1860 - Indian Migration

In 1684 the first Indians arrived in the Cape Colony during the Dutch colonial era as slaves. Two hundred years later, thousands more were transported from India as indentured labourers to work on the sugarcane plantations in Natal Colony. Additional Indian immigration came from “Passenger Indians”, who were mainly traders who operated mostly in Durban and were sometimes referred to as “Arab traders” because of how they dressed and because many were Muslim.

Approximately 200,000 Indians arrived in South Africa over a period of five decades. Concentrated in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban has the largest Indian population outside of India.