Colonial Migration and Cultural Transformation in India and Burma

Exploring the Role of Transnational Mobility in Shaping Chettinad Heritage

Bibliographic Data

ID19224854
AuthorsMeghan Kadam (0000-0002-7645-9438, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History Christ University Bengaluru India), Madhumati Deshpande (0000-0002-1208-8623, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History Christ University Bengaluru India), C Balakrishnan (0000-0002-2390-5043, Department of Computer Science Christ University Bengaluru India), G Ilankumaran (0000-0002-9097-7004, Alagappa Institute of Management Alagappa University Karaikudi India), Biju Kunnumpurath (0000-0003-3204-6559, Department of Media Studies Christ University Bengaluru India), Joby Thomas (0000-0002-4493-1048, School of Business and Management Christ University Bengaluru India), Ajith Paul (0009-0004-2503-0588, Department of Media Studies Christ University Bengaluru India, corresponding author), Anitha Suseelan (0000-0002-8907-0608, School of Architecture Christ University Bengaluru India), Vishnu P Prakash (0000-0002-1451-2002, School of Architecture Christ University Bengaluru India)
Year2026
Publication date2026-05-20
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1473-8481 • E-ISSN: 1754-9469
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/sena.70053
OpenAlexW7161768812
LanguageEN
References cited12

Migration has played an important role in the transformation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage across regions, including in the Global South, especially among postcolonial nations, due to their longstanding people‐to‐people contacts leading to socio‐economic and historical‐cultural transferences over time. In the case of India, global migratory forces have irreversibly transformed its tangible and intangible sociocultural landscape into a form of syncretism reflected in our civilizational ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. In this context, this paper explores the role of international in‐/outmigration in historical and contemporary times toward the evolution of India's regional cultural identities using a case of Chettiars' migration from the hinterlands of Chettinad in present‐day Tamil Nadu, which is in the south of the Indian subcontinent, to the far‐flung nation state of Burma/Myanmar in the northeast, including their subsequent return, primarily during the 19th and the 20th centuries. Using the 3i Framework (Interests, Ideas and Institutions), the study explains the role of cross‐border migration in shaping the tangible and intangible heritage of Chettinad, as reflected in its architecture, cuisine and social customs

Colonialism · Cultural heritage · Ethos · Intangible cultural heritage · Sociocultural evolution · Tamil · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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