What a 1944 tally of foreigners revealed about wartime India

In February 1944, with few signs of the Second World War drawing to a close, the colonial authorities in India – who had interned many citizens of Axis nations and held enemy combatants in Indian prisons – requested the Home Department to compile data on the number of foreigners from several countries residing in India.

The Intelligence Bureau specifically sought precise figures on Americans, Chinese, French, Iranians, Iraqis and Poles, as well as both interned and non-interned Germans and Italians living in the country.

When collating this information across the vast, undivided subcontinent, the Home Department identified 42,673 registrable foreigners. A detailed breakdown by region was provided, revealing the presence of foreigners in places where they were not really expected. Also revealed by the data was the presence of individuals from countries as far-flung as the Philippines, Estonia, Cuba and Uruguay.

Chinese presence

The Chinese community, numbering over 22,000, was the largest group of foreigners in India and was widely dispersed across the country. The Home Department categorised this population by gender and region, offering fascinating insights. Most were ethnic Han Chinese, though certain cities also had communities classified by the department as “Chinese Turks”, likely referring to people from Xinjiang. There were also ethnic Kazakhs from China...

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