Indian indenture system
The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than 1.6 million workers[1] from British India were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th century. The system expanded after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833,[2] in the French colonies in 1848, and in the Dutch Empire in 1863. British Indian indentureship lasted till the 1920s. This resulted in the development of a large South Asian diaspora in the Caribbean,[3] Natal (South Africa), East Africa, Réunion, Mauritius, Sri Lanka,[4] Malaysia,[5] Myanmar, and Fiji, as well as the growth of Indo-Caribbean, Indo-African, Indo-Mauritian, Indo-Fijian, Indo-Malaysian, and Indo-Singaporean populations.
Ban on export of Indian labour[edit]
As soon as the new system of emigration of labour became known, a campaign similar to the anti-slavery campaign sprang up in Britain and British India. On 1 August 1838, a committee was appointed to inquire into the export of Indian labour. It heard reports of abuses of the new system. On 29 May 1839, overseas manual labour was prohibited and any person effecting such emigration was liable to a 200 Rupee fine or three months in jail. After prohibition, a few Indian labourers continued to be sent Mauritius via Pondicherry (a French enclave in South India).[10]
However, immigration was authorised again in 1842 to Mauritius, and in 1845 to the West Indies.
Further suspensions of Indian immigration happened during the 19th century. For example, between 1848 and 1851 Indian immigration was stopped towards British Guiana because of the economic and political unrest due to the Sugar Duties Act of 1846.
Recruitment for other European colonies[edit]
The success of the Indian indenture system for the British, at a terrible human cost, did not remain unnoticed. Other European plantation owners began setting up agents in India to recruit manpower. For instance, French sugar colonies hired labour via the French ports in India without knowledge of the British authorities. By 1856, the number of labourers in Réunion is estimated to have reached 37,694. It was not until 25 July 1860 that France was officially permitted by the British authorities to recruit labour for Reunion at a rate of 6,000 annually. This was extended on 1 July 1861 with permission to import ‘free’ labourers into the French colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana (Cayenne). Indenture was for a period of five years (longer than British colonies at the time), return passage was provided at the end of indenture. (Not after ten as in British colonies) and Governor-General was empowered to suspend emigration to any French colony if any abuse was detected in the system.
Danish plantation owners also began importing Indian workers to St. Croix.[15] This indenture system, however, did not last.
Final ban on indenture system[edit]
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a moderate Congress leader, tabled a bill in the Viceroy Legislative Council to end the export of indentured labour to Natal (present day South Africa) in February 1910. The bill passed unanimously and came to effect in July 1911.[18] However, the British-led Indian indenture system for other colonies finally ended in 1917.[19] According to The Economist, "When the Imperial Legislative Council finally ended indenture because of pressure from Indian nationalists and declining profitability, rather than from humanitarian concerns."[19]
Culture[edit]
Indo-Caribbean writers have had a strong impact on the literature of the region. In Guyana Indo-Guyanese writers have had a strong impact on the literature of Guyana. Notable writers of Indian descent include Joseph Rahomon and Shana Yardan.
Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul is of Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian origin and his literary works are a reflection of his origin.
[24]
Some of the traditional Indian games (such as kabaddi and kho-kho) became established in South Africa and parts of Asia.[25][26][27]
Several countries experienced demographic changes due to this migration.