Afro-Iranians ( fa, ایرانیان آفریقایی‌تبار) are Iranian 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 heritage. Most Afro-Iranians are concentrated in the coastal provinces of Persian Gulf such as Hormozagan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Bushehr 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 ...

History

During the Achaemenid era, the District XVII of the empire were described to comprised "

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 slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to the Persian Gulf, Egypt, Arabia, India, the Far East, 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. 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'', 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, in an area roughly comprising modern-day Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.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 ...

, footballer * Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, Iranians Shia Cleric, Assembly of Experts Member (Afro-Ahwazi Arab) *

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 ...

References

External links

Afro-Iranian Lives
(a documentary film by: Behnaz Mirzai)
Afro-Iran
(an ethnographic photography project and book by: Mahdi Ehsaei)
Afro-Iranians through the Lens of Documentarists
(Review of Behnaz Mirzais' documentaries by: Pedram Khosronejad)
A History of Slavery and Emancipation in Iran, 1800–1929
(Review of Behnaz Mirzai's Book by: Pedram Khosronejad) {{Immigration from Africa African diaspora in Asia Ethnic groups in Iran People of African descent African diaspora in the Middle East

History

Notable Afro-Iranians

See also

Further reading

References

External links