Indo-Caribbean

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Indo-Caribbean people or Indo Caribbeans are people of South Asian origin who live in the Caribbean, or the descendants of such people.

From 1838 to 1917, Indians from the former British Raj or British India, were brought to the Caribbean as indentured servants to address the demand for labour following the abolition of slavery. The majority of the Indians living in the English-speaking Caribbean came from eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar, while those brought to Guadeloupe and Martinique were mostly from, but not only, from Tamil Nadu. A minority emigrated from other parts of the Indian sub-continent, including present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Other Indo-Caribbean people descend from later migrants, including Indian doctors, Gujarati businessmen and migrants from Kenya and Uganda. A vague community of modern-day immigrants from India is to be found on Saint-Martin / Sint Maarten island or other islands with duty-free commercial capabilities, where they are active in business.

Today, Indo-Caribbeans form a large part of the population in Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad. Smaller groups of Indo-Caribbeans live elsewhere in the Caribbean, especially Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Many Indo-Caribbean people have migrated to the United States of America, Canada, The Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

The indentured indians and their descendence have actively contributed to the evolution of their adopted lands in spite of many difficulties. In 2003, Martinique celebrated the 150th anniversary of Indian arrival. Guadeloupe did the same in 2004. These celebrations were not the fact of just the Indian minority but the official recognition by the French and local authorities of their integration and their wide-scale contribution in various fields from Agriculture to Education, Politics, and to the diversification of the Creole Culture. Thus the noted participation of the whole multi-ethnic population of the two islands in these events. See [link]

Indo-Caribbean

See also