Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
people of
African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
Zanj
Zanj ( ar, زَنْج, adj. , ''Zanjī''; fa, زنگی, Zangi) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is also ...
heritage. Most Afro-Iranians are concentrated in the coastal provinces of
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
Bushehr
Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...
and
Khuzestan
Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...
Paricanians
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
and Asiatic Ethiopians".
The Indian Ocean slave trade was multi-directional and changed over time. To meet the demand for menial labor, black slaves captured by
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
, the
Indian Ocean islands
The islands of the Indian Ocean are part of either the eastern, western, or southern areas. Some prominently large islands include Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.
Eastern Indian Ocean
* Andaman Islands (I ...
and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
Others came as immigrants throughout the centuries or from Portuguese slave traders who had conquered southern Iran.
During Qajar rule, many wealthy households imported Black African women and children as slaves to perform domestic work alongside Eastern European Circassian slaves. This slave labor was drawn largely from the ''
Zanj
Zanj ( ar, زَنْج, adj. , ''Zanjī''; fa, زنگی, Zangi) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is also ...
'', who were
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
-speaking peoples that lived along the coast of the
Southeast Africa
Southeast Africa or Southeastern Africa is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa. It comprises the countries Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania ...
, in an area roughly comprising modern-day
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
and
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
.F.R.C. Bagley et al., ''The Last Great Muslim Empires'', (Brill: 1997), p.174Bethwell A. Ogot, ''Zamani: A Survey of East African History'', (East African Publishing House: 1974), p.104 However,
Mohammad Shah Qajar
Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar dynasty, Qajar ''shah'' of Qajar Iran, Iran from 1834 to 1848, having succeeded his grandfather Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, M ...
, under British pressure, issued a ''
firman
A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...
'' suppressing the slave trade in 1848.
Bandari music has strong influence from the Afro-Iranian community.
Notable Afro-Iranians
*
Abdolreza Barzegari
Abdolreza Barzegari ( fa, عبدالرضا برزگری; born 3 July 1958 in Abadan, Iran) is a former Iranian football player.
Playing career
Barzagari known as "The Persian Black Pearl", he started playing football at a young age in his neigh ...
, footballer
*
Abdul Karim Farhani
Abdul Karim Farhani (Persian language, Persian: عبدالکریم فرحانی) is regarded as an Iranian principlists, principlist member of Assembly of Experts, who is one of Khuzestan province representatives in the 5th period of that. He was ...
, Iranian Shia Cleric, Assembly of Experts Member
*
Ali Firouzi
Ali Firouzi ( fa, علی فیروزی; born 11 March 1955 in Abadan, Iran) is an Iranian Football (soccer), football Coach (sport), coach and retired player who recently served as caretaker manager at Sanat Naft F.C., Sanat Naft, in the absence ...
, footballer and coach
*
Mehrab Shahrokhi
Mehrab Shahrokhi ( fa, محراب شاهرخی; February 2, 1944 – February 1, 1993) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian football (soccer), footballer.
He was an Afro-Iranians, Afro-Iranian from Khuzestan Province. He was nicknamed ''The Black Bom ...
Shanbehzadeh Ensemble
The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble ( fa, گروه شنبه زاده) is an Iran, Iranian Folk music, folk band, formed in Bushehr in 1990. The band offers a rare aspect of the traditional music and dance of the Persian Gulf, more specially of the province ...
, Iranian folk band
* Dennis Walker, footballer of Afro-Iranian descent, first black player to play for
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
See also
*
Zanj
Zanj ( ar, زَنْج, adj. , ''Zanjī''; fa, زنگی, Zangi) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is also ...
*
Siddi
The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived to ...
, people of Zanj descent in Pakistan and India.
*
Shirazi people
The Shirazi people, also known as Mbwera, are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the Swahili coast and the nearby Indian ocean islands. They are particularly concentrated on the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Comoros.Swahili coast.
*
Afro-Iraqi
Afro-Iraqis are Iraqi people of African Zanj heritage. Historically, their population has concentrated in the southern port city of Basra, as Basra was the capital of the slave trade in Iraq. Afro-Iraqis speak Arabic and mostly adhere to Islam. S ...
*
Afro-Arab
Afro-Arabs are Arabs of full or partial Black African descent. These include populations within mainly the Sudanese Arabs, Sudanese, Emiratis, Al-Akhdam, Yemenis, Afro-Saudis, Saudis, Afro-Omanis, Omanis, Sahrawis, Mauritanians, Algerians, Egyp ...
*
Afro Turks
Afro-Turks ( tr, Afrikalı Türkler) are Turkish people of African Zanj ( Bantu) descent, who trace their origin to the Ottoman slave trade like the Afro-Abkhazians. Afro-Turk population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 20,000 people. Afr ...
Haji Firuz
Hāji Firuz ('' fa, حاجی فیروز'') or Khwāje Piruz ('' fa, خواجه پیروز'') is a fictional character in Iranian folklore who appears in the streets by the beginning of Nowruz. His face is covered in soot, and he is clad in bright ...
, fictional blackface character in
Iranian folklore
Iranian folklore encompasses the folk traditions that have evolved in Greater Iran.
Oral legends
Folktales
Storytelling has an important presence in Iranian culture. In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts and ...
Kehrer Verlag
Kehrer Verlag is an art book publisher based in Heidelberg, Germany, specializing in photography, fine art, and sound art. Its books are produced in cooperation with Kehrer Design, the affiliated office for design and image processing.
History
T ...