The community originated from the Indian indentured workers brought to Saint Kitts and Nevis by the British in 1861 and 1874 respectively.
By 1884, most of the community had emigrated to Caribbean nations with larger Indian populations such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname.
In recent years, the Indian population of Saint Kitts and Nevis has witnessed a gradual increase, as a result of immigration by Indo-Caribbeans particularly Indo-Guyanese.
Following the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies on 1 August 1838, plantation owners in the region sought to find an alternative to African slave labour.
Saint Kitts and Nevis were the last among British and French colonies to introduce Indian indentured labour.
A register that kept records of indentured workers was lost in a fire at the Court House in Saint Kitts in 1982.
The entry, dated 28 May 1861, records that the ship had departed with 361 Indians on board - 192 men, 113 women, 17 boys, 24 girls and 13 infants under the age of two.
The St. Christopher Advertiser and Weekly Intelligencer reported that the Dartmouth docked at St. Kitts on 3 June 1861 with 337 Indians on board - 186 men, 103 women, 13 boys, 10 girls and 10 male and 15 female infants.
[2] Upon arriving in Saint Kitts, the indentured workers were assigned to estates except for six who were directly admitted at the Colonial Hospital.
The West Farm, Dupuys, and Golden Rock estates received more female Indian workers than males.
An article in the St. Christopher Advertiser and Weekly Intelligencer published on 5 November 1861 states, "Bramandat (a coolie) was charged by Mr Solomon Shelford with breach of his contract as a labourer.
This can be attributed to the small number of Indians brought to Saint Kitts and Nevis as compared to other colonies in the Caribbean.
Historian Kumar Mahabir states, "The small number of Indians in St. Kitts was a major contributor to their disappearance, physiologically and culturally."
Indo-Caribbeans in countries with larger populations such as Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname maintain Indian cultural and religious practices even today.
"[6][4] In recent years, the Indian population of Saint Kitts and Nevis has witnessed a gradual increase, as a result of immigration by Indo-Caribbeans to the country particularly Indo-Guyanese.
[1] According to the 2001 Census of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the population of East Indian people in the country rose from 0.7% in 1991 to 1.5% in 2001.