The history of the Natal Tamil Vedic Society

FROM 1860 to 1911, 152 184 Indian indentured migrants arrived in South Africa to grow the ailing colonial economy of Natal.

- SELVAN NAIDOO

They came to grow sugar cane but were also indentured to work on the railways, mines, farms, hotels, and as domestic servants. Once their indentured contracts ended, many of these workers decided to stay in Natal, creating a home away from home in their African homes.

On board the 384 ships that came from Calcutta and Madras, 101 468 or 66.6% of indentured Indians came from Tamil districts like Trichinopoly, Madurai, Ramnad, Salem, Tanjore, Chingleput, North and South Arcot and Tirunelveli. All these workers carried belongings in a bundle onboard the sometimes tortuous ship voyage, carrying seeds of a culture that they hoped to plant, nurture, and grow in Natal.

They carried heirloom seedlings of the neem tree, bamboo, parvakkai, murangai, and seeds of culture like Therookutu, Kolattam, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Telugu Urdu and Tamil.

By 1880, two decades after their arrival on the SS Truro on November 16, 1860, the commitment of the ex-indentured towards rebuilding their culture in their adopted African homes saw the growth of Indian cultural organisations and the building of places of worship with Tamil-managed temples dominating the urban and rural landscape.

Among the “free, ex-indentured” and “passenger” Tamil Indians in Natal, there emerged leaders who felt the need to promote Tamil culture more effectively and responsibly. For this reason, cultural organisations were being formed wherever there was a sufficient number of families living in any particular area as a recognisable cultural unit. These bodies set about finding ways and means of promoting and nurturing their cultural heritage.

The Natal Tamil Vedic Society’s history is traced as being the oldest cultural body serving the needs of the Tamil community living in South Africa.