Published August 17, 2025
DAWN
A 19th-century engraving depicting an Arab slave-trading caravan transporting enslaved Africans slaves: although the Indian Ocean slave trade had existed for a long time, it grew considerably in India and other Indian Ocean regions from the late 17th to the mid-19th century | Wikimedia Commons
Before British rule in Sindh, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, Karachi was a hub of the slave trade in the region.
In his 1890 book Kurrachee: Past, Present and Future, the British politician Alexander F. Baillie wrote: “Slavery was an institution; as also was the slave trade. Not only were many slaves kept in the town, but Kurrachee was a great depot for supplying the up-country districts.”
Before British rule in Sindh, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, Karachi was a hub of the slave trade in the region.
In his 1890 book Kurrachee: Past, Present and Future, the British politician Alexander F. Baillie wrote: “Slavery was an institution; as also was the slave trade. Not only were many slaves kept in the town, but Kurrachee was a great depot for supplying the up-country districts.”
During this period, Karachi’s slave market was part of a large Arab-led Indian Ocean slave trade, with Muscat in Oman serving as its centre. When Oman took control of the Swahili coast of East Africa and the nearby Zanzibar archipelago, the slave trade became even more intense. The practice involved raiding parties, mostly composed of local Africans, capturing villagers and handing them over to their Arab patrons, who sold them in the famous slave market on the island of Zanzibar.
Another source of slaves was the spoils of war between tribes, which brought not only gold, silver and other valuables taken from the enemy after the conflict, but also their men, women and children, who were sold in slave markets worldwide. Besides economic gain, this also served as a way to demonstrate power and control.
While the transatlantic slave trade dominates global memory, few know that Karachi was once a thriving hub for ‘black ivory.’ Under the Talpurs, slaves were taxed, categorised and sold — some for as little as sixty rupees. Even after the British abolished slavery, the trade persisted in the shadows…
In this network, slaves destined for Sindh from Zanzibar first arrived in Muscat and were then shipped to Karachi for sale. The local name for these African slaves was ‘Sheedi’.
The slave trade in Karachi reached its peak in the 1830s. This surge was due to the fact that, by then, the British had established control over a large part of the Indian Subcontinent, where they had banned or discouraged the trade. During this period, Sindh, still under the Talpurs, and its port of Karachi, became a hub of the slave trade.
According to Commander Thomas Greer Carless, a British naval officer known for his role in surveying and mapping the coast of Karachi in the 1830s, more than 1,500 slaves arrived in Karachi from Muscat in 1837. Although Sindh was annexed by the British in 1843, the trade in slaves, nicknamed ‘black ivory’, continued for several more decades, though secretly. Writing in his book in 1890, Baillie reported that, in that year, about 25 people were brought to Karachi by slave traders but found no market to sell them.An illustration from the book Slave-catching in the Indian Ocean by Philip Howard Colomb, published in 1873. The book details the British naval campaign to suppress the East African slave trade in the late 19th century
‘BLACK IVORY’ FOR SALE
There were many categories among the slaves. While in most parts of the world, including the transatlantic slave trade, there was higher demand for healthy men to work on agricultural fields under tough conditions, the demand in the Karachi market was primarily for girls and women, who made up about three-fourths of the turnover.
Among males, Sheedi boys were a favoured ‘commodity’ for Karachi’s fishermen, who regarded them as highly intelligent and quick learners, with the potential to become intrepid sailors. Older males were in demand in the upcountry districts for work in agriculture, as the advent of Talpur rule in Sindh in 1783 had led to the distribution of large tracts of land to Talpur notables and other Baloch tribes.
The price for such slaves ranged from sixty to one hundred rupees, depending on “their strength and appearance,” Baillie noted. The locals usually preferred younger slaves over older ones, as there was a higher chance of a mature person fleeing in a flat country such as Sindh.
Another category of slaves brought to Sindh was called ‘Hubshees’, who came from Abyssinia [Habsha] or modern-day Ethiopia. They were seen as a higher class and were imported in smaller numbers, mainly mature females. Their price ranged from Rs170 to Rs250 in Karachi’s market, depending on appearance.
Exceptionally attractive female Hubshee slaves could sell for up to Rs500. Understandably, this class of slaves was bought exclusively by the elites for their households. Sometimes, locals also sought Hubshee boys, but their import depended on a confirmed order and their price was about one hundred rupees.
Yet another group of slaves was brought in from the Makran coast, known as Makrani in local languages. A genetic study of the Makrani population in Karachi, conducted by Romuald Lasso-Jadart et al and published in 2017 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, states “the Makranis are the result of an admixture event between local Baluch tribes and Bantu-speaking populations from eastern or southeastern Africa; we dated this event to 300 years ago during the Omani Empire domination.”
The next class of slaves was not imported but produced locally. It consisted of children born from the union of local Sindhi men and slave women from any of the above categories, with the child considered an extension of their slave mother. These children were called “Gaado”, meaning mixed or combined in the Sindhi language (Baillie has misspelled it as ‘Guddo’, which can be attributed to his unfamiliarity with Sindhi phonetics).
The highest class consisted of the offspring of Sindhi men and Gaado women. These children, born in the palaces and houses of the ruling Talpurs, were given the title of “Qambrani” after Qambar, the most favoured, faithful and freed slave of Hazrat Ali (AS) from earlier Islamic history.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ROLE IN SOCIETY
Most European travellers and authors visiting Sindh during the 18th and 19th centuries praised the treatment of slaves. In a world where slaves faced oppression and cruelty, Sindh was a relatively peaceful place for them. Because of this, many enslaved people in Karachi disliked manumission [being freed], as it could put them into the brutal hands of those outside Sindh.
For instance, Ballie remarked: “The great cruelty of tearing them [slaves] from their parents [by Arab traders] in early childhood was undoubtedly perpetrated on these unfortunate classes but, in their new homes, they do not appear to have suffered any ill-treatment… They were treated as inmates and lived so comfortably that manumission, which was rarely practised, except for religious motives, would have been to them an evil rather than a benefit.”
Another eyewitness, Edward Archer Langley, who served as a British political agent in Khairpur State, wrote in his 1860 book, Narrative of a Residence at the Court of Meer Ali Moorad: “These slaves were treated as inmates of the family and lived so comfortably that emancipation was to them rather an evil than a benefit. In some cases, they rose to distinction and, as confidential servants of the princes, exercised much authority over their inferiors.”
Another English traveller named T. Postans, who visited Sindh in the early 19th century, also discussed the topic in his 1843 book, Personal Observations on Sind. He wrote: “Slavery in a very mild form exists in Sindh: the natives of Zanzibar are brought to the country when very young and are sold to the wealthier classes; but in Sindh… the term slavery does not imply a state of cruel or degrading bondage. Slaves are treated with great consideration and often become the most influential members of a family.”
The primary roles of slaves included serving as soldiers in the army, palace guards, horse-keepers, grass-cutters, day labourers and helpers to various local craftsmen, such as carpenters and blacksmiths. Another major area where they played a significant role was as domestic servants for large landowners and wealthy merchants.
The British explorer and army officer Richard Burton, known for his travels and explorations, provided a vivid description of how slaves in Sindh lived in his 1851 book, Sindh and the Races that Inhabit the Valley of Indus. He wrote: “Their [African slaves] great delights are eating, drinking, music, and dancing… On several occasions, I have seen them dance so long and so violently that more than one performer has been carried off quite insensible.”
Describing the celebrations at Karachi’s Mangho Pir, he wrote: “At a well-known place of pilgrimage near Kurrachee, called Mager-Pir, their dances are more ceremonious and systematic: they are performed under a tamarind or other tree, and an offering of incense is made.”
In this environment, many slaves earned significant fame and recognition. One of the most notable examples is Hosh Muhammad, also known as Hoshu Sheedi, who came from a slave background. His role as part of the Sindhi army against British forces during the 1843 war is highly praised. His famous slogan, “Mar vesoon par Sindh na desoon” [I may die but I will not forsake Sindh], became a proverb.
Another notable example is writer Muhammad Siddiq Musafir, born in 1879, whose father, Gulab Khan, was brought as a slave from Zanzibar via Muscat. Musafir gained recognition as an educator and scholar, having authored over a hundred books and several articles. He died in 1961 and is still regarded as a laureate par excellence in Sindh.
POST-EMANCIPATION SCENARIO
It might be called an irony of fate that the British, against whom Hoshu Sheedi and other African-origin slave soldiers had fought so fiercely in 1843, abolished slavery in Sindh after their victory and freed all the slaves from bondage. In these circumstances, many slaves chose to stay with their former masters, albeit in new roles such as servants and labourers.
Others, in addition to those whose masters could no longer afford them due to their financial hardships under British rule, went ahead to establish their residential communities in villages and towns. In this venture, mutual help, unity and solidarity were their main tools for survival. They found employment as field labourers, domestic servants and craftsmen. In the 20th century, as the British cracked down harder on slavery, Sheedis chose to become tractor drivers and mechanics, unlike traditional poor Sindhis who served as haris or peasants in agricultural fields.
“The sheedis maintained many of their African customs and traditions, the chief among which was the beating of the call-drum (shaped like a kettle-drum) called mugarman or maseendo, and singing songs and hymns in a language peculiar to them, possibly an admixture of Arabic and Swahili,” observed Dr Feroz Ahmed of Howard University in his 1989 research article ‘Africa on the coast of Pakistan.’
In the case of Karachi, Lyari became the most preferred destination for many newly freed slaves because the settlement already had a significant number of former slaves of Sindhi merchants. This transformed Lyari into a large area of irregularly constructed houses, lacking civic amenities. Over time, due to upheavals in the coastal regions of Balochistan, more slaves and non-slaves moved eastward, with some settling in the eastern part of the Makran coast and others in Karachi’s Lyari. As a result, “the Baghdadi sector [neighbourhood] of Lyari, in particular, received a heavy concentration of Black people,” wrote Dr Ahmed.
“Those who had come from Makran were called Makranis, those who came from the state of Lasbela were called Lasis, and those who immigrated from Kutch as a result of famines were called Kutchis. However, for many outsiders, the word makrani became synonymous with the people of African origin,” Dr Ahmed explained.
They adapted to the new conditions of their lives and took up work as dock workers, porters, donkey cart drivers, as well as fishermen and boat crew in Karachi. Some of them, familiar with agricultural jobs, moved to Malir, where they began working on farms.
Today, centuries after their ancestors’ enslavement and forced removal from Africa, most of their descendants are poor and live in poverty-stricken conditions in Lyari. Despite this, they have kept vital aspects of African culture alive in Karachi and throughout Sindh. One of their proud cultural legacies kept alive is the Sheedi dance, with or without the Mugarman drum, which is performed not only at numerous shrines in Karachi and Makran, but also at wedding ceremonies.
While these are undoubtedly important cultural and social legacies of people of African descent in Karachi, I believe the most significant legacy is the socially and culturally liberated Black women of Lyari. As Dr Ahmed rightly noted, it was the women of Lyari alone who could sing and dance in the streets about the victory of their favoured political party in elections, when no one else could even imagine this kind of celebration.
The writer is the president of Citizens’ Education and Empowerment Society and a former university vice chancellor. He can be reached at drshaikhma@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, EOS, August 17th, 2025
While these are undoubtedly important cultural and social legacies of people of African descent in Karachi, I believe the most significant legacy is the socially and culturally liberated Black women of Lyari. As Dr Ahmed rightly noted, it was the women of Lyari alone who could sing and dance in the streets about the victory of their favoured political party in elections, when no one else could even imagine this kind of celebration.
The writer is the president of Citizens’ Education and Empowerment Society and a former university vice chancellor. He can be reached at drshaikhma@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, EOS, August 17th, 2025
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