SIDI GOMA
 The
Sidis of Gujarat are a tribal Sufi community of East African origin
which came to India eight centuries ago and made Gujarat their home.
They carried with them their exceptionally rich musical tradition and
kept it alive and flourishing through the generations, unknown to the
rest of the world.
Their history is rooted in the slave trade of the 13th century and
beyond, when Arab and later European slave traders systematically captured
thousands of African men, women and children and took them across the
seas for sale to the highest bidders. Many Sidi arrived in India as
slaves to the Maharajas and Nawabs of the day, whilst others came as
merchants, navigators, sailors and slave kings, settling in Gujarat.
Their Nubian features attracted the Arab slave traders because of their
huge demand in many Indian households as trusted servants and status
symbols.
The Sidis are the most musically inclined, who recognise music as a
tool for becoming closer to God. A traditional occupation of African-Indian
Sufis in Gujarat has been to perform sacred music and dance as wandering
faqirs, singing songs to their black Sufi saint, Bava Gor. Many Sidis
also perform as muezzins as they feel closely related to Hazrat Bilal,
a black African man who was the first person chosen by Prophet Mohammed
to recite adhan (call to prayer). Over time, the Sidis' native African
music styles, melodic and rhythmic structures, lyrics and musical instruments
mingled with local influences in Gujarat to form this unique and symbolic
representation of African-Indian spirit.
Web:
www.worldmusiccentral.org
www.mondomix-media.com/womex
www.zanzibarmusic.org
Music:
mp3
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