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{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Al-Akhdam
|group = Al-Akhdam
|image = [[File:Akhdam children Taizz.jpg|200px]]
|image =
|caption = Akhdam children in a [[Ta'izz]] neighborhood.
|pop = '''~500,000''' - '''~1,000,000''' <small>(5% of the Yemeni population)</small>
|pop=500,000–1,000,000
|regions = [[Sana'a]], [[Aden]], [[Ta'izz]], [[Lahij]], [[Abyan Governorate|Abyan]], [[Al Hudaydah]], [[Al Mukalla]]
|regions = [[Sana'a]], [[Aden]], [[Ta'izz]], [[Lahij]], [[Abyan Governorate|Abyan]], [[Al Hudaydah]], [[Al Mukalla]]
|langs = [[Arabic language|Arabic]]
|langs = [[Arabic language|Arabic]]
|rels = [[Islam]]
|rels = [[Islam]]
|related-c =
|related-c =
}}
}}
⚫
'''Al-Akhdam''', '''Akhdam''' or '''Achdam''' (singular '''[[Khadem]]''', meaning "servant" in [[Arabic language|Arabic]]; also called ''Al-Muhamasheen'', "the marginalized ones") is a social group in [[Yemen]], distinguished from the majority by its members' [[Negrito]]-like physical features and stature. They are considered to be at the very bottom of the societal ladder and are mostly confined to menial jobs in the country's major cities.<ref name=nyt2008>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/middleeast/27yemen.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Robert F. Worth, "Languishing at the Bottom of Yemen’s Ladder", ''New York Times,'' (February 27 2008)]</ref><ref name="Nlptnme">[http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter47/text47.htm#yemen Negrito-like people - The Near and Middle East]</ref>


==Overview==
[[Image:Akhdam children Taizz.jpg|thumb|Children in an Akhdam neighbourhood of Ta'izz]]
[[Image:Akhdam man Taizz.jpg|thumb|Khadem man in Ta'izz]]
[[File:Akhdam man Taizz.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Akhdam man or Khadem in [[Ta'izz]]]]
The exact origins of Al-Akhdam are uncertain. One popular account holds that they are descendants of [[Nilotic peoples|Nilotic]] [[Sudan]]ese people who accompanied the [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinian]] army during the latter's occupation of Yemen in the pre-[[Islam]]ic period. Once the Abyssinian troops were finally expelled at the start of the Muslim era, some of the Sudanese migrants are said to have remained behind, giving birth to the Akhdam. Another theory maintains that they are of [[Veddoid]] origin.<ref name="Lehmann">{{cite journal|last=Lehmann|first=Hermann|title=Distribution of the sickle cell trait|journal=Eugenics Review|year=1954|volume=46|issue=2|pages=101–121|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2973326/pdf/eugenrev00050-0031.pdf|accessdate=5 August 2012}}</ref>


⚫
Anthropologists such as Vombruck suggest that [[History of Yemen|Yemen's history]] and social hierarchy that developed under various regimes, including the [[Imams_of_Yemen#History|Zaydi Imamate]], created a caste-like society.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Being worthy of protection. The dialectics of gender attributes in Yemen|author=GABRIELE VOMBRUCK|journal=Social Anthropology|volume=4|issue=2|page=145–162|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8676.1996.tb00322.x|date=June 1996}}</ref>
⚫
'''Al-Akhdam''' or '''Akhdam''' (singular '''[[Khadem]]''', meaning "servant" in [[Arabic language|Arabic]]; also called ''Al-Muhamasheen'', "the marginalized ones") is a social group in [[Yemen]] distinct from the majority by their more African features. They are considered to be at the very bottom of the social ladder in Yemen.<ref name=nyt2008>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/middleeast/27yemen.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Robert F. Worth, "Languishing at the Bottom of Yemen’s Ladder", ''New York Times,'' (February 27 2008)]</ref> They are mostly confined to menial jobs and living on the fringes of society.


⚫
Though their social conditions have improved somewhat in modern times, Al-Akhdam are still stereotyped by mainstream Yemeni society; they have been called lowly, dirty, immoral and untouchables.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Yemen, lowest of the low|author=Marguerite Abadjian|publisher=The Baltimore Sun|date=April 22 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Caste In Yemen|publisher=Baltimore Sun|date=April 25 2004|url=http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-marguerite250404.htm}}</ref> They form a kind of hereditary caste at the very bottom of Yemeni social strata.<ref>{{cite news|author=Worth, Robert|date=December 7, 2008|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/africa/27iht-yemen.1.10463399.html|title=In slums without hope, Yemen's untouchables|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>[http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-marguerite250404.htm Caste In Yemen]</ref><ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=25634 IRIN]</ref>
⚫
According to official estimates, they numbered around 500,000 in 2004, while other estimates put their number as high as more than 1 million in 2007 (out of a total Yemeni population of 22 million).


⚫
Many [[NGO]]s and charitable organizations from other countries such as [[CARE (relief agency)|CARE International]] are working toward improving the living circumstances of the Akhdam.<ref>[http://www.yementimes.com/99/iss01/l&d.htm ''Yemen Times'']</ref>
In Yemen, they are popularly believed to be the descendants of [[Ethiopia]]n soldiers of the [[Aksumite Empire]] that occupied modern-day Yemen more than 1,500 years ago and who remained there as slaves or servants of the local population after the occupation ended.<ref name=nyt2008/> Others have argued that the Al-Akhdam differ from the ([[Aksumite]]) peoples and modern Africans in physique, the similarities to Africans being only superficial, and that the Al-Adhdam are remnants of an earlier [[Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans|out-of-Africa]] [[Negrito]] migration following a coastal route along [[Arabian Peninsula]] into [[South Asia]] and [[Malesia]].<ref>http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter47/text47.htm</ref> Most Akhdam live in slums at the outskirts of the major cities: 100,000 of them live in [[San‘a’]], others are in [[Aden]], [[Ta'izz]], [[Lahij]], [[Abyan]], [[Al Hudaydah]] and [[Al Mukalla]].


==Distribution==
⚫
Though conditions have improved somewhat in modern times, Al-Akhdam are still stereotyped by mainstream Yemeni society; they have been called lowly, dirty, immoral and untouchables.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Yemen, lowest of the low|author=Marguerite Abadjian|publisher=The Baltimore Sun|date=April 22 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Caste In Yemen|publisher=Baltimore Sun|date=April 25 2004|url=http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-marguerite250404.htm}}</ref> They form a kind of hereditary caste at the very bottom of Yemeni social strata. A 2008 New York Times report claims that Yemen has over 1 million of these discriminated and ostracized Al-Akhdam people, that is about 5 percent of Yemen population.<ref>{{cite news|author=Worth, Robert|date=December 7, 2008|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/africa/27iht-yemen.1.10463399.html|title=In slums without hope, Yemen's untouchables|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>[http://www.countercurrents.org/hr-marguerite250404.htm Caste In Yemen]</ref><ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=25634 IRIN]</ref>
Most Al-Akhdam live in segregated slums on the outskirts of Yemen's main urban centers.<ref name=nyt2008/> Many of them reside in the capital [[San‘a’]]; others can also be found in [[Aden]], [[Ta'izz]], [[Lahij]], [[Abyan]], [[Al Hudaydah]] and [[Al Mukalla]].


==Demographics==
⚫
Anthropologists such as Vombruck suggest that [[History of Yemen|Yemen's history]], and social hierarchy that developed under regimes such as the [[Imams_of_Yemen#History|Zaydi Imamate]], created a caste-like society.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Being worthy of protection. The dialectics of gender attributes in Yemen|author=GABRIELE VOMBRUCK|journal=Social Anthropology|volume=4|issue=2|page=145–162|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8676.1996.tb00322.x|date=June 1996}}</ref>
⚫
According to official estimates, the Akhdam numbered around 500,000 individuals in 2004. Other estimates put their number at over 1 million residents in 2007, out of a total Yemeni population of around 22 million.<ref name=nyt2008/>


==Anthropology==
⚫
Many [[NGO]]s and charitable organizations from other countries such as [[CARE (relief agency)|CARE International]] are working towards the emancipation of the Akhdam.<ref>[http://www.yementimes.com/99/iss01/l&d.htm ''Yemen Times'']</ref>
Besides their social position, the Akhdam are distinguished from the general Yemeni population by their distinctly Veddoid or [[Negrito]]-like physical appearance. They are considerably shorter in height than the average-statured Yemeni. They also possess facial features, hair texture and skin color characteristic of Negrito populations in general.<ref name="Nlptnme"/>

==Genetics==
Genetic studies by Lehmann (1954) and Tobias (1974) noted the [[sickle cell]] trait at high frequencies amongst the Akhdam.<ref name="Lehmann"/><ref name="Tobias">{{cite web|last=Tobias|first=P.V.|title=An Anthropologist Looks at Malaria|journal=S.A. Medical Journal|year=1 June 1974|pages=1124–1127|url=http://archive.samj.org.za/1974%20VOL%20XLVIII%20Jan%20-Jun/Articles/06%20June/1.13%20AN%20ANTHROPOLOGIST%20LOOKS%20AT%20MALARIA.%20P.V.%20Tobias.pdf|accessdate=5 August 2012}}</ref> According to Lehmann, this suggests a biological link with the Veddoids of [[South Asia]], who also have a high incidence of the trait.<ref name="Lehmann"/>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


== External links ==
==External links==
* [http://idsn.org/country-information/yemen/ The International Solidarity Network: The Al-Akhdam in Yemen]
* [http://idsn.org/country-information/yemen/ The International Solidarity Network: The Al-Akhdam in Yemen]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/26/world/20080226YEMEN_index.html The Akhdam of Yemen - A photogallery by The New York Times]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/02/26/world/20080226YEMEN_index.html The Akhdam of Yemen - A photogallery by The New York Times]

Revision as of 15:38, 5 August 2012

Al-Akhdam
Akhdam children in a Ta'izz neighborhood.
Total population
500,000–1,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Sana'a, Aden, Ta'izz, Lahij, Abyan, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla
Languages
Arabic
Religion
Islam

Al-Akhdam, Akhdam or Achdam (singular Khadem, meaning "servant" in Arabic; also called Al-Muhamasheen, "the marginalized ones") is a social group in Yemen, distinguished from the majority by its members' Negrito-like physical features and stature. They are considered to be at the very bottom of the societal ladder and are mostly confined to menial jobs in the country's major cities.[1][2]

Overview

Akhdam man or Khadem in Ta'izz

The exact origins of Al-Akhdam are uncertain. One popular account holds that they are descendants of Nilotic Sudanese people who accompanied the Abyssinian army during the latter's occupation of Yemen in the pre-Islamic period. Once the Abyssinian troops were finally expelled at the start of the Muslim era, some of the Sudanese migrants are said to have remained behind, giving birth to the Akhdam. Another theory maintains that they are of Veddoid origin.[3]

Anthropologists such as Vombruck suggest that Yemen's history and social hierarchy that developed under various regimes, including the Zaydi Imamate, created a caste-like society.[4]

Though their social conditions have improved somewhat in modern times, Al-Akhdam are still stereotyped by mainstream Yemeni society; they have been called lowly, dirty, immoral and untouchables.[5][6] They form a kind of hereditary caste at the very bottom of Yemeni social strata.[7][8][9]

Many NGOs and charitable organizations from other countries such as CARE International are working toward improving the living circumstances of the Akhdam.[10]

Distribution

Most Al-Akhdam live in segregated slums on the outskirts of Yemen's main urban centers.[1] Many of them reside in the capital San‘a’; others can also be found in Aden, Ta'izz, Lahij, Abyan, Al Hudaydah and Al Mukalla.

Demographics

According to official estimates, the Akhdam numbered around 500,000 individuals in 2004. Other estimates put their number at over 1 million residents in 2007, out of a total Yemeni population of around 22 million.[1]

Anthropology

Besides their social position, the Akhdam are distinguished from the general Yemeni population by their distinctly Veddoid or Negrito-like physical appearance. They are considerably shorter in height than the average-statured Yemeni. They also possess facial features, hair texture and skin color characteristic of Negrito populations in general.[2]

Genetics

Genetic studies by Lehmann (1954) and Tobias (1974) noted the sickle cell trait at high frequencies amongst the Akhdam.[3][11] According to Lehmann, this suggests a biological link with the Veddoids of South Asia, who also have a high incidence of the trait.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Robert F. Worth, "Languishing at the Bottom of Yemen’s Ladder", New York Times, (February 27 2008)
  2. ^ a b Negrito-like people - The Near and Middle East
  3. ^ a b c Lehmann, Hermann (1954). "Distribution of the sickle cell trait" (PDF). Eugenics Review. 46 (2): 101–121. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ^ GABRIELE VOMBRUCK (June 1996). "Being worthy of protection. The dialectics of gender attributes in Yemen". Social Anthropology. 4 (2): 145–162. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8676.1996.tb00322.x.
  5. ^ Marguerite Abadjian (April 22 2004). "In Yemen, lowest of the low". The Baltimore Sun. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Caste In Yemen". Baltimore Sun. April 25 2004. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Worth, Robert (December 7, 2008). "In slums without hope, Yemen's untouchables". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Caste In Yemen
  9. ^ IRIN
  10. ^ Yemen Times
  11. ^ Tobias, P.V. (1 June 1974). "An Anthropologist Looks at Malaria" (PDF). S.A. Medical Journal. pp. 1124–1127. Retrieved 5 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
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