TiaBurwell25 at 15:46, 17 December 2025

2025-12-17T15:46:36Z

New page

{{short description|Ethnic group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Indians in Portugal
| population = 104,000 – 120,000
| popplace = [[Lisbon District]]{{·}}[[Faro (Portuguese district)|Faro District]]{{·}}[[Beja District]]{{·}}[[Santarém District]]{{·}}[[Setúbal District]]{{·}}[[Leiria District]]{{·}}[[Porto District]]
| langs = [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]{{·}}[[Konkani language|Konkani]]{{·}}[[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]{{·}}[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}}English{{·}}[[Hindi]]
| rels = Christianity <small>([[Roman Catholicism]])</small>{{·}}[[Hinduism]]{{·}}[[Sikhism]]{{·}}[[Islam]]{{·}}[[Jainism]]
| related-c = [[Konkani people]], [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin]], [[Desi]], [[Nepalis in Portugal|Nepali]], [[Indian immigration to Brazil]], [[Indians in Spain]]
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| related_groups =
}}

'''Indians in [[Portugal]]''', including [[Immigration to Portugal|recent immigrants]] and people who trace their ancestry back to India, together number around 104,000 (2024 [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Indian Ministry of External Affairs]] data)<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |title=Population of Overseas Indians}}</ref> − 120,000 (2021 Indian embassy data).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 May 2021 |title=Uma comunidade indiana em Portugal diversa e dialogante na fé |url=https://sicnoticias.pt/pais/2021-05-05-Uma-comunidade-indiana-em-Portugal-diversa-e-dialogante-na-fe-0caca0c0 |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=SIC Notícias |language=pt}}</ref> They thus constitute 0.98% – 1.13% of the total [[Demographics of Portugal|population of Portugal]].

In the 6 years between 2018 and 2023 around 45,000 Indians have settled the country,<ref name="AIMA">{{Cite web |title=Relatório de Migrações e Asilo 2023 |url=https://aima.gov.pt/media/pages/documents/92dd0f02ea-1726562672/rma-2023.pdf |work=AIMA |language=pt}}</ref><ref name="GOV">{{Cite web |title=Resident Foreign Population in Portugal - India |url=https://www.gee.gov.pt/pt/lista-publicacoes/estatisticas-de-imigrantes-em-portugal-por-nacionalidade/paises/%C3%8Dndia/3964-populacao-estrangeira-com-estatuto-legal-de-residente-em-portugal-india/file |date=2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration during 2019 |url=https://sefstat.sef.pt/Docs/Rifa2019.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration during 2020 |url=https://sefstat.sef.pt/Docs/Rifa2020.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration during 2021 |url=https://sefstat.sef.pt/Docs/Rifa2021.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration during 2022 |url=https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/RIFA2022%20vF2a.pdf}}</ref> mostly in the [[Lisbon metropolitan area]], [[Porto]], the [[Algarve]]<ref name="emb">{{cite web | title=Embassy of India, Lisbon, Portugal : Indian Community in Portugal | website= Embassy of India, Lisbon, Portugal | url=https://www.eoilisbon.gov.in/page/indian-community-in-portugal/ | access-date=2024-09-25}}</ref> and the [[Districts of Portugal|Districts]] of [[Beja District|Beja]], [[Santarém District|Santarém]] and [[Leiria District|Leiria]].<ref name="GOV" />

The majority of Indians in Portugal trace their background to [[Goa]], [[Daman and Diu]], [[Gujarat]] and, more recently, from [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] and [[Haryana]].<ref name="emb" />

==History==
{{see also|Chinese people in Portugal|Slavery in Portugal}}

In sixteenth century southern Portugal, there were Chinese slaves but the number of them was described as "negligible", being outnumbered by East Indian, Mourisco, and African slaves.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=UNC Press Books|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vrj4gApIJz4C&pg=PA228|page=228|title=The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550–1624|editor=Peter C. Mancall|isbn=978-0-8078-3159-5|edition=illustrated|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> Amerindians, Chinese, Malays, and Indians were slaves in Portugal but in far fewer number than Turks, Berbers and Arabs.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Nova Fronteira|year=2014|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mpxUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT584 |chapter=25 Escravo ugual a negro|title=A manilha e o libambo: A África e a escravidão, de 1500 a 1700|author=Alberto da Costa e Silva|isbn=978-8520939499|edition=2|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> China and [[Malacca]] were origins of slaves delivered to Portugal by Portuguese viceroys.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1997|url=https://archive.org/details/slavetradestoryo00thom|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/slavetradestoryo00thom/page/119 119]|title=The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440 – 1870|author=Hugh Thomas|isbn=0684835657|edition=illustrated, reprint|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

A Portuguese woman, [[Don (honorific)|Dona]] Ana de Ataíde owned an Indian man named António as a slave in [[Évora]].<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=%C3%ADndio+de+D.+Ana+de+Ata%C3%ADde+que+%C3%A9+cozinheiro |volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=21|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> He served as a cook for her.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Celta Editora|year=2002|location=Oeiras|language=pt|url=https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/bitstream/10071/3533/1/Cozinheiro.pdf|volume=III |page=162|title=A Agricultura: Dicionário das Ocupações, Nuno Luís Madureira (coord.), História do Trabalho e das Ocupações| author=Maria Antónia Pires de Almeida|editor1=Andrade Martins Conceição |editor2=Nuno Gonçalo Monteiro|isbn=972-774-133-9|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> Ana de Ataíde's Indian slave escaped from her in 1587.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=ana+ata%C3%ADde|volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=31|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> A large number of slaves were forcibly brought there since the commercial, artisanal, and service sectors all flourished in a regional capital like Évora.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=ana+ata%C3%ADde|volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=31|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> Rigorous and demanding tasks were assigned to Mourisco, Chinese, and Indian slaves.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora|year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=Finalmente+dois+chinas%2C+um+deles+azemel+de+D.+Maria+de+Vilhena+e+o+outro+Francisco+China%2C+de+Francisco+de+Carvalhais%2C+e+dois+judeus%2C+ambos+fugidos%2C+...+Os+%C3%ADndios%2C+chineses+e+mouriscos+parecem+ter+tarefas+mais+exigentes%2C+como+Ant%C3%B3nio%2C+%C3%ADndio%2C+cozinheiro+de+D.+Ana+de+Ata%C3%ADde%2833%29+e+o+chin%C3%AAs%2C+tamb%C3%A9m+Ant%C3%B3nio%2C+ainda+h%C3%A1+pouco+referido+e+que+era+condutor+das+azemo-+las+de+D.+Maria+de+Vilhena%2834%29.+Aparecem+na+posse+de+pessoas+da+mais+elevada+condi%C3%A7%C3%A3o+social%2C+como+o+infante+D.+Luis%2C+que+possu%C3%ADa+8+mouriscos+e+apenas+3+pretos%2C+ou+D.+Maria+de+Vilhena%2C+que+dispunha+entre+os+seus+15+cativos+de+uma+gama+etnicamente+variada%3A+3+%C3%ADndios%2C+3+mouriscos%2C+1+china%2C+uma+preta%2C+uma+parda+e+um+mulato.+Este+caso+explica-se+pela+presen%C3%A7a+no+Oriente+do+marido+desta+senhora%2C+como+capit%C3%A3o+de+Diu+e+Ormuz.+Sim%C3%A3o+da+Silveira+esteve+directamente+implicado+no+tr%C3%A1fico+de+escravos%2C+tendo+sido+enviado+em+1512+pelo+rei+ao+Congo+para+trazer+cativos%2835%29.|volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=21|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=972-96965-3-5|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> Chinese, [[Mourisco]]s, and Indians were among the ethnicities of prized slaves and were much more expensive compared to blacks, so high class individuals owned these ethnicities.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora|year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=Aparecem+na+posse+de+pessoas+da+mais+elevada+condição+social,+como+o+infante+D.+Luis,+que+possu%C3%ADa+8+mouriscos+e+apenas+3+pretos,+ou+D.+Maria+de+Vilhena,+que+dispunha+entre+os+seus+15+cativos+de+uma+gama+etnicamente+variada:+3+%C3%ADndios,+3+mouriscos,+1+china,+uma+preta,+uma+parda+e+um+mulato.+Este+caso+explica-se+pela+presença+no+Oriente+do+marido+desta+senhora,+como+capitão+de+Diu+e+Ormuz.+Simão+da+Silveira+esteve+directamente+implicado+no+tráfico+de+escravos,+tendo+sido+enviado+em+1512+pelo+rei+ao+Congo+para+trazer+cativos(35).+A+posse+de+escravos+dessas+etnias+pelas+classes+mais+altas+devia-se+certamente+ao+seu+mais+elevado+preço.+Efectivamente,+o+valor+dos+escravos+negros+era+de+todos+o+mais+baixo,+pela+sua+maior+abundância+e+bocalidade,+o+que+está+de+acordo+com+o+que+também+se.|volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=21|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=972-96965-3-5|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

A fugitive Indian slave from Evora named António went to [[Badajoz]] after leaving his master in 1545.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=...+de+Sande,+%22homem+mourisco+forro%22,+criado+do+c%C3%B3nego+Manuel+de+Sande+e+provavelmente+seu+antigo+escravo,+que+em+1545+foi+em+nome+do+patr%C3%A3o+a+Badajoz+buscar+Ant%C3%B3nio,+%C3%ADndio+que+para+l%C3%A1+fugira,+com+ordem+de+o+vender(396). |volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=103|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref> António was among the three most common male names given to male slaves in Evora.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora|year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=A+comparação+com+o+nome+dos+donos+de+escravos+que+conhecemos+não+teria+vantagens+dado+que+também+estes+eram+uma+camada+restrita+da+população+-+com+grande+peso+da+nobreza+-+em+que+podiam+verificar-se+especificidades+culturais+determinantes+do+uso+dos+nomes.+É+de+destacar+a+coincidência+dos+três+nomes+mais+usados,+quer+pelos+escravos+-+António,+Manuel+e+Francisco+-+quer+pelas+escravas+-+Maria,+Isabel+e+Catarina+-+na+região+de+Évora+e+na+Madeira,+de+acordo+com+o+estudo+de+Alberto+Vieira|volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=24|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

Antão Azedo took an Indian slave named Heitor to Evora, who along with another slave was from [[Bengal]] were among the 34 Indian slaves in total who were owned by Tristão Homem, a nobleman in 1544 in Evora. Manuel Gomes previously owned a slave who escaped in 1558 at age 18 and he was said to be from the "land of Prester John of the Indias" named Diogo.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=chines |volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=21|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

In Evora, men were owned and used as slaves by female establishments like [[convent]]s for [[nuns]]. A capelão do rei, father João Pinto left an Indian man in [[Porto]] where he was picked up in 1546 by the Evora-based Santa Marta convent's nuns to serve as their slave. However, female slaves did not serve in male establishments, unlike vice versa.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Câmara Municipal de Évora |year=1997|language=pt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrlIAAAAYAAJ&q=%C3%ADndio |volume=2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses|page=45|title=Os escravos em Évora no século XVI|author=Jorge Fonseca|isbn=9729696535|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

[[Kirishitan|Japanese Christian Daimyos]] mainly responsible for selling to the Portuguese their fellow Japanese. Japanese women and Japanese men, Javanese, Chinese, and Indians were all sold as slaves in Portugal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2qSNQnlQGcC&q=sul+portugal+chineses+escravos&pg=PA103|title=Chòque luso no Japão dos séculos XVI e XVII|author=José Yamashiro|year=1989|publisher=IBRASA|page=103|isbn=85-348-1068-0|access-date=14 July 2010}}</ref>

Traits such as high intelligence were ascribed to Indians, Chinese, and Japanese slaves.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0TCPWGGVqgC&pg=PA168|volume=25 of 3: Works, Hakluyt Society Hakluyt Society|page=168|title=A Social History of Black Slaves and Freedmen in Portugal, 1441–1555|isbn=0-521-23150-7|author=A. C. de C. M. Saunders|edition=illustrated|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Himalaya Pub. House|year=1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHPaAAAAMAAJ&q=Jean+Mocquet+in+his+book+Old+China+Hands+records+that+the+Portuguese+were+particularly+desirous+of+securing+Chinese+as+slaves,+since+'they+are+found+to+be+very+loyal,+intelligent+and+hard+working'|page=18|title=Slavery in Portuguese India, 1510–1842|author=Jeanette Pinto|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Oxford U.P.|year=1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qUAsAAAAMAAJ&q=Jean+Mocquet+in+his+book+Old+China+Hands+records+that+the+Portuguese+were+particularly+desirous+of+securing+Chinese+as+slaves,+since+'they+are+found+to+be+very+loyal,+intelligent+and+hard+working'|page=225|title=Fidalgos in the Far East 1550–1770|isbn=9780196380742|author=Charles Ralph Boxer|edition=2, illustrated, reprint|access-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

==Notable people with Indian ancestry==
*[[Kalidás Barreto]] - Former Portuguese politician
*[[Mariano Barreto]] - Portuguese football manager
*[[Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho]] – Former Portuguese military officer
*[[Matheus de Castro]] – First Indian bishop of the Catholic church
*[[Narana Coissoró]]- Portuguese Speaker of the House
*[[Alfredo Bruto da Costa]] – Former Portuguese politician
*[[Alfredo Nobre da Costa]]- Former Prime Minister of Portugal
*[[Antonio Costa]] – former Prime Minister of Portugal
*[[Orlando da Costa]] – Portuguese writer
*[[José Pereira Coutinho]] – [[Macanese people|Macanese]] politician
*[[Ileana D'Cruz]] – Portuguese actress who predominantly appears in [[Hindi]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] language films
*[[Mortó Dessai]] – Portuguese- medical analyst
*[[Rogério de Faria]] – Portuguese-Brazilian businessman
*[[Catarina Furtado]] – Portuguese television presenter<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 April 2019 |title=Catarina Furtado tem ascendência indiana! Apresentadora descobre casa do trisavô |url=https://www.maria.pt/noticias-em-destaque/catarina-furtado-tem-ascendencia-indiana-apresentadora-descobre-casa-do-trisavo/ |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=Maria.pt |language=pt-PT}}</ref>
*[[André Lacximicant]] – Footballer for [[G.D. Estoril Praia|Estoril Praia]]
*[[João Leão]] – Former Finance Minister of Portugal
*[[André Pereira dos Reis]] – Portuguese captain, pilot and cartographer
*[[Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro]] – Portuguese politician
*[[Rosendo Ribeiro]] – Portuguese physician and diplomat
*[[António Maria de Bettencourt Rodrigues|António de Bettencourt Rodrigues]] – doctor, [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] diplomat and politician
*[[Manuel António de Sousa]] – Portuguese merchant
*[[Sabrina De Sousa]] – Portuguese-American ex-[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] operative
*[[Teotónio de Souza]] – Portuguese historian and the founder-director of the [[Xavier Centre of Historical Research]] (XCHR), at [[Porvorim|Alto Porvorim]]
*[[Jorge Barreto Xavier]] – Portuguese cultural manager, university professor and politician

==See also==
{{Portal|India|Portugal}}
*[[Hinduism in Portugal]]
*[[Immigration to Portugal]]
*[[Indian diaspora]]
*[[India–Portugal relations]]
*[[Romani people in Portugal]]
==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070218220705/http://www.indembassy-lisbon.org/uk/ind_personorigin.html Embassy of India]

{{Indian diaspora}}
{{Immigration to Portugal}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Portugal]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora by country|Portugal]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Europe|Portugal]]
[[Category:Immigration to Portugal]]
[[Category:Portuguese people of Indian descent| ]]

Indians in Portugal - Revision history

TiaBurwell25 at 15:46, 17 December 2025