In pictures: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
BBC News - In pictures: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
Interesting!
There is so much I don’t know about Karachi :hmmm:
Re: Pakistan's indigenous African community
OMGGGGGGGGGG I didn't know thaaaaaaaaaat.
That's pretty cool
Re: Pakistan's indigenous African community
makrani power!!!!!!
Re: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
^ Makrani people are from coastal areas of Balochistan, right?
or are you talking about the same people in those pics?
makrani = indigenous africans in lyari ???
I am confused 
Re: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
here is an old thread on this topic, read up
Re: Pakistan's indigenous African community
^ thanks X2.
I went through the whole thread but still not clear about this one thing. The BBC report only focuses on the Sheedi community in Lyari Karachi, which ther're referring to as indigenous africans in Pakistan. But from that other thread you posted ... I get that the Makrani and sheedi people are the same. Does that mean all the Makrani black people are descendants of the african people who were brought in there for slavery or whatever reasons?
I thought the Makrani people were some indigenous Balochis who just happened to be black/darker.
Re: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
The word Sheedi comes from the Arabic word Sayyidi, which means my lord. The word Makrani simply means some one from Makran. Afro-Indians and Pakistanis are found throughout the sub-continent, but the Makran region was used as dumping ground by the Arabs, who were the middle men in the slave trade. The Omani and Emiratis (Sharjawis) organized the raids and then sold then to the Dutch, French, English and Portuguese, who then took them to America. But in 1807, the British abolished slavery, but the Arabs carried on. So the British started to blockade the Gulf Arab ports, so the slavers simply dumped them in Makran. This created the large Sheedi community in that region.
So, the Arab used the word Sidi and Sayyid to refer to themselves, but called these Africans Zinji. The South East Asians decided to called them Sidi/ Sheedi instead of Zinji because the Sidi brought them. This seems okay since the word Sidi was never used for Syed/ Sayyid in South East Asia. Okay fair enough. Now why do the Chinese mongols call themselves Khan and why do Pathans also call themselves Khan?
Do you think the Arabs dumped them here because the native population (Hindustani/ Pakistani) look a lot like the Sheedi or because the middle easterners thought the coast here was their dump-yard?
regards,
bob
Re: Pakistan’s indigenous African community
Ignorant pakis :snooty:
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/culture-literature-linguistics/117528-sheedi-mela.html
Now why do the Chinese mongols call themselves Khan and why do Pathans also call themselves Khan?
Do you think the Arabs dumped them here because the native population (Hindustani/ Pakistani) look a lot like the Sheedi or because the middle easterners thought the coast here was their dump-yard?
regards,
bob
Bob,
I suspect you are being sarcastic. The Makran caost is close to the Gulf, so it was pure geography. Secondly, both Oman and the Qwasim state (modern UAE) controlled ports in Makran, infact Gwader was Omani till 1958. So easy keep slaves there, before selling to the others.
But let make it clear, not all Makranis are black, infact the majority are Baluch tribesmen.
On your first point, perhaps its worth opening a thread. For the record, I am not a Pathan.
Bob,
I suspect you are being sarcastic. The Makran caost is close to the Gulf, so it was pure geography. Secondly, both Oman and the Qwasim state (modern UAE) controlled ports in Makran, infact Gwader was Omani till 1958. So easy keep slaves there, before selling to the others.
But let make it clear, not all Makranis are black, infact the majority are Baluch tribesmen.
On your first point, perhaps its worth opening a thread. For the record, I am not a Pathan.
Khan15, I was annoyed by your suggestion that they were slaves "dumped" here by the Arabs, when the Brits banned slavery. Even the wiki article suggests their migration here had more complex and earlier origins:
The people who call themselves and are referred to as Sheedi live in southern Pakistan on the Makran coast, in Turbat and Pasni and in Karachi (mainly in the tightly knit neighborhoods of Lyari). **They trace their arrival to these shores of southern Pakistan as soldiers in the Arab armies in 712 A.D. The descendants of these soldiers are the Zanji Siddis. *
The Sheedis are African people brought during the Arab rule in Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan as soldiers and slaves were brought from Africa. The descendents are also called Makranis or Sheedis. The Sheedis (also called Habshi, from Arabic حبشي ḥabashi) are a Negroid people in Pakistan. *They are the descendants of slaves first brought to Pakistan by Arab merchants in medieval times from the Bantu-speaking parts of eastern Africa. **Siddis were referred to as Zanj by Arabs, and Seng Chi (a malapropism of Zanj) by the Chinese.[27][28][29]
And no I am not a Sidi.
regards,
bob
Khan15, I was annoyed by your suggestion that they were slaves "dumped" here by the Arabs, when the Brits banned slavery.
Bob,
The dumping point relates specifically to the Sheedi community of Makran. Other Sheedi communities have different traditions and history. For example, the princely state of Janjira near Mumbai was ruled by Sheedi nawabs.
The banning of the slave trade by the British destroyed the economies of Oman, Qatar and states of the UAE, as this was main source of income.
What you also have to accept is that Sheedi are one of the most marganalized group in India and Pakistan.