Jain, Prakash C. “Indian Trade Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula: An Overview.” pp. 267-80.
in Rajan, S. Irudaya, and Ginu Zacharia Oommen, eds. Asianization of Migrant Workers in the Gulf Countries. Singapore: Springer, 2020.
Abstract : This chapter presents a historical and contemporary sociological profile of Indian trade diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Although in modern times, the presence of Indian traders in the Persian Gulf region can be traced back to at least the sixteenth century in Oman, and the early nineteenth century in Bahrain, Yemen and the present-day UAE, it got consolidated during the inter-war period throughout the region.
Indian traders’ status as ‘British subjects’ particularly helped them in this regard. Further fillip to Indian commercial and entrepreneurial activities was provided by the emergence of Gulf countries as oil-exporting economies since the mid-1970s.
Liberalization of economies and opening of free-trade zones in many countries further helped the Indian entrepreneurs in launching a wide variety of commercial and trading activities in the region.
About the book (edited): This edited volume contains sixteen chapters by eminent scholars on one of the largest migration corridors in the world i.e., between South and South-East Asia and the Gulf region.
Few chapters in this book focus on migration from the India state of Kerala- a state where migration to the Gulf is prominent and where remittances make up over 36 per cent of the state GDP. Furthermore, the issues covered range from labour practices and policies, citizenship and state protection, human rights, gender and caste as well as the diaspora.
Reposted from Kerala Scholars eGroup
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