In the forests abutting the Western Ghats live a people whose identity is as distinctive as it is enigmatic. Their past is an unforgettable, hazy memory and their present is here and now amid the patchwork of identities that make up Karnataka and India.

Called the Siddis, these people are of unmistakably African stock, lending them distinctiveness and contributing to their allure. They are instantly recognisable by their dark skin, thick lips, flat nose, small forehead and short, curly hair. They number about 10,000 in Karnataka, living in settlements scattered in Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Shimoga and Chikkamagalur districts.

Most Siddis are thought to have arrived with Portuguese as slaves from the colony of Mozambique. Some others were brought from the Congo, Kenya, Sudan and the Horn of Africa. The Siddis themselves betray little clear knowledge of their origins. Why they came to be called Siddis is also a matter of speculation, the most common one being that the word represents the honorific ‘mister’ in some Arabic dialects.

In most respects, the African origin of the Siddis is indistinguishable. They speak a language called Are-Marathi, which is a mixture of Kannada, Marathi and Konkani.

Siddis can be Hindus, Muslims or Christians. Muslims and Catholics live around the Haliyal area while the Siddis of Yellapur and Ankola are predominantly Hindu. Worship of the bhuta, or holy spirit, is popular among the Siddis of Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada. Hindus in Uttara Kannada are followers of the Swamiji of Sonda Math.

Muslim Siddis claim direct descent from the prophet Mohammad and say their guru is Sabaghor, a disciple of the prophet. Christians have taken on Goan surnames.

Despite the religious differences, one practice common to all Siddis is the worship of ancestors, or Hiriyara Puje. This is reminiscent of a tradition that is almost universal in Africa. The Siddis believe that the dead stay close to the living, but in the form of spirits. Dead ancestors are venerated during marriages and other rituals. They are ‘consulted’ and spoken to frequently. This happens once a year, usually during Navaratri or Holi. On such occasions, the ancestors are invited to reside in an unhusked coconut which is kept on a pedestal at home and worshipped.

Marriages are arranged by elders, but boys and girls elope frequently. Such couples are not punished but accepted after a public apology.

The Siddi economy is oriented towards the sharing of wealth and not its creation. They share foodgrains and vegetables on barter. Siddis are dependent on agriculture and some cultivate foodgrains on small patches of cleared forest. But almost no family owns substantial lands. They are also engaged in the extraction of honey, hunting and fishing.

There is an unwritten understanding that no Siddi should eat without working, except in illness or very old age. This tradition, too, has African roots. For example, the tribal chiefs in Senegal, who lived lives of luxury, were not buried in the earth but in holes in baobab trees. The privilege of a burial in the earth was only for those who had drenched the ground with the sweat of toil.

The Siddis passionately enjoy life and dance frequently. Occasions such as births, marriages, festivals or deaths lead to much lead to drinking and dancing at night. They do not go to the police or the courts, relying instead on elders to resolve differences.

Prominent among the Siddis are the warrior Gajaveera, who joined Sangolli Rayanna’s fight against the British in Kittur in Belgaum in 1829. Yakut khan was a Siddi naval admiral and administrator of Janjira Fort who first served under the Bijapur Sultanate and later under the Mughal Empire. He fought the British in 1689.

But now, with modernity passing them by, the Siddis are caught between isolation and assimilation. Their memories of the past are vague, their future uncertain.