Afro-Iranian
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Sistan and Balochestan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan | |
| Languages | |
| Persian, Arabic, Balochi | |
| Religion | |
| Mostly Shia Islam; minority Sunni Islam, Zaar | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Zanj |
Afro-Iranians (Persian: ایرانیان آفریقاییتبار, also known as African Persians) are people of Black African descent residing in Iran. Most Afro-Iranians are concentrated in Hormozagan, Sistan and Baluchestan and Khuzestan.
The Indian Ocean slave trade was multi-directional and changed over time. To meet the demand for menial labor, black slaves captured by Arab slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to the Persian Gulf, Egypt, Arabia, India, the Far East, the Indian Ocean islands and Ethiopia.
During the Qajar dynasty, many wealthy households imported Black African women and children as slaves to perform domestic work. This slave labor was drawn exclusively from the Zanj, who were Bantu-speaking peoples that lived along the coast of the Southeast Africa, in an area roughly comprising modern-day Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. However, Mohammad Shah Qajar, under British pressure, issued a firman suppressing the slave trade in 1848.
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