By country · Africa
Between 1896 and 1903, nearly 32,000 Indians — mostly Punjabi Sikhs — built the 600-mile 'Lunatic Line' from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. Some 2,493 died; 6,724 stayed to found East Africa's Indian community. The forgotten origin story of a diaspora.
They came in 1860 to cut sugar in Natal and stayed to become 1.7 million — the community that shaped Gandhi, filled Durban, and helped bring apartheid down. The 165-year story of South Africa's Indians.
In August 1972 Idi Amin gave Uganda's South Asians 90 days to leave. Some 80,000 people, many holding British passports, scattered to Leicester, Toronto and beyond — and rebuilt. The expulsion and its long afterlife.
Part 1 of Power Abroad. The grandson of Punjabi migrants became the United Kingdom's first British Indian prime minister — and lit Diwali lamps on the steps of Downing Street.
The 2026 Grammy season made it impossible to ignore. Across Best New Artist, Best Pop Duo, Best Global Music Album, Best Global Music Performance, and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album — five different categories — Indian-origin singers and musicians weren't just present. They were the conversation.
