This article focuses on the history of Indians in South Africa. In November 2010 the community celebrated their 150 years of settlement. Between 1860 and 1911 the Colony of Natal imported from different regions of India over 150 000 Indians to work primarily on its sugar cane plantations. The analysis covers the process of settlement in Natal, including the activism of Mahatma Gandhi and the government’s creation of an Indian township (Chatsworth) to the south of Durban. After 150 years on South African land, Indians assimilated with the native population, calling themselves nationals of South Africa and repudiating the term „immigrant”. Despite cultural, religious and linguistic differences in the past, Indians today uphold their heritage in the modern upper-class society of South Africa.
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