An area in Hyderabad (present-day Andhra Pradesh) is referred to as ‘A C Guards’, short for ‘African Cavalry Guards’.
HYDERABAD, INDIA: This is with reference to Khaled Ahmed’s very interesting article of October 26 titled “The ‘Sheedi’ of Sindh”.
There are a number of Siddis in Hyderabad (Deccan) also. People with African roots began coming to the Indian subcontinent after the Mughal empire declined and the Nizams (who used to be subedars of the Mughals) started ruling Hyderabad. They recruited men from Africa for their army. An area in Hyderabad (in present-day Andhra Pradesh state) is still referred to as ‘A C Guards’, which is short for ‘African Cavalry Guards’. Another area is called ‘Habshiguda’ (‘guda’ meaning ‘place’ or ‘village’ in the local language). Lately there are a lot of African students and young people who have started coming to Hyderabad for education and for obtaining training in software and IT companies.
MQ
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2011.
