Source:-(Google.com.pk)
South African Indian Culture Biography
The feature on Indian South Africans forms part of our larger feature on the People of South Africa. It is a long term project to build a comprehensive overview of the rich diversity of peoples, traditions and culture that address the question, 'Who are South Africans?' This year, 2010, is the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Indian indentured labourers and the birth of this community in South Africa. We are using this to launch and major project to build a comprehensive social and political history of this African community.
Origins:
South Africans of Indian origin comprise a heterogeneous community distinguished by different origins, languages, and religious beliefs. The first Indians arrived during the Dutch colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. A conservative calculation based strictly on records shows over 16 300 slaves from the Indian subcontinent having been brought to the Cape. In the decades 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838. They made up the majority of slaves that came from the Far East and were by the 1880s totally integrated into the Cape White and Coloured communities.
In the second half if the 19th Century, Indians came to South Africa in two categories, namely as indentured workers in 1860 and later as 'free' or 'passenger' Indians. The former came as a result of a triangular pact among three governments, which stated that the indentured Indians were to work for the Natal colonial government on Natal's sugar plantations. The 'free' Indians came to South Africa mainly as traders alert to new opportunities abroad. These 'free Indians' came at their own expense from India, Mauritius, and other places. However, emigration was stopped in 1914.
Between November 1860 and 1911(when the system of indentured labour was stopped) nearly 152 184 indentured labourers from across India arrived in Natal. After serving their indentures, the first category of Indians were free to remain in South Africa or to return to India. By 1910, nearly 26.85% indentured men returned to India, but most chose to stay and thus constituted the forbearers of the majority of present-day South African Indians.
With 1994 and the advent of a democratic constitution, immigration policy restrictions, imposed by the apartheid regime, were scrapped. People from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, arrived in South Africa as new immigrants. However, there is a major cultural division between these new groups and Indian South Africans.
A key factor that helped forge a common South African "Indian" identity was the political struggles waged against harsh discriminatory laws enacted against Indians and the other Black oppressed groups in the country. As a consequence, the Indian community established a number of political formations, the most prominent being the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) established by Gandhi in 1894, and the Transvaal and Cape Indian Congresses in the early part of the 20th century. Members of the Indian Congress, together with socialist activists in the Communist Party of South Africa were instrumental, from the 1930s, in building cross racial alliances. The small Indian, Coloured and White progressive sectors joined with progressive African activists and together, they conducted a common non-racial struggle for Freedom and Equality.
Language, culture and beliefs:
English is spoken as a first language by most Indian South Africans, although a minority of the Indian South African population, especially the elders, still speak some Indian languages. These languages include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati. Indian South Africans are predominantly Hindu, but Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs also came to South Africa from India from as early as 1860.
Hindu, the most prominent religion in India, originated 5000 years ago. The Hindu religion prescribes a three fold approach to serving God. This approach includes knowledge, or the studying of the Bhagavad-Gita and other texts; yoga, to connect both body and mind, and devotion or bhakti, which promotes serving God through prayer and benevolent acts. Notable Hindu festivals include Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of lights, and the Tamil Thai Poosam Kavady annual festival.
South African Indian culture began in 1860 when the first immigrants arrived on board the Truro as indentured labourers to work on sugar-cane farms in present day KwaZulu-Natal. In 2010, more than 1,2 million people of Indian descent in South Africa celebrated the 150th birthday of their community's existence in this country.
Indian culture in South Africa faced struggles in the face of discrimination until 1994. It is these struggles that have seen Indians take a leading role in the Freedom Struggle. It all started with the arrival of Mohandas Gandhi in 1893.
Gandhi was born in India and arrived in the British colony of Natal to take up a position as an advisor to a Durban law firm. He had only intended to spend a year in South Africa, but the racial sleights he experienced were so formative that he stayed for 20.
In 1894 he founded the Natal Indian Congress, which later would be at the forefront of the Freedom Struggle in South Africa. At first it utilised passive resistance, but when this proved inadequate he reformulated it into Satyagraha, Sanskrit for ‘truth and firmness'.
But the influence of the Indian community is not limited to Ghandi with many members of this population group being represented in our government and ruling party in positions of influence and importance.
In addition, cultural ideas and influences are strongly felt here. India is home to 15 official languages and over 1500 dialects. Traditions have been handed down generation after generation and many of these have arrived in tact in South Africa.
The national dress of India, the saree (six yards of unstitched cloth draped to impart grace and elegance) is to be found on South African street. Indian cuisine is hugely popular with Indian restaurants all over the country. And the fever for cricket that grips India is very much in evidence in Kwa Zulu Natal, where the first Indians were introduced.ndian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'.[2] Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India (South Asia) during late 19th-century through early 20th-century. At other times Indians were subsumed in the broader geographical category "Asians", including persons originating in present-day Iran and parts of the small Chinese community.[3]
There remains a cultural, religious and racial overlap for "Asians" and "Indian South Africans". During the most intense period of segregation and apartheid, "Indian", "Asian", "Coloured", and "Malay" group identities defined where a classified person was permitted to live under the Group Areas Act.[4]
During ideological apartheid from 1948 to 1994, Indians were called, and often voluntarily accepted, terms that ranged from "Black" to "Asians" to "Indians." Some citizens believed that these terms were improvements on the negatively defined identity of "Non-White", which was their previous status. Politically conscious and nationalistic Indian South Africans wanted to show both their heritage and their local roots. Increasingly they self-identified as "African", "Black", "South African" and, when necessary, "Indian South Africans".[citation needed]
Nonetheless, the spread of democratic elections has sometimes heightened ethnic loyalties. Politicians and groups have looked for means to mobilize power in the competitive parliamentary democracy which South Africa has become since 1994.
South African Indian Culture Biography
The feature on Indian South Africans forms part of our larger feature on the People of South Africa. It is a long term project to build a comprehensive overview of the rich diversity of peoples, traditions and culture that address the question, 'Who are South Africans?' This year, 2010, is the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Indian indentured labourers and the birth of this community in South Africa. We are using this to launch and major project to build a comprehensive social and political history of this African community.
Origins:
South Africans of Indian origin comprise a heterogeneous community distinguished by different origins, languages, and religious beliefs. The first Indians arrived during the Dutch colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. A conservative calculation based strictly on records shows over 16 300 slaves from the Indian subcontinent having been brought to the Cape. In the decades 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838. They made up the majority of slaves that came from the Far East and were by the 1880s totally integrated into the Cape White and Coloured communities.
In the second half if the 19th Century, Indians came to South Africa in two categories, namely as indentured workers in 1860 and later as 'free' or 'passenger' Indians. The former came as a result of a triangular pact among three governments, which stated that the indentured Indians were to work for the Natal colonial government on Natal's sugar plantations. The 'free' Indians came to South Africa mainly as traders alert to new opportunities abroad. These 'free Indians' came at their own expense from India, Mauritius, and other places. However, emigration was stopped in 1914.
Between November 1860 and 1911(when the system of indentured labour was stopped) nearly 152 184 indentured labourers from across India arrived in Natal. After serving their indentures, the first category of Indians were free to remain in South Africa or to return to India. By 1910, nearly 26.85% indentured men returned to India, but most chose to stay and thus constituted the forbearers of the majority of present-day South African Indians.
With 1994 and the advent of a democratic constitution, immigration policy restrictions, imposed by the apartheid regime, were scrapped. People from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, arrived in South Africa as new immigrants. However, there is a major cultural division between these new groups and Indian South Africans.
A key factor that helped forge a common South African "Indian" identity was the political struggles waged against harsh discriminatory laws enacted against Indians and the other Black oppressed groups in the country. As a consequence, the Indian community established a number of political formations, the most prominent being the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) established by Gandhi in 1894, and the Transvaal and Cape Indian Congresses in the early part of the 20th century. Members of the Indian Congress, together with socialist activists in the Communist Party of South Africa were instrumental, from the 1930s, in building cross racial alliances. The small Indian, Coloured and White progressive sectors joined with progressive African activists and together, they conducted a common non-racial struggle for Freedom and Equality.
Language, culture and beliefs:
English is spoken as a first language by most Indian South Africans, although a minority of the Indian South African population, especially the elders, still speak some Indian languages. These languages include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati. Indian South Africans are predominantly Hindu, but Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs also came to South Africa from India from as early as 1860.
Hindu, the most prominent religion in India, originated 5000 years ago. The Hindu religion prescribes a three fold approach to serving God. This approach includes knowledge, or the studying of the Bhagavad-Gita and other texts; yoga, to connect both body and mind, and devotion or bhakti, which promotes serving God through prayer and benevolent acts. Notable Hindu festivals include Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of lights, and the Tamil Thai Poosam Kavady annual festival.
South African Indian culture began in 1860 when the first immigrants arrived on board the Truro as indentured labourers to work on sugar-cane farms in present day KwaZulu-Natal. In 2010, more than 1,2 million people of Indian descent in South Africa celebrated the 150th birthday of their community's existence in this country.
Indian culture in South Africa faced struggles in the face of discrimination until 1994. It is these struggles that have seen Indians take a leading role in the Freedom Struggle. It all started with the arrival of Mohandas Gandhi in 1893.
Gandhi was born in India and arrived in the British colony of Natal to take up a position as an advisor to a Durban law firm. He had only intended to spend a year in South Africa, but the racial sleights he experienced were so formative that he stayed for 20.
In 1894 he founded the Natal Indian Congress, which later would be at the forefront of the Freedom Struggle in South Africa. At first it utilised passive resistance, but when this proved inadequate he reformulated it into Satyagraha, Sanskrit for ‘truth and firmness'.
But the influence of the Indian community is not limited to Ghandi with many members of this population group being represented in our government and ruling party in positions of influence and importance.
In addition, cultural ideas and influences are strongly felt here. India is home to 15 official languages and over 1500 dialects. Traditions have been handed down generation after generation and many of these have arrived in tact in South Africa.
The national dress of India, the saree (six yards of unstitched cloth draped to impart grace and elegance) is to be found on South African street. Indian cuisine is hugely popular with Indian restaurants all over the country. And the fever for cricket that grips India is very much in evidence in Kwa Zulu Natal, where the first Indians were introduced.ndian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'.[2] Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India (South Asia) during late 19th-century through early 20th-century. At other times Indians were subsumed in the broader geographical category "Asians", including persons originating in present-day Iran and parts of the small Chinese community.[3]
There remains a cultural, religious and racial overlap for "Asians" and "Indian South Africans". During the most intense period of segregation and apartheid, "Indian", "Asian", "Coloured", and "Malay" group identities defined where a classified person was permitted to live under the Group Areas Act.[4]
During ideological apartheid from 1948 to 1994, Indians were called, and often voluntarily accepted, terms that ranged from "Black" to "Asians" to "Indians." Some citizens believed that these terms were improvements on the negatively defined identity of "Non-White", which was their previous status. Politically conscious and nationalistic Indian South Africans wanted to show both their heritage and their local roots. Increasingly they self-identified as "African", "Black", "South African" and, when necessary, "Indian South Africans".[citation needed]
Nonetheless, the spread of democratic elections has sometimes heightened ethnic loyalties. Politicians and groups have looked for means to mobilize power in the competitive parliamentary democracy which South Africa has become since 1994.
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
South African Indian Culture
