In contemporary history, Indians began migrating to Vietnam in the late 19th century, in search for better economic prospects, and/or for colonial civil service. The Indian migrants came from different regions of India: - From South India (Deccan) • Civil servants from
French colonies in India viz.
Pondicherry •
South Indian entrepreneurs and traders viz. Chettiars and
Tamil Muslims • Unskilled South Indian laborers - From North and West India •
Gujarati and
Sindhi merchants from
Mumbai (Bombay) •
Sikhs and other
Punjabis as security guards and shop owners. Per the 1937 census by the
French Indochinese colonial regime, about 2000 Indians resided in
Southern Vietnam (
Cochinchina), and another 1000 in
Northern Vietnam (
Tonkin),
Central Vietnam (
Annam) and
Laos. An estimated 3,000 - 4,000 Indians lived in the
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in the 1950s and 60s, very few to none in Communist
North Vietnam after its independence in 1945. A Vietnamese source estimated that around 1000 Indians were in Saigon in the 1950s, of whom 400 were from the former
French India, and the remainder were the Bombay
Gujarati and
Sindhi merchants. The Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths were represented. The majority were South Indian, and the North Indians were a visible minority. Many Indian-Vietnamese lived in Saigon, coupled with a much smaller presence in
Đà Nẵng,
Đà Lạt,
Huế, and
Nha Trang. The Gujaratis and the Sindhis traded textile, clothing, jewelry and tailoring services; especially in Saigon, where they had many shops. The Chettiars engaged in banking, brokerage, and the rental of commercial buildings, vehicles, boats etc. The Chettiars began their return to India in 1963 due to the political instability after the
1963 coup d'état and assassination of President
Ngo Dinh Diem. Tamil Muslims built several mosques in Saigon in the 1930s, including the Central Mosque (vi:
Thánh Đường Đông Du (Dong Du Mosque)) (ar:
Jamia Al-Musulman), the
Chợ Lớn Mosque (vi:
Thánh Đường Chợ Lớn), and the Sikhs built a
gurdwara, which now serves as a pharmaceuticals office. Some non-Muslim Indians as well as Muslim Indians, married Vietnamese women. Some Chettiars, had both, a Vietnamese spouse in Vietnam and a Chettiar wife in India. == After the Fall of Saigon ==