Afghan cameleers in Australia

Common card · No. 346686

Afghan cameleers in Australia, also known as "Afghans" (Pashto: افغانان) or "Ghans" (Pashto: غانز), were camel drivers who worked in Outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s. Small groups of cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service the Australian inland industry by carting goods and transporting wool bales by camel trains. They were commonly referred to as "Afghans", even though the majority of them originated from the western parts of British India like Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province (inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns who were historically known as Afghans), and other nearby regions. However, some of the cameleers were indeed from Afghanistan. In addition, there were also some with origins in Egypt and Turkey. The majority of cameleers, including cameleers from British and rest-house outposts, known as caravanserai, throughout inland Australia, creating a permanent link between the coastal cities and the remote cattle...

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