Introduction

The South Asian diaspora is the subject of a rich and lively scholarship, reflected in three excellent recent works of synthesis (Brown, 2006; Metcalf, 2008; Amrith, 2011) and a comprehensive Encyclopaedia of the Indian Diaspora, (Lal et al. ed., 2006). The need today for a Handbook on the South Asian diaspora, with contributions from over 30 leading scholars in this field, thus calls for a word or two of explanation.