{"id":8516,"date":"2019-01-19T20:21:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T20:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=8516"},"modified":"2019-01-20T19:37:52","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T19:37:52","slug":"indias-siddi-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/indias-siddi-community\/","title":{"rendered":"India’s Siddi Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

India is home to a vast array of ethnicities and cultural and religious groups (\u0938\u093e\u0902\u0938\u094d\u0915\u0943\u0924\u093f\u0915 \u0914\u0930 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092e\u093f\u0915 \u0938\u092e\u0942\u0939)<\/strong>, but among the least well known is the Siddi community (\u0938\u093f\u0926\u0940\u00a0\u092f\u093e\u00a0\u0936\u0940\u0926\u093f \u0938\u092e\u0941\u0926\u093e\u092f)<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/b>who are of African descent (\u0905\u092b\u093c\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0915\u0940 \u092e\u0942\u0932 \u0915\u0947)<\/strong> and live throughout India and Pakistan. In this blog, we’ll discuss a recent news article about this group of people and the strides they are making in India today with the help of the Indian government and private athletic organizations.<\/p>\n

Read this article<\/strong><\/a> to learn more<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by Nagarjun Kandukuru on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0. This photo depicts Siddi youth near Sasan Gir, Gujarat.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Siddi community (known by several alternate names, such as\u00a0Sidi,\u00a0Siddhi,\u00a0Sheedi\u00a0or\u00a0Habshi), first made South Asia (namely India and Pakistan) their home centuries (\u0938\u0926\u0940=sing, century, \u0938\u0926\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0901=pl)<\/strong> ago. As is the case with many minority groups in India, very little was known about their culture and way of life until recently when girls from the community began to participate in competitive sports (\u0916\u0947\u0932)<\/strong> in earnest, aiming to win a name (\u0928\u093e\u092e \u0915\u092e\u093e\u0928\u093e)<\/strong> for themselves and their communities. This community of about 50 to 60,000 people is concentrated chiefly in remote villages (\u0926\u0942\u0930-\u0926\u0930\u093e\u091c\u093c \u0915\u0947 \u0917\u093e\u0901\u0935)<\/strong> in Karnataka, Gujarat and Hyderabad and Makran and Karachi in Pakistan. Many of them are descendants (\u0935\u0902\u0936\u091c)<\/strong> of the Bantu community of East Africa.<\/p>\n

In roughly 628 AD, the first Siddis arrived in India, and later more arrived with the first Arab Islamic conquests of the subcontinent (<\/strong>\u0909\u092a\u092e\u0939\u093e\u0926\u094d\u0935\u0940\u092a)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>serving as soldiers (\u092b\u093c\u094c\u091c\u0940, \u0938\u093f\u092a\u093e\u0939\u0940 or \u0938\u0948\u0928\u093f\u0915)<\/strong> with Arab armies. Afterwards, Portuguese and English traders brought them to South Asia as slaves (\u0917\u0941\u0932\u093e\u092e)<\/strong>, where they remained. Yet, this is not to say that the Siddis served only one or two roles in society: successive generations of the Siddi community functioned in a wide variety of occupations, such as sailor (\u0928\u093e\u0935\u093f\u0915)<\/strong>, merchant (\u0938\u094c\u0926\u093e\u0917\u0930 or \u0935\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092a\u093e\u0930\u0940)<\/strong>, mercenary (\u092d\u093e\u0921\u093c\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0938\u0948\u0928\u093f\u0915)<\/strong> and indentured servant (\u0917\u093f\u0930\u092e\u093f\u091f\u093f\u092f\u093e)<\/strong>. After obtaining their freedom, some Siddi people chose to make their homes in jungle environments and thus remain apart from wider society, while some attempted to assimilate more into local village life.<\/p>\n

The above article tells the story of several young people from the Siddi community who have made efforts to enter the world of competitive sports. In the village of Bilki in Karnataka (Karnataka, incidentally, is home to more than a third of today’s Siddi population), 18-year-old Shweta has already competed at the state level (\u0930\u093e\u091c\u094d\u092f \u0938\u094d\u0924\u0930)<\/strong> and is working toward her ambition to become a national champion. She states that, through the world of competitive sports, she can achieve a better life for herself and her family: “\u0905\u0917\u0930 \u0939\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0914\u0930 \u0905\u092d\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0947 \u092e\u094c\u0915\u0947 \u092e\u093f\u0932\u0947 \u0924\u094b \u0939\u092e \u092e\u0947\u0921\u0932 \u091c\u0940\u0924 \u0938\u0915\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902. \u0905\u0917\u0930 \u0939\u092e \u092e\u0947\u0921\u0932 \u091c\u0940\u0924\u0947\u0902\u0917\u0947 \u0924\u094b \u092c\u093e\u0915\u093f \u0932\u094b\u0917 \u0939\u092e\u093e\u0930\u0947 \u0915\u093e\u092e \u0915\u0940 \u0924\u093e\u0930\u0940\u092b\u093c \u0915\u0930\u0947\u0902\u0917\u0947 \u0914\u0930 \u0939\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u094b\u0924\u094d\u0938\u093e\u0939\u093f\u0924 <\/strong>\u092d\u0940 \u0915\u0930\u0947\u0902\u0917\u0947”<\/strong> (“If I get more opportunities to practice, I can win medals. If I win medals, then other people will praise my work and will encourage me too”). <\/span>Impressively, her 13-year-old cousin, Florin, has already competed at the district (\u091c\u093c\u093f\u0932\u093e \u0938\u094d\u0924\u0930)<\/strong> and state levels and is following in her cousin’s footsteps to achieve greatness in athletics. Her ambitions may even excel those of her cousin: “\u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0928\u0947\u0936\u0928\u0932 \u0932\u0947\u0935\u0932 \u0924\u0915 \u092a\u0939\u0941\u0902\u091a\u0928\u093e \u091a\u093e\u0939\u0924\u0940 \u0939\u0942\u0902 \u0914\u0930 \u0909\u0938\u0915\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0926 \u0913\u0932\u0902\u092a\u093f\u0915\u094d\u0938 \u0924\u0915 \u0914\u0930 \u0909\u0938\u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0915\u0921\u093c\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0939\u0928\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0924\u0940 \u0939\u0942\u0901”<\/strong> (“I want to reach the national level and, after that, the Olympics, and for that I work very hard”).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by Unknown on Wikimedia Commons, public domain. This is a portrait of the Siddi ruler, Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan II of Sachin, who ruled from 1833 -1873.<\/p><\/div>\n

As a result of living in small, isolated communities in Karnataka, Siddi people like Florin and Shweta speak in the local languages, such as Kannada (\u0915\u0928\u094d\u0928\u0921\u093c)<\/strong> and Konkani (\u0915\u094b\u0902\u0915\u0923\u0940)<\/strong> and dress the same as other local people. Interestingly, their names reflect a blend of Indian, Arab and Portuguese influences. Yet, despite living in these regions for centuries and assimilating with the local people to a great extent, the visibility of their community is not great, people may be ignorant of their culture and, as Shweta states, she is treated as an outsider when she travels outside of her hometown for competitions (\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0917\u093f\u0924\u093e\u090f\u0901)<\/strong>. She recounts the challenges of being treated as an outsider despite feeling as though she belongs to and in India: “\u0915\u0941\u091b \u0932\u094b\u0917 \u0938\u0940\u0926\u0940 \u0938\u092e\u0941\u0926\u093e\u092f \u0915\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0930\u0947 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0924\u0947 \u0935\u094b \u0939\u092e\u093e\u0930\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0932\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u094b \u091b\u0942\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902. \u0935\u094b \u092f\u0947 \u092d\u0940 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0924\u0947 \u0915\u093f \u0939\u092e \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924 \u0938\u0947 \u0939\u0940 \u0939\u0948\u0902. \u0935\u094b \u0939\u092e\u0938\u0947 \u0905\u0902\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0947\u091c\u093c\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092c\u093e\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0940 \u0915\u094b\u0936\u093f\u0936 \u0915\u0930\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u0914\u0930 \u0939\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0918\u0942\u0930\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902. \u0915\u092d\u0940 \u0905\u0917\u0930 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0917\u093f\u0924\u093e \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0939\u092e\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0905\u091a\u094d\u091b\u093e \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u0928 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0930\u0939\u093e \u0924\u094b \u0915\u0941\u091b \u0932\u094b\u0917 \u0915\u0939\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u0915\u093f \u0926\u0947\u0916\u094b \u0935\u0947 \u0905\u092b\u093c\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0915\u093e \u0938\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u092b\u093f\u0930 \u092d\u0940 \u0905\u091a\u094d\u091b\u093e \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u0928 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0915\u0930 \u092a\u093e\u090f. \u0939\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092c\u0941\u0930\u093e \u0932\u0917\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u092a\u0930 \u0915\u094d\u092f\u093e \u0915\u0930\u0947\u0902?”<\/strong> (“Some people don’t know about the Siddi community – they touch our hair. They don’t even know that we’re actually from India. They try to talk to us in English and stare at us. Sometimes, if we haven’t performed well in a competition, some people say, ‘look, they’re from Africa but they still couldn’t perform well.’ We don’t like it but what can be done?”).<\/p>\n

Feeling cut off from the majority of Indians, this community has suffered with few opportunities (\u092e\u094c\u0915\u0947)<\/strong> to better their standard of living such as access to employment (\u0930\u094b\u091c\u093c\u0917\u093e\u0930)<\/strong> and other forms of progress (\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0917\u0924\u093f or \u0924\u0930\u0915\u093c\u094d\u0915\u093c\u0940)<\/strong>. Fortunately, they were declared a “scheduled tribe” (\u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u0942\u091a\u093f\u0924 \u091c\u0928\u091c\u093e\u0924\u093f)<\/strong> in a 2003 amendment to the Indian constitution that is recognized in the states of Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka and the union territory of Daman and Diu. Of course, one of the ways several individuals from this community have succeeded is through competitive sports, with the encouragement of governmental authorities, such as the Indian Sports Authority (\u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0916\u0947\u0932 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915\u0930\u0923)<\/strong>, which has arranged for their athletic training. Karnataka’s Youth Empowerment and Sport Department’s commissioner, K. Shrinivas, describes the situation thus: “\u0938\u0930\u0915\u093e\u0930 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u0941\u091b \u0938\u094d\u092a\u094b\u0930\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0938 \u0939\u0949\u0938\u094d\u091f\u0932 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092d\u0940 \u0938\u0940\u0926\u0940 \u0938\u092e\u0941\u0926\u093e\u092f \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u094b\u0917 \u0930\u0939\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902. \u0938\u0940\u0926\u0940 \u0926\u0942\u0930-\u0926\u0930\u093e\u091c\u093c \u0915\u0947 \u0907\u0932\u093e\u0915\u094b\u0902 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0930\u0939\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u0924\u094b \u0939\u092e\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u0915\u094b\u0936\u093f\u0936 \u0930\u0939\u0924\u0940 \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0939\u092e \u0909\u0928 \u0924\u0915 \u092a\u0939\u0941\u0902\u091a\u0947\u0902 \u0914\u0930 \u0909\u0928\u094d\u0939\u0947\u0902 \u092c\u0924\u093e\u090f\u0902 \u0915\u093f \u0909\u0928\u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0915\u094c\u0928-\u0915\u094c\u0928 \u0938\u0940 \u0938\u0941\u0935\u093f\u0927\u093e\u090f\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u0924\u093e\u0915\u093f \u0935\u094b \u092a\u0922\u093c\u093e\u0908 \u0914\u0930 \u0916\u0947\u0932 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0906\u0917\u0947 \u092c\u0922\u093c\u0947\u0902. \u0938\u0940\u0926\u0940 \u0938\u092e\u093e\u091c \u0915\u0940 \u0932\u0921\u093c\u0915\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u093e \u0916\u0947\u0932 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u093e\u092b\u093c\u0940 \u0905\u091a\u094d\u091b\u093e \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u0928 \u0930\u0939\u093e \u0939\u0948”<\/strong> (“Siddi community members even live in some of the government sports hostels. The Siddi live in remote areas, so our effort remains to try to reach them and tell them which resources are available to them, so they can advance in their studies and in sports. The girls of the Siddi community have performed quite well in sports”).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by M. V. Durandhar on Wikimedia Commons, public domain. This is an illustration from M. V. Durandhar’s book By The Ways of Bombay<\/em>, 1912.<\/p><\/div>\n

Besides governmental organizations, private organizations have also stepped in to scout for talent (\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u092d\u093e)<\/strong> and arrange training (\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0936\u093f\u0915\u094d\u0937\u0923)<\/strong> under the supervision of qualified coaches for both girls and boys of the Siddi Community, such as Bridges of Sports, which searches for talent in students’ schools. This is how 17-year-old Ravi Kiran was recognized for his athletic skills –\u00a0 he now studies and trains alongside Shweta and Florin at the same school. Since the 1980s, many members of the Siddi community have competed on the national and international level (\u0905\u0902\u0924\u0930\u0930\u093e\u0937\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0940\u092f \u0938\u094d\u0924\u0930)<\/strong> and won acclaim for themselves, their communities and their home country of India, one of whom is Florin’s father, who has been a player (\u0916\u093f\u0932\u093e\u0921\u093c\u0940)<\/strong> at the national level and hopes that his daughter will carry on the family tradition and achieve what was beyond his reach: “\u091c\u094b \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0915\u0930 \u092a\u093e\u092f\u093e, \u092e\u0941\u091d\u0947 \u0909\u092e\u094d\u092e\u0940\u0926 \u0939\u0948 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u092c\u0947\u091f\u0940 \u092b\u093c\u094d\u0932\u094b\u0930\u0940\u0928 \u0915\u0930\u0915\u0947 \u0926\u093f\u0916\u093e\u090f\u0917\u0940. \u0926\u0947\u0936 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u092e\u0948\u0921\u0932 \u0932\u093e\u090f\u0917\u0940. \u0905\u0917\u0930 \u0936\u094d\u0935\u0947\u0924\u093e \u0928\u093e\u092e \u0915\u092e\u093e\u090f\u0917\u0940 \u0924\u094b \u0938\u092c \u0915\u0939\u0947\u0902\u0917\u0947 \u0915\u093f \u0939\u092e\u093e\u0930\u0947 \u0917\u093e\u0901\u0935 \u0915\u0940 \u092c\u0947\u091f\u0940 \u0928\u0947 \u0928\u093e\u092e \u0915\u092e\u093e\u092f\u093e”<\/strong> (I hope my daughter Florin will do what I was not able to. She’ll bring home a medal for her country. If Shweta wins a name for herself (in athletics), everyone will say that our village girl has made us proud”).<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

India is home to a vast array of ethnicities and cultural and religious groups (\u0938\u093e\u0902\u0938\u094d\u0915\u0943\u0924\u093f\u0915 \u0914\u0930 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092e\u093f\u0915 \u0938\u092e\u0942\u0939), but among the least well known is the Siddi community (\u0938\u093f\u0926\u0940\u00a0\u092f\u093e\u00a0\u0936\u0940\u0926\u093f \u0938\u092e\u0941\u0926\u093e\u092f),\u00a0who are of African descent (\u0905\u092b\u093c\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0915\u0940 \u092e\u0942\u0932 \u0915\u0947) and live throughout India and Pakistan. In this blog, we’ll discuss a recent news article about this group…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":8530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3792],"tags":[1877,476076,476074,309353,3834,475520,2213,238697,476073,476071,476072],"class_list":["post-8516","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hindi-language","tag-africa","tag-bantu","tag-habshi","tag-hindi-language","tag-hindi-vocabulary","tag-hindi-words-and-phrases","tag-india","tag-learning-hindi","tag-sheedi","tag-siddi","tag-sidi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8516"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8535,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8516\/revisions\/8535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}