Afro-Iranians () refers to

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

people with significant

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

ancestry. Most Afro-Iranians are concentrated in the southern

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, including Hormozgan, Sistan and Balochistan,

Bushehr Bushehr (; ) is a port city in the Central District (Bushehr County), Central District of Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Bushehr province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Etymology The roots of the n ...

Khuzestan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

, and Fars. They are split between Afro-Iranians who identify as

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Iranian Arab, or Baloch.

History

The

Indian Ocean slave trade The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade, involved the capture and transportation of predominately sub-Saharan African slaves along the coasts, such as the Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa, and through ...

was multi-directional and changed over time. To meet the demand for menial labor, enslaved black people who were captured by

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over centuries to; the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

, the Indian Ocean islands and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Others came as immigrants throughout many millennia or from Portuguese slave traders who occupied most of the contested

Ormus The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz or Hormuz; ; ) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in the 11th century initially as a dependency of ...

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas (, ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Bandar Abbas is a port on the southern coast of the country, on the Persian ...

, Hormoz and Qeshm island ports in southern Iran by early

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

. During Qajar rule, many wealthy households imported Black African women and children to perform domestic work alongside Eastern European Circassian slaves. This was largely drawn from the ''

Zanj Zanj (, adj. , ''Zanjī''; from ) is a term used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. It has also been used to refer to Africans col ...

'', who were Bantu-speaking peoples that lived alongside Southeast Africa.F.R.C. Bagley et al., ''The Last Great Muslim Empires'', (Brill: 1997), p.174 In an area roughly comprising modern-day

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

.Bethwell A. Ogot, ''Zamani: A Survey of East African History'', (East African Publishing House: 1974), p.104 Under British pressure, Mohammad Shah Qajar issued a ''

firman A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...

'' suppressing slave trade in 1848.

Notable Afro-Iranians

* Abdolreza Barzegari, footballer * Abdul Karim Farhani, Iranian Shia cleric, Assembly of Experts member * Ali Firouzi, footballer and coach *

Mehrab Shahrokhi Mehrab Shahrokhi (; February 2, 1944 – February 1, 1993) was an Iranian footballer. He was an Afro-Iranian from Khuzestan Province. He was nicknamed ''The Black Bomber'' () because of his style of play and dark skin and his strong kicks. Clu ...

, footballer * Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, Iranian Shia cleric, Assembly of Experts member (Afro-Ahwazi Arab) * Shanbehzadeh Ensemble, Iranian folk band * Dennis Walker, footballer of Afro-Iranian descent, first black player to play for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 Afro-Asians People of African descent African diaspora in the Middle East Arab ethnic groups

History

Notable Afro-Iranians

See also

Further reading

References

External links