Image: Wikimedia Commons

askari

Locally recruited African soldier serving in the army of a European colonial power

EntityQ643745

Subclass of: soldier

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

An askari or ascari 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.

Overview

On other databases

11 identifiers linking askari across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

17%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 9, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q643745

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). askari (Q643745). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/askari-Q643745