Fifteen-year-old Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada became the first Siddi athlete, and only the second Indian, to win a Youth Olympics judo medal, winning silver in the girls' 63-kg category in Dakar on 2 November. Her achievement has brought national attention to a small community in Gujarat that has long lived on the margins.

The Siddis are one of Gujarat's five primitive tribes, of East African descent, also called Siddi Badshah. They are concentrated in 18 villages of Talala taluka in Gir Somnath district, as well as in Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Amreli and Surendranagar.

A family of judokas

Khushbu's sister Shahin has represented India at the Junior and Senior Asian Championships, the Asian Cup, the European Cup, the Junior World Championships and the Tashkent Grand Slam. The sisters come from a community where sport is becoming a path to recognition.

Another young Siddi judoka, 22-year-old Rohit Majgul of Jambur in Talala, Gir Somnath, took third place in the 60-kg category at the 2025 Amman Asian Open and has qualified for the 2026 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

A small community

The primitive tribal group population of Siddis is 12,959, according to a survey cited to the Rajya Sabha in July 2025. Census counts recorded 6,336 Siddis in 1991 and 8,662 in 2001, with a similar figure in 2011.

The community was declared a Scheduled Tribe in 1956 and a primitive tribal group in 1982. Jambur, about 25 km from Gir National Park, is called Mini Africa, and many Siddis work as guides, drivers and labourers in Gir.

Language, faith and tradition

Siddis speak Gujarati with a Kathiawadi accent. Their origins are debated: one view, recorded in the Census of 1931, traces their arrival to the Portuguese era, while another, put forward by Russell and Hira Lal in 1916, dates it to the 15th century.

Community leader Sadikbhai Makwana says their ancestors were brought by a Nawab of Junagadh as bodyguards about 700 years ago. Baba Gor, a revered 15th or 16th-century African Muslim saint, has dargahs in Jambur, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar and Ratanpur in Bharuch. Dhamal, their traditional dance, is performed by men in groups of eight to ten.

Breaking new ground

Afsana Makwa, 46, was the first Siddi woman to clear the Gujarat Public Service Commission examination in 2011, and is now Officer on Special Duty at the Commissionerate of Youth Services and Cultural Activities.

From Afsana Makwa in public service to Khushbu Darjada on the Youth Olympics podium, young Siddis are finding new ground, in sport and beyond, while keeping their distinct identity alive.