Migrants From India and their Relations with British and Chinese Residents

Abstract

This chapter discusses the relations that Indian migrants established with the Chinese and British residents of Hong Kong. Its focus is on the changing economic and social relations between migrants from India on the one hand, and the Chinese numerical majority and the British political majority in Hong Kong on the other hand. The period examined runs from the second half of the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Four groups of migrants from India are investigated: the Parsees, the Muslims, the Sikhs, and the Hindus. The primary sources for this chapter are the results of archive research, material provided by the different associations these migrants founded, interviews with members of the four groups, and written documents provided by interviewees. The communications with interviewees are treated as having been made anonymously. Secondary sources are historical accounts of Hong Kong society, often pertaining to the economic activities in which individuals of Indian origin were engaged.¹