Malbars

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Ethnic group of South Indian Tamil origin in Réunion

title: "Malbars" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ethnic-groups-in-réunion", "indian-diaspora-in-france", "indian-diaspora-in-africa", "tamil-diaspora-in-africa", "telugu-diaspora"] description: "Ethnic group of South Indian Tamil origin in Réunion" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbars" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Ethnic group of South Indian Tamil origin in Réunion ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]

Field	Value
group	Malbars
population	180,000
popplace	Saint-André, Saint-Denis
langs	French, Réunion Creole
rels	Hinduism, syncretic religion, Indic religions, Roman Catholicism
related-c	Indo-Réunionnais, Tamils, Telugus, Biharis
::

Malbars or Malabars are an ethnic group of Indian origin (mainly from a Tamil background) in Réunion, a French island in the Southwest Indian Ocean, The Malbars constitute 25% of the population of Réunion and are estimated to be around 180,000.

There have been people of South Indian origin on the island since the 17th century, and those were mostly from Pondicherry. Most were originally brought in as indentured labourers in the second half of the 19th century and were mostly South Indian Tamils. Since then, the Malbars have developed some patterns of behaviour that are not quite those of their ancestors from Tamil Nadu nor those of the other inhabitants of Réunion.

Etymology

Malbars is derived from the word Malabar, a term which was used often by the French and other Westerners to refer to all Southern Indians, including the Tamils, Malayalees, Telugus and Kannadigas. This term is based on the Malabar region of the present state of Kerala in India. This term, applied by the French to Tamil labourers coming to Réunion, has been kept by the latter and others on the island to label their own identity.

History

Indian workers came to Réunion from Southern India, mostly from the current-day Tamil Nadu as well from Andhra Pradesh (the first indentured workers who came to Réunion were Télingas), and to a lesser extent from the lower Gangetic Plains in Northern India (current-day Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal), the latter ones being known as the "Calcutta". These migrants where recruited and boarded through the French settlements of Pondicherry (Pondichéry) and Karaikal (Karikal), but also from the ports of Madras, Yanam (Yanaon) and Calcutta. Most of these immigrants were ritually low in the caste system. Hard living conditions at home were the main reason behind their departure to La Réunion. The immigration of indentured workers from South India started in 1827 but it was only after 1848 that indentured immigration began on a big scale.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Malbars_à_la_Réunion.png" caption="Proportion of adults with a name of Indian origin in Réunion in 1960"] ::

Acculturation

The French government in Réunion made the first Malbars become Christian. However, many Malbars were only nominally Christian. The Tamil language was lost to language shift.

Recent developments

The Malbars desire to learn their ancestors' culture, and started studying their language and religions especially from Tamil Nadu. Recently many Malbars, particularly those of upper and middle classes, have started to become completely Hindu rather than nominally Christian.

Genetics

A genetic study has shown that the majority of the Indian origins of Malbars lie in the South-east of India. A significantly larger proportion comes from Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The study also showed that 15-20% of the origins of Malbars come from elsewhere than India. Less than 1% comes from Europe.

Notable Malbars

Jean-Paul Virapoullé is currently Mayor of Saint Andre and first Vice President of the General Council of Réunion.

Tamil temples

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Temple_tamoul_à_Saint_André_(1).jpg" caption="Saint-André]], Réunion."] ::

Chinmaya Mission temple, Quartier Francais, Sainte-Suzanne
Siva Soupramanien temple, Saint-Paul
Siva-Vishnou-Karli temple, Saint-Paul
Siva Soupramanien temple, Petit-Bazar on Avenue Ile-of-France, Saint-Andre
Sri Bala Subramanya temple, Saint Paul
Temple du Colosse, Saint André
Thiru Kalimata Temple, Sainte-Marie

Notes

References

[http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter6.pdf] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-08-21 (page 8))
"Réunion".
de Garine, Valerie. (2001). "Drinking: anthropological approaches Volume 4 of Anthropology of food and nutrition". Berghahn Books.
"The Indian Diaspora". indiandiaspora.nic.in.
"Indentured immigration and social accommodation in La Reunion". berkeley.edu.
Marimoutou-Oberlé, Michèle. (2008). "Les Indiens à La Réunion, une présence ancienne". Hommes & Migrations.
Ghasarian, Christian. 1990. "Indianit La Réunion: gestion d'une double identit", Vibre au pluriel. Production sociale des identits l'le Maurice et l'le de La Réunion, J.L. Albert (ed.), Université de La Réunion/URA 1041 du CNRS.
N. Nandhivarman. (2009). "The Tamils of Réunion and their hybrid culture".
Dubut V, Murail P, Pech N, Thionville MD, Cartault F.. (May 2009). "Inter- and extra-Indian admixture and genetic diversity in Réunion island revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA". Annals of Human Genetics.

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