Malbars or Malabars are an ethnic group of
South IndianTamil origin in
Réunion, a French island in the Southwest
Indian Ocean, The Malbars constitute 25% of the population of
Réunion and are estimated to be around 180,000.[2]
There have been people of South Indian origin on the island since the 17th century, and those were mostly from
Pondicherry.[3] Most were originally brought in as indentured labourers in the second half of the 19th century and were mostly
South Indian Tamils.[4] Since then, the Malbars have developed some patterns of behaviour that are not quite those of their ancestors from
Tamil Nadu nor those of the other inhabitants of Réunion.
Etymology
Malbars is derived from the word
Malabar, a term which was used often by the French and other Westerners to refer to all
Southern Indians, including the
Tamils,
Malayalees,
Telugus and
Kannadigas. This term is based on the
Malabar region of the present state of
Kerala in
India[5] This term, applied by the French to Tamil labourers coming to Réunion, has been kept by the latter and others on the island to label their own identity.
History
Indian workers came to Réunion from South India, mostly from French settlements in
Tamil Nadu,
Pondicherry, and
Karaikal. Most of these immigrants were ritually low in the
caste system.[6] Hard living conditions at home were the main reason behind their departure to La Réunion. The immigration of
indentured workers from South India started in 1827 but it was only after 1848 that indentured immigration began on a big scale.[7]
Proportion of adults with a name of Indian origin in Réunion in 1960
Acculturation
The French government in Réunion made the first Malbars become Christian.[6] However, many Malbars were only nominally Christian.[6] The
Tamil language was lost to
language shift.[8]
Recent developments
The Malbars desire to learn their ancestors' culture, and started studying their language and religions especially from
Tamil Nadu.[1] Recently many Malbars, particularly those of upper and middle classes, have started to become completely
Hindu rather than nominally Christian.[9]
Genetics
A genetic study has shown that the majority of the Indian origins of Malbars lie in the South-east of India. A significantly larger proportion comes from
Andhra Pradesh, and
Tamil Nadu.[10] The study also showed that 15-20% of the origins of Malbars come from elsewhere than India. Less than 1% comes from Europe.[10]
Notable Malbars
Jean-Paul Virapoullé is currently Mayor of Saint Andre and first Vice President of the General Council of Réunion.
^
abc
Ghasarian, Christian (1997). "We Have the Best Gods! The Encounter Between Hinduism and Christianity in La Réunion". African and Asian Studies. 32 (3): 286–295.
doi:
10.1163/156852197X00079.
^Ghasarian, Christian. 1990. "Indianit La Réunion: gestion d'une double identit", Vibre au pluriel. Production sociale des identits l'le Maurice et l'le de La Réunion, J.L. Albert (ed.), Université de La Réunion/URA 1041 du CNRS.
^N. Nandhivarman (2009),
"The Tamils of Réunion and their hybrid culture", New Indian Express, archived from
the original on 2011-07-21, retrieved 2009-12-11: "Réunion is a typical example of outsourcing by the French East India Company, and its history reveals how an hybrid culture emanated amidst Tamil settlers there, who are Tamils but could not speak Tamil, their mother tongue lost in the interregnum of 5 generations of separation from their homeland ..."
^
Medea, Laurent (2002). "Creolisation and Globalisation in a Neo-Colonial Context: the Case of Réunion". Social Identities. 8 (1): 125–141.
doi:
10.1080/13504630220132053.
S2CID145370724.
^
abDubut V, Murail P, Pech N, Thionville MD, Cartault F.; Murail; Pech; Thionville; Cartault (May 2009). "Inter- and extra-Indian admixture and genetic diversity in Réunion island revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA". Annals of Human Genetics. 73 (Pt 3): 314–34.
doi:
10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00519.x.
PMID19397558.
S2CID205598437.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
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