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formation of significant diasporic communities is not known. What is known with some certainty is the fact that as early as in 1549 "Ormuz had a small colony of the Jains and Hindus who were described "as complete vegetarians and worshippers of cows" (Lach 1965). Historical records of the Jain rulers from southwestern coastal regions of India show that they not only established a sea-route but also transshipped their commodities. These Jain officers and merchants thus made large gifts of precious stones and Jain images to their temples back in their country, and these precious gifts are now vaulted at the Jain matha in Moodbidri, an important Jain town from historic times to the present, situated at about thirty miles from the Arabian sea coast” (Kumar 1996: 49).
A very small number of Jains have also been migrating to the West Asian countries, particularly to countries and territories in the Persian Gulf/Red Sea region since the second half of the nineteenth century when the region came under the British influence and/or administration, and economic opportunities were made available in pearl financing and general trade. Aden, Muscat and Dubai were particularly important in this regard. Subsequent to oil-price hike during the 1970s the Jains have been migrating as professionals as well as traders in significant numbers to all the Gulf countries.
In fact we do not have much information about the Jains in different Gulf countries. In the United Arab Emirates some five hundred families/individuals were reported to have been living. In Kuwait the reported figure of total Jain families/individuals is about 70-80. Elsewhere there must be a sizeable Jain community in Oman, and much smaller communities in Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In Kuwait and the UAE there are branches of the Jain Social Group, a Mumbai-based Jain socio-cultural association.
Due to restrictions on non-Islamic religions in these countries, there are no organized religious activities in most Gulf countries. However even then, clandestine organizations and activities may not be ruled out. Thus one Jain informer in UAE told me about the existence of a Jain association that is named as “Haryana”. In Kuwait an association is named Arihant Social Group whose members belong to both the major sects of Jainism. One Jain Pandit recently recounted his
91 | Jains in India and Abroad
