Hinduism in Zimbabwe

[2] This Hindu migration was different from those in East African countries such as Kenya and Uganda where Hindus arrived voluntarily for jobs but without restrictive contracts; it was quite similar to the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago with slave-like contract restrictions for plantation work owned by Europeans, particularly the British.

[2][3] Most Hindus who arrived for these indentured plantation work were originally from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, people escaping from major repetitive famines in colonial British India from 1860s to 1910s.

[2] Archaeological studies in Zimbabwe and the Swahili coast have revealed evidence that suggests that Indian traders had a small presence and sporadic interaction with the African people during the Roman Empire period (early 1st millennium CE) and thereafter, long pre-dating the European colonial era.

[6] The development of gold mining and processing methods among the Shona people in Zimbabwe highlands increased its trading activity with India before the 12th century, particularly through the city of Sofala.

[9][10][11] The immigrants, some educated and skilled but mostly poor and struggling in famine prone areas of India, came to escape starvation and work in plantations owned by the Europeans.