| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 4.5% of the Burmese population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Yangon,Mandalay,Taunggyi,Myitkyina | |
| Languages | |
| Burmese,Tamil (majority),Telugu,Meitei (Manipuri[1][2]),Bengali,Gujarati,Odia,Hindustani | |
| Religion | |
| Majority:Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Malaysian Indians,Singaporean Indians |
Burmese Indians are a group of people ofIndian origin who live inMyanmar (Burma). The term 'Burmese Indian' refers to a broad range of people fromSouth Asia, most notably from present-day countries such asIndia andBangladesh. While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid-19th century to the separation of British Burma fromBritish India in 1937. During colonial times, ethnic Indians formed the backbone of the government and economy serving as soldiers, civil servants, merchants, moneylenders, mobile laborers and dock workers. A series of anti-Indian riots in the 1930s and mass emigration at the onset of the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942 were followed in the 1960s by the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Indians, exacerbated byinternal conflict in Myanmar.[3]
Burmese Indians today are estimated to account for approximately 5% (about 2.0–2.5 million people) of the population of Burma and are concentrated largely in the two major cities (Yangon andMandalay) and former colonial towns (Pyin U Lwin andKalaw). They wield considerable influence and control over theBurmese economy and have a major socio-cultural presence within the country.[4][5] Amongst the well-known Burmese Indians isS N Goenka, a leading practitioner and teacher ofvipassanā meditation andHelen, a well-known Bollywood film actress who is also ofAnglo-Burmese descent.
In theBurmese language, Indians are typically calledkalar (ကုလား, speltkula:). The origins of the term itself are disputed. TheMyanmar Language Commission officially traces the etymology of the wordkalar to thePali termkula (ကုလ), which means "noble", "noble race", or "pure. " This term was particularly used for Buddhist people.[6][7]Folk etymology ascribes the origins of this term to a calque of two Burmese words: ကူး+ လာ (lit. "to cross over [from the sea]"), although this etymology has no scholarly basis.[8][9] The termkalar also phonetically resembles the word for "black" in several Indic languages, includingHindi andUrdu (cf. Sanskritkāla).[10]
The Burmese language termkalar has been borrowed into a number of regional languages, includingShan (ၵလႃး,kala),[11] Mon (ဂလာ,h'lea),[12]S'gaw Karen (kola),[8] andKhmer (កុឡា,kola). The Khmer termkola refers to theKula people, a diverse community of migrants from present-dayShan State.
The termkalar has a long history; it is attested inPagan Kingdom stone inscriptions dating to the 1100s, and was the name of a prominent 17th century Burmese historian,U Kala.[8] During the pre-colonial era, Westerners, including those from the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and Europe, were collectively known askalar, anexonym used by Burmese speakers.[13][9] For instance,kalaphyu (ကုလားဖြူ,lit. 'whitekalar') orbayinngyi kalar (ဘရင်ဂျီကုလား,lit. 'Frankkalar') were used as Burmese exonyms for Europeans.[13] To this day, the wordkalar features in many Burmese compound words, includingkalahtaing (ကုလားထိုင်,lit. 'kalar seat' or 'chair') andkala be (ကုလားပဲ,lit. 'kalar bean' or 'chickpea')"[13] By 1886, the conventional use ofkalar in reference to a "native of continental India" was documented in dictionaries.[9] Burma was administered as a part ofBritish India for the majority of its time under British occupation between 1826 and 1948. Colonial exploitation duringBritish Burma engendered nationalist and anti-Indian sentiment among locals, which was reinforced in the use ofkalar as an exonym with negative connotations.[9]
The termkalar is now consideredpejorative by some members of the Burmese Indian community.[14] In 2017, following theRohingya genocide, the social media companyFacebook addedkalar to its censored words, creating collateral censorship for related words like chair and chickpea.[15]
Before the British conquest, the Indians in Lower Burma primarily engaged in trade. The small Indian community was located almost wholly in during and preceding eras. After 1852, they migrated toLower Burma because of the jobs available in the expanding economy and the new provincial bureaucracy of theBritish Raj. Their population rapidly rose from 37,000 in 1871 in Lower Burma to 297,000 in 1901 with 86% being born outside Burma by that year. Most Indians were fromMadras Presidency andBengal Presidency. Over 60% in the last decades of 19th century were from Madras (presentChennai). 30% were from Bengal in 1881 and 25% in 1901.[16]
There were no effective curbs on Indian immigration until the eve ofWorld War II despite the implementation of theGovernment of Burma Act. By 1931, there were more than one million Indians in Burma, about 7% of the population, and were mostly concentrated in Lower Burma.[17] The census of 1931 enumerated 1,017,825 Indians in Burma with 617,521 born in India.[18] Per the census of 1931, the total population of Rangoon was 400,415 out of which comprised 212,929 Indians. They comprised 2.5% of population inUpper Burma and 10.9% in Lower Burma.[19]
The majority of Indians arrived in Burma whilst it was part ofBritish India. Starting with the annexation of Tenasserim and Western Burma after theFirst Anglo-Burmese War, a steady stream of Indians moved to Burma as civil servants, engineers, river pilots, soldiers, indentured labourers, and traders.[20] Following the annexation ofUpper Burma in 1885, numerous infrastructure projects started by the British colonial government and increases in rice cultivation in the delta region caused an unprecedented economic boom in Burma that drew many Indians, particularly from southern India, to theIrrawaddy Delta region.[21]
After theFirst World War, anti-Indian sentiments began to rise[22] for a number of reasons. The number of ethnic Indians was growing rapidly (almost half of Yangon's population was Indian by theSecond World War[23]). Indians played a prominent role in the British administration and became the target of Burmese nationalists.[20] Racial animosity toward Indians because of their skin-colour and appearance also played a role. Meanwhile, the price of rice plummeted during the economic depression of the 1930s and theChettiar from South India, who were prominent moneylenders in the rice belt, began to foreclose on land held by native Burmese.[20][24]
In May 1930, a British firm ofstevedores at the port of Rangoon employed Burmese workers in an attempt to break a strike organised by its Indian workers. When, on 26 May, the strike ended and the Indians returned to work, clashes developed between the returning Indian workers and the Burmese workers who had replaced them. The clashes soon escalated into large-scale anti-Indian riots in the city. Over 200 Indians were killed and their bodies flung into the river. Authorities ordered the police to fire upon any assembly of five or more who refused to lay down their arms, under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Within two days the riot spread throughout the country to locations such asMaymyo.[25]
At the start ofWorld War II, almost half of Rangoon's (modern-day Yangon) population wasIndian,[23] and about 16% of the population of Burma was ethnically Indian.[26] As a consequence of the Japanese invasion of 1942, half a million members of the Indian community fled Burma overland intoAssam, largely on foot. The refugees suffered terribly and thousands died. Some of the Indian community remained in Burma during the war; others returned after the war, although many never did.[24] After independence, Burmese law treated a large percentage of the Indian community as 'resident aliens.' Though many had long ties to Burma or were born there, they were not considered citizens under the 1982 Burma citizenship law which restricted citizenship for groups immigrating before 1823.[27]
After he seized power through a military coup in 1962, GeneralNe Win ordered a large-scale expulsion of Indians. Although many Indians had been living in Burma for generations and had integrated into Burmese society, they became a target for discrimination and oppression by the junta. This, along with a wholesale nationalisation of private ventures in 1964, led to the emigration of over 300,000 ethnic Indians from Burma.[24] Indian-owned businesses as well as Burmese businesses were nationalised due to the so-called "Burmese way to Socialism". Many Indians returned and were given 175kyat for their trip to India. This caused a significant deterioration in Indian-Burmese relations and the Indian government arranged ferries and aircraft to lift Burmese of Indian ethnicity out ofBurma.[28]
India has beenparticularly influential inBurmese culture as the cradle of Buddhism, and ancientHindu traditions can still be seen inBrahmans presiding over important ceremonies such as weddings and ear-piercings but most notably inThingyan, the Burmese New Year festival.[29] The Burmese poetry tradition ofniti (notably theDhammaniti) also has Indian origins.[30] Traditions of kingship including coronation ceremonies and formal royal titles as well as those oflawmaking were also Hindu in origin.[29] Many Burmese dishes and breads came as a result ofIndian influence, prominently reflected in the Burmese version of Indianbiryani.
Burmese Indians came from various groups from different parts of India, includingTamils (majority) and also minority groups such asTelugus,Bengalis, Hindustani speakers,Gujaratis andPunjabis. Today they form approximately 2% (about 950,000)[31] of the population, according to theCIAWorld Factbook 2006, although exact figures do not exist due to uncertainties over census results and methods inMyanmar. Disaffected young Indians often flee the cities and join ethnic resistance movements. TheAll Burma Muslim Union whose members consist largely ofMuslims of Indian origin is routinely labelled by the government as "Muslim terrorist insurgents". It operates alongside theKaren National Union which has a militant wing and, despite a swelling of its ranks following anti-Muslim riots in the eighties, remains a very minor force.[32]
Burmese Indians practiseHinduism,Islam,Sikhism,Buddhism andChristianity.Burmese-Indian Hindus have good and peaceful relationships with the native Burmese.
Predominantly, Burmese Indians are Hindu. The practice of Hinduism among Burmese Indians is also influenced by Buddhism. In addition of Hindu deities, the Buddha is also worshiped and many Hindu temples in Myanmar house statues of the Buddha.[33][34]
Burmese Muslims, some of them of mixed blood born of Burmese mothers and some of them with full Burmese blood, (ဗမာမူစလင်); with small numbers ofTwelvers.[35] The Burmese call themZaydabayi.
The constitution grants limited rights tofreedom of religion; however, some articles in the constitution, as well as other laws and policies, restrict those rights. In practice the government enforced those restrictions.[36] "Muslims continue to experience the most severe forms of legal, economic, religious, educational, and social restrictions and discrimination".[37] The military dictatorship rejects or ignores their requests when they want to build mosques in the country or to go abroad for religious ceremonies.[21][32] Although there is limited freedom of religion in Burma, Muslims decided not to holdEid al-Adha in 2012 due to Rakhine-Rohingya strikes inRakhine State.
Burmese Indians are from an array of linguistic groups, mostly areTamils fromTamil Nadu. There is also significant population of theMeiteis (Manipuris[38][1][2]), coming from Myanmar's western neighborhoodManipur state.[39] Other minorities areTelugus fromAndhra Pradesh andMarwaris from theMarwar region of India'sRajasthan state as well asBengalis hailing from the Indian state ofWest Bengal as well as the present-day independent nation ofBangladesh.Prior to the expulsion of Indians, there were alsoMalayalis fromKerala,Odias fromOdisha,Punjabis from the state ofPunjab who are mostlySikhs and two groups ofGujaratis, bothGujarati-speakingParsis andGujaratis proper who are mostlyHindus orMuslims by faith hailing from the state ofGujarat.All can and were able to communicate inBurmese due to years of assimilation and lack of education in languages other thanEnglish.Tamil is the most spoken Indian language inMyanmar. Other minorityIndian languages are quite frequently used.
Historically, Burmese Indians have made their livelihoods as merchants, traders and shopkeepers as well as manual labourers such as coolies, dockers, municipal workers, rickshaw men, pony cart drivers, malis and durwans. They were also heavily represented in certain professions such ascivil servants, university lecturers, pharmacists, opticians, lawyers and doctors. They dominated several types of businesses such as auto parts and electrical goods, ironmongery and hardware, printing and bookbinding, books and stationery, paper and printing ink, tailoring and dry-cleaning, English tuition, and money lending. They traded in textiles, gold and jewellery, where the market was traditionally dominated by Burmese women. TheChettiars of Burma functioned as moneylenders and have been thought crucial in the growth in agricultural output of Burma during the colonial era.[40] Today, many Indians live in central Rangoon on both sides of the Su Lei Paya Road and are largely involved in businesses, including restaurants, jewellery shops and money exchanges.
Manipuri language, Manipuri Meiteilon, also called Meitei (Meetei), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken predominantly in Manipur, a northeastern state of India. Smaller speech communities exist in the Indian states of Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura, as well as in Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma).
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)Meitei, also spelled Meetei or Meithei, also called Manipuri, ...