There are 4.9 million foreign-born residents in the Republic of India, accounting for 0.4% of its population.[1] 98% of immigrants to India came from a previous residence elsewhere in Asia.[2]
History
Ancient era
The Indian subcontinent has a long history of accepting refugees. Its Jewish community dates back to the fall of Jerusalem in the first century AD, and its Zoroastrianism-adhering Parsis immigrated to escape the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia.[3]
Medieval era
Template:See also Persians, Turks, and Central Asians migrated to the subcontinent during the Indo-Muslim period. They participated in the imperial bureaucracy, brought Muslim influences such as Sufism, and helped to form the Indo-Persian culture.[4][5]
Colonial era
The British colonial presence in India varied in characteristics over time; British people generally stayed in the colony on a temporary basis, and were sometimes aiming to avoid local cultural habits and contact.[7] Children would often grow up in India, be sent to Britain to receive a "proper" education,[8] and then return to India as adults.[9] With the mortality rate for foreigners being high at the time due to disease, playing British sports was one way that the British could maintain their health and spirits; in the words of a contemporary writer, it was best for Englishmen to "defend themselves from the magic of the land by sports, games, clubs."[10]
Contemporary era
The modern dynamics of migration to the new Republic of India are often specific to its neighbourhood;[11] for example, 97% of immigrants from Bangladesh live in the Bangladesh-bordering regions of the Indian Republic (East India and Northeast India).[12] Medical tourism has also been a factor in some migration decisions.[11]
Return migration of the Indian diaspora is another factor; for example, because of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic disruption, some Indian labour migrants in the Arab Gulf countries were forced to come to India, generally via the Vande Bharat Mission.[13] (See also: Deportation of Indian nationals under Donald Trump)
Illegal immigration
See also
- Bureau of Immigration (India)
- Illegal immigration to India
- Refugees in India
- Protected and restricted areas of India
References
- ↑ Origins of World's Largest Migrant Population, India Seeks to Leverage Immigration Migration Policy Institute
- ↑ Immigrants and Immigration in India: A Fresh Approach. Economic and Political Weekly({Template:Date).
- ↑ Illusions of empire: Amartya Sen on what British rule really did for India. The Guardian(2021-06-29). Retrieved 2024-10-04.
- ↑ Emigration of Iranian Elites to India during the 16-18th centuries. Cahiers d'Asie centrale({Template:Date).
- ↑ India in the World; the World in India 1450-1770. Association for Asian Studies. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
- ↑ How India came to love cricket, favored sport of its colonial British rulers. The Conversation(2020-02-26). Retrieved 2024-10-04.
- ↑ 7 7 Avatars of Identity: The British Community in India.
- ↑ The lifelong effects of being a child in the British Raj, Keenan, Brigid. The Spectator(2021-03-25). Retrieved 2024-10-04.
- ↑ Empire Families: Britons and Late Imperial India{{#if:Buettner|, Buettner}. Oxford University Press(2005). ISBN 978-0-19-928765-9
- ↑ Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India{{#if:Sen|, Sen}. Columbia University Press(2015-10-27). ISBN 978-0-231-53993-7
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 International Migration Policy: Issues and Perspectives for India Binod Khadria, Perveen Kumar, Shantanu Sarkar and Rashmi Sharma
- ↑ Immigration from Bangladesh to India Based on Census Data. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal({Template:Date).
- ↑ Challenges of reverse migration in India: a comparative study of internal and international migrant workers in the post-COVID economy. Comparative Migration Studies({Template:Date).