Indians in Portugal, including recent immigrants and people who trace their ancestry back to India, together number around 104,000 (2024 Indian Ministry of External Affairs data)[1] − 120,000 (2021 Indian embassy data data).[2] They thus constitute 0.98% – 1.13% of the total population of Portugal.

Indians in Portugal
Total population
104,000 – 120,000
Regions with significant populations
Lisbon District · Faro District · Beja District · Santarém District · Setúbal District · Leiria District · Porto District
Languages
Portuguese · Konkani · Gujarati · Punjabi · English · Hindi
Religion
Christianity (Roman Catholicism) · Hinduism · Sikhism · Islam · Jainism
Related ethnic groups
Konkani people, Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, Desi, Nepali, Indian immigration to Brazil, Indians in Spain

In the 6 years between 2018 and 2023 around 45,000 Indians have settled the country,[3][4][5][6][7][8] mostly in the Lisbon metropolitan area, Porto, the Algarve[9] and the Districts of Beja, Santarém and Leiria.[4]

The majority of Indians in Portugal trace their background to Goa, Daman and Diu, Gujarat and, more recently, from Punjab and Haryana.[9]

History

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In sixteenth century southern Portugal, there were Chinese slaves but the number of them was described as "negligible", being outnumbered by East Indian, Mourisco, and African slaves.[10] Amerindians, Chinese, Malays, and Indians were slaves in Portugal but in far fewer number than Turks, Berbers and Arabs.[11] China and Malacca were origins of slaves delivered to Portugal by Portuguese viceroys.[12]

A Portuguese woman, Dona Ana de Ataíde owned an Indian man named António as a slave in Évora.[13] He served as a cook for her.[14] Ana de Ataíde's Indian slave escaped from her in 1587.[15] A large number of slaves were forcibly brought there since the commercial, artisanal, and service sectors all flourished in a regional capital like Évora.[16] Rigorous and demanding tasks were assigned to Mourisco, Chinese, and Indian slaves.[17] Chinese, Mouriscos, and Indians were among the ethnicities of prized slaves and were much more expensive compared to blacks, so high class individuals owned these ethnicities.[18]

A fugitive Indian slave from Evora named António went to Badajoz after leaving his master in 1545.[19] António was among the three most common male names given to male slaves in Evora.[20]

Antão Azedo took an Indian slave named Heitor to Evora, who along with another slave was from Bengal were among the 34 Indian slaves in total who were owned by Tristão Homem, a nobleman in 1544 in Evora. Manuel Gomes previously owned a slave who escaped in 1558 at age 18 and he was said to be from the "land of Prester John of the Indias" named Diogo.[21]

In Evora, men were owned and used as slaves by female establishments like convents for nuns. A capelão do rei, father João Pinto left an Indian man in Porto where he was picked up in 1546 by the Evora-based Santa Marta convent's nuns to serve as their slave. However, female slaves did not serve in male establishments, unlike vice versa.[22]

Japanese Christian Daimyos mainly responsible for selling to the Portuguese their fellow Japanese. Japanese women and Japanese men, Javanese, Chinese, and Indians were all sold as slaves in Portugal.[23]

Traits such as high intelligence were ascribed to Indians, Chinese, and Japanese slaves.[24][25][26]

Notable people with Indian ancestry

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Population of Overseas Indians.
  2. ^ "Uma comunidade indiana em Portugal diversa e dialogante na fé". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 5 May 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Relatório de Migrações e Asilo 2023" (PDF). AIMA (in Portuguese).
  4. ^ a b "Resident Foreign Population in Portugal - India". 2023.
  5. ^ "Immigration during 2019" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Immigration during 2020" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Immigration during 2021" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Immigration during 2022" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b "Embassy of India, Lisbon, Portugal : Indian Community in Portugal". Embassy of India, Lisbon, Portugal. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  10. ^ Peter C. Mancall, ed. (2007). The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550–1624 (illustrated ed.). UNC Press Books. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-8078-3159-5. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. ^ Alberto da Costa e Silva (2014). "25 Escravo ugual a negro". A manilha e o libambo: A África e a escravidão, de 1500 a 1700 (2 ed.). Nova Fronteira. ISBN 978-8520939499. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  12. ^ Hugh Thomas (1997). The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440 – 1870 (illustrated, reprint ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 119. ISBN 0684835657. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  13. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  14. ^ Maria Antónia Pires de Almeida (2002). Andrade Martins Conceição; Nuno Gonçalo Monteiro (eds.). A Agricultura: Dicionário das Ocupações, Nuno Luís Madureira (coord.), História do Trabalho e das Ocupações (PDF) (in Portuguese). Vol. III. Oeiras: Celta Editora. p. 162. ISBN 972-774-133-9. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  15. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 31. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  16. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 31. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  17. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 972-96965-3-5. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  18. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 972-96965-3-5. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  19. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 103. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  20. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 24. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  21. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  22. ^ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Vol. 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 45. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  23. ^ José Yamashiro (1989). Chòque luso no Japão dos séculos XVI e XVII. IBRASA. p. 103. ISBN 85-348-1068-0. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  24. ^ A. C. de C. M. Saunders (1982). A Social History of Black Slaves and Freedmen in Portugal, 1441–1555. Vol. 25 of 3: Works, Hakluyt Society Hakluyt Society (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 168. ISBN 0-521-23150-7. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  25. ^ Jeanette Pinto (1992). Slavery in Portuguese India, 1510–1842. Himalaya Pub. House. p. 18. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  26. ^ Charles Ralph Boxer (1968). Fidalgos in the Far East 1550–1770 (2, illustrated, reprint ed.). Oxford U.P. p. 225. ISBN 9780196380742. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  27. ^ "Catarina Furtado tem ascendência indiana! Apresentadora descobre casa do trisavô". Maria.pt (in European Portuguese). 24 April 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
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