The interview is in the Dari language
When they first set foot on Australian soil with their camels 160 years ago, a group of Afghan cameleers were supposed to do their job and return home.
But some of the young men defied the rule and stayed - all in the name of love.
Afghan cameleers were brought to Australia between the 1860s and 1930 to help the continent’s settlers trek the outback.
But over time, some of them formed romantic relationships with Aboriginal women and as a result, left behind generations of Afghan Aboriginals.
Their descendants are now spread across the continent, but many of them are still living in the regions where their ancestors first formed these relationships.
Marree and Port Augusta in South Australia, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Perth in Western Australia, and Broken Hill in New South Wales are home to hundreds, if not thousands, of these descendants.
Afghan filmmaker Fahim Hashimy first heard about the cameleers from an Australian filmmaker at a festival in Germany.
However, he said that upon returning to Afghanistan, he struggled to find any stories or books about them.
This only added to his curiosity, and after reading a book he had received from an Australian friend, he decided to travel to Australia and explore the topic further.
The result of his curiosity was a documentary called “” in which he follows in their footprints along the south-north rail corridor.
The Ghan driver and Afghan cameleer descendant Graham Dadleh, 54, poses for photograph at Alice Springs, Monday, August 5, 2019. Source: AAP Image/Russell Millard
In this documentary, Mr Hashimy searches for the cameleers’ descendants, mementos, ruins and graves.
He’s currently working on the second part of his documentary which focuses on relationships between the Afghans and local Aboriginal people.
Mr Hashimy says Afghan Ccmeleers played a “very significant role” in Australia’s progress and development.
“When you sit down and speak to historians here, most of them say that if the Afghan cameleers were not here at the time, Australia wouldn’t have had the grandeur it has now, meaning it would have been 30 to 35 years more backward,” he says.
He says their relationship with Australia’s British settlers was one of “employer and employee” while noting that many were more emotionally connected with the Aboriginal people, which led to the forming of relationships, which turned romantic in some instances.
Statue depicting an Afghan soldier and his camel is seen at the Alice Sprigs railway station, where the Ghan train waits on Nov. 12, 2009. Source: AAP Image/James Shrimpton
Hs says most of the riders were young men who were not allowed to bring their families and wives with them from Afghanistan.
“When the Afghan cameleers came to Australia, their only close mates and only close friends were Aboriginals,” he says.
“Especially in terms of family ties Aboriginal people as you know, are very reliant on families, they honour the families, for example, their families are big like the Afghans’, they’ve lots of boys and girls, and finally they have a very special respect for their elders.”
He says the cameleers not only helped Australians build the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor, and the 3000km telegraph line, but also provided transport for the country’s gold miners.
Goolam Badoola (right) was a Baluch Afghan Cameleer who married Aboriginal woman Marium Martin (left) and the 1900s. Their descendants now live in WA. Source: National Indigenous Times
The railway was originally named The Afghan Express in their honour, before being changed to Ghan, an abbreviation of the original name.
In the 1930s, most of the cameleers returned home after their services were no longer required, but some remained and turned to other trades to make a living for themselves.
