Monday, February 3, 2025
Islamabad (News / Pakistan Point News - 11th Feb, 2025 ) While writing on this topic, the shrine of Khwaja Hassan Sakhi Sultan Mangho Pir Baba located on the top of Mangho Pir three decades ago in the month of Rajab, the fair, men, women and children dressed in colorful clothes, donkey cart races, dancing to the rhythm of the Magarman (African drum), coastal songs, meat offerings for dozens of crocodiles in the pond adjacent to the shrine, Lasipara adjacent to Malir Model Colony and countless incidents related to the Malir River came back to mind.
At that time, it was only known that these people belong to the Sheedi tribe and a large number of them live in the Lyari, Mangho Pir, Golimar and Malir areas of Karachi, while they have an annual fair in Mangho Pir, and that's it.
Where did these people come from in the past? In which areas of Pakistan did they settle? Were they also brought here like slaves, like in America? When did their possible period of slavery end and when and how did their differences with other races begin?
These people with African features are called Makrani and Sheedi.
Since all these nations have become intertwined due to centuries of living together in Karachi, the majority of Lyari calls themselves Baloch and their language is Balochi. However, some areas of Lyari are strongholds of people with specific African features, who do not express any resentment at being called Sheedi even today. This is probably due to their apparently low social status. The African-origin community of southern Sindh speaks Sindhi and now insists on being called Qambrani or Bilali.
Due to political awareness and literacy in the society, this community, like other minorities, has also become aware of their social status. The educated African-origin residents of Sindh have declared the word Sheedi to be derogatory for them.
According to Nam Danish, a famous poet and son of Lyari who has lived in the US for a long time, “We strongly disagree with the word Sheedi because it gives us the smell of humiliation and we absolutely do not like to call ourselves Sheedi.
Culture consists of people of many generations. But the majority and powerful groups promote prejudice in society by giving a specific identity to the minority.”
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the slave trade was in full swing, in which the Arab Sultan of Oman, Zanj Bar, was at the forefront. Slaves from present-day Kenya and Tanzania were first taken to the port of Muscat in Oman.
Then these slaves were loaded into ships and taken to Karachi. At that time, the port of Karachi was a major market for buying and selling slaves in the interior. Experts have different opinions about the arrival of slaves of African origin.
Dr. Feroz Ahmed’s research on this subject is considered very coherent and authoritative. According to him, “The influx of African slaves into Sindh began during the Talpurs’ rule because the Talpurs had bestowed lands and bounties on the Baloch warlords, which led to their desire for luxury and comfort.
The Talpur rulers did not keep slaves for agricultural or other productive purposes, but rather used them as guards or domestic servants. Unlike in America, there is no evidence of violence against African-origin slaves in Sindh. However, instead of paying them compensation, the duty of the owner was only to meet their basic needs. However, there were a few slaves who, due to their bravery, intelligence and loyalty, became the darlings of their owners and were called “Khanazad”.
Born in 1801, “Hosh Muhammad” alias Hosho Sheedi is among those fearless and fearless slave commanders who were given the title “Qambrani” by the Talpurs and were raised in the royal family. Hosho Sheedi was killed fighting against the British in Hyderabad in 1843. He raised the same slogan till his last breath: "Marso marso, Sindh na deso" (If I die, I will not give Sindh).
Sindhi nationalists still consider him their leader.
Although Sindh was not an outdated society with racial prejudices, it was still a difficult process for a race of African origin to achieve a respectable position, whose social status was determined by its distinctive features, color and hair. Despite this, they organized their communities. They increased interaction with local communities and later intermarried with other communities and tribes of the Qambrani nation, which laid the foundation for racial mixing.
With the defeat of the Talpurs by the British in 1843, the slavery of the Qambrani or Bilali of Sindh took the form of independence. Since the British had occupied Karachi four years earlier, a large number of these freed African slaves settled in the Lyari area of Karachi, known as the "newly freed Sheedi".
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, famine in the Iranian coastal areas paved the way for slave revolts.
Thousands of slaves were freed as a result of the revolt. Some of them settled in eastern Makran, while the majority of the black population settled in the Baghdadi area of Lyari in Karachi, where the "newly freed Sheedi traders" who had been freed from the Talpurs were already settled.
The Makranis from Makran, the Lasis from Lasbela, and the migrants from Kutch came to be called Kachi, while the African-descended residents of Lyari became known as "Makranis".
Both Sindhi and Balochi are spoken in Lyari, but most of the black residents consider Balochi their native language, while religiously they follow a unique blend of Shia and Sunni Muslim beliefs. Black people who migrated from Lasbela settled in the outskirts of Malir and in the Lasi Pada of Model Colony, and began to make a living by working as laborers or in the fields.
There are no authentic records of the number of Qambrani in interior Sindh, but it is estimated that the population of the community of African descent may be in the thousands. Most people who are considered Qambrani are actually of mixed race, as pure African descent now works only in Talpur households as domestic servants.
Karachi is estimated to have 2 million to 2.5 million Baloch, half of whom are of African descent.
People of African descent who settled in the coastal areas of Makran made Gwadar, Pasni and Jiwani their homes. They took up fishing and settled several settlements. Twenty-five percent of the people here are completely African in appearance, while the majority are of African descent with a lighter complexion. The Baloch of mixed African descent in the coastal areas of Makran are Sunni Muslims or belong to the Zikr sect.
The black people of Balochistan were socially and economically inferior to other Baloch. A good number of them were recruited into the Omani army in the 1970s. When oil was discovered in the Gulf states in the 1980s, employment opportunities opened up for Baloch workers and Baloch and African-origin families soon became financially stable through their hard work.
There is a large mixed-race Baloch population in Muscat. However, in Kalat, many people of mixed race still work as servants of landlords for modest wages. In some areas of Balochistan, the black race is called "Naqib" or "Darzdag" (outside caste), while the term "Siyah Kardag" (black) is used as an alternative to Sheedi.
The majority of the people of African descent are socially poor and backward, but many of this generation have received higher education and held important positions. Among them is “Muhammad Siddique Musafir”, who has distinguished himself as a teacher, writer, poet and editor.
Bilawal Belgium (Muhammad Bilal), an expert in playing the banjo, an unconventional instrument, has gained international fame by innovating Sindhi and Balochi music with this instrument.
Bilal’s mother was a singer and his father was an expert in playing the “Kozanak”. The famous poet of Lyari, Nam Danish, has created a separate place with his unique poetry.
In the 1950s, the famous football player “Muhammad Umar” made his mark around the world by representing Pakistan in international competitions thirteen times. Baloch and people of African descent have always had a democratic role in politics.
In politics, the people of Lyari are a link between Sindh and Balochistan.
Some black intellectuals, in view of their financial hardship and difficult situation, expressed their attachment to them after hearing or knowing the stories of injustices and atrocities against black people around the world. Muhammad Siddique Musafir has expressed solidarity with black Americans in his book “Eye-opening Situations of Slavery and Freedom”.
The African-Americans of Pakistan have kept alive the local spiritual customs as well as the ancient African civilization, of which a notable custom is “Gwati”, in which demons are cast out. The Sheedi dance to the fast beat of the Magarman is considered a remnant of African culture, which is performed not only at the Manghopir festival but also at numerous monasteries and wedding ceremonies in Karachi and Makran.
The African-Americans of Pakistan are second to none in football and boxing, but in addition to this, their sense of humor, role in the arts, interest in dancing and skill in the traditional wrestling “Mukh” are also noteworthy. But unfortunately, the Pakistani state has not provided any proper opportunities to recognize the talents of such residents in these fields and to recognize them at a professional level.
The African-origin communities of Pakistan, whether they are in southern Sindh, Lyari or the coastal belt of Balochistan, are politically and religiously democratic and enlightened in their thinking.
Note: The opinions expressed in any blog, comment or column of DW Urdu are the personal opinions of the author, with which DW does not necessarily agree.
Comments
Post a Comment