Siddi Community of Gujarat: History, Culture, and Recognition

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Key takeaways

Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada, a 15-year-old athlete, became the first person from Gujarat's Siddi community to win a Youth Olympics medal by securing silver in judo at Dakar.
The Siddi community descends from East African Bantu groups who settled in India during the 15th to 17th centuries.
In Gujarat, the government recognizes the Siddis as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), with major concentrations across 18 villages in Gir Somnath district.
The community integrates East African traditions with Kathiawadi culture, famously performing the traditional Dhamal folk dance and venerating the 15th century Sufi saint Baba Gor.

15-year-old Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada won a silver medal in the girls' 63-kg judo category at the Dakar Youth Olympics.
She became the second Indian judoka and the very first athlete from Gujarat's Siddi community to win a Youth Olympics medal.

The Siddis are an Afro-Indian ethnic and tribal community descended from East African peoples who settled in the Indian subcontinent centuries ago.
In Gujarat, authorities classify them as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) and a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in the Saurashtra region.
Locally, people refer to them as Siddi Badshah due to their free-spirited and communal way of life.

The community primarily descends from East African Bantu populations who arrived in India between the 15th and 17th centuries through medieval trade, military conquests, and Portuguese enslavement.
In Gujarat, they historically worked as palace bodyguards or soldiers, as caretakers of lions for the Nawabs of Junagadh, or as workers in the agate mines of Ratanpur in Bharuch.
They follow Sufism deeply and revere Baba Gor, an African Muslim Sufi saint of the 15th or 16th century whose primary dargah stands at Ratanpur.

In Gujarat, the community mainly lives across 18 villages in Talala taluka of Gir Somnath district, including Jambur which people call Mini Africa, while smaller groups reside in Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, and Bharuch.
Outside Gujarat, smaller Siddi populations live in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, and Daman & Diu.

The Siddis adopted the Gujarati language, the Kathiawadi dialect, local dress styles, and food habits while maintaining their distinct African heritage.
Most Siddis practice Islam and mix Sufi devotional traditions with local folk customs, especially during Urs festivals that honour Baba Gor and Nagarshi Baba.
They are famous for Dhamal or Siddi Goma, a traditional folk dance featuring rhythmic drums, peacock feathers, energetic movements, and animal calls.
Living near Gir Forest, they depend on farming, forest-related work, safari guiding, wildlife tracking, and local labor.
In designated areas of Saurashtra, the law recognizes them as a Scheduled Tribe and a PVTG, while Siddi groups in other parts fall under the SEBC category.