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Concept
Askari
Summary
An askari or ascari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic عسكري, , meaning "soldier" or "military", also "police" in Somali) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African Great Lakes, Northeast Africa and Central Africa. The word is used in this sense in English, as well as in German, Italian, Urdu and Portuguese. In French, the word is used only in reference to native troops outside the French colonial empire. The designation is still in occasional use today to informally describe police, gendarmerie and security guards.
During the period of the European colonial empires in Africa, locally recruited soldiers designated as askaris were employed by the Italian, British, Portuguese, German and Belgian colonial armies. They played a crucial role in the conquest of the various colonial possessions, and subsequently served as garrison and internal security forces. During both World Wars, askari units also served outside their colonies of origin, in various parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In South Africa the term refers to former members of the liberation movements who defected to the Apartheid government security forces.
Askari is a loan word from the Persian عسكري (), meaning "soldier". The Persian word is a derivation from the Middle Persian word , meaning "army". The word "lashkar" also is the root of the word Lascar for a South Asian soldier or a person of South Asian origin. Words for "(a regular) soldier" derived from these words are found in Azeri, Arabic, Indonesian, Malay, Somali, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu.
In the Belgian Congo, the askaris were organised into the Force Publique. This combined military and police force was commanded by white Belgian officers and both native and white non commissioned officers.
The Imperial British East Africa Company raised units of askaris from among the Swahili people, the Sudanese and Somalis. There was no official uniform, nor standardised weaponry. Many of the askaris campaigned in their native dress.
Official source
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