of which arrived between
continued to travel to the
the end of the 19th century
port of Valparaiso, Chile,
and the beginning of the
where some stayed while
20th century, most of them
others left to La Paz, Bolivia,
are Spanish and Italians,
where they remained. 8
although people of another
members of this group came
Indian workers at La Esperanza sugar plantation, Jujuy province, Argentina
origin also arrived, such as
to Argentina by rail from La
(Source: Sierra e Iglesias, 1998)
from India.
Paz to Villazón and went
Indian immigration registers its fi rst antecedent in the
to San Pedro de Jujuy, knowing that some contemporaries
National Census of 1895, in which the presence of 6 Indo-
worked in the Leach brothers’ sugar plantation (“La
English is mentioned and it seems to be initially linked to
Esperanza”). There, after obtaining a residence permit, they
work in sugar plantations and later in the railroad, although
moved to Tartagal, Salta, where another 20 Indians of the fi rst
there are testimonies that refer to the fi rst arrival of Sikhs
fl ow worked on the railroad, and there they remained. Today
to Argentina, to work in English sugar plantations in Jujuy,
some of their descendants live in that place.
occurred in 1879 (interview with Baldev Singh, cited in Singh
About the third fl ow, it is noted that towards the same
Kahlon, 2012) .
time of the mentioned fl ow, another group entered the country
The statistics of entries, departure and balances of foreigners
by land from neighboring countries. Originally, 300 people
by nationalities, provided by the National Directorate of
had departed from India to the port of Marseille, France,
Migration, show different denominations to designate
disembarking some there, others in Cuba and the rest of
immigrants of this origin (non-European nationalities): among
the group in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They contacted some
them, “several”, “oriental”, etc. and in
compatriots living in San Pablo to work
1909 the denomination “Hindus” appears.
on the Brazilian railroad. The majority
For the rest, there is a text prepared
remained there while the others moved
by the engineer Dante Singh, son of one
to Buenos Aires. From there, some went
of the emigrants who settled in Salta
to Jujuy, Salta, others stayed in Rosario,
province, which collects testimonies of
Santa Fe and, from there, they were
his own father and other ancient migrants
assigned as railroad crews to diff erent
who live there (Sikhs) and who point
parts of the country (Arrecifes, Bahía
out their version of the diff erent waves
Blanca, General Pico, province of Buenos
of migration that they identify and the
Aires; Villa Mercedes, Tucumán, etc.).
dynamics of them: 1) East Current (1910-
Finally, on the indicated fl ow from
1920), 2) West Current (1920-1930), 3)
1930 on, they indicated that it developed
North Current (1920-1930) and 4) Current
from the Second World War and the
new (1930 onwards).
Indian independence with immigrants
On the first flow they pointed out
that arrive to Argentina having relatives
that, in the context of the prelude to the
and friends already living there, which
First World War, some European travel
implies concrete help when arriving and
agencies obtained permits to travel to
staying (work and others). This allows the
America and this, coupled with the
migration of families.
The Maharaja of Kapurthala
dissemination of the advantages of
On the other hand, to the existence of
(Source: Sadous, 2006)
working in North America, helped to
the small community of Indian emigres,
develop a migratory fl ow in that direction, in some cases
there must be also added the presence of relevant Indian
selling Indians passages to the United States or Canada and
fi gures, who impregnated the local imagination about India,
then disembarking them in other countries (Cuba, Trinidad
such as that of the Maharaja of Kapurthala, who visited
and Tobago and other areas of the Caribbean). Thus 50 people,
Buenos Aires in 1925, showing admiration for the liberality of
all men and most Sikhs, some of them speaking English,
immigration laws and noting that Indians seeking work abroad
arrived at the port of Buenos Aires and end working at “La
should take Argentina into account (Sadous, 2006) (see photo
Esperanza” sugar plantation, in Jujuy and as railroad crews
2). Another notable visit was that of Rabindranath Tagore,
(see photo 1).
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, who visited Argentina
Regarding the second fl ow mentioned in that text, it is
in 1924, where he had to rest during a trip to Peru and met
maintained that this contingent departed from Shanghai to the
the writer Victoria Ocampo, with whom he would develop a
United States and when it was not allowed to descend there,
well-known friendship, so much known that would end up
it went towards Central and South America. Some of those
generating a fi lm about them (“Thinking of Him”, by Pablo
traveling to diff erent Latin American countries and the rest
César, released this year in India and Argentina).
20