Indian Indenture and the Indian Disapora
A quick summary of the Indian indenture system and how it contributed to the Indian Diaspora, including links to further reading.
The Indenture System in the British Empire
Between 1834 and 1917, around two million people left India under contract to work in British colonies. This system, known as indentured labor, began shortly after the end of African slavery in the British Empire. Colonial plantations producing goods like tea and sugar had relied on the labor of enslaved people to keep their prices low. Without it, they looked to countries like China and India for a new source of inexpensive workers.
Leaving home was usually a last resort for the people of India and China. Booming populations, civil strife, and famine all forced young people to emigrate under contract. Their indenture typically lasted five years, with several months’ pay in advance and passage home promised. Most didn’t know who they would work for, what work they would do, or conditions in the colonies. Their contracts took them to places like South Africa, the Caribbean, Fiji, and Mauritius. There, they became known by the now-derogatory term ‘coolies.’ People of Indian descent also refer to the indentured as the Girmitiya.
The Legacy of Indenture
Proponents of this system, mostly wealthy plantation owners, claimed it was a voluntary agreement between free people. And in many cases, this was true. But the indenture system was also prone to abuse and sometimes resembled slavery more than employment. Workers could be kidnapped or forced into signing contracts. Many died on the cramped voyage over. And conditions on the plantation tended to be hot, grueling, and impoverished. Those who ran could be beaten for abandoning their work. And once their contract was up, there was no guarantee they would actually be given passage home.
The people who remained in these colonies after their indenture formed part of the larger Indian diaspora. Their descendants today can be found across the globe in Girmitiya nations, including communities in Jamaica, Guyana, Fiji, and Mauritius. Though largely overlooked today, the legacy of Indian indenture has affected millions of lives around the world.
The following curated articles give a closer look at the origins of Indian indenture, the fight against it, and its human toll.
1834
1839
1899
1914
1918
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