| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 70,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Maputo · Island of Mozambique · Inhambane · Nampula | |
| Languages | |
| Portuguese · Konkani · Marathi · Hindi · Telugu · Gujarati · Kutchi · Kannada · Sindhi · Malayalam · Urdu · Memoni · Marwari · English | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism · Islam · Christianity · Buddhism · Jainism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| People of Indian Origin |
Indian Mozambicans form the sixth-largest Indian diaspora community inAfrica, according to the statistics ofIndia'sMinistry of External Affairs. Roughly 70,000 people of Indian descent reside inMozambique, as well as 870 Indianexpatriates.[1]
India's links with Mozambique reach back over half a millennium.Indian Muslim traders fromSouth India'sMalabar region plied the trade routes of theIndian Ocean, bringing them up and down the eastern coast of Africa. Zhizo beads excavated from southern Africa and dated 8th-10th century AD are made using tube drawing methods which was specific to the Indian artisans, although scholars opine that beads were made by Indians residing in the Persian gulf or Omani coast where the ships would sail to southern Africa,[2] scholars have also suggested Indian artisans resident at eastern African coast who received raw material and manufactured those beads at the local place.[3] Blanche D'Souza states that Hindus had, by 1st millennium AD, begun using monsoon-led trade winds to establish trading activities between western parts of India and Mozambique, linking these to other eastern coastal regions of Africa and Arabian peninsula.[4][5]
Arabic geographerAl-Idrisi (12th century) noted Indian settlements atSofala[6] and describes that settlements incorporated several towns, including Sayuna, which was;
medium in size and its inhabitants are a collection of people from Hind [India], Zunuj [Mogadishu according to Trimingham] and others….
— Al-Idrisi
Vasco da Gama also found Hindu traders in Mozambique when he paid the first Portuguese visit to ports there in 1499.[7] By the 1800s,Vanika merchants fromDiu had settled on theIsland of Mozambique; in cooperation with Portuguese shippers, they were active in thetrans-Atlantic slave trade. Muslim traders from the state ofKutch, closely allied with theSultan of Oman, began to expand their activities inSoutheast Africa in 1840, when the Sultanate relocated its seat of government toZanzibar; they also bought and sold slaves in Mozambique, but shifted towardsivory under pressure from the British.[8]Cashew nuts were another popular trade item.[9]
More Gujaratis began to flow into Mozambique fromSouth Africa in the latter half of the 19th century, also as petty traders or employees of the large Indian trading firms.[10] Hindus fromDiu and Sunni Muslims fromDaman also came as masons and construction workers.[11] Migration of all Asians was officially halted in 1899 due to an outbreak ofplague, blamed on Indians; even after the relaxation of the restriction in 1907, Asians who sought to migrate to the colony had to pay a disembarkation fee of 3,000reals at their port of arrival.[12] Yet, with growing white hostility tothe Indian presence in South Africa after 1911, more and more Gujaratis who had originally intended to settle in South Africa instead diverted north to Mozambique, especially in the area aroundDelagoa Bay.[13]
Indian cashew nut traders continued to prosper even during the 1929–1934Great Depression, as the price of cashew nuts remained stable.[10] However, migration again came to a stop due to restrictions put into place by the Portuguese government, who not only barred further immigration, but also prevented the return of British subjects of India resident Mozambique who were outside of the country at the time the new migration regulations were announced. British protests had little effect.[14] This produced a significant change in settlement patterns; whereas many Indian migrants had effectively been sojourners, leaving their families in India while they did business abroad, they instead brought their wives and children over to Mozambique, thus cutting a bit more of their ties to their country of origin.[15]
Furthermore, the Portuguese put into place indigenisation quotas which required that two Portuguese citizens be employed for every one non-indigenous worker in a firm. Indians circumvented the regulations by firing their non-trusted workers and naming the remaining ones as partners, so that they would not count towards the total number of employees.[11] Some of the large trading firms eventually gave in and hired white Portuguese employees, typically women to work as shop assistants, or brought in workers from thePortuguese enclaves in India, while others continued to circumvent the regulations. This strategy would suffice through World War II, as Portugal's official neutrality meant that Portuguese ships remained untouched by either Allies or Axis, and trade volumes picked up.[16] Though the price of cashew nuts dropped, warehouse owners and exporters were largely unaffected; suppliers were hardest hit, often going out of business and returning to paid employment.[17]
In 1948, the government countered the Indian strategy of reclassifying employees as partners by requiring that partners too be counted towards the total number of employees for purposes of calculating the racial quota.[11] However, the 1950s saw further rises in cashew nut prices, so Indian firms continued to prosper. By the end of the decade, 12,000 Indians were living in the country.[18]
Indian independence andPartition in 1947 had brought with it a choice for South Asians in Mozambique:Pakistani nationality, or that of the Republic of India. Most of the Hindus, as well as some of the Muslims, choseIndian citizenship. Some of the larger traders also took advantage of a third option, retention ofBritish nationality. Finally, many registered their Mozambican-born children asPortuguese citizens. These choices would soon come to have large political significance.[19] In response to the1961 Indian annexation of Goa, the Portuguese interned all the Indian nationals in Mozambique inconcentration camps, and froze their bank accounts by order of Portuguese dictatorAntónio de Oliveira Salazar.[20] Though ostensibly done for their protection, in fact, the Portuguese hoped to use their freedom as a bargaining chip in exchange for the freedom of 3,200 Portuguese who had been captured in Goa.[18] Among other effects, this spurred many of the Muslims who had initially chosen Indian nationality to switch their allegiance to Pakistan.[21]
A significant number of Indians even faced expulsion from the country, though the heads of the larger trading firms were spared this fate due to their symbiotic relations with the Portuguese elite: they traded economic freedom for political support.[21] Even after the cessation of hostilities in Goa, Indian nationals in Mozambique continued to face restrictions by the colonial government.[22] Some chose to resettle in other countries in Southeast Africa. Later, in the 1970s, as the process ofdecolonisation began and untilthe end of Portuguese rule drew near, South Asians began leaving the country in larger numbers; the outflow was especially significant among Ismailis, who were urged to leave by theAga Khan IV. Some returned to Pakistan or India, while others re-established themselves in Portugal.[23]
In contrast, large proportions of Sunnis and Hindus stayed in Mozambique after independence. With the increasing socialisation of the economy, they had to employ legally marginal strategies to remain in business and to send funds abroad, such as requesting their suppliers abroad to invoice them for more than the amount of goods sold.[24] A typical pattern was that one member of the family would be asked to make a sacrifice and remain in the country to face the dangers of continuing to do business, while the others moved on to neighbouring countries, to Portugal, or back to South Asia.[25]