Indians and the Antipodes : Networks, Boundaries, and Circulation

This book looks at the history of Indian migrants in Australia and New Zealand over a period of two and a half centuries. It looks at the history of their migration, settlement and encounter with racism. However, this book is not just about the diaspora; it is also about circulation of ideas between the Antipodes and India, both being parts of the British Empire and the Commonwealth.

Indians now constitute a significant ethnic minority in Australia and New Zealand. According to the most recent census figures, they number slightly more than half a million, but represent a successful ethnic community making significant contributions to their host societies and economies. The histories of their migration go back to the early colonial period, but rarely do they find any space in the global literature on Indian diaspora, probably because of their small numbers. This book covers their history over the past two and half centuries, covering both the ''old'' and the ''new'' diaspora; the first group consisting of the labourers who migrated under pressure of colonial capital, and the second group representing the post-war professional migrants. But this book is not just about the diaspora, it also looks closely at the host societies which over this period have been receiving and interacting with these migrants. And it looks at a few Antipodeans too, who were going to India in the early twentieth century and making contributions in terms of ideas and service.