World Travels. The Sidi Project. Documenting the Lives of South Asia’s African Diaspora in India and Pakistan.

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan


Photographer Luke Duggleby first became fascinated with the lives and history of Afro-Asian people while doing some researching for a trip to India. He stumbled across information about the Sidi, online, and soon began to immerse himself in the history of the Sidi people, obtaining as much information as possible from books, and scholarly writing.

The Sidi, who were brought to India and Pakistan by Arab and Portuguese merchants and slave traders are thought to be descended from the Bantu people of south eastern Africa.

During his trip to India, he spent weeks with a Sidi community in Gujarat, which is home to roughly 25,000 people of African origin.

In 2014, he visited another Afro-Asian community in Hyderabad and Bedin in Sindh Province in Pakistan.

In both groups, he observed an eagerness to share their culture and history with the world, as well the harsh reality that people of African descent languish at the bottom of the strict social hierarchies in South Asian societies.


Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan

Luke Duggleby The Sidi Project Afro-Asians African Diaspora India Pakistan


images via The Sidi Project by Luke Duggleby.