Indian Diaspora: An Overview

“To study a banyan tree, you must not only know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality. The civilization of India, like a banyan tree has shed its beneficent shade away from its own birthplace... India can live and grow by spreading abroad – not the political India, but the ideal India.” (Rabindranath Tagore The Banyan Tree III)

The Indian diaspora is the third largest and spread out in the world after the British and the Chinese. The 25 million strong diaspora spread over 110 countries (Seth 2001 12), has significant economic, political and cultural presence in a number of them. It is drawn from different regions of the mother country, professes varied religions and is involved in a wide range of occupations. The Indians have managed to develop distinct identities, ways of life and thought wherever they have settled.

The term “diaspora” had a varied use over the years. The original use of the term by the Greeks connotes a triumphalist migration. It suggests the fertility of dispersion, discrimination and the scattering of seeds. The biblical use was one of “scattering,” what the Lord would do as a punishment for not observing the divine laws. The Hebrew equivalent was galut, which meant exile. The Hebrew usage and Jewish experience of expulsion, forced exile and collective suffering from Jerusalem provided the basis for the use of the term. The age-old doctrine of Jewish homelessness, thereby the typical marginalized consciousness and creativity has all become a part of the diaspora syndrome. (Ages 1973) Most recent theorizations of diaspora have been marked by the ambiguities of the term diaspora itself—a term which literally denotes communities of people dislocated from their native homelands through migration, immigration or exile as a consequence of colonial expansion. In today’s globalized and globalizing world, “diaspora” as a descriptive term covers the whole of a migrant community, bypassing the divisions made in earlier literature between the first and subsequent generations of migrants, that is, between exile and expatriation.

Robin Cohen identifies various categories of diasporas in his book Global Diasporas: An Introduction: Victim diasporas (Africans and Armenians), labour and imperial diasporas (indentured Indian and British), trade diasporas (Chinese and Lebanese), homeland diasporas (Sikhs and Zionists), cultural diasporas (Caribbeans), and globalization diasporas (international migration). Arjun Appadurai in his Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization speaks of diasporas of hope (the possibility of working and living elsewhere as a routine matter), diasporas of terror (people dragged into refugee camps of Thailand, Ethiopia, Tamil Nadu and Palestine) and diasporas of despair (in search of wealth, work and opportunity as their present conditions are intolerable). He says these people bring the force of their imagination as both memory and desire.

Indian Diaspora: A Historical Sketch

The Indians are not a very mobile people. There were strictures against travelling overseas “crossing Kaalapani” in the ancient Shastras. Still some travelled abroad from the days of remote antiquity. The Buddhist missionaries were the early Indian migrants to Ceylon and South-east Asia, and the well-known Hindu kingdoms of South-east Asia in the medieval period continued to attract labour and craftsmen from India. Buddhists and later Hindu kings were carriers of Indic culture to Southeast Asia in the second half of the first millennium. Bali is generally characterized as the Hindu “paradise” or “getaway” in Muslim Indonesia and the Prambanan plains of Central Java are a striking testimony of the infiltration of Hindu culture into all of Southeast Asia. Down to the present day, the Javanese are steeped in the culture of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Indian Ocean trading system facilitated the migration of Indians to the east coast of Africa, South-east Asia, and the area that is now under the Middle East. There is evidence of Indian settlements in East Africa extending to the 12th century. So renowned had the Gujaratis become for their entrepreneurial spirit, commercial networks, and business acumen that a bill of credit issued by a Gujarati merchant would be honored as far as 5,000 miles away merely on the strength of the community’s business reputation. They traversed the vast spaces of the Indian Ocean world with confidence, and it is said a Gujarati pilot guided Vasco da Gama’s ship to India.

Under Portuguese rule the Indian Ocean trading system went into precipitous decline, and not until the nineteenth century did the Gujarati diaspora find a new lease of life. Gujarati traders migrated under the British dispensation in large numbers to Kenya, Tanganyika, South Africa among other places, and Mohandas Gandhi has recorded that the early political proceedings of the Indian community in South Africa were conducted in the Gujarati language. In East Africa their presence was so prominent that banknotes in Kenya, before the country acquired independence, had inscriptions in Gujarati. Khojas, or Gujarati Ismailis, flourished and even occupied positions as teachers and educators in Muslim countries around the world.

Modern Indian diaspora dates from the third decade of the nineteenth century. When slavery was abolished in the 1830s in the British Caribbean, and labour shortages threatened to reduce plantation owners to bankruptcy, it became expedient to import labour. A large number of Indians were taken, largely from the Gangetic plains and present-day Tamil Nadu, under conditions of savage exploitation, to various British colonies as indentured labour to work on sugar, tea, and rubber plantations. The first shipload of Indians arrived in Trinidad in 1845; others went to Guyana and Surinam, and yet others to plantations in Mauritius (where Indians first arrived in 1834), Fiji, and Malaysia. Many went to East Africa to help build railroads. The presence of Indians in these countries is due to this circumstance. The system of indenture came to a close in 1917, but not before 1.5 million Indians had sold themselves into debt-bondage. They lived in appalling conditions, in the “lines” formerly inhabited by the slaves. They are the great unsung heroes and heroines of the diaspora.

Diverse streams of the Indian population have fed into the Indian diaspora in the twentieth century: while a professional elite found its way to the United States, Australia, and other nations of the developed West, the labouring poor were recruited to build the shattered economies of Britain, Holland and Germany in the aftermath of World War II, and another strand of this working class has been providing for some years its labour and much more to the Sheikdoms of the middle East. Today the United States has among the largest Indian diasporic populations.

Though Indians lived under conditions of appalling poverty in many places of the world where they were first taken as indentured labour, a number of remarkable transformations took place over two or three generations. Through sheer perseverance, labour, and thrift, these Indians successfully laboured to give their children and grand-children better economic futures, and they in time came to capture the trade and commerce of their new homelands. This was just as true in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, as it was in Trinidad, Mauritius, and Burma. In Trinidad, though the minuscule population of whites continues today to control the banks and financial services, the Indians dominate in industry and entrepreneurial enterprises. If in Trinidad Indians appear to have done well for themselves within the economic domain, their affluence in such countries as the United States is even more pronounced, as is their presence within the professions. Taking the country as a whole, though their share of the population in the United States is less than 0.5%, Indians account for well over 5% of the scientists, engineers, and software specialists; and no group, not excepting whites, the Japanese, and Jewish people, has a higher per capita income than Indians.

But the Indian diaspora has given rise to uncertainties as much as to promises and accomplishments. A significant number of Indian Malaysians still live in and around plantations. Alcoholism and subtle discrimination have together drained the life out of this community. In Trinidad, where Indo-Trinidadians and Afro-Trinidadians account in equal measure, electoral politics was seared by an intense racial divide. Indo-Fijians accounted for a little more than half of Fiji’s population less than 15 years ago, but following the coups in 1987 and 2000, they have left the country in droves. Though they have not been expelled, as were Indians from Uganda and Kenya, they are unable to farm the land or find employment in government offices. They are doubtless the victims of grave forms of discrimination. Similarly in Africa, wherever Indians were able to establish themselves, they became the principal arteries of trade, shopkeepers to the nation. And so were opened to the charge that they had done so by illicit activities, by marginalizing the local population, and with no other thought than of enhancing their own interests and prosperity. Indians lived in places like Uganda, from where Idi Amin effected their wholesale and immediate removal, or in Kenya, from where their eviction was only slightly less callous. Thus the position of Indians overseas has always been precarious.

One reason attributed to these problems faced by Indian diaspora is their mode of adaptation is marked by a clear preference for economic integration than cultural integration (Sharma 1989). They refuse to engage with a wider notion of the “public,” and retreat into their home and culture. They carry their “little India” with them.

What is Indianness?

If there is an Indian Diaspora, then what makes it “Indian” is an important question. What is common to Hong Kong South Asian Muslims, Indo-Trinidadians, Punjabi Mexican Americans, Canadian Sikhs, Hindi-speaking Mauritians, Tamilian Guadeloupeans, and the twice- or thrice-migrants, such as Indians from East Africa who moved to Britain, then from there making their way to Canada, Australia, or the US? For India is not a culturally monolithic entity. It is a compendium of ethnicities, languages and traditions. To speak of an Indian diaspora is to insist on a claim to an essential psychological and historical unity. The concept remains problematic for it raises complex questions about the meaning of a number of related terms.

But this question can as well be asked of the myriad number of people residing in India itself. The question of the “Indianness” of Indians acquires a particular poignancy overseas, as Indians abroad shed their regional, linguistic, and ethnic identities. However it is evident that one is more easily an Indian abroad than in India; the category of “Indian” is not contested abroad as it is in India. Sharma (1989) points out that while dealing with non-Indians, the Indian communities abroad tend to project a pan-Indian identity. But, when it comes to interacting among them and locating oneself, their regional, linguistic or religious identity takes precedence.

The language is the first to go in the assimilation process for the diasporans. But as the Indian diasporic presence increases the usage and visibility of Indian language too increases significantly. For example in Canada the use of Punjabi increased as the Punjabi population increased in British Colombia. Members of the Punjabi community set about publishing newspapers, journals, novels, literary  anthologies and staging plays in the vernacular (Oberoi  2000). Indians have retained their language, although with difficulty, where ever they have gone, be it Trinidad, Fiji, UK or USA. Religion is one of the identity markers that help them preserve their self-awareness and group cohesion (Rayaprol 16). Religion served as a major symbolic resource in the building of the community and professing ethnic identity. The diasporans carry with them ideas and images from the “old home” to the “new host” setting. To quote Appadurai and Breckonridge (1989 iii), they piece together housing and language, electricity and ethnicity, clothing styles and state entitlement with remarkable energy, in ways tailored to the idiosyncrasies of their new locations.

Diasporic culture
For a diasporan it is not merely a physical, geographical journey; it is a virtual snapping of ties with the mother country. It is a movement away from a familiar frame of references and relationships. Their lives revolve round adoption, absorption, assimilation, retention or reinvention of several cultural domains, especially those of religion, race, dress, food, and music. Mauritius is an excellent example where they strived to preserve, promote and perpetuate Indian culture and ethos. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute established in 1976 aims to promote and propagate Indian culture, languages, arts and music. Among the languages Hindi survived in most places and many have produced literature and have run Journals to record diaspora writings. Mr. Abhimanyu Unnuth of Mauritius needs no introduction, as he is the most read Hindi novelist of the Indian Diaspora. His work Lal Pasina - the red sweat - is a powerful narration of the travails of Indian workers in the 19th century. Literature in Hindi and other Indian languages also evolved concomitantly with the rise of the Indian community throughout the 20th century. Other notable diasporic writers in Hindi are Subramani of  Fiji, whose novel Dauka Puraan in Hindihas been described as the nineteenth Puraan. Canada has been home for many Punjabi and Gujarati writings, whereas Malaysia and Singapore have produced Tamil writings. North America has produced significant Telugu writers. Many popular writers like Chittenraju, K.V.S.Rama Rao, Kanneganti Chandra, Cherukuri Rama Devi, Satyam Mandapati, Vemuri Venkateshwara Rao, Kalasapudi Srinivasa Rao have been consistently producing for the past 30 years from their diasporic space. Writings in Punjabi and Gujarati have been very common since the initial migration of Indians to Canada at the turn of the century. In Punjabi, Kashmir Singh Chaman, Santosh Chinna, Darshan Gill, Gurucharan Ramapuri, Iqbal Ramuwali, Amarjit Chahal, Tarlochan Singh Gill, Singh Kesara, are some of the writers who have been known for their writings. The Punjabis also have a number of local newspapers for the Punjabis of Indo-Canadian origin. Among them, Hindustani and Sansar are very popular ones. In Gujarati, Ramunik Shah, Ashwin Vaidya are very significant names in such a group of writers. Manobendra Mukhopadhay is an important name in Bengali. Writing in Urdu began in the 1960s and continues to enjoy a substantial readership. Although writings in Sanskrit could not get such popularity as Punjabi or Gujarati or Urdu, but their initiative dance dramas had really made a landmark in the writings of Indo-Canadians. Pancha Kanya Tarangi, Veer Kanya Vahini, Kinkini Mala, and Dima Panchakam are very popular Sanskrit dance dramas based on Buddhist themes that reveal the traditions and cultures of India in a different shade. In the field of music, “Chutney” was the name given to the pop/folk music of the East Indians that lived in the Caribbean region. The popularity of “Calcutta Woman” in 1996 provided a giant leap for the Chutney music industry. The artists used their lyrics to reflect upon the world around them and to inspire a culture far removed from their homeland. Sung in Hindi and Trinidadian creole, and ed up with the music of the high-pitched dholak, dhantal and tassa beats as well as that of the more western Guitar and synthesizer, the music instantly became a hit. It moved from being religious East Indian songs to a non-religious global music.

Notwithstanding the vitality of the writings in these languages, the writings in English have been the most prominent among Indian diaspora. While nostalgia for the lost place or way of life is always present in some form or other, the literature would also project a certain determination to find relevance in the new environment. One can notice some broad themes that this body of writing covers. The diasporic consciousness manifests itself in a variety of ways: a sense of loss and dispossession, a feeling of remaining straddled between two cultures, and anxiety to belong—either to one’s native cultural milieu or the new environment; an assertion of one’s nativity or immigrant status; an attempt to turn one’s inbetweeness into strength; an agenda of multiculturalism; an active interrogation of all notions of belonging and an ultimate urgency to prove oneself.

Experimentation with the technique, form and language that one comes across in diasporic writing is both a valid literary activity and as much a refusal to conform to the narrative patterns of the given, dominant tradition. There are attempts to evolve new styles through selective borrowing and mixing of different inheritances that they juxtapose. At the other end of the spectrum, their writing fuses into the dominant tradition, and it is distinguishable mostly in the location and concerns rather than in the techniques of the narrative, as in the case of V.S. Naipaul. The duration of their stay often affects the narrative style, replacing naturalistic/direct accounts of the pre-migration period by symbolic/metaphoric ones, and also becomes a structural principle of the work itself. Raja Rao’s novels are political as well as metaphysical allegories. Rushdie’s works are religious and political allegories.

The language/dialect of diasporic literature raises issues of language maintenance, language death, and language revival. Diasporic literatures try to maintain the language through bi/ multilingual creativity and defend the use of diasporic language varieties. On the one hand, language is a part of the process of defining and expressing self and collective identities, and, on the other, there is a need to reach a wider audience. The choices made by writers range from making minor or no variations to the status quo, to inventing styles and idioms that match the anticipated audience image of the character’s language. Their writing is also a fertile site of language contact, facilitating the production of literature in translation and intertextuality in narratives.

There are certain common themes in the representations of the Indian diasporic experience in places as different as Trinidad, Fiji, Canada, Britain, US, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. They share a common history, culture and spiritual beliefs. As Nelson puts it: “[…] issues of identity, problems of history, confrontations with racism, intergenerational conflicts, difficulties in building new supportive communities,” are some of them (Nelson 1992 XV). However much the responses of the individual writers vary, at the core of all diasporic fictions is the haunting presence of India.

That the contemporary Hindi film is increasingly attentive to the diaspora is flattering, but its conception of the diaspora is confined only to the modern West. The modern Indian diaspora began in conditions of extreme adversity, and it is incumbent not to allow the accumulated narratives of Silicon Valley “miracles,” the masculinization of Hinduism among diasporic populations in the Anglo-American world, and the musings of Salman Rushdie to monopolize one’s understanding of a diaspora that has also nurtured soft forms of Hinduism, new forms of Chutney music, and even, from within the depths of Ramacaritmanas country in Fiji, the first novel ever written in Bhojpuri.

Other India history Concepts:

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Discover the significance of concepts within the article: ‘Indian Diaspora: An Overview’. Further sources in the context of India history might help you critically compare this page with similair documents:

Banyan tree, Migration patterns, Religious identity.

Concepts being referred in other categories, contexts and sources.

Cultural integration, Nostalgia.