Burmese Indians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (1,030,000 2.0% of the Burmese population (2011)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Yangon, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Bago | |
| Languages | |
| Burmese, Tamil (majority), Telugu, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Hindi, Punjabi | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin |
Burmese Indians (Burmese: ကုလားလူမျိုး; MLCTS: ku. la: lu myui:) are a group of people of Indian origin who live in Burma. While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid-19th century to the separation of British Burma from British India in 1937. During British times, ethnic Indians formed the backbone of the government and economy serving as soldiers, civil servants, merchants and moneylenders. A series of anti-Indian riots beginning in 1930 and mass emigration during the Japanese occupation of Burma followed by the forced expulsion of 1962 left ethnic Indians with a much reduced role in Burma.
Ethnic Indians today account for approximately 2% (about 950,000) of the population of Burma and are concentrated largely in the two major cities (Yangon and Mandalay) and old colonial towns (Pyin U Lwin and Kalaw). They are largely barred from the civil service and military and are disenfranchised by being labeled as 'foreigners' and 'non-citizens' of Burma. Amongst the well-known Burmese Indians is S. N. Goenka, a leading practitioner and teacher of vipassanā meditation and Helen, a well-known Bollywood film actress who is also of Anglo-Burmese descent.
The term "Burmese Indian" refers to a broad range of ethnic groups from India, most notably from present-day South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India and also Pakistan. Indians have a long history in Burma with over 2000 years of active engagement in politics, religion, culture, arts and cuisine. Within Burma, they are often referred to as ka-la or ka-laar (a term generally used for dark-skinned foreigners from India, Africa and the west), a term that is considered derogatory or Kala Lumyo. Its root is believed to be ku la meaning either "to cross over (the Bay of Bengal)" or "person" depending on the way it is pronounced. An alternative explanation is that the word is derived from “Ku lar”, meaning the people who adhere to a caste system.
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