Hyderabad is home to several ethnicities. Among them are Siddis and Hadramis who established their presence in Hyderabad under the Asaf Jahi Dynasty (1724-1948). The Siddis, an African-origin ethnic tribe, came to India mostly as slaves. Sources place them originally in Nubia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Forced migration, however, was an established practice by the early colonial period in the Saharan region, and it is also speculated that some might have come from the Sahel region.
The Hadramis, an Arabic-speaking merchant group, hail from the Red Sea region of Hadramawt, which is now part of the Republic of Yemen. Migration from Hadramawt was mostly voluntary and for purposes of trade, religious activity or both. The Hadramis were instrumental in the spread of Islam along the Indian Ocean Rim and established complex networks of kinship and economic relationships along its port cities. The Hadrami diaspora is present across the Indian Ocean from Kenya to Indonesia.