Watanzania wenye asili ya Kihindi (Swahili) | |
---|---|
Total population | |
c. 60,000 (2015)[1][a] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar | |
Languages | |
Odia,[2] Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kutchi, Kiswahili, English, Hindi | |
Religion | |
Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism; significant minorities Christianity | |
Related ethnic groups | |
PIO, NRI and Desi | |
a.^ includes about 10,000 expatriates |
There are currently over 60,000 people of Indian origin in Tanzania. Many of them are traders and they control a sizeable portion of the Tanzanian economy. Indians have a long history in Tanzania starting with the arrival of Gujarati traders. They came to gradually control the trade in Zanzibar. Many of the buildings constructed then still remain in Stone Town, the focal trading point on the island.
Indian merchant and artisan community settlements is attested in both archaeological and literary sources. In 13th-14th century, Indian artisans were manufacturing glass beads using tube drawing technology at Zanzibar. Trade between Malindi and Bengal is also attested during early medieval periods. Vasco da Gama when he landed in east african coast found indians residing in Kilwa, Mombasa and Mozambique.[3][4]
As a result of anti-Indian sentiment in post-independence Tanzania (beginning with the presidency of Julius Nyerere), many Indians migrated overseas to India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, among other nations.[5]