Lably
Skip to content

Africa–India relations

Bilateral relations

  • 11 min read
  • 4 chapters

Related on Lably

Through India, Africa and Indian Ocean

Lab · Class 6–11How India Is GovernedLab · Class 6–12Ancient Indian Ocean TradeLab · Class 7–11Disaster ManagementLab · Class 6–10Maps & Projections

Historical relations concerned mainly India and East Africa. However, in modern days—and with the expansion of diplomatic and commercial representations— India has now developed ties with most of the African nations. Trade between India & Africa stood at US$62.66 billion (2017–18) making India the fourth largest trading partner of Africa.

Historical background

Africa and India are connected by the Indian Ocean. The geographical proximity between the Horn of Africa and the Indian subcontinent has played an important role in the development of the relationship since ancient times.

Ancient trade relations

Indo-African relations date back to the Bronze Age period of the Indus Valley civilization, Pearl millet first domesticated in Africa have been discovered from the site of Chanhu Daro and there is at least one burial of African women from the same site as well, it is thus postulated that Indus valley maritime activities included journey to the horn of Africa and bringing back African crops along with African diaspora to the Indus valley since Pearl millet was cultivated in South Asia since 2nd millennium BC but there is no such evidence from the Near East. Black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there as part of the mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BCE. In the 2nd century BC the Greek's accounts of Ptolmaic Egypt and its trade relations mention Indian ships making the trip and Greeks began to utilize this knowledge from Indian sailors to conduct maritime activities in the Indian Ocean and conduct business with the Indians directly instead of relying on the middle men, when Romans replaced the Greek administration in Egypt, this began a 400-year period of trade relations between the Roman Empire and India. Periplus Maris Erythraei (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea),—which dates to mid-first century—refers to trade relations between the Kingdom of Aksum and Ancient India around the first millennium. Helped by the monsoon winds, merchants traded cotton, glass beads and other goods in exchange for gold and soft-carved ivory. The influence of the Indian architecture on the African kingdom shows the level of trade development between the two civilizations.

Under Ptolemaic rule, Ancient Egypt dispatched two trade delegations to India. The Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and India had developed bilateral trade using the Red Sea and Indian ports. Controlling the western and northern end of other trade routes to Southern Arabia and India, the Ptolemies had begun to exploit trading opportunities with India prior to the Roman involvement but according to the historian Strabo the volume of commerce between India and Greece was not comparable to that of later Indian-Roman trade. The Periplus Maris Erythraei mentions a time when sea trade between India and Egypt did not involve direct sailings. The cargo under these situations was shipped to Aden:

Eudaimon Arabia was called fortunate, being once a city, when, because ships neither came from India to Egypt nor did those from Egypt dare to go further but only came as far as this place, it received the cargoes from both, just as Alexandria receives goods brought from outside and from Egypt.

The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept increasing, and according to Strabo (II.5.12.):

"At any rate, when Gallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the Nile as far as Syene and the frontiers of Kingdom of Aksum, and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under the Ptolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise."

In India, the ports of Barbaricum (modern Karachi), Barygaza, Muziris, Korkai, Kaveripattinam and Arikamedu on the southern tip of India were the main centers of this trade. The Periplus Maris Erythraei describes Greco-Roman merchants selling in Barbaricum "thin clothing, figured linens, topaz, coral, storax, frankincense, vessels of glass, and silver and gold plate" in exchange for "costus, bdellium, lycium, nard, turquoise, lapis lazuli, Seric skins, cotton cloth, silk yarn, and indigo". In Barygaza, they would buy wheat, rice, sesame oil, cotton and cloth.

With the establishment of Roman Egypt, the Romans took over and further developed the already existing trade. Roman trade with India played an important role in further developing the Red Sea route. Starting around 100 BCE a route from Roman Egypt to India was established, making use of the Red Sea to cross the Arabian Sea directly to southern India. Traces of Indian influences are visible in Roman works of silver and ivory, or in Egyptian cotton and silk fabrics. The Indian presence in Alexandria may have influenced the culture but little is known about the manner of this influence. Clement of Alexandria mentions the Buddha in his writings and other Indian religions find mentions in other texts of the period.

Blanche D'Souza states that Hindus had, by 1st millennium AD, begun using monsoon-led trade winds to establish trading activities between western parts of India and Mozambique, linking these to other eastern coastal regions of Africa and Arabian peninsula.

Medieval period relations

Relations attained stronger levels during medieval times due to the development of trade routes between the Mediterranean and Asia, through Arabia (see also: Indo-Mediterranean). The Islamic conquest of Indian subcontinent also further deepened relations with Islamic states in North Africa. Zheng He, a Chinese admiral met with the Malindi envoy present in Bengal. The Malindi traders had brought tribute of Giraffe for the Bengal sultan, so they gave one to the Chinese as well. Indian Hindu traders were reportedly present according to the records of Vasco da Gama in the south eastern African coast of Mozambique.

African heritage in India

Aside from the aforementioned Aksumite trade with India, the documented presence of Africans in India dates back to the eighth century CE. These was due to slave trade in the Indian Ocean, where non-Muslim enslaved Africans, who were sold to India to mainly to serve as eunuch bodyguards of high-ranking Muslim officials & their harems (quarters for Muslim concubines & enslaved Hindu women) & zenanas were freed from slavery by their owners and appointed in high offices after converting to Islam. Several Africans played an important role in different Indian dynasties. The first Habshi, of whom there is a historical record, was probably Jamal al-Din Yaqut, royal courtier in the Sultanate of Delhi, in the north of the sub-continent. Habshis were also reported in the interior of northern India. Ibn Battuta recalls that at Alapur, the Governor was the Abyssinian Badr. A man whose bravery passed into a proverb. Some of the Africans who rose to positions of considerable importance were: Malik Ambar, Malik Sarwar, Mubarak Shah, Ibrahim Shah, Malik Andil, Malik Sandal, Yaqut Dabuli Habshi, Ikhlas Khan, Dilawar Khan, Khavass Khan etc. Many formerly enslaved African Muslims also rose up the ranks to become Sultans in areas like Bengal, Jaunpur & Malwa. Their role in the History of India is Significant. The Africans, who arrived in Hyderabad apart from playing their traditional role as bonded guards and servants, were recruited as the Nizam's private bodyguard. The Siddi Risala (African Regiment) was retained until 1948. Other Siddis were elevated to the status of Khanazahs (proteges) and became trusted advisers of the Nizams.

Under the rule of the British Empire

During the British colonial rule in the Indian Subcontinent and large parts of Africa, the Indian city of Mumbai was already a center of ivory trade between East Africa and Britain.

The stay of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa between 1893 and 1915 remains one of the main events which paved the road to the modern-day political relations.

Sign in to keep reading

3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in India

MuslimsAdherents of IslamPresidencies and provinces of British India1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in IndiaStates and union territories of IndiaIndia is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 sSikhsReligious groupInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit TransliterationTransliteration scheme for Indic scriptsPrime Minister of IndiaHead of government