Indian immigration to Brazil

This article is about people originating from India. For native ethnic groups of Brazil, also sometimes called "Indians", see Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

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Ethnic group

Indian immigration to BrazilTotal population

23,254 (in 2020)[1]
Regions with significant populations

* São Paulo
* Rio de Janeiro
* Manaus
* Foz do Iguaçu

Languages

* Portuguese
* Various Indian Languages
* English

Religion

* Hinduism
* Christianity
* Islam
* Sikhism

Related ethnic groups
Indo-Caribbeans and Luso-Indians

There is a small community of Indians in Brazil who are mainly immigrants and expatriates from India. There are currently about 9,200 people of Indian origin living in the country and a majority of them live in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. There are also a number of people of Indian origin (mainly from the former colony of Portuguese Goa) who came to Brazil from both Britain's and Portugal's African colonies in the later half of the twentieth century.

## Migration history

[edit]

### Early Indian presence in Brazil

[edit]

The earliest Indians to arrive in Brazil were Indian seamen or Lascars, known as "Lascarim" in Portuguese. They arrived between the sixteenth and mid-seventeenth century, when the most important parts of the Portuguese Empire were their colonies in Asia. These included Diu, Daman, Bombay, Thana, Goa, Cochin and some smaller settlements in Hugli River.

Later as the settlement of coastal Brazil developed, many governors, Catholic clerics, and soldiers who had formally served in Asia arrived with their Asian wives, concubines, servants and slaves. Later Luso-Indian servants and clerics connected with the religious orders, such as the Jesuits and Franciscans, and spice cultivators arrived in Brazil.[2]

In the eighteenth century there were Luso-Indians arriving in Brazil on ships of the English East India Company.[3]

### 20th century Indian Immigration to Brazil

[edit]

* The first wave of Indian immigration to Brazil began when a small number of Sindhis had arrived there from Suriname and Central America (mainly from Belize and Panama) in the 1960s to set up shop as traders in the city of Manaus.
* The second wave of immigration consisted of university professors to Rio de Janeiro from Bangalore, Goa, and New Delhi who arrived in the 1960s and also in the 1970s.
* Other people of Indian Origin migrated to that country from various African countries, mainly from former Portuguese colonies (especially Mozambique), soon after their independence in the 1970s. The number of PIOs in Brazil has been augmented in recent years by the arrival of nuclear scientists and computer professionals.

## Current status

[edit]

There are as many as 1,500 PIOs and only 400 NRIs besides the descendants and only since foreign nationals can acquire local citizenship without any discrimination after 15 years of domicile in this country. Brazil has also no bar against dual citizenship, although India does ban its citizens from obtaining dual citizenship. But in recent years, it has been granting immigration visas only in high technology fields. The only exceptions are the Sindhis in Manaus and the immigrants and descendants in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Most of the Indians living in Brazil have not only been able to assimilate themselves in the Brazilian way of life but also maintain close cultural and economic connection with India.[4]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Suresh Biswas (1861–1905), adventurer from British India
* Ashok Gandotra (born 1948), cricketer
* Froilano de Mello (1887–1955), microbiologist from Goa
* Nathalia Kaur (born 1990), model, Bollywood actress and opera singer
* Sadhan Kumar Adhikari, Brazilian physicist

## See also

[edit]

* Asian Brazilians
* Asian Latin Americans
* Sikhism in Brazil
* Brazilians in India
* Caminho das Índias
* Romani people in Brazil

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Imigrantes internacionais registrados (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro - RNE/ Registro Nacional Migratório - RNM
2. ^ East in the West: Investigating the Asian presence and influence in Northeast Brazil from the 16th to the 18th centuries. By Clifford Pereira. In Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage. Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA. May 2014.
3. ^ Research by Clifford Pereira 2010.
4. ^ President of India's Address to the Indian Community at São Paulo, pib.nic.in

* v
* t
* e

Ancestry and ethnicity in Brazil

| Brazil|

* Brazilians
* Indigenous peoples
* Mixed-race or mestiços
* ainokos
* pardos
* caboclos
* mamelucos
* Amazonian Jews
* cafuzos
* juçaras
* caiçaras
* mulatos
* sararás

|

Africa|

| By ethnicity|

* Black
* quilombolas
* Kalunga

|

West Africa

* Nigerian

Central Africa

* Angolan
* Congolese

Americas|

| North America|

* American (United States)

* Americana
* Confederados
* New Texas
* Santa Bárbara d'Oeste

* Canadian
* Mexican

|

Caribbean|

* Barbadian
* Cuban
* Haitian
* Jamaican

Central America|

* Costa Rican
* Guatemalan
* Honduran
* Nicaraguan
* Panamanian
* Salvadoran

South America|

* Argentine
* Bolivian
* Chilean
* Colombian
* Ecuadorian
* Guyanese
* Paraguayan
* Peruvian
* Surinamese
* Uruguayan
* Venezuelan

Asia|

| By ethnicity|

* Yellow (East Asian)

|

By country
or region|

| Eastern|

* Chinese
* Filipino
* Indonesian
* Japanese
* in São Paulo
* Korean
* Malaysian
* Thai
* Vietnamese

|

Southern|

* Bangladeshi
* East Indians
* Pakistani
* Romani

Central|

* Afghan

Western|

* Armenian
* Arab
* Iraqi
* Lebanese
* Palestinian
* Syrian
* Iranian
* Jewish
* Turkish

Europe|

| By ethnicity|

* White

|

By country
or region|

| Central|

* Austrian
* Czech
* German
* Hungarian
* Polish
* Swiss

|

Eastern|

* Belarusian
* Russian
* Ukrainian

Northern|

* Estonian
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Scandinavian

Southern|

* Bulgarian
* Croatian
* Greek
* Italian
* Macedonian
* Portuguese
* Romanian
* Spanish

Western|

* Belgian
* British (English and Scottish)
* Dutch
* French
* Irish
* Luxembourgian

Related topics|

* Demographics of Brazil
* Colonization
* Slave trade
* Immigration
* from Europe
* Emigration
* Racism

* v
* t
* e

Indian diaspora

Africa|

| Southeast|

* Kenya
* Madagascar
* Mauritius
* Bihari
* Tamil
* Mozambique
* Réunion1 (Malbars)
* Seychelles
* Tamil
* Tanzania
* Uganda
* Zambia

|

Elsewhere|

* Botswana
* Egypt
* Ghana
* South Africa (Tamil)
* Zimbabwe

Americas|

| Caribbean|

* Barbados
* Belize
* Dominican Republic
* Grenada
* Guadeloupe2
* Guyana
* Haiti (Marabou)
* Jamaica
* Martinique2
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* U.S. Virgin Islands

|

Latin America|

* Argentina
* Brazil
* Chile
* French Guiana2
* Mexico
* Panama
* Peru
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Anglo-America|

* Canada
* Anglo-Indian
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* British Columbia
* Vancouver
* Toronto
* United States
* by location
* Bengali
* Indo-Caribbean
* Gujarati
* Punjabi
* Punjabi Mexican
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Telugu

Asia|

| South|

* Afghanistan
* Punjabi
* Bangladesh
* Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka
* Bharatha
* Chetty
* Tamil
* Telugu

|

Southeast|

* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Indonesia
* Klingalese
* Mardijker
* Tamil
* Malaysia
* Chitty
* Gujarati
* Jawi Peranakan
* Malayali
* Punjabi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Penang
* Sabah
* Sarawak
* Myanmar
* Mizo
* Tamil
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Chitty
* Tamil
* Thailand
* Vietnam

East|

* China
* Hong Kong
* Japan
* Korea
* Taiwan

West|

* Bahrain
* Iran
* Israel
* Jews
* Kuwait
* Lebanon
* Oman
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Turkey
* United Arab Emirates

Europe|

| Eastern|

* Poland
* Russia

|

Northern|

* Finland
* Sweden

Southern|

* Cyprus
* Italy
* Tamil
* Malta
* Portugal
* Spain

Western|

* France
* Tamil
* Germany
* Tamil
* Netherlands
* Switzerland
* Tamil
* United Kingdom
* London
* Indo-Caribbean
* Gujarati
* Punjabi
* Sindhi
* Tamil

Oceania|

* Australia
* Malayali
* Punjabi
* Tamil
* Sindhi
* Fiji
* Gujarati
* South Indian
* New Caledonia3
* New Zealand
* Maori-Indian
* Punjabi
* Tamil

See also|

| Ethnic diasporas|

* Bengali Hindu
* Gujarati
* Kashmiri
* Mirpuri
* Mizo
* Odia
* Punjabi (Sikhs)
* Romani
* Sindhi
* South Indians
* Malayalis
* In the Gulf
* Tamils
* Telugus
* Anglo-Indian
* Chindians

|

Other related articles|

* South Asian diaspora
* Desi
* Little India
* Non-Resident Indian Award
* Non-Resident Indian Day

* 1 An overseas department of France in the southwest Indian Ocean
* 2Overseas departments of France in the Americas
* 3A sui generis collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean

Portals:

* Brazil
* India

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