HiddenHistorian

I'm so sorry for taking a while to respond. This is amazing! I hope things go well for you. Knowledge communication is always important.

I do wonder who stands to the right of the painting's primary subjects? A sitting reference? If so, what was their name? Where were they from?

All the things we lose to time...

Two men in what looks to be a much calmer market, Liberia.

This much more intimate portrait captures some of the intricacies of West African style.

Note the laced scabbard to the right; the reddish leather sandals; and, of course, the so-called "Kufi" caps.

#AfricanHistoryInPictures

Figure https://clevelandart.org/art/1976.29

A lively night market in Bida, capital of Nupe, Nigeria.

The crowded bustle of this impressionistic scene is at first overwhelming, but close inspection reveals tons of character.

My favorite is the smiling lady to the left, balancing a stack of bowls on her head.

#AfricanHistoryInPictures

"Village scene" in Biskra, Algeria.

Located at the Northern edge of the Sahara, Biskra is an ancient oasis town boasting a mixture of architectural heritages.

Buildings like those in this picture draw on old mudbrick traditions with parallels on either end of the Sahara.

#AfricanHistoryInPictures

Uncatalogued Arabic manuscript from West Africa — a fragmented. Loose leaves, varying paper sizes. Topics include mathematics, astrology, talismans, magic, divination, and treatises. I am looking for assistance with describing this manuscript, if interested, please DM me. Thanks

Commemorative Head https://www.artic.edu/artworks/152856/

Sources, East Africa II:
▪ Indian and Arab Entrepreneurs, G Clarence-Smith
▪ From the Trading-Post Indians to the Indian-Africans, M. Adam
▪ The 1972 Asian Expulsion in Uganda, W Tayeebwa et, ak,

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Sources, East Africa:
▪ Asian Ugandans Still Remember Home, S. Sawlani
▪ Indians in Post-War Uganda: 1948-62, M. Kumar
▪ Revisiting the 1972 Expulsion of Asians from Uganda, N. Desai
▪ East African Indians: How Many Are They, L. Nowik

[7/8]

Sources, Southern Africa II:
▪ From the Trading-Post Indians to the Indian-Africans, Michel Adam
▪ Indentured Labour in Sub-Saharan Africa (1870-1918), Ulrike Lindner
▪ Indians in South Africa, Goolam Vahed

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Sources, Southern Africa:
▪ Children of Bondage, Robert Shell
▪ Shipwreck Survivor Accounts from the 16th and 17th Centuries, Elizabeth Eldredge
▪ Indian Ocean Slaves in Cape Town, Nigel Worden
▪ Narratives of Malay heritage in gentrified Bo-Kaap, Samera Albghil

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Sources, Ethiopia II:
▪ Ethiopian Art and Architecture, K. Windmuller-Luna
▪ Indian Craftsmen in Late 19th and Early 20th-Century Ethiopia, R. Pankhurst
▪ A History of Addis Ababa from its Foundation in 1886 to 1910, P. P. Garretson (disse.)

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Sources, Ethiopia:
▪ Missionaries, Muslims, and Architecture in Gondar, S. Ranasinghe
▪ A Tale of Four Cities, R. Pankhurst
▪ Foreign Influence and Local Contribution, Fasil Giorghis
▪ Portuguese and Indian Influences, Ian Campbell
▪ The Monastery of Martula Maryam, Paul Henze

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Sources, Ancient World:
▪ The Meroitic Empire, Randi Haaland

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History of Indians in Africa, a thread.

Sources, Swahili Coast:
▪ ‘Indian’ metalwork in East Africa, Horton & Blurton
▪ The Architecture of Elsewhere, Prita Meier
▪ Buying Time, Thomas McDow
▪ History of Photography on the Swahili Coast, Prita Meier

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Things have stabilized since those days, and many Indians have returned to their African homes. For them, and for those who never left, status as Ugandan, Kenyan, and especially South African are important markers of identity.

Most infamously, Idi Amin all but expelled the 80,000 Indians of Uganda–leaving behind only around 1,000 in 1972. Constant pressure and open government hostility also caused Indian populations in Kenya and Tanzania to drop by about half, to 78,000 and 40,000, respectively.

Following independence, the relationship between Indo-Africans and their cohabitants was not without friction. Colonial policies of divided rule created barriers to shared consciousness, and new governments aiming to forge national identities often sidelined even Black minorities in their countries.

While some Indians embraced their status as second or third-class residents in Africa, above most Black Africans but below their European overlords, others did not.

Indians like Priscilla Jana used their education to fight alongside Black compatriots, whether in the courts or on the streets.

Despite their circumstances, some Indians began to enjoy economic mobility in the colonies. The response to this was swift suppression: laws like the 1896 Natal Franchise Act relegated Indians to second-class status in nearly all of British Africa.

From 1860 to 1911, around 152,000 Indians were brought to the South African province of kwaZulu Natal, and thousands more to Kenya/Uganda.

Though some were “passengers” seeking business, most were effectively trafficked to work sugar plantations, rail lines, and coal mines on 5-10 year contracts.

The enforcement of abolition created a global demand for “alternative” labour sources at the same time that colonial expansion increased labour needs.

The British, falling back on their older strategies, looked to South Asia as a source of indentured work for their growing economic ambitions.

From 1652 to 1808, Cape Colony (South Africa) imported some 31,600 slaves from South and South-East Asia for manual and domestic work. Over half were from South Asia.

Descendants of some of these slaves famously became the Cape-Coloureds; others formed a different hybrid culture: the Cape Malays.

Unfortunately, Indian arrivals to Africa did not always come by choice. As early as the 16th century, Portuguese and Dutch ships carried Indian slaves and servants to Africa’s Eastern coast.

When shipwrecked, some escaped servitude and joined African communities. Most weren’t so lucky.

More recently, during the 19th century, thousands of Indians immigrated to Ethiopian cities like Harar and Addis Ababa, the national capital.

Gujarati-style houses, like that of French merchant-poet Arthur Rimbaud, still decorate the landscapes of both cities.

During Ethiopia's "Jesuit interlude" (1557-1635), Gujarati and Goan craftsmen, arriving on Portuguese ships, found royal employ.

Architects like Abdul Kerim adapted Indian lime-working techniques to Ethiopian materials, helping lay foundations for Ethiopia’s famous Gondarine architecture.

But while evidence of an Indian presence elsewhere in East Africa dates to antiquity, it isn’t until the early-modern period that such presence is well-documented.

Though elusive artifacts like the Kenyan “Shanga Lions” have long hinted at early coastal contacts, more recent genetic surveys all but confirm human ties between India and the medieval Swahili coast, which were amplified during the rule of the Zanzibari sultans.

An Indian girl of Zanzibar, Tanzania, as painted by Irma Sterne.

Though separated by thousands of miles, the monsoon currents of the Indian Ocean have long facilitated contacts, connections, and migrations between Africa and South Asia...

#AfricanHistoryInPictures