Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured labourers, Mostly from the Northern part consisting of modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal[10] and in smaller numbers Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Initially, the transport and living conditions of Indian labourers in Suriname was worse than it had been prior to the abolition of the Dutch slave trade.

[12] In order to reduce the mortality rate among workers being transported from India, the colonial British government required the presence of at least one doctor on every ship.

Another regulation prohibited any ship transporting Indian indentured labourers from setting sail between the end of March and the beginning of August.

[13] Following the independence of Suriname on 25 November 1975, a significant portion of the Indo-Surinamese population migrated to the Netherlands, thereby retaining their Dutch passport.

Among the Hindus about 63% follow orthodox, traditional Hinduism that they call Sanātanī to differentiate themselves from the 15% who belong to the reform movement Arya Samaj, started by Dayananda Saraswati.