The so-called 'Karana' are a racial group in Madagascar with a long history on the island. The Malagasy term refers to Khoja and Indian families on the island who are generally perceived to control the economic affairs of the country due to their good business acumen. Though they have contributed greatly to the nation's development, unlike their counterparts in Oman they do not enjoy the same level of acceptance and freedom with kidnappings rife and a lack of acceptance into the institution both politically and otherwise.[2]
Estimates of their population range from 15,000 to 30,000. The group migrated from the Indian subcontinent somewhere between five and fifteen generations ago, spearheaded by the Khoja tribe with many Indians joining alongside.
Among those that are commonly referred to as 'Indians in Madagascar' today, are 867 non-resident Indians, with the rest being locally born descendants of early immigrants Khojas or Indians.[1][3] They form a minority ethnic group in Madagascar.
By the 1780s, a community of roughly 200 Indian traders had formed at Mahajanga, a port on the north-west coast of Madagascar, near Bombetoka Bay at the mouth of the Betsiboka River. Confusion arose over their legal status; they often declared themselves to be Malagasy subjects in order to evade the laws against slave-holding or the building of stone houses, both forbidden to British subjects, while their dhows, which they used to transport goods to and from the African mainland, flew French flags.[4] French Khoja families today come from once Madagascar-based communities when the nation was part of the French Empire and those under it French citizens.
In fact, even those families still based in Madagascar today are almost all French with links between the two still intact and regular travel between the French republic and the Great Red Island occurring due to business interests and education amongst other factors. It is not uncommon for a Frenchman of Khoja ethnicity to view Madagascar as the 'land of his ancestors'.
Initial arrivals to the island were mainly Muslim TwelverKhojas, Ismailis and Daoudi Bohras, with some Hindus settling later.[5] The 1911 census found 4,480 Indians in the country, making them 21% of the total foreign population and the second-largest foreign population after the French.[6] Following the nationalisation of private businesses in the 1970s, many were compelled to leave; those who remained were largely uneducated, but stayed on and gradually built their businesses. By 2000, they were generally believed to control 50-60% of the country's economy, making them the target of demonstrators during periods of unrest.[7]
Martin, Frederick (1916), "Madagascar", The Statesman's Year-book: The Statesman's Year-book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1916, St. Martin's Press, pp. 905–908
