Askari

"Askari soldiers saw you struck down by a bad German bullet, Indy. Saw you die, then come back to life. You cough a bullet, spit on ground with much contempt, lead Askari to victory. Very big magic."

- Sergeant Barthelemy

Askari (the Arabic, Somali and Swahili word for soldier) was the term used to describe indigenous soldiers of the Middle East and East Africa, who served in the armies of the various European colonial powers controlling those regions. Often, European colonizers would pick Askari from particular tribal or ethnic groups. Sometimes, in addition to the regular forces, there would also be irregulars, wearing their traditional battle dress and wielding traditional weapons.

German Askaris were better trained, paid, and equipped than ones employed by the British forces. German Askaris were used extensively by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck during World War I.

The Force Publique was an example of a mostly Askari military, under Belgian control in the Congo and fighting in East Africa.

Indiana Jones has encountered many Askari in his adventures in Africa - with a British Askari rescuing him as a boy near the Kirinyaga safari camp in 1909, and fighting and commanding Belgian Askari against German Askari in the First World War.

Appearances

 * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
 * "British East Africa, September 1909" Passion for Life
 * Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen
 * "German East Africa, December 1916" Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life
 * "Congo, January 1917" Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life