Aebeez at 16:41, 25 October 2025

2025-10-25T16:41:07Z

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{{Short description|Inhabitants of Seychellois of Indian heritage}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Indo-Seychellois
| flag =
| image = File:Meghjee Kalyanji Building.jpg
| image_caption = Meghjee Building in Mahé, constructed by a local Indian Gujarati merchant's family in 1923
| population = 10,000
| popplace = [[Mahé, Seychelles|Mahé]] (mainly [[Victoria, Seychelles|Victoria]]).
| langs = [[Bihari languages]], [[English language|English]], [[Hindi-Urdu]], [[French language|French]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Kannada]], [[Kutchi language|Kutchi]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Seychellois Creole]]
| rels = [[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], [[Christianity]], [[Jainism]], Others
}}
__NOTOC__
'''Indo-Seychellois''' are inhabitants of [[Seychelles]] with Indian heritage.<ref>{{cite book|author=Angus Stevenson|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-957112-3|pages=891, 1632}}</ref> With about 10,000 Indo-Seychellois in a total Seychellois population of nearly 100,000, they constitute a minority ethnic group in Seychelles.<ref name=idnic/> According to National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles in 2022, Indian community in Seychelles representing 9.0% from Seychelles population, up from 4.4% in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-15 |title=Seychelles - Multicultural, Indian Ocean, Creole {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Seychelles/People |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Origins==
The first Indo-Seychellois were south Indians, who were brought as slaves along with Africans, by the fifteen French colonists in 1770.<ref name=pascal/> Later, as colonial plantations and road construction work started, a larger group was brought in not as slaves, but as [[indentured labourers]] (called ''[[coolies]]'').<ref name=pascal>{{cite web| last=Mahoune| first=Jean-Claude Pascal| title=Seychellois of Asian Origin| work=IIAS Newsletter Online| url=http://iias.nl/iiasn/20/regions/20ISA1.html| quote=After the abolition of slavery in 1835, the French landowners were clamouring for Indian ('[[coolies]]') labour to work on their plantations though they had many 'liberated Africans' in the 1860s. When the 'coolies' did come, they were to mostly set to work on road construction. Unlike [[Mauritius]] most of them left.| access-date=2008-03-26| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123114404/http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/20/regions/20ISA1.html| archive-date=2007-11-23| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The colonial era arrival records of Indo-Seychellois were not well kept. Those available suggest ships brought Indians to work, and many returned to India when their work contract expired. For example, in February 1905, one British Indian ship's record states that 135 Indians arrived in the Seychelles mostly male adults (106), some females (42), and a few children (7).<ref name=pascal/> Those who stayed integrated within the Seychelles society.<ref name=pascal/>

==Demography==
[[File:Hindu Temple Victoria Seychelles Islands of Africa.jpg|thumb|A Tamil Hindu temple in Victoria, the capital of Seychelles]]
Indians represent a small minority, at just over 6% of the total population<ref name=idnic>{{citation|title=Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora. Chapter 8: Other Countries of Africa |url=http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf |page=94 |author=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India |year=2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206063957/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-06 }}</ref>

The majority of Indo-Seychellois are [[Hindu]]s (60%) from current-day [[Tamil Nadu]] and the [[Kutch district|Kutch]] region in the present state of [[Gujarat]]. Others are Indian [[Jains]], [[Muslim]]s, [[Christians]], and others. They speak Seychellois Creole, and [[Tamil language|Tamil]], Gujarati and Hindi. Typically they constitute the farming, manufacturing entrepreneurs, construction entrepreneurs, wholesalers and traders community in Seychelles.<ref name=pascal/><ref name="MastersCarillet2007">{{cite book|author1=Tom Masters|author2=Jean-Bernard Carillet|title=Mauritius, Reunion & Seychelles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6dxoKuhDIIC&pg=PA43|year=2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-727-1|page=43}}</ref> They are mostly settled in the island of [[Mahe Island|Mahe]], some on [[Praslin]] and [[La Digue]], with cities such as [[Victoria, Seychelles|Victoria]] exhibiting higher concentrations of Indo-Seychellois.<ref name="MastersCarillet2007"/>

==Impact==
Many Indo-Seychellois have intermarried with non-Indian ethnic groups, and their children are usually classified as a part of the Creole majority. They have had a noticeable impact on the Seychelles, states the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, "Overall, it is believed that more than 82% of the population of Seychelles has some Indian roots. Many local shops cater to the needs of the Diaspora by stocking Indian consumer items. The community has established a Hindu temple that is run by the ''Hindu Kovil Sangam''. There is also here an Indo-Seychelles Friendship Association and a Hindu Council of Seychelles".<ref>{{citation|title=Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora. Chapter 8: Other Countries of Africa |url=http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf |page=108 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206063957/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-06 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Tamil Seychellois]]
* [[Hinduism in Seychelles]]
* [[Satya Naidu]]- first [[Hinduism in Seychelles|Hindu]] member of [[National Assembly (Seychelles)|Seychelles National Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thewire.in/article/external/seychelles-hindu-mp-indian-miltary-base-satya-naidu/amp|title=Interview: 'Not in Favour of Any Foreign Military Base': Seychelles' First Hindu MP Sathya Naidu|newspaper=The Wire|author=Devirupa Mitra|access-date=24 February 2021}}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian diaspora}}
{{Ethnic groups in Seychelles}}

[[Category:Asian diaspora in Seychelles]]
[[Category:Tamil diaspora in Africa|Seychelles]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora by country|Seychelles]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Africa]]
[[Category:Seychellois people of Indian descent| ]]

Indo-Seychellois - Revision history

Aebeez at 16:41, 25 October 2025