Dr Shihan de Silva

Contact details

Name:

Dr Shihan de Silva

Qualifications:

BSc (Econ)(London), MSc(Finance)(London), PhD (Linguistics) (Westminster)

Position/Fellowship type:

Senior Research Fellow

Fellowship term:

01-Jun-2007 to 30-Sep-2015

Institute:

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Phone:

020 7862 8844

Email address:

shihan.desilva@sas.ac.uk

Website:

http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/index.php?id=171

Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Communities, Classes, Races, Contemporary History, Cultural memory, Globalization & Development, History of art, Human rights, International Relations, Literatures in a modern language, Social Sciences

Regions:

Africa, Asia, Europe

Summary of research interests and expertise:

migration, commerce and cultural exchange in the Indian Ocean; the Malay and Portuguese diasporas; the history of African migration eastwards; the origins of Afro-Asians including ethnomusicological and linguistic research

Shihan serves on the editorial boards of African Diaspora and Transnationalism (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers) and African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage (California: Left Coast Press).

She continues to serve on the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project (Paris, France).

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/rsw/current/cscs/key_figures/academics/desilva/

http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/south-asias-africans/

Across South Asia, there are isolated communities of African origin – often disadvantaged and with only tenuous links to the continent of their forbears. Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, a London-based researcher, explains how her interest in these communities was first aroused, and how diverse patterns of migration still shape the situation of people widely known today as ‘Sidis’:

Project summary relevant to Fellowship:

Shihan's latest book - The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories (UK: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010) concerns the global movement of Africans, the routes of migration and cultural survivals.

http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=8062&pc=9

http://www.historyandpolicy.org/research/new-books/newbook_2.html

http://www.royalafricansociety.org/events/details/1057-the-african-diaspora-in-asian-trade-routes-and-cultural-memories.html

With increase of migration, diaspora studies have become a more significant part of global history. The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories by Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya (Published by Edwin Mellen Press, UK) contributes to building a more comprehensive narrative of the global African movement. Concerned with Africans who migrated beyond the Indian Ocean, even to China and Japan, the book aims to stimulate scholarship on African movement to Asia and also to increase awareness of the history of Afro-Asian communities who still live in isolated pockets of Asia.

Uncovering a slave route from Madagascar to Sumatra, the author identifies points of origin of slaves - Mozambique, Madagascar, Angola. Dr de Silva Jayasuriya argues that Africans played a vital role as interpreters, musicians and facilitators of cultural transformation and theorises on how Africans themselves were affected by the process of migration.


http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/the_african_diaspora_in_asia_trade_routes_and_cultural_memories/

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
01-Jan-2013	Sidis of India Articles   Sidis of India There were several waves of African migrations to India over the centuries, numerous pushes and pulls with Africans finding new homes in different parts of India. Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya   Sidis drumming at religious festival Sidis performing seated dhamal (sacred dance) and zikr (sacred songs) at Bava Gor's shrine in Bhuj (Kutch). Abbas Sidi playing Mai Misra (coconut rattle), Wasim Jamadar playing Sidi Malunga (braced musical bow) at Bava Gor's shrine in Bhuj (Kutch). Movement of Africans to Asia, their achievements in the hostlands and their role in modern India is little known. An estimated 60,000 Sidis (Indians of African origin), go unnoticed in a country with a population of 1.2 billion whose diversity is as wide as the Indian Ocean. Africans in India were known as Sidis and by many other terms through time and space. Habshi or Makrani, associated them with the geographic region from where they originated (al Habash – Ethiopia) or settled down (Makran Coast). They were also known as Cafre (from Arabic qafr – ‘non-believer’) or Chaush (a Turkish word which means ‘military commander’ or ‘officer in charge’) and by several other local terms. Africans ruled parts of India from the 16th century African sailors, missionaries and traders moved freely to Asia. After all, part of Africa’s coast is on the Indian Ocean. Janjira, an island off the west coast of India, became the base for African traders from the thirteenth century. Three hundred years later, from the sixteenth century, the same island became a power base for Africans who ruled parts of India. In 1948, a year after independence, when India’s princely states were absolved and incorporated into the new India, two States, Janjira and Sachin, were ruled by Sidis. Murud Ganj Palace, in Janjira, is being restored by its current occupant, the grandson of the last Nawab of Janjira, Sidi Mohammed Khan III. The democratic system of electing leaders based on merit, aptitude and capability, rather than on social rank and heredity, contributed to the longevity of African rule in Janjira. Sidis ruled Janjira for 330 years (from 1618 to 1948) and Sachin which was an offshoot of Janjira, for more than 150 years (from 1791 to 1948).   A century before Africans ruled western India, they ruled Eastern India for a short spell of seven years. At the end of the fifteenth century (1487 to 1493), there were four Habshi rulers. From their intimate position as palace guards in the Bengal Sultanate, Habshis overthrew the ruler and gained control. Elite slavery channelled slaves to prominent roles Prominent Sidis such as Malik Ambar have been written into Indian history. Ambar, an Ethiopian, was sold to slavery by his parents, but became the Regent Minister of Ahmednagar in 1600. Ambar’s extraordinary life and achievements are unsurpassable. Yet he was not the only Sidi who reached the corridors of power. Elite slavery channelled slaves to prominent roles and leadership positions. The tomb of Malik Ambar in Khuldabad indicates the respect he commanded as a military leader, strategist and philanthropist.   The majority of Sidis are, however, lost in the forests or villages. Those in urban areas are mistaken for tourists until they begin to speak in the local languages. Their presence was brought to the fore when tourism was developed in the Gir forest (Gujarat). There are about 25,000 Sidis spread out in various parts of Gujarat. Given the importance of western India and the Malabar Coast in Indian Ocean trade, it is not surprising that Africans found their way to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa. Slaves running away from the Portuguese in Goa formed maroon communities in the neighbouring State of Karnataka, where there are about 25,000 Sidis. In the South Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, there are about 10,000 Sidis (also known as Chaush). Their ancestors were brought from Yemen by the Nizams of Hyderabad to form an African cavalry. After India’s independence, Sidis lost their important role within the power structure. Disempowered and impoverished, they continue to live in Hyderabad, in an area called African Cavalry Guards. Most Sidis now speak local languages and they are Indian In Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) the Sidis are the descendants of the Nawab’s African cavalry and female bodyguards. Africans fought, bravely and fearlessly, for the losing Nawab, during the Indian Mutiny, in 1857, the turning point for British rule in India. English soldiers were not aware that the brave soldiers who fought so courageously against them were women until after their deadbodies were found in the Sikander Bagh. A few Sidis also live in Madya Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Africans were exposed to different religious systems en route to India and even in India. Conversion was common and there are Muslim, Christian and Hindu Sidis. Wherever Sidis have assimilated, identification becomes problematic. Physiognomical features alone are not sufficient to identify Sidis. Inter-religious marriages prevail among Sidis. Religious identity can wash over ethnic identity. Marriages between Muslim Sidis and other Indian Muslims is acceptable. At times, ethnicity overrides other identities. Religious beliefs and practices vary and there is no homogeneity in terms of the Indian languages they speak. Nor is there uniformity in their status today. Their fates and fortunes follow their exposure to activists and politicians. Sidis in Shaurashtra and Uttar Kannad have been accorded Scheduled Tribe status, which entitles them to reserved quotas in employment and educational establishments. All Sidis wish to benefit from India’s affirmative action plans but most Sidis are classified as Other Backward Castes. There were several waves of African migrations to India, and the history of Sidis is multi-layered. Over the centuries, there have been numerous pushes and pulls with Africans originating from various points of the continent and finding new homes in different parts of India. Many legends and histories surround their arrival in India. African languages have been lost in the process of settling down and indigenisation. A few elderly can recall KiSwahili and their songs have preserved a few words of their ancestral language, though KiSwahili was not necessarily the mother-tongue of African migrants. Africans came to India as servants in the 1920s, 1930s and even later on and the elderly Sidis say that they learnt KiSwahili from their grandparents. As most Sidis were born in India, they now speak the local languages: Gujarathi, Marathi, Kannada and Telugu. Colonisation, slavery and globalisation were drivers of migration. Concentrations of Sidis from the same ethnolinguistic group was rare as they were often separated for fear of rebellions. The trend in the Indian Ocean World was for slaves to drift away from their own cultural identity, and to adopt a new one. Inevitably there is tension between integration and assimilation. Several generations of Sidis were born in India and now they are Indian. They are able to reconcile their hybrid identity saying: “We’re Indian and African”. Sidis blend in with the multicultural mosaic of India. In terms of clothing, housing and language, they cannot be differentiated from others. What really draws Sidis apart from other Indians is their artistic traditions. Melodies and themes in Sidi music have been identified as Tanzanian or Ethiopian. Their cultural memory is strong; music and dance connect them to Africa. Sidis believe they are descendants of Prophet Muhammed’s first Muezzin, Hazrat Bilal, an Ethiopian whose beautiful voice and devotion to the Prophet won him this important position. This underscores the importance of music and dance in their identity. Noble courts were entertained by Sidi servants playing ngoma on drums, rattles and conch shells. Goma has been a vehicle for Sidis to travel outside their villages. Dressed in animal skins, pinned with peacock feathers and with painted faces, Sidis have performed in Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Tanzania, the United Kingdom and United States. A few Sidis have visited Africa. A Sidi who just returned to India after performing Goma at a cultural festival in Nairobi, told me about his pleasant experiences of visiting his ‘homeland’. Diasporic consciousness also grows with increased awareness of Africa and visits to Africa. Music and dance anchors Sidis to Africa, whilst adapting to their hostland. In Gujarat, Sidis have carved out a new identity and were able to maintain certain aspects of their heritage by gathering at the shrines of their Saints: Bava Gor, Bava Habash and Mai Misra. Sidi Sufi practices involve music, song and dance. With their polyrhythmic drumming, Goma brings their African roots to the fore. Beating African drums (mugarman which stands on feet, musindo which is similar to a dhol only played with the hands, armpit drums which resemble talking drums), strumming braced musical bows (malunga), shaking coconut rattles (Mai Mishra) and blowing conch trumpets (nafir) all contribute to the authenticity of the performance whilst signalling their difference. In western India, music and dance, have become entwined with religious practices which altogether have ascribed a new role for Sidis. Sidis dream of an All India Sidi Association In Gujarat, Sidis themselves have established the Sidi Goma al Mubrik Charitable Trust. The goals of the Trust are to enhance the economic, social and educational needs of the community. The family who initiated this Trust served the Maharajah of Bhavnagar and was rewarded for their loyal services. A sense of Sidi identity and their African heritage is developing further as scholars and journalists take an interest in these Indians who are still identifiably African. Together with their sense of ethnic identity, solidarity grows and also dreams of an All India Sidi Association. Due to the diverse linguistic situation in India, on the rare occasions that Sidis have met their kinfolk from other regions, they cannot speak to each other without an interpreter. The heterogeneous origins of Sidis, add to the complexity of their cultural survivals. In Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), where the Sidis have originated from Yemen, drum bands beating out their African connections, are popular at local weddings and other social occasions. Also popular are their Daff groups, the Daff being a round single-headed frame drum. Association with Africa is, at times, played down due to the stigma of slavery and the slave trade. Sidis in Hyderabad stress their Yemeni origins. The recent trend in Gujarat also has been for Sidis to highlight their association with India’s royal households. They speak with nostalgia about the important positions they held within the royal palace and they cling to their pleasant memories. Sidis remember with nostalgia their families’ associations with the Maharajahs, Maharanis, Nawabs and royal households when they held important positions as bodyguards, chief cooks and guardians of the jewellery boxes due to their unfailing trustworthiness. South Asians of African descent also live in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Movement from Africa and the formation of communities united by a common cultural heritage and memory of migration may be a surprise to many as acculturation, disenfranchisement, marginalisation and the diversity of South Asia have led to the concealment of these communities. Sidis have various African roots and their forebears came to South Asia on different routes, both over land and by sea. Regardless of their roots and routes, today Sidis enhance the diversity of India.
01-Jan-2012	India's Hidden Affican Communities Global October 2012
01-Jan-2012	Musing on Kaffrinha and Baila Journal articles Ceylankan Journal 60, Vol.XV, Number 4, November 2012 (Australia)
01-Jan-2012	Survival Against All Odds: Longevity of Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole. Edited Book In:  Language Contact:  A Multidimensional Perspective.  Ed:  K Ihemere.  Newcastle:  Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2012).
01-Jan-2011	African Migration: Understanding Trends and Traditons (Special Guest Editor) African and Asian Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers)
01-Jan-2011	Recruiting Africans to the British Regiments in Ceylon: Spillover Effects of Abolition in the Atlantic African and Asian Studies 10 (2011): 15-31 This paper focuses on the displacement of Africans, spurred by the tradition of recruiting soldiers to serve in both Asian and European armies. It considers the pressure to recruit Africans to the British regiments in Ceylon (called Sri Lanka since 1971) as documented in historical records in the National Archives and how this process was affected by Abolition in the Atlantic. It highlights the spillover effects, of abolishing the transatlantic slave trade, into other oceans.
01-Jan-2011	Language Maintenance and Loss among Afro-Asians in South Asia. In: Language Contact and Language Shift: Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Ed: K Ihemere. Munich: Lincom Academic Publishers.
01-Jan-2011	South Asia’s Africans: A Forgotten People Journal articles History Workshop Online: UK Across South Asia, there are isolated communities of African origin – often disadvantaged and with only tenuous links to the continent of their forbears. Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, a London-based researcher, explains how her interest in these communities was first aroused, and how diverse patterns of migration still shape the situation of people widely known today as ‘Sidis’:
01-Jan-2010	Persisting Portuguese Linguistic Imprints in India and Sri Lanka In: Portuguese in the Orient (Kandy: International Centre for Ethnic Studies)
01-Jan-2010	The African diaspora in Asian trade routes and cultural memories Monographs
01-Jan-2010	The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories UK: Edwin Mellen Press With increase of migration, diaspora studies have become a more significant part of global history. The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories by Dr Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya (Published by Edwin Mellen Press, UK) contributes to building a more comprehensive narrative of the global African movement. Concerned with Africans who migrated beyond the Indian Ocean, even to China and Japan, the book aims to stimulate scholarship on African movement to Asia and also to increase awareness of the history of Afro-Asian communities who still live in isolated pockets of Asia. Uncovering a slave route from Madagascar to Sumatra, the author identifies points of origin of slaves - Mozambique, Madagascar, Angola. Dr de Silva Jayasuriya argues that Africans played a vital role as interpreters, musicians and facilitators of cultural transformation and theorises on how Africans themselves were affected by the process of migration.
01-Jan-2008	Uncovering the History of Africans in Asia Edited Book Brill Academic Publishers: Leiden, Netherlands. The presence of Africans in Asia has been overshadowed by the tragedy of Atlantic slavery. Identifying Africans in Asia therefore challenges contemporary scholarship. Within this context, the processes of assimilation and marginalisation hinder identification of African migrants. This book demonstrates the multiplicity of roles performed by Africans and the heights that a few of them reached, even in a single generation. Drawing on a variety of sources, both oral and documented, this book reveals the extent of the African presence in Asia.
01-Jan-2008	Portuguese in the East: Cultural History of a Maritime Trading Empire London: IB Tauris Academic Publishers Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in the late 15th Century opened up new economic and cultural horizons for the Portuguese. At the height of Portugal's maritime influence, it had created an oceanic state ranging from the Cape of Good Hope to China. While Portugal's direct political influence in Asia was comparatively short-lived, its linguistic influence remains. Here Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya charts the influences of the Portuguese in more than fifty Asian tongues, illustrating the extent of Lusitanian links. Luso-Asian influence became engrained in eastern cultures in more subtle ways than other European empires which followed, such as the Portuguese oral traditions in folk literature, now embedded in postcolonial Asian music and song. These Portuguese cultural legacies are a lasting reminder of an unexpected outcome of seaborne commerce
01-Jan-2008	African Identity in Asia: Cultural Effects of Forced Migration New Jersey: Markus Wiener Publishers In contrast to the dispersion of slaves across the Atlantic, African movement to Asia has received scant attention, because forced migrations across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, which endured for centuries, were not part of a significant economic network. However, Britain’s commemoration in 2007 of the bicentennial of its abolishing the trans-Atlantic slave trade has now stimulated interest in other African migrations. In a book that encompasses the strong military impact made by even first-generation African migrants in Asia, as well as the descendants of the royal Africans who governed Sachin and Janjira (India), Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya further demonstrates that African music and dance have not only survived the brutalities of forced migration but have also contributed to the local Middle Eastern and South Asian arts scene. Even though spirit possession ceremonies have been preserved as a form of cultural identity, new, blended forms of music that evolved in Asia have now become indigenized in the host countries. Forced African migrants have become inadvertent cultural brokers between two continents. Combining historical accounts, both documented and oral, this groundbreaking work explores—through case studies, and through the processes of assimilation, social mobility, and marginalization—the silent history and conflicting identity of Asia’s Africans.
01-Jan-2008	African migrants as cultural brokers in South Asia Paris: UNESCO. African migrants found themselves in Asia, largely due to the slave trade. This paper explores cultural flows between Africa and Asia, highlighting the role of music. The lyrics of the Afro-Asian songs are a database exposing African linguistic links with Asia. The musical talents of the Afro-Asians need to be nurtured. Their music is internationally marketable but needs a market-maker.
01-Jan-2008	India and the African Diaspora In: Encyclopedia of African Diaspora. Ed: Carole Boyce-Davies.
01-Jan-2006	Trading on a thalassic network: African migrations across the Indian Ocean Articles International Social Science Journal Volume 58, Issue 188, pages 215–225, June 2006 African migration eastwards has received far less academic attention than that across the Atlantic. While westwards migration was concentrated over a few centuries, migration across the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean has been continuing for over a millennium. Migration eastwards was both free and forced. Nevertheless, slavery and the slave trade were a major force in this phenomenon. Displaced Africans found themselves amongst people who had diverse cultural values and who spoke different languages. Within this context, the ethnicity of the slaves was not important to the slavers. Often slaves were separated from their kith and kin. This situation gave rise to cultural transformations but music and dance are among the striking cultural retentions. Creolisation resulted in some instances, while contemporary Afro-Asian communities are marginalised. This article considers the plight of the descendants of African migrants to the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.
01-Jan-2003	The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean Edited Book Although much has been written about the African Diaspora in the Atlantic Ocean, the Diaspora in the Indian Ocean is virtually unrecognized. Concerned with Africans, who lived south of the Sahara and were dispersed by free will or forcefully to the non-African lands in the Indian Ocean region, this books deals with a topic that has long been overlooked. Eight scholars, researching the African Diaspora in distinct geographical locations in the Indian Ocean region and with expertise in the areas of history, anthropology, linguistics, international relations, politics and sociology, have contributed papers to this book.

Additional Publications

Publications available on SAS-space

Consultancy reports:

Date	Details
2009	Slave Route Project: Meeting of the International Committee Report to the Executive Council UNESCO

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
01-Jan-2013	Encounters, Cultural Flows and Hybridity in the Indian Ocean Abstract European Intervention of Indian Ocean trade commencing in the late fifteenth century resulted in unpredictable effects on the cultures of the people in the region. Encounters of the Portuguese, the first westerners to engage in commerce with South Asians are studied through historical sources. But these sources are insufficient and other means must be explored. This paper reconsiders the Portuguese encounter in the region taking into account material culture. Homi Bhabha pointed out that the meaning and symbols of culture have no primordial unity or fixity; the same signs can be appreciated, translated, rehistoricised, and read anew. The notion of hybridity as applied to cross-cultural outcomes will be interrogated.
01-Jan-2013	History on Film: Slavery & The African Diaspora from a Global Perspective  30 January, 20 February and 27 February Our film series and panel discussions with the filmmakers propose to make visible people of African descent in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Brazil, Benin and along the Swahili Coast in East Africa. By including films from the South Atlantic World, Indian Ocean World and Africa, we aim to throw light on the points of origin and destination of slaves. Rarely in the history of slavery has it been possible to correlate the trajectories of the home societies of slaves and the slave regime at the destination. Slavery has also been all too often studied in isolation from Africa. The focus has mainly been on the North Atlantic World. Indeed, the cultural dimension of Diasporas has long been observed in the North Atlantic World, but it has received only scant attention within the context of emancipated slave communities elsewhere. By combining the two oceanic worlds, the films and the discussion panels aim at questioning these biases. They examine the processes of integration and assimilation in the different African Diasporas, and how these communities produced diasporic cultural spheres which today surely constitute memoryscapes of the history of slavery. Organised by Dr Marie Rodet (SOAS), Dr Shihan de Silva (Institute of Commonwealth Studies), Dr Parvathi Raman (SOAS), Dr Dina Matar, (SOAS), Angelica Baschiera (SOAS).
01-Jan-2013	Gondar's Child: Songs, Honor & Identity Among Ethiopian Jews In Israel The Centre of African Studies, University of London, is pleased to invite you to the launch of Gondar's Child: Songs, Honor & Identity Among Ethiopian Jews In Israel With author Marilyn Herman Chaired by Dr Shihan de Silva (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London) 17 January 2013 5pm-6.30pm Room 4421 College Buildings SOAS, University of London Part of CAS African Seminar Series   About the book In Ethiopia, Ethiopian Jews were attributed with dishonourable status because of their perceived dissociation from the land.  Yet they derived their self-ascribed honour from their link with Israel, expressed through their name:  Betä Israel (“House of Israel”).     In the Israeli context, the Betä Israel’s association with Ethiopia constitutes both a limiting factor to their honour, leading to a concern among Betä Israel with the image of their ethnic group, and constitutes also a medium for the pursuit of honour.  It is in these terms, and in its concern to progress, that the Betä Israel Band of Porachat HaTikva (Blossoming Hope) is viewed as a microcosm of Bet Israel society in Israel.  As such, the Band is portrayed as expressive of a shift taking place in Betä Israel identity in Israel in terms of gender and generational relationships, and of the discursiveness between values in tune with their traditional village identity and those they associate with the “decadent” Ethiopian town.     Traditional Ethiopian song-types which form the repertoire of the Band are turned to the Israeli context of the time, amid major international political events, including the first Gulf War.  Through the adaptation and performance of these songs, honourable values – heroism, patriotism, and honourable expressions of love, are attributed to the Betä Israel, and the Band in particular. Among these songs, those of reminiscence and relating to their migration to Israel provide the focus for various perspectives on this migration, from the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, to the painful memories of a land of birth and history, where family members were left behind. About the author Marilyn Herman received her D.Phil in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford.  She has tutored at Oxford University, taught at San Francisco State University, and has carried out in-depth research relating to Ethiopian Jewish music and society, and to Jewish music and society in Yemen in relation to gender and ethnicity.   ALL WELCOME
01-Jan-2013	Migration across the Oceanic Worlds: Diasporas & Discourses Thursday 28 February at 5.45 pm   This event explores the drivers of commerce and migration and the knock on effects of diasporas on the local cultural scene through historical narratives, oral accounts and the voices of the migrants themselves and those affected by transculturation and postcolonial innovations.
01-Jan-2013	African Soldiers, Governors, Nawabs and Cultural Brokers in South Asia 11th April 2013 at 6.00 pm at the Royal Asiatic Society   14 Stephenson Way London NW1 2HD United Kingdom Click here for map T: +44 (0)20 7388 4539 F: +44 (0)20 7391 9429
01-Jan-2013	“We’re Indian and African”: Sidis of India “We’re Indian and African”: Sidis of India Still from the film 'Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links' produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA). Shihan de Silva (Institute of Commonwealth Studies) Date: 22 February 2013Time: 5:30 PM Finishes: 22 February 2013Time: 7:00 PM Venue: Russell Square: College BuildingsRoom: G51 Type of Event: Film Series: CSAS Seminar Programme The diverse circumstances of African migration to India, their roles and achievements, their current status, issues of identity and belonging will be addressed. The Lecture will be followed by the screening of two documentary films: “We’re Indian and African”: Voices of the Sidis   (22 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) This film explores the lives of the Sidis in Gujarat. Sidi men and women speak about the challenges they face as caretakers of the shrine of their ancestral saint Bava Gor. The Sidis also discuss their sacred Goma-Dhammal dance performed for devotees and spectators. The film also gives a glimpse into the spiritual legacy of the Sidis through the Parsi devotees of Bava Gor in Bombay. Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links (26 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) In this engaging portrait of an urban Sidi family in Bombay (Maharashtra), Babubhai traces his ancestry to Zanzibar. He also reminisces about his work as a stuntman in Bollywood films. Babubhai’s wife, Fatimaben, narrates her grandmother’s work in a Hindu royal court. Their daughter, Heena, speaks about issues of identity in contemporary India. Speaker Biography Dr Shihan de Silva is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (University of London).  She has a PhD (Linguistics), an MSc (Finance) and a BSc Honours (Economics) from the University of London. She is the author of Tagus to Taprobane (Tisara Prakasakayo, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2001), An Anthology of Indo-Portuguese Verse (Edwin Mellen Press, UK, 2001), Indo-Portuguese of Ceylon (Athena Publications, London, 2001),  The Portuguese in the East:  A Cultural History of a Maritime Trading Empire (I B Tauris, London, 2008),  African Identity in Asia (Markus Wiener Publishers: Princeton, New Jersey, 2008) and The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories (Edwin Mellen Press, UK, 2010). Discussion/Q & A Session Chair:  Dr David Taylor (SOAS & Institute of Commonwealth Studies)" Organiser: Centres & Programmes Office, SOAS University of London Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk Contact Tel: 020 7898 4892/3 SOAS, University of London Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG Tel: +44 (0)20 7637 2388
04-Jun-2013	Portuguese Influence in the East Venue: Tate South Lambeth Library Time: 7pm Vasco da Gama's voyage to India in the late 15th Century opened up new economic and cultural horizons for the Portuguese. At the height of Portugal's maritime influence it had created an oceanic state ranging from the Cape of Good Hope to China. Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya charts the influences of the Portuguese in more than fifty Asian tongues, illustrating the extent of Lusitanian links - cultural legacies that are an unexpected outcome of seaborne commerce.
01-Jan-2012	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Susan Williams at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2012	“We’re Indian and African”: Sidis of India The diverse circumstances of African migration to India, their roles and achievements, their current status, issues of identity and belonging will be addressed. The Lecture will be followed by the screening of two documentary films: “We’re Indian and African”: Voices of the Sidis   (22 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) This film explores the lives of the Sidis in Gujarat. Sidi men and women speak about the challenges they face as caretakers of the shrine of their ancestral saint Bava Gor. The Sidis also discuss their sacred Goma-Dhammal dance performed for devotees and spectators. The film also gives a glimpse into the spiritual legacy of the Sidis through the Parsi devotees of Bava Gor in Bombay. Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links (26 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) In this engaging portrait of an urban Sidi family in Bombay (Maharashtra), Babubhai traces his ancestry to Zanzibar. He also reminisces about his work as a stuntman in Bollywood films. Babubhai’s wife, Fatimaben, narrates her grandmother’s work in a Hindu royal court. Their daughter, Heena, speaks about issues of identity in contemporary India.
01-Jan-2012	"We're Indian and African": Sidis of India The diverse circumstances of African migration to India, their roles and achievements, their current status, issues of identity and belonging will be addressed. The Lecture will be followed by the screening of two documentary films: “We’re Indian and African”: Voices of the Sidis (22 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) This film explores the lives of the Sidis in Gujarat. Sidi men and women speak about the challenges they face as caretakers of the shrine of their ancestral saint Bava Gor. The Sidis also discuss their sacred Goma-Dhammal dance performed for devotees and spectators. The film also gives a glimpse into the spiritual legacy of the Sidis through the Parsi devotees of Bava Gor in Bombay. Voices of the Sidis: Ancestral Links (26 minutes) Produced by Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) In this engaging portrait of an urban Sidi family in Bombay (Maharashtra), Babubhai traces his ancestry to Zanzibar. He also reminisces about his work as a stuntman in Bollywood films. Babubhai’s wife, Fatimaben, narrates her grandmother’s work in a Hindu royal court. Their daughter, Heena, speaks about issues of identity in contemporary India. Discussion/Q & A Session Chair: Dr David Taylor (SOAS & Institute of Commonwealth Studies All Welcome Organiser: Centres & Programmes Office Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk Contact Tel: 020 7898 4892/3
01-Jan-2012	Afro-Indians in Gujarat: Traditions, Identity and Culture Speakers: Dr Eiluned Edwards, Nottingham Trent University Dr Shihan de Silva, Institute of Commonwealth Studies Chair: Dr Marie Rodet, School of Oriental & African Studies Venue: Room 349 (SH) Venue Details: This room is located on the third floor of Senate House.
01-Jan-2012	Luso-Asian Spaces: Portuguese-speaking Communities in Sri Lanka The Portuguese-speaking communities in the Indian Ocean World are a reminder of the Portuguese interaction in Asian trade. There are only a few such communities. Even though Creole Portuguese (Indo-Portuguese) is endangered in Sri Lanka, it has survived through socio-political changes over five centuries. Indo-Portuguese is an important part of the identity of people who have a tenuous link to Portugal. Considering language, ethnicity and identity, this lecture will focus on people of Portuguese descent and also those of African descent in Sri Lanka. It concerns the communities responsible for the survival, against all odds, of Indo-Portuguese for half a millennium.
01-Jan-2012	Portuguese-speaking Communities in Sri Lanka The 42nd lecture in the Monthly Lecture series of the National Trust of Sri Lanka will be held at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday 26th July 2012. Portuguese-speaking communities in the Indian Ocean World are a reminder of the Lusitanian intervention in Asian trade. The contact language, Indo-Portuguese of Ceylon or Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, was once an important lingua franca. Today it is endangered but, against all odds, it still survives. Indo-Portuguese plays an important role in the lives of people who have a tenuous link to Portugal. This lecture will focus on the Portuguese-speaking peoples of Sri Lanka whose roots are diverse but whose histories are entangled.
01-Jan-2012	Sri Lanka Communities with Lusitanian Linguistic Links This lecture is concerned with the communities who speak Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole. Indo-Portuguese of Ceylon or Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, was once an important lingua franca. Though predicted to have become extinct, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole still survives, against all odds. Indo-Portuguese speakers are ethnically different, but their histories are entwined. The Portuguese encounter with Sri Lanka which began five centuries ago was brief and ceased in the mid-seventeenth century. Two further waves of Europeans washed over the shores of Sri Lanka but Lusitanian linguistic links remain strong. This lecture highlights the important role of the Creole-speaking communities in the transmission of Portuguese linguistic elements to the local languages.
01-Jan-2012	Portuguese Cultural Symbols in Asia. The Anglo-Portuguese Society, Canning House, Belgrave Square, London.  4 October 2012.
01-Jan-2012	Afro-Sri Lankan Music and Dance: Codes and Signifiers. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London.  18 October 2012.
01-Jan-2012	India’s Connections with Africa through History and Film.   Trinidad & Tobago High Commission.  31 October 2012.
01-Jan-2011	Trade Routes, Migration and Cultural Transformation A conference held on Wednesday 20th July 2011
01-Jan-2011	The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories Royal African Society - Book Launch.
01-Jan-2011	Connecting the Oceans: Music of the African Diaspora In collaboration with Yaram Arts: a workshop
01-Jan-2011	Indians of African descent: Music and Identity. A workshop in collaboration with Yaram Arts
01-Jan-2011	Sidis of Gujarat: Maintaining Traditions and Building Community In her latest film (53 minutes), Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA), highlights distinctive traditions of the Sidis (Afro-Indians) of Gujarat in north India. The annual urs celebration to consecrate the sacred stream at the shrine of the Sidi Saint, Bava Gor , the Khichdi (rice) ceremony to Mai Mishra (sister of Bava Gor), the Balka ceremony (where Sidi men & women are initiated as Fakirs) and the goma dance (both as spectacle and as sacred ritual), are captured. Along with the celebration and festivities, Sidis voice their concerns as they struggle to maintain their traditions and also earn a livelihood with dignity. 5.45-6.00 pm Gujarat, the Land, Gujaratis, the People and Gujarati, the Language Bhadra Vadgama (Secretary General, Gujarati Literary Academy) 6 6.00- 6.15 pm Traditons of the Sidis in Gujarat Shihan de Silva (Senior Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies) 6.15-7.10 pm Sidis of Gujarat: Maintaining Traditions and Building Community Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine, USA) 7.10-7.45 pm Discussion/Q & A session (Chair: Michael Kandiah, King’s College London)
01-Jan-2011	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Susan Williams at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2011	Portuguese Linguistic Imprints in India and Sri Lanka A Lecture delivered at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka
01-Jan-2011	From Invisibility to Visibility: Africans in Portuguese Space African movement to Asia has gone on for centuries and many migrants have assimilated with the local populations. Within historical documents, Africans become conspicuous through their military role. Moreover, there are Afro-Asian communities today, separated by vast distances and hidden in the villages and forests of Asia. Through their vibrant forms of music and lyrics still in Portuguese, they emerge from obscurity. Concentrating on Africans who moved within Portuguese space in India, Sri Lanka, Macau and Timor this presentation will highlight the way in which the migratory process took place and affected their lives.
01-Jan-2010	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Susan Williams at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2010	Africans in Asia: From the Periphery to the Core University of Cambridge, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) History Season: Annual Lecture
01-Jan-2010	South Asia's Africans: Forgotten People Oxford Centre for Mission Studies: The Montagu Barker Lecture
01-Jan-2009	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Susan Williams the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.