given their trading links. Historically, the Muslim communities in the Soud1 Asian littorai--Gujarat, Konkan, Malabar, Coromandel coast, Sri Lanka, the Lakshadweep islands and the Republic of Maldives-served as important entrep(>ts in the flow of goods, ideas, and religious personnel around d1e Indian Ocean {Didier & Simpson 2005). The Maldives was not colonized by the Dutch or the British. An annual embassy wa<1 sent to the Dutch Governor of Ceylon after 1645 and to d1e British Governor of Ceylon who succeeded him, until the European presence in d1e region ended.

4frit1111 Connections The Maldivians are ethnically heterogeneous and are the result of several historical and social processes. Yet, today there is only a single Maldivan identity. 1'bis has been no doubt helped by there being a single indigenous language-Divehi-and all Maldivians being adherents of one faith-Islam. It is indeed admirable that Divehi has remained the national language to-date despite influences from its neigllbours-lndia and Sri Lanka. Although migrants from India and Sri Lanka would ha\re initially been speakers of other lndic and Dravidian languages, they have all learnt Divehi on setding down in Divilti &gje. Moeover, even after conversion, Di\rehi did not give \\'3Y to Arabic. It is in music and dance that cultural and ethnic diversity is expressed. There are many forms of folk music and dance. For instance, ThtliiTa is of Arab origin and Batulj)Vl Jthun is of Indian origin. ·n1e rhythms of the !Jodu btru (big drum), inilially limited to Africans, ha\re spilt into the Maldives at large. Traditionally !Jodu btru wa<1 played in the islands where Africans lived. lbday it has become a popular form of music. It is played to the tourists by bodu INru groups who earn a handsome sum for d1eir performances. There seems to have been two mechanisms by which Africans came to the Maldives. Africans were brought as slaves on Arab dhows. In 1834, two British lla\'3llieutenants who visited Male, reponed that "From the information we were able to collect-it appears that Muscat vessels do not often \risit this place: when they do, they generally bring a cargo of slaves. five years ago, one came and sold about twenty-five lads, at an average price of about 80 rupees each" (Forbes & Ali 1980: 19).

MIGRANI'S AND niE MALDIVES

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Sultans returning from the Ht9j brought back slaves who were freed on conversion. ·n1ese freed slaves were absorbed into d1e Maldivian population which was IUstoricaUy accustomed to migrant sewers. Mricans intermarried with the indigenous Maldivians. Most Mricans worked as 1tllltris or coconut plantation-keepers, which suggests that there may have been a shortage of labour supply. According to oral tradition, a Maldi\rian Sultan who went to Mecca for the Ht9j (pilmgrimage to the Holy sites), brought back fi\'e slaves: Sangoaru, Laalu, Marjan, Masud and Muizz. Today Sangoaru's descendants are well integrated in d1e Maldi\rian socio-political structure. They are making a significant contribution to d1e economy and welfare of the Maldives. Sangoaru worked in the Sultanate in Male but he had misbehaved. 'l11erefore, he was banished to d1e island of Feridu where he lived for a while. Then he moved to another island-Felidhoo-in anod1er AtoU. In both islands, he left ofiSpring. His descendants are proud of him and he is a local hero. In the Maldives, Mricans have been caUed Hdshi and &buru. ·n1ey have not been called Ktdftr which is edmonym used in Sri Lanka and India for Mricans. The word Habski, from the Arabic word al-Habosk, at that time, referred to an Abyssinian (or Ed1iopian). It may have been a generic term for aU Mricans who could have been perceived to have come from a single geographical entity. In d1e 14th century, Ibn Batura, d1e Moroccan traveller, visited the Hdskigeftuta (shrine of an Mrican apostle Shaikh Najib). This implies d1a1 Africans were kq• religious figures wid1in Islam at that time. In 1922, four main saints were commemorated annuall'% in the Maldives, during hili ceremonies at Ramzan. Hdsltig4"1111u \\'3S one of these saints, the others being Ali V (the martyr king who was killed by the Portuguese in 1558), Tabrizgefanu and Maulana al faqih Sulaiman of Medina (circa 1450). There is now some awareness of Mrican Saints in the region through the shrines of Baw Gor in western India. An Abyssinian, Bava Habash, came to Gujarat around the 13th century, and developed the agate bead industcy. He becan1e known as Ba\ra Gor and his shrines are frequented by Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians in India. ·n1e music and dance played during their celebrations and spirit possession ceremonies is called goma (from ngoma meaning drum and dance in Swahili). A comparati\'e study of goma and botlu beru needs to be undertaken. Janet ·lopp-Fargion (2007), Curator of the Sound Archives, British Libnuy, London, commented that the bodu 6tru recording which I played to her, was similar to Zanzibari and Omani music in rhythmic

136

SIID·IAN DE SILVAJAYASURIYA

suucture. This is significant, as Zanzibar and Oman were important ports of call for Indian Ocean trade. Further research should reveal the musical links between Zanzibar, Oman and the Maldi\•es. They would, in tum, point us towards slave routes which would have traced commercial routes. By 1840, Zanzibar was the centre of Omani operations and these political reinforcements would have helped to estab6sh the musical connections. According to Naseema Mohammed (2006:40), fioeed African slaves introduced the sound of the African drums to the Maldives. Bodu &ru is believed to have origina1ed from East Amca. The drums are two and a half feet long and made out of breadfruit or coconut wood with a goatskin membrane on each end. Traditional Botlu &ru is played by the descendants of Africans who mosdy live in Feridu, an island in Ari AtoU. It is also played in other islands in the same AtoU and also in Felidhoo island, in Vaa\ru AtoU. TraditionaUy, this was an aU male performance and the troupe included three drummers, a lead singer and a chorus of ten to fifteen men. Authentic &du Btru was accompa· nied by &bUill l.mJo (~rican Song1 and Boblllll.JtfiSUII (~rican Dance'); Africa is caUed Bolmru Kma. Most Maldivians do not understand the meaning of the aud1entic songs. The themes of Boburu /..avo could be love, religion, enjoyment, courage or praise of the Sultan. Bodu &ru provides entertainment for aU Maldivians-females and males, young and old. Understandably, &du &ru has become commercialised today and is a tourist attraction.

Discussion Ethnic and cultural diversity of d1e Maldives is expressed through folk music and dance. It reveals the African connection of the Maldives. Considering that there has been inter-Indian Ocean trade between Africans and Asians for many centuries, it is not surprising that human capital has also moved from Africa to Asia. What is significant is that this movement has been hidden. AssimUation of migrants is a main contributor to obscuring the African presence in Asia. The Maldives, because of its many islands, has preserved micro subcultures which reveal some of this history. Botlu blru has been commercialized and has changed from its original form. The lyrics of the authentic IHJtJu bnu are not in Divehi. The Maldi\rians cannot undersWld the meaning of these songs. ·1be words could provide dues about

MIGRANI'S AND niE MALDIVES

137

the roots of the Africans who settled down in the Malc6ves, although being an oral tradition, the words may have lost their original form. A few words were identified as Swahili, and as it was a lingua .frlliiUJ in East Africa, it may have been a common language among African slaves who had various ethnic origins. "l11e Etymological Vocabulary of Divehi Language (Maniku 2000) does not give any African languages as possible etymon for Divehi words, but an analysis of the lexicon is an area for future research. While language has been the most imponant element in national identity, having a common ideology has reinforced Maldivian identity. "lwo important cultural elements-language and religion-contribute to the homogeneity. Ed1nic heterogeneity is obscured by these soci~ political realities.

Contbuion Movement of Africans eastwards has been concealed. It is du"Ough music and dance that their presence springs to life. Music and dance are the only things that could not be taken away from the involuntary African migrants. Malc6\ljan folk music and dance teD us that there is an African presence.

Admowltdgtmmls I should like to thank Dr Hemal Jayasuriya, Schiller International University, for helpful comments on an earlier draft of d1is paper.

Bdl, H. C. P. 1940 1711MflllliM blmt/s.: MDIIIf"lllh 1111111 ~ ..tw~ f/11/ ~ Cnlombn: Gm.1m1n'lellt of Ceylon. DeBarms,J.

1638 Dtai!Jas dtJ .Asia. Lisboa. Didier, BJ. & Simpson, E. 2005 Islam along the South 1\sian Littoral. ISIM Re\oiew 16, Aurumn. Forbes, A. & Ali, F. 1980 '"The Maldi\oe Islands and their Historical Unks \with the Coast of Easaem Africa'' Kft}tl PtiSltlllll l'trsm12.

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Gippc~J.

2003 :Maloney, C. 1980 :Malon~

A Glimpse into the Bucldhislie Puc of rhe Maldi\ors, 1: An Early Prakrit lnserip110n (Unpublished essay).

Ptop/1 of 1M MsJaoes. Bombay: Orient Longman.

C.

1976 The Maklr.a: New Sll'all'S in an Old Nation. .4Atm ~· 16 (7~ 6~71. :Maniku, H. A. 2000 ACorttiN E!J.,...I ~ry tf DlriMi ~- Colombo: Royal Asiatic: Society. :Mohamed, N. 2006 Euf!P oa ~ .WIIMiNs. NIUional Centre for Linguiscie and Historical Rtsc:arch, Male. Pircs,T. 1944 17w s.r... oMtld/ tf TOIIII Pfns: .4lt «to~~~~t tf 1111 &.rt, firtm 1M IW &vi to }tl/lflR, wriJtm iR ,\-lllls«tJ lllllllttiitJ ill 1512-1515. The Book of Francisco Rodrigues, rutter of a \IO)'&F in che IUd Sea, nautical rules, almanaek and maps, written and drawn in the East before 1515. Translated fmm the Ponuguese :Manuscript in rhe Bibliotheque de Ia Chambre des Deputes, Paris, and edited by Annando Conesio.

Rqrnolds,

c.

1974

Rqrnolds,

c.

Buddhism and the 1\ofaldivian Language. In 1... Co.U.s (eel.) IWtJkisl Slwlits ill Htmwr tf l B. HtmW.

1978 Linguistic Stranch in the :.rfaldi\a. OmltilltltitJJu t.oAtia Stwlits XI: 155-166. Robinsnn, F. (Ed.) 1989 17w Ormbriftst ~lofw/i!l of /IIIIis, IWi.rttJR, ~sll, Sri Lalat, .'A't/111' BltMitlll 111111 IN MtiJJJiws.. Cainbridge: Cambridge Unnoersity Prc!s..

Silva, R. 1983

o.um..,-. of 1111 AlllllliloiJm •'Wosfw.f flllllllll EwtiVfllitltl of 1111 A~Mi~NJ,v.-Js..

Paris: UNESCO. Topp-l'argion, J. 2007 Persnnal Communicalion.

CHAPrERNL~

THE AFRICAN

N~nVE

IN INDIASPORA

SlaW!I")' as an institution was not new and it prevailed in Ancient India. This article however aims to highlight the existence of 'Black slavery' in India. It tells that the negro a natnoe of Africa was uprooted from his homeland and transplanted in India, a sub-continent of Asia. The Portuguese "'O)'agers and Arab merchants were the chief shippers of Africans who they called slaves. The Diaspora of the African native took place and slaves were located in di8Crent parts of India. Goa e'll'l!n had a slave rnarlret in one or its streets caUed 'RUII Dimla'. The Siddis also were of African origin, but aU of them were not slaves; they held various positions as per their masters' liking and needs, and can be found in di&rent places. As a result one notices the presence of the African native aU over India.

lnltodU£1ion India is a large country, and a subcontinent in South Asia. It is a land wid1 an ancient ci\.uization, a country that was invaded in medieval times and a colony of foreign powers in modem times. The country freed itself from foreign domination in d1e mid 20th century and is today one of the largest democracies of d1e world. Ancient Indian slavery existed as an imponant social institution but in a milder form compared to d1e slavery of 'Black Mrica'. In India as elsewhere, the origin of slavery is to be traced to the early laws and tribal wars. The vanquished became d1e slaves of the victors. Also a large family of cultivators was of great value to the landlords. When the family faced difficult times by becoming insolvent debtor~ members of d1e family were sold into slavery and, so they became field slaves.

• c/o The Heras lllttitutc, St X8\oier's College Campus. Mahapalib Marg. Mumbai 400 001, India. E-mail: jcanpinto@rcdiffmailcom. 0 2008 KaninHij.., BriO Nv, Leiclal

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JEANE.TI'E PINTO

Those who were unable to work outdoors due to age or ill-health became household slaves. Slavery is an age-old institution and existed as a constant factor in the social and economic 6fe of the ancient world. Ancient India both the Epic and Vedic periods also bad slaves, so did the Mus6ms and Buddhists of those times. Slaves in India were generally weD cared for like domestic animals and served their masters weD. But the caste hierarchy and the feudal structure of the Middle Ages gave rise to the ug6est forms of human exploitation and bondage. Also anodter evil feature of slavery in India was the use of female slaves as prostitutes and concubines. 'Ibis paper, howe\'er, focuses on the presence of the African native in difl'erent parts of India. The Arab traders brought most Africans from Africa in the early centuries on their \'0)'3ges of 'discovery' to the eastern lands. African slavery in India assumed a difterent picture when compared to slavery in ancient India. The Africans were called Negroes and were thus distinguished from the local or native slaves.

Aftieon Presmu in IRJiill Hindu and Mohammedan law from very early times recognized the institution of slavery in India. A great number of slaves in India consisted of dte natives of the country itsel£ A large number were imported from the Eastern coast of Africa, the Persian Gulf and Madagascar. In certain coastal places, dte number of imponed foreign slaves was greater than that of Indian born slaves. 1 'lrading in slaves from East Africa to Egypt, Arabia and India is said to have been going on from the beginning of the Christian era. During the time of Silbara kings of the Konkan (AD 81 o-1260), there are instances of slaves being sent from Sofala in East Africa to dte Thana ports2 in western India. Before the arrival of Albuquerque and the Lusitanian adventurers, lslamized African communities caUed Habsbi (people of Habash i.e. Abyssinia) existed in India. 1bey were brought by the Arabs from the African Horn or Abyssinia. The Arabs were masters of the Indian Ocean from the 6th century tiD tlte advent of

I

~

Banaji, S/a.y iR BtiJisk /lllliD, p. :JG. Bombay Gazcctcer, Vol. XI, p. 433.

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

141

the Ponuguese in the 16th century. During this period, they were d1e chief promoters of the African slave trade in India. s 111e Arab ships continued to bring African slaves in succeeding periods to Bengal and the Western coast of India. The African slaves sold by the Arabs were usually from Abyssinia as their country was not far from India. 1 These slaves were brought by others too. 'l11e Asiatic Journal of June 1831 records d1at a Mogul merchant supplied to the king of Oudh three Abyssinian women, seven Abyssinian men and two native girls for which he was paid Rs.20,000.l 'l11ere are many other references also of Abyssinian slaves sold to od1er parts of d1e country. 'l11us we see that the sla\'e uade was responsible for the presence of the African nati\'e in various pans of India.

Portuguese India Slave trading went hand in hand wid1 the great Ponuguese discoveries of the fifteenth century. Once d1e Ponuguese realized d1at they could acquire sla\'eS by a peaceful exchange of goods with the African chiefs, a regular trade began. 'l11ey took the slaves to their newly discovered territories. The Ponuguese in India began an active slave trade right from d1e beginning of the l6d1 century. 'l11ey would kidnap men and women &om African Coast lands and sell them bod1 inside and outside the country for a huge profit. This explains the presence of d1e African native in the Ponuguese occupied areas. Early travel records and foreign traveUers' accounts teD of the African slaves accompanying their Ponuguese masters.

MoiiJbar 'l11e history of the Ponuguese in India begins when Vasco Da Gama arrived at Kappat or Capucad a few miles nord1 of Calicut. The Zamorin received the party in a special darbar, exchanged compliments and received presents sent by the king of Ponugal. After a friendly

1

Danaji, ~

~

Ibid., p. 20.

J

flllll

1M Sidllis, p. 20.

Banaji, Slmotv' ;, BriiUA btdbl, p. 73.

142

JEANE.TI'E PINTO

intercourse trade relations were staned. Malabar is that geographical unit that extends from 12. 2° Nonh latitude to Cape Comorin.6 \Yid1 trade, came in more European people, a variety of commodities, rivalries and unfavorable encounters. The Malabar Coast was made up of a number of petty principalities and this led dte more internal rivalries. The Portuguese possessed Cochin for about 70 years but dteir ambition for political power did not materialize. They held a precarious foodtold at Cannanore, Cochin, Craganore, Procaud and Qpilon.7 The Portuguese impact in Malabar is seen in the stately buildings, churches, fortresses and structures. There is scarcely any mention of d1e African native presence-perhaps because dte lower castes in Malabar provided all dte service labour. But dtere are many references to 'galley slaves, indicating that as the Portuguese moved from port and also around Cape Comorin to d1e fishery Coast they had dteir Negro slaves to man the ships. The Negro slaves would also perhaps ha\'e accompanied their officers to do d1e menial tasks or hea\ry jobs, required by the Portuguese. Bocarro wrote in {1653) that the Portuguese city of Nagapatam had 500 homes, 140 of white Portuguese, the rest of mulattos {desetndmt '!! .Ntgm and Portugwst) and nati\•e Christians with dteir own nati\'e Indian slaves.8 As the Portuguese sailed to the difterent pons, a litde interior are the Nonh Kanara pons of Bhatkal and HonO\ran, South Kanara harbours of Barcelor, Bacanor 8t Mangalore. This complete region would ha\'e bad setdements consisting of houses and small trading posts. These small setdements may not have been possible were it not for the Negro slave labour. Surely they would ha\'e had to assist dteir Ponuguese masters in setting up dteir trading establishments and settlements. It is not unlikely dw some of them were either left behind or ran away to freedom &om dteir Portuguese masters making dteir new homes here.

The foundations of dte Portuguese Eastern empire was laid by AftOnso de Albuquerque who wrested the land locked island of Goa from the

Panilclcar, MfllslxtJ- flll4 1M ~Sit, p. I. ' Ibid., p. 135. H Schurhammcr, IWmtis x-~ His Lift, His TlllltJ Jfal. II, p. 549. h

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

143

MusUm Sultan of Bijapur in 1510.9 Ponugal's historical presence in India is also marked by Diu being ceded to Portugal in 1535, Daman was acquired by them in 1559 and Nagar Aveli ceded to Ponugal in 1789. 18 Bassein, north of Bombay was the chief dey of tbe Nonh. 111e Ponuguese thrived on d1eir trade and it was not long before Ponuguese India became increasingly self-supporting from her monopolistic voyages. The Ponuguese territory in India was officially known as d1e EstfliiD Portupts da India or the Esllldo da India viz. the Ponuguese State of India. It really consisted of three small enclosures on the Western coast of India, namely Goa, D81llaD, Nagar Aveli and Diu. Another small enclave 32 miles north of Bombay was Bassein, an important Ponuguese possession for a litde over two hundred years. 1be total area of Ponuguese India was 1460 square miles. Howe\'er, they established d1e Esllldo da lndiJJ at Goa to supervise their discO\'eries, conquests and markets from the Cape of Good Hope in Mrica to Japan in d1e Far East. Careri in his description of Goa refers to d1e presence of Ktgiis. ·n1e synonymous usage of d1e term 'Ctyir for slave indicates the widespread utilization of Mricans as bondsmen in western India. A French observer tells of how "d1e Rua Direita is a perpetual market of all kinds of merchandise.... including slaves" . 11 Antonio Bocarro estimated around I0 slaves per household owned by d1e Ponuguese setders in Goa in 1635. 12 ·n1e Dutcll traveUer Linschoten observed that in the markets ''were many sorts of captives and slaves, bod1 men and women ... ".•s 111e Italian doctor, Gemelli-Careri, who visited Goa in 1695, found d1e ciey of Goa teeming with multJIJo.s (dlstlllllenls '![Negro and Portuguae). He also records that there were "an abundance of Cafres and Blaclcs". 11 Duarte Barbosa visited the dey of Goa in the beginning of the l6d1 century. He remarked d1at d1e city was inhabited by many Moors, respectable and ricl1 merchants. Pyram de Laval in his descriptions of Goa noted about one of the central squares, "in this plaza are sold all sons of merchandise and among other things, quantities of sla\'es." It was also customary for convents and monasteries to have slaves perform

• Boxer,/Wr Cmlrltils ~ AwttttJtt.rt ~ 141~1825, p. 14. Nalional Secretariat for lnformalion (eel.), 1lt illllwuio• t11111 «trlfltllio of Cotr ill I·Kril Puss, p. 119. 11 Silva Correia, Lll JV/It Goo, p. 70. " Brag~a-Pereira (eel.), Artpt#v Po'llllfll'-1~ TJfal. /l IJ Linscho1en, 1lt I~ Hll'l/!llm Ia Liltslt/Jotm, JiLl, pp. 7o-71. 10

Orim.

11

Sen,/llllimt TrtiNIJ 9F1

Ji"JJmi, p. 188.

n:

144

JEANE.TI'E. PINTO

varied jobs. Almost nery household and institution had slaves to do the menial tasks. Negro slaves were freely available and sold in the marltet place like any commodity." The E.siiJJio dJJ ltulill's military establishment also depended on Mrican slaves as soldiers in all its territories. Boxer notes dw the first lnp ~nfantry) was organized in Goa, in 1671, and it was made up of "slaves and coloured soldiers who formed a proportion of rank and file". 16

DtliiUIII 111111 Diu Bod1 these port setdements lie wedged between Bombay and Gujarat. Although small in size thq• were important trading centres for the Portuguese. On a visit to Daman, in the late eighteenth century the Frenchman Thevenot commented that "the Portuguese have slaves there of bod1 sexes ...". 17 Another traveller, Careri, told the story of a son of a neighbouring king who came to visit and had two sla\•es to accompany him. At the place of the visit there were no chains available so that prince6ng "caus'd his two Slaves to squat down and sate upon them".l 8 As late as 1828, we find that Mrican slaves were imported to the port of Daman, as per d1e entry made on 27th September to the 4th of October. A number of records caUed Mfl/Hl dos HIJbiJJJnUs, (Maps or charts of Inhabitants) contain details of population viz. men, women and children in the Daman, Diu and the Nolltl CtniiJUisllls of Goa 19 showing there were many slaves in d1is territory. In Daman, the monks of difterent monasteries, as well as the nobility had many of the Negro slaves in d1eir service. It is presumed that there were no less than 600 Negroes in Daman Pra~ in 1660. The Captain Governor alone had, in addition to his servants who were paid by the Government 30 or 40 Negroes.20 Below is a table (Table 1) of the Port of Diu showing d1e number of slaves in each parish in 1792:

1~ Ill

Pinlo, st..wy iR P'ottllgruslltttlifl, J5J(H842, Ch. 2. Boxer, 1711 Ptwlllgwst Strlbtnt l?.lflliR 1415-1825, p. 301.

n Sen, op. ciL, p. 116. Ibid., p. 189. ag Alfanclcgo de Damio, p. 21. 111 Mooiz, .NotiLUu t DrxfllfftiiiAf fNlm 18

11

Hist«itt til Dtmtso /, p. 156.

145

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

Table I I'REGUEZIAS (IMRISIIU)

FORTALEZA DE DIO 22 de

PriM de

c-.-..

llmefitoiado<. Dinao de lol .... de

De .lie R.R. Niprino

parallaim

2

.lie ll.luriK S.l'b-.. 51. Andre F.xmun...,.

s..m.c-.......

I 2

2

Ma~o

de 1792

Mulholn Diuo de...- F..aa... Soma 12a,_ l'lua baim ...... lima

6t lOS

27 23

114 67

16 17

27 IS

43 29t 12 2311

IS 182

12

25

fi2

206

6 S9

3 4S

66 59 59R

..

Soun:e: llolanp.s ... Rrino. Mo. 173 No. 262, p. 240, tlilll
Of all the Ponuguese settlements viz. Daman, Diu, Bassein, Chaul, Mangalore, Cochin, Cannanore, Cranganore and Q.uilon, the Portuguese selected Bassein as dteir Nordtern capital and pon. It was a busy pon of internalional trade in dte 16th and I 7th centuries.21 '11te indigenous name of Bassein was Vasai; the Ponuguese changed it to Ba9lim. The jurisdiction of Bassein included B~aim, Tana, Salcete, Caranja, Sambayo, Manora, Asserim and Bombaim.22 Duane Barbosa, Pyrard de Laval, Careri, deUa Valle, Linschoten and other travellers have recorded dte presence of innumerable African slaves not only in Goa, Daman 8t Diu but also in Bassein and its associated territories. '11te fidalgos (Ponuguese noblemen) were numerous in the city of Bassein.23 1bey led a life of opulence and pleasure. Linschoten has recorded dtat the Dons of Bassein dressed in silks and along widt dteir ladies were transported in palanquins or litters by African slaves. The African slaves also helped in the construction of the imposing edifices of Bassein, dte palatial residence of the GovernadDr and the Cspililo, as weD as other buildings and residences. t• A number of churches too were built in dtose days. 'lbe ruins of those monumental structures are seen even today among the ruins of the precincts of the Bassein fon. The fon of Bassein, in 1634, was visited by Antonio Bocarro. He has recorded that there were 400 Europeans, 200 Native

~·David, H~of ~

1661-1108, pp. H.

u David, "'Histone Bassc:in", /ttdit4, p. 91. n Da Cunha, Hislm)• flllll A•lilplilit.s of CJwJ ad Btusn11. ~· Ibid., p. 245.

146

JEANE.TI'E PINTO

Christians, every one of whom was supposed to have under him 3 slaves. n This number would amount to a total of 1800 slaves.26 Thus it is very clear from d1e many accounts and records that the multitude of African slaves formed an integral segment of the Portuguese population in Bassein.

Bmgal The history of the Portuguese was not one of expeditions but of d1eir trade and settlements in Bengal. The Portuguese had their earliest settlement in d1e gulf of Bengal at a place called Pipli in Orissa in 1514. Pipli proved to be an important harbour on d1e coast of Orissa and grew into a great centre of Portuguese trade. Here d1eir fleets commanded d1e whole sea board from Cbittagong to Orissa. It was also a great slave marlret where d1e Portuguese brought their slaves for sale. Pipli survived for long as a trading centre of the Portuguese. They also bad a small setdement in Balasor in Orissa, of which no trace remains now.27

Hoogg It is believed that d1e Portuguese were founders of the town of Hoogly as they first got Bandel in 1538 and built a fort there in 1599.211 They developed slowly the setdement in Hoogly which rose to be "d1e richest the most flourishing and the most populous" of all the Ba11dels (small setdements) that the Portuguese possessed. From earliest times Chittagong in East Bengal was the greatest barbour of Bengal. It came into the possession of the Portuguese in 1602.29 Minor setdements were in Dacca, Sripur, Chandecan, Bakla, Catrabo, Loricul and Hijili. Bhulua was an independent principality; it was a colony of d1e Portuguese. 111e Princes guard consisted of Christians in name being Negroes born.90

~ ::t~ 21

Eclwardes (cd.) The Gazcaccr of Bomba)• Cit)' and Island, p. 256. Gazcaccr of the Bombay Prrsidcncy, XID, \W. 2, p. 258. C.mpos, History rf 1M /\,.,_ ;. ~ t:1. Xll.fl'l.

Ibid., p. 45. Ibid., p. 67. so Ibid., p. 3.

::ti

~

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

147

There are various Ponuguese churches in Bengal. As works of architecture they compare unfavourably with the majestic structures existing in Goa. ·nte vast number of Roman Catho6cs who existed in Bengal bears \~bless to the missionaey zeal of the Ponuguese. All over Bengal, in Calcutta, Dacca, Hoogly, Chitcagon& Noakhi and other places dte communities have Portuguese names and also speak a Luso-Indian language widt Feringhi words.

British JIUiill llomiJsy PresiJJmey ·nte British 6ke the Portuguese were enterprising Europeans who came \~dt the intentions to trade with India, but who succeeded in acquiring political control and colonizing the land. In time they controlled dte entire sub-continent of India. 11te British Government for the purpose of administralion had divided India into 3 Presidencies, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. The British observed that slaves formed a marlretable article both in the home arade and in foreign trade. It may be said that the whole of the Western coast of India, owing to its proximity to Mrica, Arabia and dte Red Sea Littoral aftOrded ample facility for the importation of Mrican slaves. Arab vessels brought a large number of these slaves into the native states of Cutclt, Kaahiawar, Porbandar and Sind and to a large extent into Bombay. JP WiUoughby was dte Political Agent at Kaahiawar and in his Memorandum dated 23 December 1835, recorded that Mrican bo)•s attended on Native chiefs who visited Rajkot. 91 A study of dte Custom House Books at the Port of Porbandar revealed long lists of slaves whiclt are unquestionable proof of slave trading taking place. ·nte entry point was at Porbandar dte chief seaport of Kadtiawar, and the slaves were sent to odter parts of dte Ranas of Porbandar territory, and many found their way into Bombay.:12 Banaji in reporting on slave trade in India between 1772 and 1843 states that "the official documents of the Presidency of Bombay show that slaves were imported in Arab vessels into the native states of Cutch, Kathiawar, Porbandar, Sind, even into Bombay and into dte Portuguese

II

IJ

Banaji, ·~· ;, Britislt Ibid., PP. 147-148.

r.-.

p. 3.

148

JEANE.TI'E PINTO

pons of Goa, Daman and Diu, where d1ey were distributed all over lhe Bombay Presidency''. 11James Forbes records that child slaves were cheap at lhe end of lhe rainy season. He purchased a boy and girl about 8 or 9 years of age as a present for a lady at Bombay.:w Mention is made of places like Bhuj, Surat and Dwarlca so we learn of lhe presence of lhe African native in all of Cutch and Kaahiawar. From narratives and records one learns that the British in India carried on an active tra8ic of slaves e.g. from Bantam, Malabar, MohiUa, Masulipatanl. Bombay, Surat etc. In the year 1780, there were 431 slaves in Bombay according to a census carried out; 189 of these were resident in Bombay and 242 in Mahim. 95 1be British, like the Portuguese, considered d1e slave an economic item, a commodity d1at could affOrd ahem an easy and comfortable life.

Csleutta Pruitlmey The slave trade was also extensively practised. In fact, it flourisl1ed in Calcutta, chiefly carried on by Arab dealers. Hickey's Gazette of 1780 contained a number of interesting advertisements lhat constitute an irrefutable proof of the widespread existence of slavery. These slaves were of African origin as the advertisements referred to "Co.Jft«s" or ·~rican ladies".:J6 Some of the advertisements were so flagrandy indecent in parts lhat only a portion of it can be quoted. A correspondent of d1e Bengal Chronicle of 1831 also vouched for the prevalence of slavery in Calcutta indicating that it was too notorious to be denied. s' The t:raf6c was not only by the Catholics but also by a few who even professed the Protestant faim.• Slaves of bolh sexes were purchased.

Matlms Presitlmfy Madras is known for its praedial slavery i.e. native/bonded slaves attached to the soil. Indigenous slavery was of a difl'erent nature and it

~ Edwanles (c:d.), op. cit., p. 257. ,. Kaul (c:d.), Tltllvlltr'llfliill, A• ~wo~og, p. 18. S\ Public Diary 77, pp. 30-31. lll StaR, ('.lli£1111G ill 5f11m7 DtJ:p, p. 3. " The: Bc:npl Chmnick; Feb. 15, 1831. lll StaR, Ibid., p. 8.

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

149

had its own characteristics linked with d1e caste system. Besides it was rampant as well as an accepted form of slavery in the social structure. 111is was perhaps d1e reason which prevented the inflow of the African natives as slaves. However, there would have been a sprinlcling of Negro slaves brought by d1e Ponuguese to the F"IShery coast. It could be a very insignificant number.

Tlu Sitlilis ·n1ere are several legends about d1e origins of the SidJJi setdements and few written records or references. It appears dlal a large number of Siddis came or were brought to India from the difterent pans of Africa as soldiers to serve in the Mustim armies of dle .Nowalls and Sultanates. According to some recent studies pubtished in India and USA there are about 36,000 identifiable Afro-Indians i.e. Indians of A&ican origin in India, setded in dle state of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Kamataka, as also in many other districts. These Afro-Indians are generally known as SiiJi/Sit/Jii/Sidhi or Ho/Jshi/ Ho/Jsi. 111ese ethnonyms panly teD us dlal they were in the employ of Stgyotls, the Muslim rulers of India and partly that they came from Ed1iopia. The diaspora of the Sidllis has been wide as they appear in so many small districts and setdements in various parts of the country.

Tht Siddis tf Kamotoka ·n1e Sidtlis in Karnataka are found in North Kanara, Dharwad and Belgaum districts. 1neir main concentralion is in dle Uttara K.annada district, where they are found in Ankola, .Mundgod, Sirsi, Supa Hatiyal and YeUaur talukas. 1ney are also present in d1e district of Dharwad at Kalghatgi and district of Belgaum in Khanapur. GeographicaUy all these tollllw (smaU potitical units of administration) are on the Western Ghats. Most of dle SUit/is in Karnataka five in the forests and clearings in setdements. As a rule, dle SidJJis are weD built and robust in appearance. "fl1ey belong to the Negroid stock of East Africa.39 "11leir skin colour varies from various shades of black to wheat brown. Records of d1e hair type

1•

Boxer, S.6.VIII• II Sa fBIIl 11M slr9}w BmV/fllli _...,., 1602-1686, Jill. 23o-2.'11.

150

JEANE.TI'E. PINI'O

are wooDy, fizzy, pepper com, curly and wavy. Strangely these Sit/dis as a people have not retained any trace of their original culture and so language too has sulered. ·The original mother tongue Swahili is not found among any Siddi group in India-this was spoken in the eastern coast of Mrica.40 Now the Sidtlis speak the local dialects. Most of the Muslim SiiJJis have picked up Urdu all over the Western Coast. ·n1e mother tongue of d1e Siddis of Karnataka excluding d1e Muslim Sit/dis is Kookani, though the Muslim Sidtlis are also conversant with Konkani. It was a practice of the Portuguese to baptize the slaves brought by them from Mrica to their colonies in the east. 41 The language of the people of Goa is Konkani. The Mrican slaves in Goa must have picked up the Konkani language fiom d1eir local masters. As domestic servants the Negro slaves bad to live in the houses of their masters and thus had to speak Konkani over a period of generations. Mter d1ey were emancipated many of them fled to d1e backwoods of d1e forests of Goa which border Karnataka, so they spoke the language they learnt. •~ lne Muslim Sit/dis must ha\re picked up Urdu as they perhaps originally practiced lslanl. Besides Konkani, d1e Sidtlis were very familiar with Kannada the regional language. The ancestl')' of the Siddis may be traced to the fugitives or the liberated slaves of Goa, who took refuge in d1e jungles, backwoods and forests, out of fear or to keep out of public attention. They are a friendly and hardworking people, most sought after for strenuous work. The)• know nothing about d1eir roots or genealogy. ·1nere are Christians, Hindu and Muslim Siddis, bearing Portuguese names. 19 lne Siddis of Karnataka live in about 80 pocket setdements in nord1ern Karnataka as d1is study indicates44 and records "they are just around 6000". A repon making out a case that the Siddis in Karnataka be included in the list of scheduled Tribes made by Cyprian Henry Lobo SJ presents other aspects of these Sidtlis viz. d1eir occupation political organizalion, family and kinship, religion, rituals, ceremonies, festivals and recreation. It may require a deeper study through oral history and interaction with these people to learn more about them.

IU

II

Ibid., p. I0. Jbid., pp. 23o-23J.

IZ

PiniO, op. ciL, pp. J30-J3J.

19

Ibid., p. 143.

.. Lobo, SitiJU in .A4rllllltl.t&

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

151

Siddis t( Jt»tiira The SidJJis of Janjira originally came from Abyssinia. They were people of nonh-east Afiica known as Hobshis or more often as Sidtlis which was originally a term of respect, a corrupt form of &g,wd. Though most of the Hobshis came as sla\oes, their faid1fulness, courage and energy often raised them to a position of high trust in dle Bahamani court. ·n1ey intermingled wid1 the natives in India, roamed and soon they formed themselves into an aristocratic republic. Many of them were most skillful and daring sailors and soldiers in Western India. Towards the end of d1e 15th century Siddi Yakut is mentioned as admiral of Bahadur Gilani, the son of the Bahamani governor of Goa. According to the history of Ahmadnagar Malik Ambar ( 1490-1508) the founder of the Ahmadnagar dynasty established Abyssinians as d1e captains of d1e island fort of Janjira. ·n1ere was much power struggle in the years to foUow. However, it is recorded d1at in 1600 Ahmadnagar was taken by the Moghals but in 1618 an Abyssinian by the name of Siddi Surul Khan was appointed governor. The Sidllis of Janjira however remained in power to contend wid1 struggling for power in sea fights wid1 the Maraahas and d1e Moghals. They even attacked Bombay several times crossing in boats for supplies to the Kolaba fort. They were a constant source of trouble along d1e Kolaba coast especially for the English. "fl1eir attack on Bombay in 1689 made them masters of nearly the whole island but according to a charter certain conditions were fulfilled by the English and the SidJJis were ordered to lea\re Bombay-in 1690.u

Siddis in 01/ur Parts t( JndiJJ Besides Karnataka, d1e Sidtlis are also found in the Saurashtra region of Gujaraa and in Hyderabad. In 1881, out of a total population of 76,300 in d1ejanjira state, 13912 \\rere Muslims and 258 were SidJJis. 46 They seemed to be a watered down generation of Mrican descent. As recorded and described in the Bombay Gazetteer their complexion was wheat coloured with straight noses and thin lips. The beard is scanty. They are generally large boned and more robust than the Konkani Musalmans. Most of the Siddis of Janjira were relations of the JftiWtlb

n Gur.ueer of India, pp. 79-94. • Ibid., p. 3.

152

JEANE.TI'E. PINI'O

or Head of the State of Janjira and inherited state grants and allowances. Except for a few who were poor all of them were land owners or state se~rants. These Sidtlis were perhaps originally brought 10 Janjira as slaves in the 15th century by the Arab traders17 or themselves were traders who landed injargira to better their prospects by the end of the 15th century. They sprang forth as a polibc:al power on the west coast of India, under the KIQllfiSiuJh dynasty of Admadnagar. Despite various attempts made by rulers, especially the Marathas, the Sit/dis dung to the seacoast with tenacity until Sardar Vallabhai Patel engulfed them into oblivion. In the Rajkot division of Gujarat, Siddis are called and referred to by other names as Sidtli Badshal1, to indicate d1eir carefree disposition. In some areas they seem to be called by the name of Bilal which is the name of a Negro disciple of d1e prophet Mohammad, Hazrat Bilai. 18

Condusitm The Mrican slave trade began like a small, dark cloud on the horizon, but soon the large continent became an inexhaustible reservoir of slaves. Whole tribes of Negroes were stolen or shipped to various lands to form the labour force there. There is a substantial body of literature found on slavery in the West, but relatively litde on slavery in the Orient. 111is paper throws light on how African slavery came to India, the land of spices in the Orient, and also helps one understand the Mrican diaspora in India. Again the slave trade in d1e Adanlic has received more emphasis d1an slavery in the Indian Ocean. Bonded labour and domestic slavery existed in India from very early limes, but this paper points out d1at the Mrican slave in Indian society was different. For example in Portuguese India, on the one hand the Negro slave had no choice of a master, yet on d1e other hand he enjoyed an unusual position as he was highly valued as an item of trade. Also there was a lime when d1e Negro slave was looked upon as a prestige servant, or even suited for amorous pursuits in the case of females. The Portuguese in India would proudly flaunt the number of slaves they had in their household. Among the Sitklis of Janjira, the Mrican

u Bomba)• Gazetteer, op. ci1., pp. 432-433. Knlaba Gazeuce~; p. 128.

111

'111E APIUCAN NATIVE IN INDIASPORA

153

native held varying positions of power, in a sense, as captains of the island fort of Janjira. In fact, the African slave was in the position of sailor, soldier, sel'\oant et al. It is of particular interest that the Ponuguese took the African slave wherever they went. Their territory in India or rightly known as tl1e •EsloiJD da /tulia' though at its zenitl1 stretched from South East Africa to South East Asia really consisted of three small enclosures on the west coast of India. ·n1e British who also came to India as traders imported African slaves and thus we see the African native dispersed in the tl1ree presidencies that they controlled. The SidJJis were people of African origin who reached tl1e shores of India, being either brought b)• tl1e Arab traders or other seafarers. In the case of the Siddis of Karnataka, they were perhaps tl1e lost generations of liberated slaves of the Ponuguese. They had sought refuge in the backwoods of Karnataka on tl1e outskirts of Goa. ·n1e Sidtlis also li\'ed in pocket settlements in the Indian states of Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. So we notice a wider diaspora of tl1e African native throughout India. As the above study indicates we could conclude that the African native reached di&erent parts of India in difterent \\oays resulting in an lndiaspora.

~llfadtf/1

II Da!4o No. 6 His&orical Archiv.:s ol Goa: Goa.

18.18 Bam~ji,

D. R..

1932 1933

Boxer, c. R.. 1960

~ tlllll 11M Siidit Bon1bay: Gm.wnment Central Pres&. Slm.wy in Brilisk 1Rtli4. Bon1bay: B. G. Tara~wala Sons & Compan)t ~ G&rlllm 1883. Bombay: Campbelljan'ltS.

mr Cnwrils tf l'tllt1ttJt- Eltptm.fitm

1415-1825. Johannesburg: Wilwa-

tenrand Uni\oenity Press. 1952 S.6.VIIlor II S. tlllll 11M Jlnlgfjlfor Br&d/ tJIId ~l..,.t., 1602-1686. London: Achlone. 1969 'TM~t5Wontt&pitr 1415-1825. London: Hulehinson &Company Led. Bra~-Pereira (c:d.) 1938 Arpil.oo OritRIIII. Bastora: T"IJMIII'aphia R.angelltxlia Poi'UJFsa. Campos,J.J. A. 1979 Hiftor.J 'If 1M~ iR Jlnlgtd Patna:Janaki Pralwhan DA.

Po.,_

Cunha,J. G. 1876 HifkiiJ' fllfll .411li1JIIilit.f of Clul•l ad Btustia. Bombay: Education Society

Pres&.

154

JEANE.TI'E. PINI'O

David, M. n 1973 HisliiiJ• of~ 1661-1708. Bombay: Uni~nit)' of Bombay. 20().1. "Histone DasSCin",l-•24(2). Edwardes (eel.) 1977 TM Ga¢1Nr 'If llomJJtg Cig• tmdlslllwl. Pune: The Gm.'t!mment PhiiOZinco

...

~

GauiJNr of ln/ia, Maharashtra Scatc, KGlaba district. GauiJNr of 1M Bomlltg• Ptr.riiiNJ XIII {2).

Kaul, H. K. (eel.)

TTIII,Y./kn IRIIiJJ, Air Anlllo"&J: New Delhi: Oxford Uni\oenity ~ss. Kolaha Gazeneer. Maharashcra: Bombay Direetorale or Printing and Stationary. Unschoten, Van 1885 TM ~Ill" 'If ]o/tlt H19P. lfm l.i!udl4llrl London: Halcluyt Sodc:~

1979

Lobo. C. H. SJ

19M SiitJis ilt .A:lrmtzltlktl. Banplore: Jesuits of Banplore. Moniz, A. F. Jn 1923 lt'otidaf t DotumntJtJs JNlm 11 HistDtia dt Dt1m4o I, Bascora. Jt'olitiul StmliititJJ.for l'!fomllllitJ• (ttl.) "The: invasion and oc:cupalion of Goa in world ~-··. Panikbr, K. M. 1929 MtdtliNu tmd tltl ~- Bombay: D. B. Tarapore\'llla Soru.. Pinco,J. 1992 Sle"J ;, Po""l'l'11 lruli4 (/.5/D-1842). Bombay: Himala)'B Publishi1J8

House:. Public Diary 77 of 178. Maharashtra archi\oa: Bomba~ Schurhammc:r, G. 1977 Fttmd.f X~ Hif l.j1, His r,_. Rome: The.Jesuit Hiscoricallnscilute. Sc:n, S. lwlitm Trtwls of 17ltr,'IIIDifllli Otmi. Nc\\' Delhi: The: Naaional Archi\oes of 1949 India. Silva Correia, G., A. C. DA 1931 !Jl JVo, Gill. Baston Rangel: Goa. Stark, H. 1916

CHAPTER. TEN

MIGRANTS AND MERCENARIES: SRI LANKNS HIDDEN AFRICANS SimiAN DE SJLVAjAYSURJYA*

This case history explon:s the mistm tl'llrr for African migration across the Indian Ocean highlighting the military contributions of Africans in Sri Lanka, who served both the European colonial powers and the Sri Lankan Icings. Historically, the spatial distribution of Afio..Sri Lankans has not been concentrated in a single Province. Being part of the British army, they wen: mCM:d to guard for~J'eges. Their concentration in the Nonh-Wesaen1 Pa-olrince today stems from daeir participation in British military activities.

lntroduelion ·n1ere is no adequate history of the Mrican presence in Sri Lanka. Whilst the picture of the past is fragmented, nonetheless, there are a number of questions that can be raised. This paper combines historical accounts and interviews together with population census statistics in order to reveal the African presence in Sri Lanka. It draws attention to the role played by African mercenary soldiers during the colonial era, explaining the concentration of Mro-Sri Lankans in the NonhWestern PfO\Ijnce today. Although we may never be able to construct a complete picture of Mrican migration to Sri Lanka, we are nevenheless aware that it is longstanding and has deep roots. Abyssinians were trading in Mannar, on the nonh-west coast of Sri Lanka, in the 5th century, \\'hen Sri Lanka was an important emporium in the Indian Ocean. In the 14dl century,

• Department ol Ponugucse &: Brazilian Studies, King's College London, Unh."enil)" of London, London WC2R. 2I.S, England. Email:[email protected] 0 2008 KaninHij.., BriO Nv, Leiclal

156

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

the Moroccan traveUer, Ibn Batuta, noted that 500 Abyssinians served in the garrison of the ruler of Colombo, Jalasti (Gibb 1929). In Portugal, Africans were caUed ntgros and pwtos (blacks). When the Portuguese came across non-Muslim East Africans during their expansion in the Indian Ocean, they borrowed the Arabic term cl!ftr to refer to d1em. Non-Mustims were called IJI!fr by the Arabs, regardless of race or ethnicity. It simply means 'non-believer'. This term did not have any negative connotations attached to it. The Dutch and d1e British borrowed the Ponuguese word, adapting it to their phonological systems and recording it with their own onhographies-Kqtin and Kqfftrs respectively. This term was, in tum, borrowed by d1e two indigenous languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhala and Tamil as np;ri and K"apili. The Census of Ceylon 1911 (Denham 1912: 243) states d1at the Sinhalese and Tamils use the terms np;ri and KOpili for all "Negroes" or East Africans. lbday they have become ethnonyms for all people of African descent in the Island. It also states d1at Kil.Jirs were recruited from the neighbourhood of Mozambique in the East Coast of Africa and \\'ere employed by the three colonisers of Sri Lanka. The terms and ethnonyms used for Africans in Sri Lanka and in other parts of Asia, varied across time and space (de Sil\rajayasuriya 2006).

.Aftieons atul Eumptans Eastwards African migration is an old phenomenon but it has received titde scholarly attention. Portuguese foray into the waters of the Indian Ocean, charting a maritime trade route to India, led to the establishment of trading posts and fonresses. Their base in India enabled them to break into trading opportunities in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese transported Africans from Mozambique on the Carrtira da lndiJJ (d1e ships that sailed between Usbon and India) to Goa, and even funher afield to Sri Lanka, Macau, Hirado and even Mexico. This emphasizes the role of Mozambique as a central location for collecting slaves from diflerent parts of the southern and eastern coast of Africa. The voyage to India around the Cape of Good Hope had resulted in many casualties, losing the Portuguese valuable manpower, even before they reached Africa•s east coast. In the case of Sri Lanka, we know d1ere was no shonage of local manpower on the Island itself. 111is implies that Africans occupied a special niche in the labour market. Portuguese contact with Sri Lanka began when a commercial expedition from Goa to the neighbour-

157

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

ing Maldive Islands was blown oft" course and anchored at Galle, in the Southern Province of the Island, in 1505. The Ponuguese era (1505-1658) was characterised by fighting, and Mrican soldiers were a valuable addition to the Ponuguese militia. l'be eye-\~mess account or Captain Joio Ribeiro, in 1586, states that the army or the king of d1e kingdom of Sitawaka, Rajasinghe I (1581-93), who fought to get rid of the Ponuguese, included many Kidfirs, most of whom had defected from the Ponuguese anny across the border &om the kingdom of Kotte (Pieris 1909). The Ponuguese fought off defeat in Sri Lanka, in 1630, '~th the help Mrican soldiers shipped over &om Goa. By 1634, there were 284 Kf!lirs in the Ponuguese army. They imponed large numbers of Mrican slaves and distributed them in the areas under Ponuguese control (W~esekera 1974: 18). Sinhala literary works of the Ponuguese era, nan1ely the Holonll (War) poems-Ptlrangi Halllnll (War of the Ponuguese) and Rqjasiha Halllnll (War of Rajasinghe) refer to rap;,; (Mricans) in the Ponuguese army. The annual accounts of Kotte during the period 1617 to 1638, confirm that the Ponuguese employed K'!ffir soldiers (de Silva 1972). ·n1e Ponuguese considered that men of mixed descent (called mtslips or IDpoQS), Indians or East Mrican Xidftts from d1e tropics, as satisfactol')' substitutes for Sinhalese soldiers who were called losearins (from the Persian word lsshlrmi as lsshkar meaning 'an army' in Persian). Although at least 5,000 lasearins served the Ponuguese during d1eir inroads into the Kandyan kingdom, the loyalty of the Sinhalese lascarins was always a problem for the Ponuguese (Abeya:singhe 1986: 22). roreign soldiers, on the od1er hand, could be trusted. Recruits from all d1ree groups, numbering about 300 in each, supplemented the Ponuguese troops. During the Ponuguese attack on the Kandyan kingdom, on 27th March 1638, 300 Ka..lftn served in the army. In 1640, when the Ponuguese fought off the Dutch, I00 K'!ffir archers fought alongside them. While some Mricans opted to work for the Dutch, others went to the central Kandyan kingdom which was under d1e control d1e Sinhalese King, Rajasinghe II (1635-87). Three events coincide at this point. Firstly, the Ponuguese were expeUed from the Island 0\oer two decades, as the Sinhalese King in\rited the Dutch in, to get rid of d1e Ponuguese. Secondly, the Dutch control never extended beyond d1e coastal areas. Finally, throughout these events, Sri Lankan control or the Kandyan kingdom remained intact. The Dutcll Governor Van Goensjunior (1675-80) remarlced that 4,000 Kf!ffin were working for the Dutch in Sri Lanka. During the early l8d1 century, the Dutch began to purchase slaves from Madagascar

or

or

158

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

(Pieters 1911: 21 ). Slaves were required to work in the maritime fortresses thai d1e Dutch took 0\oer from the Portuguese. An important feature of Dutch Indian Ocean slavery was to integrate the Indian Ocean Basin drawing slaves from Mrica (East Mrica, Madagascar, Mascarene Islands), South &ia (Malabar, Coromandel and the Bengal/ Arakan Coasts) and Soud1east &ia (Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea and d1e Phitippines). Anod1er imponant source of manpower during d1e Dutch era was Malay and Indonesian forced migrants. In this multiethnic labour pool of forced migrants, Mricans had specialised functions. Mrican men were put to hard labour and physically demanding jobs, while Mrican women worked as nannies, housemaids and seamstresses. A Dukh Burp, reminiscing on d1e Dutch era in Sri Lanka, when delivering a public lecture in the early pan of d1e 20th century, remarks that "a swanhing, wooDy-haired, and thick-lipped race of men and women were engaged in several household duties" (Anthonisz 1935: 64). According to this account, some of them wore pantaloons and jackets while others wore \\oaist-cloths. ·n1e women wore skins and shon coloured tunics. These 'sla\oes' were not, according to his account, aU of 'pure African' descent. Some would have been the descendants of II# ouonarriages which would have diluted their phenotype. In d1e late eighteenth century, the Dutch who li\oed in Colombo attended mass a1 Wolvendaal Church on Sundays. 1be Dutch uppercrust were taken to and from the church in l¥ikkll (three-wheeled) carriages or on palanquins pushed or drawn by Kqffir men or women (Roberts et al. 1989). The employees of the Jirttnigde Oostindisdtl Compagnie (VOC) considered Mricans more suited for hard physical labour than their other slaves, labouring in the fields, growing rice, tUidleti (fine grain), cotton, tobacco, potatoes and other crops. In contrast to the Portuguese, the Dutch segregated d1e KJdjin in an area which they caUed Ka.Jfos' Jildt (F'reld) in Colombo. In the British era ( 1796-1948) the area became known as Slave Island and even today it is associated with slaves. Antonio Benolacci ( 1817), who worked in Sri Lanka for Frederick North, the first British Governor in Ceylon, remarked that the descendants of the 9,000 Kidfirs who were recruited by d1e Dutch, were not distinguishable from the lstand•s od1er inhabitants. Outmarriage must have diluted the Mrican phenotype. The British gained control of the Dutch possessions in the coastal areas in 1796. British Governors in Sri Lanka continued to participate

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

159

in the Indian Ocean slave 1rade despite legislation oudawing the Atlantic slave 1rade and 1he heightened awareness in Britain surrounding the campaign for Abolition. According to PoweU (1973), the British bought the firsl batch of Mricans-176 men-from Goa and 1ransported them to neighbouring Sri Lanka. These slaves had been captured b)• the British while being 1ransported from Mozambique to the French Indian Ocean islands. These African slaves had cosl 37 pounds sterling each. Another batch of Africans (young men and women aged between 15 and 25) were boughl direct from Mozambique. Allhough the British look over the maritime provinces previously held b)• lhe Dutch, 1hey were not con1en1 until they gained the Kandyan kingdom also. "They had already made an attempt at gaining lhe central areas of the counlry-the Kandyan kingdom, which had remained independenl and under Sri Lankan rule throughout bo1h the Portuguese and Du1ch eras. Able soldiers were in demand and Africans fitted into this slot. Governor, Sir Thomas Maidand ( 1805-1811) had little confidence in the other Asian regimenu who were in Sri Lanka-the Malays and the StpuJos (Indian soldiers 1rained by the British). He therefore raised another battalion of KiJ.ffirs. In 1805, the new Ca.JIR Corps was renamed the "lbird Ceylon Regiment by the British. There were altogelher 874 Africans in 1he Third and fOurth Ceylon Regimenls in the earl)• 19th century. Cordiner (1807: 65) mentioned a regiment of 700 Kqffrs in Colombo. He remarked that many of them were slaves a1 the Portuguese setdemem of Goa on the Coast of Malabar, where they were purchased by the British Government. The freed slaves had rejoiced a1 the change in their Slatus and had promised to become brave and hardy soldiers. 1bey were nominally Roman Caaholics, and had not known any other religions. The military capabilities of Sri Lanka•s Africans is epitomised in the case of Joseph Fernando, who repulsed one of two unsuccessful invasions of the Island by the British. Fernando who had been brought 10 Sri Lanka &om Mauritius by a French seaman/1rader was in1erviewed on 81h April 1848 when he was in his 80s. At this time, Fernando was a pensioner. "The interview moves between Indo-Portuguese of Ceylon {Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole) and Sinhala, wi1h Fernando slipping back into Sinhala when confronting the ruthless massacre of Major Davie, leader of 1he British 1roops. This event took place in 1803, and the Sri Lankans were able to re1ain conlrol of the Kandyan kingdom which remained independent throughout bolh Portuguese and Du1ch rule. In

160

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

a possible anemplto legitimise this event,Joseph Fernando imp6es that it was carried oul under orders of 1he Kandyan king.• AI this war, 80 Jr'!/ftn serving the Sri Lankan Icing, defended 1he Kandyan kingdom and arresled ils 1akeover until 1815 (Powell 1973). Spencer Hardy (1864) mentioned 6,000 Jrqffr soldiers. Given d1e number of African soldiers who served in Sri Lanka, it is not surprising 1ha1 they should have inll'oduced an African weapon-Ha.s:og"9' (de Silva 1972: 188). Oral histories combine elements of myth and 1ru1h. Given 1hat recorded histories of African migration to Sri Lanka are scarce and the imponance of oral traditions in African cultures, it is necessary to combine d1e two sources. Today's Afro-Sri Lankans confirm their association with 1he colonial regime. A few speak of the colonial era with nostalgia. There are several versions of oral hislories abou1 their arrival in Sri Lanka and a few are given in whal follows. According to B. M. Raphael who is now dead, his ancestors were brought to Sri Lanka during 1he Boer War, from Madagascar. He had served as a soldier during World War U in Kandy (Cen1ral Province) and had come across another 'black' communiiy who had accused him of pretending to be of their Slock. Raphael was much ligh1er in skin colour. According to Daniel Bruno, another Afro-Sri Lankan who was knowledgeable about their family history, his ancestors had been part of a regimen1 in Madagascar during d1e Boer War (Heniarachchi 1969). "I"he Boer War features in their oral his1ory. ·nle)' be6eve 1ha1 their ancestors had come to Sri Lanka as a Portuguese-speaking baualion of Eas1 African soldiers who served in Q!leen Victoria's regimenl and thereafter sailed to Sri Lanka following their victory in 1he Boer War. My enquiries at the National Army Museum, l.nndon, revealed d1a1 Q.ueen VICtoria's Riftes did not serve in South Africa during the Boer War. The only olher British Unit wi1h Victoria in the tide was "I"he Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria). There were two Indian Units wi1h Vic1oria in d1eir tide and 1hey were the Guides Cavalry, Q.ueen Victoria's Own Frontier Force, the Poona Horse and Q.ueen Vic1oria's Own Cavalry but none of them served in South Africa. In addition, several Units from the Stale of VICtoria in Austra6a had permutations of VICtoria in d1eir tide-the Royal VICtorian Regiment, the VICtorian Mounted Rifles and Victorian Scottish Regiment and only some of

I

Greeving's Diary. 00 54/12 Ill. II m :May 1894. .)11171dl of 1M~ AsitJJi£ ~

tr.qltmJ x.n'l, p. 166.

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

161

the latcer served during the South African War. The National Arnl)• Museum could find no evidence of negroid South Africans serving in these wars, but remarked that 1hey may have been auxiliaries. An eye \~bless account by a British education consultant, Elsie Cook, in the early 20th cen~ however; implies thai the KJdftrs in the Puttalama dislrict were from South Africa (Cook 1953). Martin Marcus, a vice-president on che village council, had held several jobs in the government service. He worked in the Kaechtrf1a (district secretariat) from 1929-1937, where he had performed several jobs. lnitiaUy he was a binder in the record room. Then he worked in the Land Depanmen1, for five )'ears. After that, he worked in the F"JScal section and delivered summons, and during World War II, he worked in che concrol division. He resigned, in 1944, from government service and was given an acre of land in Puttalama. He believes that the British brought his ancestors to Sri Lanka in 1815, when they were a1 war \~th che Kandyan kingdom. He believes that more soldiers were brought from Africa in 1817. Once the entire Island was under Britisl1 control, he believes thai some Africans had returned to Africa. Those who wanced 10 stay in Sri Lanka had been given land to setde down and according 10 Marcus, had subsequendy imported wharever they wanted, including their women. "I"hey had setded down in the viUages of Sirambiyadiya, Sena Kudirippuwa and Ambalama, which are aU in the Puccalama distric1. He had been in che viUage council from 1946 to 1957 and was proud of his achievements during his term of office. He had initiated the building of bridges, culverts, roads and wells in his village (Gamage & Fernando 1980). Marcus's \~fe, P. M. Ana Miseliya, worked in lhe Puttalama Hospical as a nurse. During a Sri Lankan television broadcast by Rupavahini Corporation, in d1e 1970s, she discussed her ancestry. She told the nation that her ancescors had been brought to Sri Lanka 10 help d1e Europeans in a war. She recaUs d1at lhe Africans had won the war for the Europeans in Trincomalee on 241h December (no )'ear was given). After lhe War ended, lhey had travelled along lhe Anuradhapura Road to Puttalama from where they were to set sail. At Puttalama, d1e Africans had decided to Slay on in Sri Lanka and they had been given jobs and land. According to M.J. Elias, Miseliya•s son, who scudied at St Anthony's College in Puttalama, and then worked in a gas station until he was appointed as the Gam Vidtmo (Village Headman), in 1963, lheir ancestors were brought to Sri Lanka by d1e Portuguese. He does not d1ink

162

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

that his ancestors were brought from Goa. As far as he knows the Portuguese brought them direct to Sri Lanka. I intenriewed, Mr Charles Emanuel Henry Ameresekere, who was a former Permanent Secrewy to the Minisb)' of l.ncal Government. He was a Civil Senrice cadet aatached to the Kilt:ht:""9VJ (district secretarial) in Puttalama during the late 1940s. He recalls d1e two Jrqffir peons (office helpers) in the Puttalama KilcAthnj)VJ-Anthony and Charles (Ameresekere 2006: personal communication). Charles was Mr Ameresekere's personal peon and And1ony was the Chief Peon of the Kilt:ht:hn!>VJ. Africans performed a varlet)• of tasks in Sri Lanka. "l11ey were soldiers, musicians, constructions workers in fonresses, roads and railway, and waaer carriers, for example. Today several Afro-Sri Lankans work as small cultivators, government office workers, hospital nurses and attendants. A few work in the Middle East but return to Sri Lanka after d1eir fixed-term contracts are over. l"his is not a pattern d1at is unique to them; it is the same for all ethnic groups who are able to market their skills internationally and enhance their economic status on return to Sri Lanka.

Spatial Distribulion rf Ajiicans in Sri LAnlaJ 'I"he concentration of lrldJits in the Puttalama District, should not blind us to their presence elsewhere. An examination of the population census statistics, however, indicates d1at Kidfos 6ved in several provinces. While tbere are a large number of Jr#s in d1e Puttalama district, employment and marriage haw dispersed some to other towns such as Kalpitiya, Mannar, Anuradhapura and Colombo. They are also aware that they have relatives in Trincomalee and Batticaloa which are both in the Eastern Province. There are no adequate population records for the Portuguese and Dutch eras, and d1e early British administration. From 1871, the records demonstrate that che Jrqffirs (as they were called in the census) lived in various parts of Sri Lanka. l1le first census of Sri Lanka, based on modem ideas was taken in 1871. Previously, in 1814, Sir Roben Brownrigg, the British Governor, a11empted to prepare a population census. 'I"hen in 1824, Sir Edward Barnes initialed a population record which was pub6shed in 1827. 1nere are no laws prohibiting inter-echoic marriages in Sri Lanka. Exogamy has made che descendants of Afro-Sri Lankans less con-

163

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

Table 1 Distribution of Ks.Jin in the Puttalama District from 1871 to 1921 (excluding military It shipping perso1mel).

Date of Census

1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921

Number of K#J in Sri Lanka

Number of Ks.Jin in Puttalama District

Percentage of Ktif/its in Puualama

245

70 101 115

24%

93 105 135

41°/o

408 405 318

253 255

2SO/o 2SO/o 2SO/o

50%

spicuous. Children assume the father's echnicity for official purposes in Sri Lanka, regardless of their physiognomy. For official purposes their ethnicity is not significant as their numbers have dwindled due to out-marriage. The presence of a community of Jrf!/fin in the Puttalama District today, might give d1e impression d1at Kt!Jftn have lived in this area only. An examination of the population census statistics, however, indicates that Kt!Jftn did live in several provinces. I have summarised above, d1e number of IVdfos in the Puttalam district and the percentage of Kt!Jftn living d1ere over the period that the census data are a\oailable. Limitations on the figures are as follows. Firstly, they excluded milital')' and shipping personnel. Secondly, there may have been irregularities in the collection of figures during the period. Noned1eless, the figures confirm d1at by 1871, d1e largest number of KJdlin were in Puttalama. "l11e population statistics of Sri Lanka &om 1871 to 1921 are interesting because some gender figures are also available. However, the figures do not include people in the military and shipping. 111erefore, the figures do not reveal the real total of Kt!Jftn in Sri Lanka at that time.

1871 Cmsus Number rf Kaffirs in Sri lAnlrJJ (aduding military and shipfnng} In d1e 1871 Population Census repon, on 1able IX-"Nationality of the Inhabitants of Ceylon (exclusive of military and shipping)" recorded 245 Kt!jftn--132 males and 113 females-in total (Williams 1873: 100). On 1able XI-"Proportion per cent of the Principal Races to the Total

IM

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

Population", under the column titled 'race', a misceUany of nationalities and ethnonyms such as Jrtdfir are recorded. For adminis1radve convenience, 1he British divided Sri Lanka into provinces. Each province was funher sub-divided inlo districu. There were Ktdfos in several provinces as shown below.

Westen1 North-Western Central

Colombo Kegalle Sabaragamuwa Kunmegala Puttalama Kand)•

40 I 0 20 70

~fatale

0 17 6 6 7 0 0 0 0 5 0 30

43

Badulla Southern

Nuwera Eliya Hambantota Galle

Northern

JaODa

Eastern

Vanni Nuwarakalawiya Batticaloa Trincomalee

~fatara Ma~mar

1881 Census Numbtr of Kaffirs in Sri Lanka (txt:ltuling mililtlly and shipping) The 1881 census repons 408 Kidftrs; 1here were an equal number of males and females (204 males and 204 females) (Lee 1882). Pnviace

DUtrict

Namber ot K4/frn

Westen1

Colombo Municipality Colombo (excluding Municipality) Negombo Ratnapura Kalutara Kurunepla

73 (35 males 38 females) 16 (II males 5 females)

North-Western

18 (II males 7 females) I (I male 0 females) 10 (9 males I female)

II (7 males 4 females)

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

165

Table (ami.)

Central North-Central Northen1 Basten• Southern

Puualama Kandy Badulla Nuwera Eliya Nuwarakelawiya including Tamakkaduwa Ja8ila Batticaloa Trinoomalee Galle

101 (42 males 59 females) 55 (27 males 28 females) 19 (8 males II females} 46 (21 males 25 females) 12 (7 males 5 females)

4 (3 males I females) I (I male 0 female) 31 ( 14 males 17 females) I0 (7 males 3 females)

1891 Cmsus Num!Jtr rf Ka8irs in Sri llmlrJJ (txdutling military 111111 sllipping) AI the 1891 census, 405 Kqfn (214 males and 191 females) were recorded (Lee 1892: 42-43). Table V which is a "Statement of the Relative

Proportion of the Principal Nationalities of the Population (exclusive of the Military and the Shipping)" gives a breakdown by district. Namberof Klfllin Western

Sabaragamuwa North-Western Central

Uva Nonh-Central Northen1

Colombo Municipality Colombo exclusive of Municipalit)• Negombo Kalutara Ratnapura Kegalla Kurunegala Puualama Chilaw Kandy A·latale Nuwera Eliya Badulla Nuwarakelawiya

JaSila

Aolannar Mulativu

71 (37 males 34 females) 4 (3 males I female)

6 (5 males I female) 3 (2 males I female) I (I male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 20 (9 males II females} 115 (55 males 60 females) 8 (3 males 5 females) 63 (38 males 25 females) I (0 male I female) 24 (7 males 17 females} 22 (14 males 8 females} 20 (12 males 8 females} 0 (0 male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female)

166

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

Table (conl.}

Namher of Eastern

Vavuni)'3 Batticaloa Trincomalee

Southern

GaUe Matara Hambantota

K.,_

I (I male 0 female) 3 (3 males 0 female) 39 (20 males 19 females) I (I male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 3 (3 males 0 female)

/901 Cmsu.s .Nu111lm '![ Kaffirs in Sri LanlrtJ (txtltuling mililtlly and shipping) At the 1901 census, there were 318 KiJ.ffirs (166 males and 152 females) (Arunachalam 1902: 84). Table X entitled "Population-AU Races (exclusive of Military, the Shipping and Prisoners of War)" gives a breakdown of the IVdJirs who lived in d1e various dislricts (Arunachalam 1902: 158-160). PNviace

Dilltrict

Nlllllher of Klfl/in

Westen•

Colombo Municipality Colombo District excluding Municipality Negombo Kalutara Kandy A·latale Nuwara Eliya ja8i1a Mammr Mullaitivu Galle Matara

60 (33 males 27 females) 13 (10 males 3 females}

Cenual Northern

Southern

Han~bantota

Eastern North-Western

North Central

Uva Sabaragamuwa

Batticaloa Trincomalee Kurunegala Puualama Chilaw Anuradhapura Badulla Ratnapura KegaUa

0 (0 male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 49 (30 males 19 females) 6 (4 males 2 females) 8 (3 males 5 females) I (0 male I female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 0 (0 male 0 female) 14 (8 males 6 females) 0 (0 male 0 female) 2 (I male I female) 2 (I male I female) 4 (2 males 2 females) 21 (12 males 9 females} 93 (34 males 59 females) 13 (6 males 7 females) 25 (19 males 6 females} 5 (2 males 3 females) 2 (I male I female) 0 (0 male 0 female)

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

167

In 1911, chere were 253 lrl!frs (132 males and 121 females) in Sri Lanka (Denham 1912: 24-3). Denham (1912) adds that 105 Jrqfrn were in the Punalama district. The breakdown of ethnic groups by district and province are unavailable at this census. According to che 1921 census, chere were 255 Jrqfrn altoged1er, in Sri Lanka (fumer 1923), but the number in Puttalama was 135. A breakdown of Kt!ffn in each district is given below as listed in Table VII "Population of Ceylon, 1921, by Individual Races (exclusive of Mi6wy and Shipping'').

Western Cenbal

Southern

Nonhen1 Eastern Nonh-Western Nonh Central

Uva Sabaragamuwa

Dimict

Namberol Klfllin

Colombo Municipality Colombo Kalutara Kandy Municipality Kandy Matale Nuwara Eliya GaUe Municipa6ty GaUe Matara Hamban101a jatna Mannar Mullaitti\ru Bauicaloa Trincomalee Kurunegala Puttalama Chilaw Anuradhapura BaduUa Ratnapura Kegalla

25 (15 males I 0 females) 0 II (6 males 5 females) 0 37 (21 males 16 females) I (I male) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I (I female) 36 (18 males 18 females) 3 (I male 2 females) 135 (73 males 62 females) 0 0 I (I female) 0 5 (3 males 2 females)

Diseussion We do not know if Sri Lanka•s 6th century Abyssinians settled down and intermarried with the od1er edmic groups. Similarly, we do not know if che Abyssinian mercenaries serving in 14th century Sri Lanka, left any ofiSpring. Africans performed a variety of tasks for the Portuguese, Dutch and British in Sri Lanka, exceUing as mercenaries. Even if chese

168

SIDIIAN DE SILVAJAYSURIYA

Africans were mainly involun1ary migrants, their mili1ary capabilities were valued not only by 1he Europeans but also by the Sri Lankans. There have been several waves of African migrations to Sri Lanka. The Portuguese breakthrough into previously eslablished intra-Asian commercial networks, set 1he scage for a maritime trading empire in the Indian Ocean. This enterprise was not manned by Europeans alone. Saving the Ponuguese from miliwy defea1, Africans earned a reputa· tion for being good soldiers. The Portuguese who came as traders in 1505, were dragged into local politics and dominated parts of the country. "fl1e Dutch, who defeated the Portuguese, occupied a much smaller area of the Island, than had the Portuguese previously. The British took over d1ese areas from the Dutch, in 1796. The second altempt by d1e British to gain conlrol of 1he Kandyan kingdom was prevenled by d1e mili1ary might of an African who massacred the British Major. At the 1hird attempt, in 1815, the British succeeded in gaining conlrol of the central areas of Sri Lanka which had been under Sinhalese rule, throughoul bolh Portuguese and Dutch presence. Having gained the Kandyan kingdom, the British dominated d1e entire Island until independence in 1948. Africans also carried out other tasks, many of which required physical strength-building fortresses, roads and railways, carrying people on palanquins, water carriers, milemen, working in the fields and planta· tions, and as cross-country runners delivering the post. "There were also African musicians, nannies and domestic serwnls. The population stalistics in d1e late 19th and early 20th centuries that give the numbers of Kqfrs, exclude soldiers and sailors. Therefore, the thousands of African mercenaries mentioned during 1he colonial era in the hislorical accounts, are not included in the statistics. A Dutch Governor in Sri Lanka, speaks of 4,000 KJdfin within his jurisdiction. A later British Administrator, mentions a figure of 9,000, bul was unable to identify that man~ as their African physiognomy had been diluled by thai time. Ano1her British observer, in 1he 19th centuey, mentions 6,000 K'!ffir soldiers. This emphasizes d1e imponance of eye \~mess accounts. Africans were dispersed in several provinces. The population census statistics show that the percentage of KJdfin in the Puttalama district was 200/o in 1871, but reached 50% in 1921. ·n1ese figures, however, exclude those in mililary and shipping, and are not the tolal number of Kt!Jftn that lived in Sri Lanka during the census period examined. However, d1e move by 1he British, of a Ktdfir regiment to 1he Nonh Western Province-Puttalama fonress-from where the regiment was

MIGRANI'S AND MERCENARIES

169

disbanded and che soldiers retired, has concentrated d1em in d1e Puttalama district. The rural lifestyle has contributed to me largest CODlmunity of Irf!lirs being in Puttalama today. While mere are a small number of Irtdfin scattered in od1er pans of me country, mos1 of mem now live in me Puccalama districc. It was uneconomical for me British to mainlain several regiments on me Island, once mey had secured the Kandyan kingdom, and were not threatened by other European powers.

Conclusion Africans were broughc to Sri Lanka due to commercial and military activities in d1e Indian Ocean. European traders and colonisers sought African militia and manpower. African mercenaries also served Sri Lankan kings and defended che Sinhalese kingdoms. Africans delayed the British conquering d1e Kanclyan kingdom, which had remained independent under Portuguese and Ducch rule. The demand for African soldiers diminished during d1e British era but their descendants continue to live in post-independent Sri Lanka as a small ethnic minority. Africans were dispersed originally in several provinces but now they are concencrated in the Pucalama district of the Norm-Western Province.

I would like to thank tbe Calousce Gulbenkian Foundation and tbe Funda~ Oriente for supporting my field trip to Puttalama. Thanks are also extended to Dr Hemaljayasuriya, Schiller lncernalional University, London for comments on an earlier version of dlis paper.

h.,.,.

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