Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

17. Rising India and Indians in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

287 17 RISING INDIA AND INDIANS IN CAMBODIA, LAOS AND VIETNAM Sudhir Devare INTRODUCTION Among฀the฀countries฀of฀Southeast฀Asia,฀the฀three฀Indochina฀countries฀have฀ the฀least฀number฀of฀Indians.฀Interestingly฀these฀countries฀were฀exposed฀to฀ the฀Indian฀culture฀as฀early฀as฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀Christian฀era,฀though฀ their฀contact฀with฀India฀had฀declined฀after฀the฀thirteenth฀century.฀Today,฀the฀ situation฀of฀the฀Indian฀communities฀in฀Vietnam,฀Cambodia฀and฀Laos฀presents฀ a฀contrasting฀study.฀While฀these฀countries฀and฀India฀have฀enjoyed฀close฀ political฀relations฀throughout฀the฀period฀of฀their฀independence฀and฀extended฀ to฀each฀other฀the฀fullest฀diplomatic฀support฀in฀their฀respective฀needy฀hours,฀ the฀size฀of฀the฀Indian฀communities฀or฀their฀influence฀in฀all฀three฀countries฀ is฀very฀small.฀Ironically,฀during฀the฀colonial฀period฀the฀Indian฀communities฀ were฀sizeable.฀After฀the฀communist฀victory฀in฀1975฀in฀Vietnam฀and฀the฀ reunification฀of฀North฀and฀South฀Vietnam฀when฀India-Vietnam฀relations฀ began฀to฀strengthen฀further,฀there฀was฀an฀exodus฀of฀Indians฀from฀Vietnam฀ and฀Laos.฀Very฀few฀of฀them฀returned฀to฀resume฀their฀business฀or฀professional฀ activity.฀In฀Cambodia,฀a฀large฀number฀of฀Indians฀left฀after฀the฀coup฀in฀1971฀ and฀did฀not฀return฀even฀when฀India฀recognized฀the฀Cambodian฀regime฀in฀ 1980฀after฀the฀Vietnamese฀occupation. There฀are฀two฀groups฀of฀Indians฀in฀these฀countries.฀Those฀from฀the฀pre1975 ฀days฀and฀the฀other฀from฀the฀post-1975฀period.฀The฀former฀are฀now฀very฀ 17฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀287 8/20/08฀฀฀10:38:33฀AM 288 Sudhir Devare few.฀Today฀the฀Indian฀presence฀in฀Indochina฀countries฀has฀little฀to฀do฀with฀ the฀Indian฀communities฀which฀lived฀there฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀and฀twentieth฀ century฀French฀period.฀The฀Indians฀one฀sees฀and฀meets฀in฀Vietnam,฀Laos฀or฀ Cambodia฀are฀those฀who฀have฀come฀here฀in฀the฀last฀ten฀to฀fifteen฀years฀or฀even฀ more฀recently.฀They฀are฀mostly฀connected฀with฀the฀emerging฀India฀and฀seem฀ to฀represent฀the฀enterprise฀and฀energy฀that฀young฀Indian฀businessmen฀and฀ professionals฀are฀showing฀everywhere฀to฀explore฀new฀areas฀and฀markets. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND As฀we฀speak฀of฀the฀Indian฀communities฀in฀today’s฀Vietnam,฀Cambodia฀or฀Laos,฀ ฀ it฀will฀be฀instructive฀to฀briefly฀look฀at฀the฀historical฀background฀of฀India’s฀ presence฀in฀these฀countries฀as฀Indochina฀is฀one฀of฀the฀regions฀where฀the฀Indian฀ civilization฀had฀reached฀as฀early฀as฀the฀first฀century฀A.D.฀The฀Indianization฀ of฀Southeast฀Asia,฀referred฀to฀by฀Western฀scholars฀as฀“Farther฀India”1 ฀was฀a฀ saga฀which฀lasted฀for฀more฀than฀a฀millennium฀in฀which฀Indian฀religion,฀art,฀ architecture,฀dance฀forms,฀literature,฀etc.,฀left฀an฀indelible฀imprint.฀In฀the฀ kingdoms฀of฀Champa฀(central฀and฀south฀Vietnam),฀Funan฀(Cambodia),฀parts฀ of฀Laos฀and฀Thailand฀during฀the฀Dvaravati฀and฀Lopburi฀period,฀the฀fusion฀ between฀the฀Indian฀and฀local฀cultures฀was฀clearly฀evident.฀Indian฀Brahmins฀and฀ Kshatriyas฀are฀said฀to฀have฀married฀local฀princesses.฀The฀concept฀of฀devaraja฀฀ (Godking)฀and฀the฀structure฀of฀administration฀derived฀from฀it฀formed฀the฀ ruling฀pattern฀in฀these฀countries.฀The฀temples฀of฀Angkor฀Wat฀in฀Cambodia,฀ the฀wats฀(temples)฀of฀Laos฀and฀the฀monuments฀in฀Vietnam฀bear฀witness฀ to฀the฀rich฀backdrop฀of฀the฀Indianization฀of฀this฀region฀in฀ancient฀times. While฀the฀early฀Indian฀immigrants฀contributed฀immensely฀to฀every฀ aspect฀of฀the฀society฀in฀these฀countries,฀the฀ones฀who฀came฀from฀India฀in฀ the฀nineteenth฀century฀were฀mainly฀driven฀by฀their฀colonial฀experience฀and฀ difficult฀economic฀circumstances฀in฀India.฀Many฀of฀them฀were฀from฀the฀ French฀colonies฀such฀as฀Pondicherry,฀Mahe฀and฀Karaikal,฀and฀were฀middle฀ or฀low-ranking฀civil฀servants.฀There฀were฀petty฀traders,฀moneylenders฀and฀ brokers,฀textile฀merchants,฀barbers,฀tailors฀etc.฀A฀majority฀of฀them฀were฀from฀ South฀India฀though฀there฀were฀also฀Sindhi฀and฀Gujarati฀businessmen.฀Among฀ them,฀there฀were฀both฀Hindus฀and฀Muslims.฀Many฀of฀the฀latter฀married฀ local฀women฀in฀Vietnam฀or฀Laos฀and฀had฀large฀families฀and฀chose฀to฀stay฀on฀ throughout฀the฀turbulent฀times.฀The฀Chettiar฀community฀of฀moneylenders฀ exercised฀considerable฀influence฀(though฀not฀always฀goodwill)฀over฀the฀local฀ population.฀The฀Chettiars฀also฀built฀impressive฀temples฀in฀Saigon฀(now฀Ho฀ Chi฀Minh฀City).฀Now฀there฀are฀hardly฀any฀Chettiar฀businessmen฀left฀in฀ Vietnam฀or฀Laos. 17฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀288 8/20/08฀฀฀10:38:33฀AM Rising India and Indians in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam 289 According฀to฀the฀census฀of฀1937,2 ฀there฀were฀some฀6,000฀“Asiatic฀ foreigners”;฀3,000฀of฀whom฀lived฀in฀Cambodia,฀2,000฀in฀Cochin...