Refugees in India

Refugees in India refers to the history of refugees in India. The country has seen large influx of refugee populations throughout history.

According to Zoroastrian legend (see Qissa-i Sanjan), a few centuries after the conquest of the Sassanid Empire and the subsequent collapse of Zoroastrianism as a state-sponsored religion, at least one group of Zoroastrians eventually migrated to what is now the Indian state of Gujarat to maintain their Zoroastrian religious tradition. Although this 16th/17th century legend is taken at face value by the majority of the Parsis, persecution was not yet a significant issue at the time of migration (11th century at the latest). Given that the same legend observes that they migrated from Sanjan (in present-day Turkmenistan), the decline of silk road trade in favour of sea-route trade makes it equally likely that their immigration was economically motivated. For details, see Parsi history.

Although isolated groups of foroastrians may be presumed to have immigrated between the 12th and 16th centuries, due to persecution (for instance, the Mughal emperor Akbar encouraged relocation of skilled Iranians—irrespective of their religion). Immigration of Zoroastrians for socio-religious reasons is only again documented during Iran's Qajar era (1794–1925) when persecution of non-Muslims was rampant and by which time the Indian Zoroastrians had established special funds to assist their Iranian co-religionists. The descendants of these newer immigrants are known as Iranis.

Massive population exchanges occurred between the two newly formed nations in the months immediately following Partition. Once the lines were established, about 14.5 million people crossed the borders to what they hoped was the relative safety of religious majority. Based on 1951 Census of displaced persons, 7.226 million Muslims went to Pakistan from India while 7.249 million Hindus and Sikhs (and very small amounts of Muslims) were forced to move to India from Pakistan immediately after partition. About 11.2 million or 78% of the population transfer was on the west, with Punjab accounting for most of it; 5.3 million Muslims moved from India to West Punjab in Pakistan, 3.4 million Hindus and Sikhs were moved from Pakistan to East Punjab in India; elsewhere in the west 1.2 million moved in each direction to and from Sind. The initial population transfer on the east involved 3.5 million Hindus moving from East Bengal to India and only 0.7 million Muslims moving the other way.

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