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'South Asians in the Philippines' are Philippine citizens of South Asian descent and citizens of South Asian countries living in Philippines. The term ''Bumbay'', loosely applied to all South Asians in the country (including those of Pakistani descent), regardless of ethnicity or religion, was borrowed from the Malay term ''Bombay''. It is considered derogatory.

Contents

Subsets

Language

Religion

History

See also

Subsets

The largest Indian community would be the Sindhi, who number around 21,000. They are followed by the Punjabi,numbering about 10,000 and Tamils. Indian ethnic groups’ appearances are very distinguished to native Filipinos whether dark-, brown-, or fair-skinned (the latter can be grouped with Spanish Filipinos), but Indian mestizos may be treated like native Filipinos for those who have brown skin or like Spanish Filipinos for those who have light skin.

Language

They speak various Indian languages, most notably Punjabi and Hindi. They also speak Tagalog and Cebuano (the latter spoken in Cebu and Davao). As India is also a large English-speaking nation, they chose Philippines as their destination to study English as Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country.

Religion

Main articles: Hinduism in the Philippines, Islam in the Philippines

The Philippines is the seventh largest Hindu country in the world. Most South Asians in the Philippines practice Hinduism, while some practice Sikhism and Islam

History

Indian presence in the Philippines has been ongoing since prehistoric times, predating even the coming of the Europeans by at least two centuries. Indians traded with natives and introduced and passed Hinduism to the natives. Most of them stayed in the Philippines where they were slowly absorbed to native society. Sepoy troops also arrived with the British between 1762 and 1764 during the various Anglo-Spanish wars. When the British withdrew, many of the Sepoys mutinied and refused to leave. Virtually all had taken Filipina brides (or soon did so). They settled in what is now Cainta, Rizal, just east of Metro Manila. The region in and around Cainta still has many Sepoy descendants. The most recent immigrants are mostly businessmen and settle within Metro Manila. The immigrant students and children of recent immigrants study English, as they know that Philippines is a third largest English-speaking nation.

See also

★ Sepoy

★ Desi

★ Hinduism in the Philippines

★ Cainta, Rizal