Hinduism in Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
Introduction
Ancient links between India and Ethiopia have existed even before history was recorded during the Auximite period (2nd to 9th Century A.D.) According to historian Richard PankhurstRichard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE is a British academic with expertise in the study of Ethiopia.-Early life and education:...
, "contacts between the land which came to be known as Ethiopia and India date back to the dawn of history." Trade between India and the Axumite Kingdom flourished in the 6th century A.D. The ancient port of Adulis
Adulis
Adulis or Aduli is an archeological site in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, about 30 miles south of Massawa. It was the port of the Kingdom of Aksum, located on the coast of the Red Sea. Adulis Bay is named after the port...
served as an entry-pot and the hub of maritime trade where Indian traders flocked to trade in spices and silk for ivory and gold.
In later periods, the arrival of Indians in the 17th Century with the support of the Portuguese, the Indian troops in 1868 brought by Robert Napier who was then the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Bombay and in 1935 when fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia were important events. Indian artisans and workers played an important role in the development of the famous city of Gondar and the Palace of Emperor Fasilidas http://meaindia.nic.in/foreignrelation/03fr04.pdf
General Rawley had been loaned by India to set up a Military Academy for Ethiopia. A large number of Indians had been employed between the late sixties and the nineties on a contractual basis to teach in the country’s primary and secondary schools. But with the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie by Colonel Mengistu, the new communist regime introduced a policy of “Ethiopianisation” which meant that foreigners were not allowed to teach in Ethiopian schools. Consequently, all the teachers and a large number of Indian businessmen moved to other destinations.
Only a few Indians remained behind, among whom were those who had settled down in the country for more than three generations http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf
Hindus in Ethiopia
At one time there were more than 9000 families in Ethiopia. By the mid-80s their number had come down to 8000. Presently, the Indian community numbers approximately 1500 nationals plus an approx. number of 400 teaching staff on contractual assignment http://meaindia.nic.in/foreignrelation/03fr04.pdfAround a hundred of them are businessmen. Mainly from Gujarat, they work as commission agents of various import-export companies.
Another 150 are professors who teach in the Defence Ministry’s Engineering College and in various faculties of leading Ethiopian universities and other institutions of higher learning. Six of them teach in the Civil Services College, a prestigious institution under the Prime Minister’sOffice that is similar to our Administrative Staff College. As many as 15 Indian professionals are on the staff of various UN agencies in Addis Ababa http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter8.pdf
Indian Associations in Ethiopia
There are three associations, The Indian Association set up in 1937, The Hindu Mahajan and The Malayalam Association. There is also an Indian National School which is an autonomous institution set up in 1947 under the auspices of the Indian Association http://meaindia.nic.in/foreignrelation/03fr04.pdfHindus are allowed cremation rights in Hindu Mahajan located in Addis Ababa.