Indian Filipino Diaspora and it’s socio-cultural impact

The Indian Filipino diaspora in Philippines is considerable and their presence in the country has deep historical roots. It is a mixed ethnic group signifying Filipinos of Indian descent. It consists of citizens of Philippines with either pure or mixed Indian descent currently residing there. India had greatly influenced the multi cultures of Philippines through the Indianized kingdom of the Hindu Majapahit, and the Buddhist Srivijaya. For at least two millennia before the arrival of the Spanish, Philippines was ruled by Hindu kings called Rajahs and Pramukhas. Even later during the colonial period, interaction between the two countries continued thus leading to a sizeable demographic and thereby cultural presence Indian Filipino. The ‘Geographic Project’ which a DNA study conducted by National Geographic, claims that around 3% of the average Filipino’s genes are of South Asian origin thus pointing towards a significant South Asian disaporic concentration in Philippines a large number of which are Indians. As per the Y-DNA compilation by DNA company named ‘Applied Bio systems’, approximately 1,011,864 Filipinos have full or partial Indian descent. Most of the Indians and Indian Filipinos in the Philippines are Sindhi( who arrived in large numbers after Partition ) and Punjabi as well as Tamil. Many are fluent in Tagalog and English as well as local languages of the provinces and islands. Many are prosperous middle class with their main occupations in clothing, sales and marketing. Sikhs are involved largely in finance, money lending, sales and marketing. Indian presence and contribution in the socio-cultual and economic life of Philippines is duly recognized by their government.