Indian Mexicans are

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

citizens who are descendants of migrants from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

History

Early immigration

The first Indians arrived in Mexico during the colonial era. During this period, thousands of Asians arrived via the

Manila galleons fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

, some of them as slaves termed ''chinos'' or ''indios chinos'' (literally "Chinese", regardless of actual ethnicity). The first record of an Asian in Mexico is from 1540; an enslaved cook originating from

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

. The best known "''china''" was Catarina de San Juan, a girl captured by Portuguese slave traders in

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. In 1923, immigration of ethnic Indians was secretly prohibited. The ban was kept confidential in order to avoid diplomatic problems with the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. This ban, along with similar bans based on ethnicity, was eliminated by a 1947 law that prohibited racial discrimination.

Modern status

Most of the Indians in Mexico are recent arrivals in the country and almost all of them have settled in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Mexico has a non-discriminatory policy with regard to the grant of its citizenship. The spouse of a Mexican national would generally not face any problem in acquiring local citizenship. Although a few of the

NRI NRI or Nri may refer to : * Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century * National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school * National Resources Inventory * N ...

s have married Mexicans, they have retained their Indian citizenship. The Indians in this country are mainly businessmen or professionals. Many of them work with one or other international organization or a multinational corporation. There are also some academicians and scientists among them. They have helped to bring about greater mutual understanding between India and their host country. Some of the Indians work for "ISPAT Mexicana" which is part of the Laxmi Mittal group, well known in this region for having turned around a sinking steel company in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. The Indian presence in Mexico has been greatly appreciated as fifty other business ventures have invested around US$1.58 billion in the country around 1994 to 2000. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, there were about 2,000 Indians living in Mexico as of March 2011. In December 2018, the ministry estimated there are about 6,500 people of Indian descent.

Indian culture in Mexico

The main Indian community organisation is the Indian Women's Association of Mexico (IWAM) in Mexico City. It celebrates important festivals and organises cultural programmes. A

Sai Baba Sai Baba or Saibaba ( hi, साईं , "Swami", and , "Baba (honorific), Baba") is an honorific term for Asceticism, ascetics in India. It may refer in particular to: People * Sai Baba of Shirdi (–1918), Indian guru * Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2 ...

temple, a Vaishnav temple and a Gurudwara have also been constructed by Sangam Organisation in Mexico City.

Notable individuals

Manabendra Nath Roy Manabendra Nath Roy (born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, better known as M. N. Roy; 21 March 1887 – 25 January 1954) was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century. Roy ...

– Founder of the Mexican Communist Party *

Rajagopal Rajagopal or Raja Gopal is a common name in India. Notable persons with that name include: * Chandran Rajagopal (1974–2001), Indian foreign worker and murderer executed in Singapore *Rajagopal (professor and researcher), Indian business and mark ...

– Expert in business and marketing at Tec de Monterrey *

Sanjaya Rajaram Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram (1943–2021) was an Indian-born Mexican scientist and winner of the 2014 World Food Prize. He was awarded this prize for his scientific research in developing 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries. Th ...

– Agronomist and creator of 480 types of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

* Babaji Singh –

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

credited with translating the Guru Granth Sahib into Spanish * Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje – One of the founding fathers of the

Ghadar Party The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...

* David Philip – Notable chemical engineer * Catarina de San Juan (Mirra) – Girl brought to colonial Mexico as a slave; the " China Poblana"

References

{{Ethnic groups in Mexico Asian Mexican Ethnic groups in Mexico

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...