_05.JPG) Shree Sanatan Dharma Mandal temple in Kampala | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
355,497 (2020) ; 0.8%–0.9% of total population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| All Over Uganda | |
| Religions | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indians in Uganda and Hindus |
| Hinduism by country |
|---|
  |
| Full list |
Hinduism in Uganda arrived when the colonial British Empire brought Hindus along with other Indian workers to its East African colonies in late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1][2] The largest arrival of Hindu immigrants to Uganda, some educated and skilled but mostly poor and struggling from the famine-prone areas of Punjab and Gujarat, was to help construct the Kenya-Uganda Railway connecting landlocked parts of Uganda and Kenya with the port city of Mombasa.[3][4] The largest departure of Hindus from Uganda occurred when General Idi Amin expelled them and seized their properties in 1972.[3][4][5]
In addition to building major infrastructure projects, Hindus were a part of a global movement of workers to parts of British East Africa, aimed at helping the British government to establish services, retail markets and administrative support.[1][2][6] The British invited Indian laborers as local skilled labor was unavailable. At the peak of the infrastructure projects in Uganda-Kenya, 32,000 people were brought in from India.[7] Nearly 2,500 workers died because of difficult and unsafe working conditions during these projects. After the project ended, nearly 70% of the workers returned to India, while some 6,000 were absorbed in railway and other British operations such as retail and administration.[7][8] Those who remained included Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Sikhs. Many from this ethnic group became financially successful.[3]
- ^ a b Sushil Mittal; Gene Thursby (2009). Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods. Routledge. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-1-134-41829-9.
- ^ a b Kim Knott (2016). Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-19-874554-9.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
JonesRyan2006p10was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Malory Nye (2013). A Place for Our Gods: The Construction of an Edinburgh Hindu Temple Community. Routledge. pp. 48–50. ISBN 978-1-136-78504-7.
- ^ David S. Fick (2002). Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Study of Successes. Greenwood Publishing. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-56720-536-7.
- ^ David Levinson; Karen Christensen (2003). Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World. Sage Publications. p. 592. ISBN 978-0-7619-2598-9.
- ^ a b Wolmar, Christian (2009). Blood, Iron & Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World. London: Atlantic. pp. 182–183.
- ^ Otte, T. G.; Neilson, Keith, eds. (2012). Railways and International Politics: Paths of Empire, 1848–1945. Military History and Policy. London: Routledge. pp. 8–9. ISBN 9780415651318.