Réunionnais of Indian origin are people of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

origin in

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

. They form two ethnic groups on the island, Malbars (Tamils) and

Zarabes Zarabe (variants: Zarab or Z'arabe) is the name given to the Muslim community of Réunion, who migrated in the mid-19th century. Zarabes are mostly South Asian, specifically from the modern state of Gujarat in India. Etymology The name is a Réuni ...

(Muslims).

Origins

Originally brought in as indentured laborers, as in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, they were mostly of

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

origin. The next largest ethnicity were

North Indian North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, speaking

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

. The smallest group were Muslims (from

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

West India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Unio ...

, mainly from the modern day region of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

.) There were also later emigrants, mostly

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

traders and businessmen. In Réunion, Indians from South India, often Hindu, are known as Malbars and Muslim Indians from North and West India are known as Zarabes.

Today

Indo-Réunionnais people have affected the culture of

, bringing Indian cuisine as well as flora and fauna to the island. The Indo-Réunionnais Hindus have mainly assimilated with other ethnicities on the island.

Malbars

Originally brought in as

indenture An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...

d labourers as in

, they were mostly from

. Tamils in Reunion are gradual awakening and desire to their ancestors' culture, and started studying their language and religions especially from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

. They also now wanted to translate their newly acquired civic and political rights into a gradual and increasing participation in local and other elections: * Mr Jean-Paul Virapoullé, Mayor of Saint-André (1972-2008 and since 2014), Deputy of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

(1986-1997),

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(2001-2011) and First Vice President of the General Council of Reunion. * Mrs

Nadia Ramassamy Nadia Ramassamy (born 17 May 1961) is a French politician from Réunion. She was elected the Member of Parliament (France), MP for Réunion's 6th constituency since 2017 French legislative election, 2017. Career Aside being a politician, she co ...

, Deputy of the

since 2017, previously Vice President of the General Council. * Mr Saminadin Axel Kichenin, Mayor of Sainte-Marie (1983-1990), Vice President of the General Council. *Mrs Denise Nillameyom, Deputy Mayor of

Le Tampon Le Tampon () is the fourth-largest commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the south-central part of the island of Réunion, adjacent to Saint-Pierre. In the early twentieth century, the town was the base for th ...

Zarabes

is the name given to the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

community of

. The Muslims migrated to Réunion in mid-nineteenth century. Zarabes are mostly

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

n and specifically from the modern state

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Demographic factors

Many are

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

and

, including some who are nominally Christian but include Hindu practises. There is a significant

minority known as

. Others are

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

, Baháʼí or

non-religious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a group commonly known as "Hare Krishnas" or the "Hare Krishna movement" * Hare Krishna (mantra) The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the (" ...

is also practised in

. They speak Réunion Creole and French. There are a handful of schools where Indian languages such as

may be studied as a third or fourth language.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reunionnais Of Indian Origin Ethnic groups in Réunion Reunionnaise, Indo- Indian diaspora in Africa