Makrani

Makrani (Urdu/Persian: مکرانی) are the inhabitants of Makran coast of Balochistan in Iran and Pakistan.

Sheedi

Black Africans were enslaved and brought to Balochistan in medieval times. The descendants are called Makrani or Sheedi. The Sheedis (also called Habshi, from Arabic حبشي ḥabashi) are a Negroid people in Pakistan. They are the descendants of slaves first brought to Pakistan by Arab merchants in medieval times from the Bantu-speaking parts of eastern Africa. Siddis were referred to as Zanj by Arabs, and Seng Chi (a malapropism of Zanj) by the Chinese.^[1][2][3]

Most Makranis in Pakistan have Black Africans links from the female side. Many Sindhi feudals imported African female slaves; so did the Omani Arabs of Gwadar, a coastal city of Balochistan which was in control of Oman in the 17th century. According to Dr. Sengupta's seminal study, the Y-DNA analysis reveals E3a at a frequency distribution of 5%. On the other hand, mtDNA analysis reveals approx 40% L1a, L2a, L2b, L2d.^[4]

See also

• Sheedi Mela

Notes

1. ^ David Brion Davis, Challenging the boundaries of slavery, (Harvard University Press: 2006), p.12
2. ^ Roland Oliver, Africa in the Iron Age: c.500 BC-1400 AD, (Cambridge University Press: 1975), p.192
3. ^ F.R.C. Bagley et al., The Last Great Muslim Empires, (Brill: 1997), p.174
4. ^ Genetic Map of Pakistan

References

• John B. Edlefsen, Khalida Shah, Mohsin Farooq, "Makranis, the Negroes of West Pakistan", Phylon (1960-), Vol. 21, No. 2 (2nd Qtr., 1960), pp. 124-130, Published by: Clark Atlanta University
• Nicolini, Beatrice, The Makran-Baluch-African Network in Zanzibar and East Africa during the XIXth Century, African and Asian Studies, Volume 5, Numbers 3-4, 2006 , pp. 347-370(24)