The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora

The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora is the first comprehensive survey of Indian communities around the world. Over 30 contextual features show the initiatives taken by these communities and the contributions they have made both internationally and to their host societies, in areas as diverse as literature, cuisine, popular culture, sports and political life. The greater part of the book consists of 44 country/region profiles covering all parts of the world. Written by over 60 scholars from across the globe, most of whom are from the Diaspora, the encyclopedia provides insights into the experiences of a people about whom much is often assumed but little is actually known. The recent expansion of the Indian Diaspora, now some 20-million strong and growing, is a social transformation of global significance. Many members of the Diaspora have reached the highest levels of global commerce and trade, international public services and diplomacy, the professions and academia. In addition, the creative literature from and about the Diaspora holds a distinctive and distinguished place in the world’s literary imagination. Written in an accessible style and illustrated with hundreds of photographs, documents and maps, The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora is at once a work of profound scholarship as well as a reference work which will appeal to both members of the Diaspora as they seek to locate their place in a rapidly globalising world, and to those who wish to understand a major development in recent world history.