Malbars

{{short description|Ethnic group of South Indian Tamil origin in Réunion}} {{distinguish|Malabars}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Malbars | population = 180,000<ref name="diaspora">[http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821114441/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf |date=2010-08-21 }} (page 8)</ref> | popplace = [[Saint-André, Réunion|Saint-André]], [[Saint-Denis, Réunion|Saint-Denis]] | langs = [[French language|French]], [[Réunion Creole]] | rels = [[Hinduism]], [[syncretic religion]], [[Indic religions]], [[Roman Catholicism]] | related-c = [[Indo-Réunionnais]], [[Tamils]], [[Telugus]], [[Biharis]] }}

'''Malbars''' or '''Malabars''' are an ethnic group of [[Indian people|Indian]] origin (mainly from a [[Tamils|Tamil]] background) 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf|title=Réunion|website=The Indian Diaspora|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821114441/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf|archive-date=2010-08-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There have been people of South Indian origin on the island since the 17th century, and those were mostly from [[Puducherry (city)|Pondicherry]].<ref>{{cite book |last=de Garine |first=Valerie |author-link= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdCJjFrxMewC&q=tamil+reunion&pg=PA225 |title=Drinking: anthropological approaches Volume 4 of Anthropology of food and nutrition |publisher=Berghahn Books |year=2001 |isbn=9781571818096 |page=225 |access-date=2009-11-29}}</ref> Most were originally brought in as indentured labourers in the second half of the 19th century and were mostly [[South Indian]] Tamils.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in|title=The Indian Diaspora|work=indiandiaspora.nic.in|access-date=2020-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815081659/http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in/|archive-date=2010-08-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 [[wikt:Malabar|Malabar]], a term which was used often by the French and other Westerners to refer to all [[South India|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/tamil.html|title=Indentured immigration and social accommodation in La Reunion|work=berkeley.edu}}</ref> 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 Southern India, mostly from the current-day [[Tamil Nadu]] as well from [[Andhra Pradesh]] (the first indentured workers who came to Réunion were {{Lang|fr|[[Telugus|Télingas]]}}),<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Marimoutou-Oberlé |first=Michèle |date=2008 |title=Les Indiens à La Réunion, une présence ancienne |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/homig_1142-852x_2008_num_1275_1_5122 |journal=Hommes & Migrations |language=fr |volume=1275 |issue=1 |pages=130–137 |doi=10.3406/homig.2008.5122}}</ref> and to a lesser extent from the lower [[Gangetic Plains]] in [[Northern India]] (current-day [[Central Uttar Pradesh|Central]] and [[Eastern Uttar Pradesh|Eastern]] [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Bihar]] and [[West Bengal]]), the latter ones being known as the "{{Lang|fr|[[Calcutta]]}}".<ref name=":0" /> These migrants where recruited and boarded through the French settlements of [[Puducherry (city)|Pondicherry]] (Pondichéry) and [[Karaikal]] (Karikal), but also from the ports of [[Madras]], [[Yanam]] (Yanaon) and [[Calcutta]].<ref name=":0" /> Most of these immigrants were ritually low in the [[caste system in India|caste system]].<ref name="ghasarian"> {{cite journal |last1=Ghasarian |first1=Christian |year=1997 |title=We Have the Best Gods! The Encounter Between Hinduism and Christianity in La Réunion |journal=African and Asian Studies |volume=32 |issue= 3|pages=286–295 |doi=10.1163/156852197X00079 }}</ref> 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.<ref>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.</ref>

[[File:Malbars à la Réunion.png|200px|thumb|center|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.<ref name="ghasarian"/> However, many Malbars were only nominally Christian.<ref name="ghasarian"/> The [[Tamil language]] was lost to [[language shift]].<ref>{{citation|author=N. Nandhivarman|title=The Tamils of Réunion and their hybrid culture|periodical=New Indian Express|year=2009|url=http://www.dravidaperavai.org.in/topic_viewer.php?art=21&xfile=1|access-date=2009-12-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721180458/http://www.dravidaperavai.org.in/topic_viewer.php?art=21&xfile=1|archive-date=2011-07-21|url-status=dead}}: "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 ..."</ref>

==Recent developments== The Malbars desire to learn their ancestors' culture, and started studying their language and religions especially from [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="diaspora"/> Recently many Malbars, particularly those of upper and middle classes, have started to become completely [[Hindu]] rather than nominally Christian.<ref name="Creolisation"> {{cite journal |last1=Medea |first1=Laurent |year=2002 |title=Creolisation and Globalisation in a Neo-Colonial Context: the Case of Réunion |journal=Social Identities |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=125–141 |doi=10.1080/13504630220132053 |s2cid=145370724 }}</ref>

==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]].<ref name="admixture">{{cite journal|title=Inter- and extra-Indian admixture and genetic diversity in Réunion island revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |author=Dubut V, Murail P, Pech N, Thionville MD, Cartault F. |pmid=19397558 | doi=10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00519.x |volume=73 |issue=Pt 3 |date=May 2009 |pages=314–34|last2=Murail |last3=Pech |last4=Thionville |last5=Cartault |s2cid=205598437 }}</ref> The study also showed that 15-20% of the origins of Malbars come from elsewhere than India. Less than 1% comes from Europe.<ref name="admixture"/>

==Notable Malbars== * [[Jean-Paul Virapoullé]] is currently Mayor of Saint Andre and first Vice President of the General Council of Réunion.

==Tamil temples== [[File:Temple tamoul à Saint André (1).jpg|thumb|A Hindu temple ({{Lang|fr|temple tamoul}}) in the commune of [[Saint-André, Réunion|Saint-André]], Réunion.]] * Chinmaya Mission temple, Quartier Francais, [[Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion|Sainte-Suzanne]] * Siva Soupramanien temple, [[Saint-Paul, Réunion|Saint-Paul]] * Siva-Vishnou-Karli temple, Saint-Paul * Siva Soupramanien temple, Petit-Bazar on Avenue Ile-of-France, Saint-Andre * Sri Bala Subramanya temple, Saint Paul * Temple du Colosse, Saint André * Thiru Kalimata Temple, [[Sainte-Marie, Réunion|Sainte-Marie]]

==See also== * [[Réunionnais of Indian origin]] * [[Tamil diaspora]] * [[Hinduism in Réunion]]

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100821114441/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf Indian Diaspora in Réunion] * [https://www.youtube.com/user/andre97440#p/u Réunion Tamils Cavadee]

[[Category:Ethnic groups in Réunion]] [[Category:Indian diaspora in France]] [[Category:Indian diaspora in Africa]] [[Category:Tamil diaspora in Africa]] [[Category:Telugu diaspora]]