African tribe of Gujarat the siddis
Jambur is a small village in Gujarat which is the home of the Siddi tribe. This place lies close to the Gir forest. The people here are African by origin; mainly from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The Siddi tribe is found mainly in three places in India; Hyderabad, Karnataka and Junagarh and Jamnagar in Gujarat. Most of their fore-fathers were brought here as slaves while some came to India as soldiers for the Delhi Sultans. The Siddis had started coming to India from as early as the 8th century. Some of them were very famous like Raziya Sultana’s faithful righthand man Jamaluddin Yaqut and Malik Amber, the prime minister of Ahmednagar sultans. There are around a thousand Siddis living in 19 villages in the Gir forest reserve area. Siddis share a bond with the lions here. Lions are present only in Africa and Gir forest in Asia. Therefore, there are many Siddis who work as forest officers and guides here. The Siddis face a lot of social and economic issues. The main reason for their backwardness is the lack of education. These tribal people are highly talented in music.
