Constructions of community and identity
among Indians in colonial Natal, 1860±1910 :
The role of the Muharram Festival
by Goolam Vahed
University of Durban±Westville
abstract: This article is concerned with the historical construction of communities,
cultures and identities in colonial Natal, in this case an Indian grouping
that emerged from the heterogeneous collection of indentured workers imported
between 1860 and 1911. Despite the difficulties of indenture, Indians set about reestablishing
their culture and religion in Durban. The most visible and public
expression of ritual was the festival of Muhurram, which played an important role
in forging a pan-Indian `Indianness’ within a white and African colonial society.
This was significant when one considers that the nationalist movement was in its
formative stages and there was no national identity when indentured workers had
left India.
key words: South Africa, ethnicity, colonial, race.
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