Migration and Settlement.

The muslims [especially Khojas and Ithnasheries] tended to settle earlier with their families than Hindus [among others, Lohanas, Shahs and Patels] due to the Hindu taboo on travel overseas.(3)Upper caste Hindu men and traders considered Africa as ‘impure’ and ‘unclean’ for Hindu women. They believed that women would be under better care if they stayed in India and look after their households, children and family property there.(4)The unmarried Hindu men generally went back to India to marry, and their wives initially stayed back, with the men making frequent trips back and forth. Or else, the women came to the East African Coast for a few years, returning to India for child birth, where they generally remained for 10 to 20 years until their children finished their education.

The sultan of Zanzibar, Seyyid Bargash must have been aware of this as he encouraged Hindus to bring their wives to Zanzibar. He sent out his private vessel to welcome the first Hindu woman in Zanzibar and gave her a reward of Shs 250/-. In addition he promised to turn Zanzibar’s Old Fort into a residence for wives of merchants and offered to equip it with water pipes fitted with silver taps to ensure that Hindu women need never appear in public.(5)At the same time, the Hindu community in Gujurat revolted successfully against Brahmin priests and religious customs which were cramping their mercantile activities and making commerce overseas difficult.(6)This al resulted in a growing number of Indians in Zanzibar. In 1873 Sir Bartle Frere writes not without admiration about Indians in Zanzibar: