The unbelievable story of how East African tradition formed the music of a state in India

The time period Siddi refers to Afro-Indians – Africans who combined with Indians via marriage and relationships. Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in India through the 1200s, 1300s and 1400s. They had been transported by Islamic invaders and Portuguese colonisers as enslaved folks, palace guards, military chiefs, harem keepers, religious leaders, Sufi singers, dancers and treasurers.

At present, the vast majority of Siddis are discovered within the west and south-west of India, in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana states. As they settled, they preserved and practised their African ancestral sociocultural traditions – and in addition adopted native Indian traditions.

This interweaving of African and Indian cultural values gave start to varied creolised (combined) meals, music and religious practices.

As a range research scholar, I’ve been researching Siddi tradition for a while. Working inside this neighborhood in Gujarat and Karnataka, I discovered that their creolised cultural practices emerged as a resistance to colonisation, racialisation and victimisation in postcolonial India.

My most up-to-date analysis – which may also be seen in a brand new documentary – has centered on the music and dance performances of the Siddi neighborhood in Gujarat, referred to as Dhamaals.

The story of Dhamaal efficiency traditions reveals the wealthy and sophisticated mixing of cultures in a world formed by human motion and historical past.

What are Dhamaals?

Dhamaal is a mixture of Sufi and African (largely east African) musical and dance traditions. It refers significantly to the religious practices of the Siddis of Gujarat.

The Siddis start nearly each Dhamaal track by blowing right into a conch shell. That is usually adopted by the sluggish enjoying of east African percussion devices just like the musindo and the sluggish thumping of ft that marks the onset of the singing and dancing Dhamaals. The ritual of foot thumping is an important a part of religious east African dance and musical traditions.

The Siddis are followers of Islam and arrived in India from Muslim communities in east and central Africa. Dhamaals are carried out in memory of their religious leaders, amongst them Bava Gor, Mai Misra, Baba Habash and Sidi Nabi Sultan. In accordance with Siddi folklore they arrived from Ethiopia via the Nubian Valley, Syria and the Indian Ocean to the coast of Kuda within the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.

Often, Dhamaal songs and dances are carried out to have a good time the anniversary of the start and loss of life of religious leaders. They’re carried out in two methods – Dance Dhamaal and Baithaaki Dhamaal. The Baithaaki Dhamaal is carried out within the sitting place and the Dance Dhamaal is carried out in each sitting and dance positions.

Throughout the efficiency of Baithaaki Dhamaal the main target is extra on the lyrics and fewer on the musical devices. Throughout Dance Dhamaal the main target is extra on the sounds of the devices. These are sometimes performed in a frenzied method and accompanied by frenzied dance actions. The religious songs which are sung through the Dhamaals are referred to as zikrs.

A mixing of cultures

The creole cultural elements of Dhamaals are broadly mirrored via the Swahili Creole language used to sing the zikrs, the Indian and African musical devices used to carry out them and the Afro-Indian physique actions of Dance Dhamaals.

Traditionally, the Swahili Creole language in India emerged among the many Siddis via the blending of Kiswahili from east Africa with Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu languages from India. For instance, these are the lyrics of 1 zikr:

Ya bolo sabaya hua wey

Ya bolo sabaya hua wey

Hu sabaya

Salwale Nabi Sultan

This zikr is sung within the reward of Siddi religious chief Nabi Sultan, believed to have arrived in Gujarat from the Nubian Valley. The Swahili phrases which were used are “hu” (a standard expression of consent) and “sabaya” (that means that all the things is alright). The zikr implies that with the blessings of Nabi Sultan no evil can befall the Siddis of Gujarat.

The musical devices used to carry out the zikrs are east African percussion devices. The musindo, for instance, is a cylinder-shaped, two-sided drum from Kenya. The misr kanga is a small, funnel-shaped instrument from Ethiopia, containing small stones. The mugarman is a big, cylinder-shaped, one-sided drum from Tanzania. These are performed together with conventional Indian musical devices. These embody the harmonium (a keyboard instrument) and the dholak (a two-headed hand drum). The intermingling of Indian and African musical devices generates creole rhythmscapes that are historically African and Indian on the identical time.

Throughout the Dance Dhamaal, the hand and the physique actions of the Dhamaal dancers in Gujarat are similar to the Ngoma dancers of east Africa. The Ngoma dancers thump their ft and swing their arms sideways to the rhythm of drums. The Dhamaal dancers additionally swing their arms sideways, however the thumping of ft will depend on the context of their dance. Throughout non secular events, for instance, the foot thumping is sluggish. It is because the Siddis comply with many religious elements of the Sufi tradition. For Sufis, heavy and frenzied ft thumping is prohibited when worshipping religious leaders.

Transoceanic roots

These creolised musical and dance performances permit the Siddis in Gujarat to take care of their African ancestral practices. They achieve this in collaboration with Indian practices in order that they don’t overlook their historic roots but can respect native traditions on the identical time.

These creole practices have allowed the neighborhood to construct a transoceanic identification (one which crosses the oceans). That is accomplished in a collaborative, reciprocal and diverse approach.

The Dhamaal custom of the Siddis has socially, culturally and economically empowered the neighborhood as effectively. A number of neighborhood members, via the help of authorities and personal organisations, journey throughout India and the world to carry out at cultural festivals. This encourages the Siddis to share their creolised cultural values throughout the globe.

This in flip invitations audiences to contemplate historical past via an interracial and intercultural lens.