Indian Maltese

Malta was a stop along a trade route for the export of silk; Indian-made hand-loom clothing was sought after in Europe for several centuries.

[2] Maltese shops were local branches of a central firm in Hyderabad, from which personnel was selected (usually linked by kinship) and sent to Malta for several years.

Sindhi workies as young as 15 years old shared company-provided housing in Valletta or Floriana, and men could not bring their spouses or other dependents.

Working time was extended up to 15 hours a day, with no weekends, and workers were treated as personal servants by shop managers.

With the growth of the female workforce in Malta since the 1970s, Sindhi traders introduced ready-made clothing to cater to the lower- and middle-price market.

The few firms which still traded curiosities opened during the 1980s to cheap electronics and adapted to the 1970s and 1980s influx of tourists in Malta, moving into the souvenir market on Valletta's main street.

[2] The community continues to maintain Indian traditions in Malta, such as organising celebrations of Diwali, Holi[8] Onam[9] and other Hindu festivals.

[10] Ta' Braxia Cemetery has a memorial commemorating twenty-eight Indians who fought on behalf of the British in World War I and died of injuries or disease in Malta.

Deceased Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains are forced to be buried under Catholic funeral rites instead of being cremated because of lack of crematoria in Malta.