Sylvian A Diouf, curator of the exhibition, Africans in India: A Rediscovery, talks to Shrabasti Mallik about the life and achievements of prominent Afro-Indians. She says it is important to recognise their contribution to Indian society
Africans have been a part of Indian history since time immemorial. Muslim army and Indians brought them as slaves from East Africa. Over the centuries, East Africans have greatly distinguished themselves in the country as generals, commanders, admirals, prime ministers. They have written a story unparallel in the rest of the world, that of enslaved Africans attaining the pinnacle of military and political authority in a foreign land.
In a bid to showcase how Africans formed an intricate part of India, the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture (a unit of the New York Public library) has come up with an exhibition titled Africans in India: A Rediscovery at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
Sylviane A Diouf, director of lapidus Centre for historical analysis of transatlantic slavery, Schomburg Centre, explains, “It was a feat very few of them could have imagined when they sailed as captives across the Indian Ocean in overcrowded dhows. But from Bengal to Gujarat and to the Deccan, East Africans — known as Sidis and Habshis — vigorously asserted themselves in the country where they were enslaved. This groundbreaking exhibition retraces the lives and achievement of some of the talented and prominent Sidis of yesteryears.”
Some of them carved out princely states complete with their own arms, mints and stamps. As rulers, city planners and architects, the Africans have left an impressive historical and architectural legacy that stands as an example of their skills. The imposing forts, mosques, mausoleums and other edifices they built over 500 years ago still grace the Indian landscape.
Through the 54 panels visitors can meet Ikhlas Khan, a famous African governor, from the Abyssinian Party (that dominated the Bijapur Sultanate starting in 1580), learn about Malik Ambar, a slave from Ethiopia who ruled as regent and prime minister leaving one of the most impressive legacies of any ruler in the Deccan. Diouf adds, “The history doesn’t end at that. This exhibition also brings to light a few African women who became queens in India. like Meher lekha Begum who was the third wife to Sayyid Mansur Ali Khan, who ruled as the nawab of Bengal from 1838 to 1880 and Yasmin Mahal, one of the many wives of Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Oudh in UP, who has been represented in several paintings alone with the king or among his wives.”
And if you think it was only Indians who ruled the Indian landscape, you are mistaken. Visitors are also educated about the two African dynasties that were established in Western India. The first ruled the state of Janjira (located on the Konkan coast in the present-day Raigad district of Maharashtra). “Janjira was considered one of the best specimens of naval fort architecture which was never conquered, although it was attacked a number of times. The fort is no longer open to visitors but is still a beauty to marvel at,” informs Diouf, who is also the curator of the exhibition. The second African dynasty ruled Sachin state in Gujarat from 1791.
Not only were they a part of the country but it was through them that the zebra came to India. And they have even added to our music. She informs, “Most of them were sufi singers and still are. And when they brought their genre they brought their instrument, too. It is from them that we have the lyre. Africans have also added to our architecture and have contributed considerably to the social, political history of the country.”
The success was theirs, but it is also a strong testimony to the open-mindedness of a society in which they were a small religious and ethnic minority. “It is sad that, although they were a common sight, the Africans who were an integral part of the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent have not received, in the present, the recognition they deserve. And the mission of the exhibition is to do exactly that,” Diouf rounds off.