Tamil Mauritian

Tamil Mauritians

Total population
(10-15% of Indo-Mauritians)
Regions with significant populations
Flacq district, plaines wiilhems district, savanne district and throughout mauritius in small numbers
Languages
Tamil, Creole, and English, French
Religion
Predominantly Hinduism to a smaller extent Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Tamil diaspora, Malayalees, Telugu people, Tamil Malaysian, Sinhalese people, Dravidians

Tamil Mauritians are the descendants of Tamil migrants to Mauritius. The original immigrants from Tamil were craftsmen and tradesmen, and arrived when Mauritians was ruled by France. The island nation has a Tamil population of 115,000. Most were brought by the British from Tamil Nadu after 1727 to serve as labourers on the sugar cane plantations. Around 15 percent of Indo-Mauritians are Tamils. The community includes a Hindu majority, and the rest are Christians (largely Roman Catholic). They account to 55,000 of the Mauritian population. Of this number, around 7000 people reported that they spoke Tamil. Most Tamils in Mauritius are Hindus. A large population of the Tamils in Mauritius live in Rose-Hill.

Thaipusam, the Tamil Hindu festival, is a national holiday in Mauritius and is notable in the temples.

File:Mauritius currency.jpg

Mauritius currency written in Tamil numerals and Tamil script

Most Tamil Mauritians can read, and write Tamil to some extent, but very few can speak it well. Most speak Mauritian Creole, which include many Tamil words. A Tamil magazine Pathirikai and a Tamil radio station Onex FM exist in Mauritius. Most cultural aspects and rituals can be seen in full-fledged manner. Around a 100 schools teach Tamil as a mother tongue subject. It can also be read at university level. A Tamil conference was held here. Murugan temples are common and some Tamil place names are found here.

See also

• Demographics of Mauritius
• Tamil language
• Tamil diaspora
• Tamil Malaysian
• Sri Lankan Tamils
• Indo-Mauritian

References

• " Several other languages, including Arabic, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi and dialects of Chinese, such as Cantonese, Hakka and Mandarin, are also spoken."