https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=GirmityasGirmityas - Revision history2026-07-31T02:01:54ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Girmityas&diff=162954&oldid=previmported>AwesomeAubergine at 09:14, 7 August 20212021-08-07T09:14:16Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Girmitiya''' or '''Jahajis''' were [[indentured Indian labourers]] whom the [[British Empire]] sent to [[Fiji]], [[Mauritius]], [[South Africa]], and the [[Caribbean]] (mostly [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]], and [[Jamaica]]) to work on [[sugarcane]] [[plantation]]s for the benefit of [[Europe]]an settlers.<br />
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== Etymology ==<br />
[[File:Suriname Bhojpuri.jpg|thumb|Bhojpuri (Roman script) Plaque at Suriname Memorial, [[Garden Reach]], [[Kolkata]]]]<br />
The word ''girmit'' represented an Indian pronunciation of the [[English-language]] word "agreement" - from the [[indenture]] "agreement" of the [[United Kingdom|British]] Government with [[India]]n labourers.<ref name=":0"><br />
{{Cite web|title=Girmit History|url=http://www.fijigirmit.org/history.htm|access-date=2020-11-10|website=www.fijigirmit.org}}<br />
</ref> The agreements specified the workers' length of stay in foreign parts and the conditions attached to their return to the [[British Raj]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Article 2|url=http://www.fijigirmit.org/a_girmit_an_introduction.htm|access-date=2020-11-10|website=www.fijigirmit.org}}</ref> The word ''Jahāj'' refers to 'ship' in Indic languages (from the Arabic/Persian ''Jahāz/''جهاز), with ''Jahajhi'' implying 'people of ship' or 'people coming via ship'.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lal|first=Brij V.|date=|title=Chalo Jahaji – on a journey through indenture in Fiji|url=http://girmitiya.girmit.org/new/index.php/articles/dr-brij-lal/chalo-jahaji/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-15|website=New Girmit.org|language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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In Fiji, Governor [[Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore|Arthur Hamilton-Gordon]] discouraged [[Melanesians|Melanesian]] [[Indigenous Fijians|Fijians]] from working on the plantations in an attempt to preserve their culture.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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== See also ==<br />
* [[Indian indenture system]]<br />
*[[Indo-Caribbeans]]<br />
*[[Indians in Fiji]]<br />
*[[Fiji Hindi]]<br />
* [[Fijian Indian diaspora]]<br />
* [[Coolitude]]<br />
* [[Global Girmit Museum]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* {{cite book|last=Gillion|first=Kenneth|title=Fiji's Indian migrants : a history of the end of indenture in 1920|year=1962|publisher=Oxford U.P.|location=Melbourne}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=|first=|url=https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-pacific-islands-an-encyclopedia/|title=The Pacific Islands : an encyclopedia|year=2000|publisher=[[University of Hawai'i Press]]|location=Honolulu|isbn=082482265X|pages=110–111|edition=[Repr.].|editor=[[Brij Lal (historian)|Brij V. Lal]] and Kate Fortune|chapter=Girmitiya}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Lal|first=Brij V.|authorlink=Brij Lal (historian)|title=Girmitiyas : the origins of the Fiji Indians|year=2004|publisher=Fiji Institute of Applied Studies|location=Lautoka, Fiji|pages=|isbn=978-0-8248-2265-1}}<br />
* Gaiutra Bahadur (2014). ''[[Coolie Woman]]: The Odyssey of Indenture''. The University of Chicago. {{ISBN|978-0-226-21138-1}}<br />
*{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Marina|url=https://anthempress.com/coolitude-pb|title=Coolitude : an anthology of the Indian labour diaspora|last2=Torabully|first2=Khal|date=2002|publisher=Anthem|year=|isbn=1843310031|location=London|pages=}}<br />
*Praveen Kumar Jha (2019). ''[https://www.vaniprakashan.in/details.php?prod_id=8762 Coolie Lines]''. New Delhi: Vani Prakashan. {{ISBN|978-93-88684-04-0|}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* [https://www.patreon.com/sail_oar South Asian Indentured Labor - Online Archive of Research and Resources] - an online archive and living syllabus of text-based resources related to Indian indentureship, with country-specific resources and material related to global Indian indenture diasporas<br />
* [http://www.flp.org.fj/interview-by-mahendra-chaudhry-nfu-general-secretary-on-girmit-divas-celebration/ Interview] of [[Mahendra Chaudhry]] about Girmitiyas in FIji<br />
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[[Category:Fijian people of Indian descent]]<br />
[[Category:Indentured servitude]]</div>imported>AwesomeAubergine