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In this paper, I argue that despite the general belief to the contrary, there is a great deal of continuity in the history of the colonial and post-colonial practice of citizenship in the Indian Ocean region. This debate is usually described from the perspective of the state and its representatives. Indeed, more often than not, the position of the migrants themselves is not discussed. This paper aims to fill this gap. In the case of the South Asians in East Africa, I will demonstrate that migrants were able to negotiate their own space for identity formation and accepting and changing formal citizenship options. Indeed, they were also able to negotiate with colonial officials and, after the 1960s, Britain, Canada, India and even the United Nations about defending their rights as citizens or agreeing new regulations for international migration and citizenship. The debate on citizenship and belonging has become the centre of academic and public debate since the 1990s in Europe and the USA. However, historical cases in colonial contexts might shed some light on long-term continuity in such discussions.
Keywords: history; citizenship; Africa; India; diaspora; South Asia; migration; identity
The South Asian Gujarati Muslim Abdulla Karimjee married Kianga Ranniger, the daughter of German settlers, in Tanganyika (East Africa) on 5 October 1933. Abdulla Karimjee was born in 1899 in Zanzibar, like his father and grandfather before him, while Kianga was born in 1910 in Handeni, in the Tanga region. The Rannigers were German settlers who were convinced that they would never return to Germany, as demonstrated by the fact that they named their daughter Kianga, which means "rainbow" in Kiswahili. Nevertheless, in 1919, Kianga and her family were deported as German nationals, but returned and resettled in the area in 1926 where, as planters, they rented a farm owned by the Karimjees.1
The marriage between Abdulla and Kianga raises interesting questions about migration, citizenship and belonging in a colonial, British-dominated context. Accordingly, in this paper, I would like to focus on the issue of citizenship, particularly that of the South Asian migrants and their descendants in East Africa. Citizenship here refers to the condition or status of an individual, with all of its incumbent rights and responsibilities. It is clear that the conventional model...
