ABSTRACT
The Indian in Africa has historically been seen as wedged between white settlers and the majority African population. Though there had been contact for thousands of years, the first big wave of Indian settlement in Africa came with the inauguration of indentured labour in the 1830s. Indentured migrants were followed by free Indian traders and others escaping the predations of the British Raj. Many chose to make a life in Africa. This chapter provides an overview of the Indian diaspora in Africa, seeking to highlight the continuities and changes wrought both by Indians’ own agency in the context of the emergence of independent India and by post-colonial African governments. While being situated against the backdrop of African drift into forms of racial nationalism, this chapter draws attention to new and old diasporas and different post-liberation outcomes in places like Mauritius, Uganda and South Africa.
