This Article First Appeared In Scmp.com On Feb 8, 2023
The term Siddi refers to Afro-Indians – Africans who mixed with Indians through marriage and relationships. Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in India during the 1200s and the two centuries afterwards. They were transported by Islamic invaders and Portuguese colonisers as enslaved people, palace guards, army chiefs, harem keepers, spiritual leaders, singers, dancers and treasurers.
Today, most Siddis are found in the west and southwest of India, in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana states. As they settled, they preserved and practised their African ancestral sociocultural traditions – and also adopted local Indian traditions.
This interweaving of African and Indian cultural values gave birth to various creolised (mixed) food, music and spiritual practices.