The Indians

THE INDIANS

There are 150,000 Asians living mainly in the towns. The first Indians arrived on the coast at the same time as the Arabs. Commercial exchanges between India and Kenya existed for several centuries. But the influx of Indians took place in 1896 when the colonial administration brought 32,000 of them to build the railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.

When the railway was finished 6,000 of them chose to stay in Kenya. The Indians are a very closed community, they live and marry within their group. They have a very small influence on other ethnic groups.