Music and the South Asian Diaspora

The first major exodus from South Asia occurred in the mid-1800s, when European imperialist nations recruited large numbers of unskilled Indian laborers to work as indentured servants in Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, South Africa, Madagascar, Fiji, Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), Malaysia (Malaya), and Burma (Myanmar). Many remained in these countries, forming South Asian diasporic communities. Since that time, economic opportunities have attracted South Asians to various other parts of the world, particularly...