Asians in Africa

See also: Indian diaspora in East Africa

People from, or with roots from, Asia live throughout Africa. Some came in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as indentured labour or coolies. For example, workers from the Indian subcontinent moved within the British Empire to build the railway linking Mombasa to Nairobi, thus laying the foundations for the colony of Kenya; many stayed at the end of their terms of contract, and form the basis of the Sikh and Ismaeli communities. Relations between Asians and the black majority have not always been easy; most notably, Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda, expelled all Indians in 1972. Other Asians came more recently to Africa as traders and professional workers especially in Mozambique with its huge flock of Indians. Indians in Mozambique have had a long history with their origins in Mozambique.

One possible exception is the Merina people of Madagascar. This dominant ethnic group is commonly accepted as indigenous to Madagascar, though they are likely descendants of Malay, Polynesian, Middle Eastern, and Northern African immigrations. For example, the Malagasy language is unrelated to nearby African languages, instead being the westernmost member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

Kenya

National Geographic also published an article by Frank Viviano in July 2005, he visited Pate Island during the time he stayed on Lamu, ceramic fragments had been found around Lamu which the administrative officer of the local Swahili history museum claimed were of Chinese origin, specifically from Zheng He's vorage to east Africa. The eyes of the Pate people resembled Chinese and Famao and Wei were some of the names among them which were speculated to be of Chinese origin. Their ancestors were said to be from indigenous women who intermarried with Chinese Ming sailors when they were shipwrecked. Two places on Pate were called "Old Shanga", and "New Shanga", which the Chinese sailors had named. A local guide who claimed descent from the Chinese showed Frank a graveyard made out of coral on the island, indicating that they were the graves of the Chinese sailors, which the author described as "virtually identical", to Chinese Ming dynasty tombs, complete with "half-moon domes" and "terraced entries".^[1]

South Africa

The largest Asian population in Africa lies in South Africa, which holds over 1.2 million 'South Africa Indians' or 'Asians' brought over from the Indian subcontinent during the 19th and 20th century, most often by their own choice during the 20th century. They now make up to 8% in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. Although they are not discriminated against as badly as blacks, they did not receive the same rights as whites between the 1950s and the 1980s (for black people it being between 1948–1994), but are currently the second wealthiest ethnic group in the country, having made many accomplishments after their segregation was abolished. Currently they make up 2.6% of the national population.

There is also a large minority of Chinese people, numbering 200,000.

According to Melanie Yap and Daniel Leong Man in their book "Colour, Confusions and Concessions: the History of Chinese in South Africa", Chu Ssu-pen, a Chinese mapmaker, in 1320 had southern Africa drawn on one of his maps. Ceramics found in Zimbabwe and South Africa dated back to Song dynasty China. Some tribes to Cape Town's north claimed descent from Chinese sailors during the 1200s, their physical appearance is similar to Chinese with paler skin and a Mandarin sounding tonal language. Their name for themselves is "abandoned people", Awatwa in their language.^[2]

See also

• Asian South African
• Chinese South Africans
• Indian South Africans
• Indians in Kenya
• Indians in Mozambique
• Koreans in Africa
• Indian diaspora in East Africa
• White African

References

1. ^ Frank Viviano (July 2005). "China's Great Armada, Admiral Zheng He". NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: p. 6. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/china/zheng-he-text/6. Retrieved September 29, 2011. 
2. ^ Alex Perry (Friday, Aug. 01, 2008). "A Chinese Color War". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828432,00.html. Retrieved September 29, 2011. 

External links

• www.asiansinafrica.com