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{{short description|System of indentured servitude using Indian laborers to replace slavery (1800s to 1920s)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

The '''British''' '''Indian indenture system''' was a system of [[indentured servitude]], by which more than one million [[India]]ns<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-7/records-of-the-indian-indentured-labourers/, Documentary heritage submitted by Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register in 2011']</ref> were transported to labour in [[European colonies]], as a substitute for [[slave labour]], following the [[Abolitionism|abolition]] of the trade in the early 19th century. The system expanded after the abolition of slavery in the [[British Empire]] in [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|1833]],<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/indian-indentured-labourers/ Indian indentured labourers - National Archive]</ref> in the [[French colonial empire|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 [[Indian diaspora]] in the [[Caribbean]],<ref>[http://www.caribbean-atlas.com/en/themes/waves-of-colonization-and-control-in-the-caribbean/waves-of-colonization/the-experience-of-indian-indenture-in-trinidad-arrival-and-settlement.html THE EXPERIENCE OF INDIAN INDENTURE IN TRINIDAD: ARRIVAL AND SETTLEMENT - Sherry-Ann Singh, Department of History University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago]</ref> [[Colony of Natal|Natal (South Africa)]], [[Réunion]], [[Mauritius]], [[Sri Lanka]],<ref>[http://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-33 Asian Indentured Labor in the 19th and Early 20th Century Colonial Plantation World - Richard B. Allen]</ref> [[Malaysia]],<ref>The British and rubber in Malaya, c1890-1940, 2005, James Hagan, Andrew Wells - University of Wollongong</ref> [[Myanmar]], to [[Fiji]], as well as the growth of [[Indo-Caribbean]], [[Indo-African]], [[Indo-Fijian]], [[Malaysian Indians|Indo-Malaysian]], and [[Indian Singaporeans|Indo-Singaporean]] populations.

== First indenture ==
[[File:Newly arrived coolies in Trinidad.jpg|thumb|250px|Newly arrived indentured labourers from India in Trinidad]]
[[File:Visual Art of the first indentured Indian labourers arriving in Mauritius (1834).jpg | thumb|220x124px | right | Modern painting by Mauritian artist Raouf Oderuth, portraying the first Indian workers seeing the island from a ship in 1834]]
[[File:Indenture Memorial, Kidderepore.jpg|thumb|Indenture Memorial, Kidderepore]]
[[File:Plaques of Indenture Memorial, Kidderepore.jpg|thumb|Plaques of Indenture Memorial, Kidderepore]]
On 18 January 1826, the Government of the [[France|French]] [[Indian Ocean]] island of [[Réunion]] laid down terms for the introduction of Indian labourers to the colony. Each man was required to appear before a [[magistrate]] and declare that he was going voluntarily. This agreement is known as girmit<ref>{{Cite book|title=Indian Diaspora: Socio-Cultural and Religious Worlds|last=Kumar|first=Pratap|publisher=BRILL|year=2015|isbn=9789004287983|location=Leiden|pages=38}}</ref> and it outlined a period of five years labour in the colonies with pay of 8 Rupees per month (about $4 in 1826) and rations, provided labourers had been transported from [[Pondicherry district|Pondicherry]] and [[Karaikal district|Karaikal]].

The first attempt at importing Indian labour into [[Mauritius]], in 1829, ended in failure, but by 1838, 25,000 Indian labourers had been shipped to Mauritius.

The Indian indenture system was put in place initially at the behest of [[Sugar plantation|sugar planters]] in colonial territories, who hoped the system would provide reliable cheap labour similar to the conditions under slavery.<ref name="sturman">{{cite journal |last1=Sturman |first1=Rachel|date=1 December 2014|title=Indian Indentured Labour and the History of International Rights Regimes|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=119|issue=5|pages=1439–1465|doi=10.1093/ahr/119.5.1439}}</ref> The new system was expected to demonstrate the superiority of "free" over slave labour in the production of tropical products for imperial markets.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Legacy of Indian Indenture: Historical and Contemporary Aspects of Migration and Diaspora|last=Hassankhan|first=Maurits|last2=Roopnarine|first2=Lomarsh|last3=Ramsoedh|first3=Hans|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781138280526|location=London|pages=4}}</ref>

==Government of British India regulations ==
The [[East India Company]]'s Regulations of 1837 laid down specific conditions for the dispatch of Indian labour from [[Calcutta]]. The would-be emigrant and his emigration agent were required to appear before an officer designated by the Government of British India, with a written statement of the terms of the contract.<ref name="bahadur">{{Cite book|title=Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture|last=Bahadur|first=Gaiutra|publisher=The University of Chicago|year=2014|isbn=978-0-226-21138-1}}</ref> The length of service was to be five years, renewable for further five-year terms. The emigrant was to be returned at the end of his service to the port of departure. Each emigrant vessel was required to conform to certain standards of space, diet etc. and to carry a medical officer. In 1837 this scheme was extended to [[Madras]].

== Ban on export of Indian labour ==

As soon as the new system of emigration of labour became known, a campaign similar to the anti-slavery campaign sprang up in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and [[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 district|Pondicherry]] (a French enclave in [[South India]]).{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

== Resumption of Indian labour transportation ==
European planters in Mauritius and the [[Caribbean]] worked hard to overturn the ban, while the anti-slavery committee worked just as hard to uphold it. The Government of the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] finally capitulated under intense pressure from European planters and their supporters: On 2 December 1842, the British Government permitted emigration from Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras to Mauritius. Emigration Agents were appointed at each departure point. There were penalties for [[abuse of the system]]. Return passage had to be provided at any time after five years when claimed. After the lifting of the ban, the first ship left Calcutta for Mauritius on 23 January 1843. The Protector of the Immigrants in Mauritius reported that a ship arrived every few days with a human consignment and a large number of immigrants were causing a backlog in processing and he asked for help. During 1843, 30,218 male and 4,307 female indentured immigrants entered Mauritius. The first ship from Madras arrived in Mauritius on 21 April 1843.

== Attempts to stamp out abuses of the system ==
The existing regulations failed to stamp out abuses of the system, which continued, including recruitment by false pretences and consequently, in 1843 the Government of [[Bengal]], was forced to restrict emigration from Calcutta, only permitting departure after the signing of a certificate from the Agent and countersigned by the Protector. Migration to Mauritius continued, with 9,709 male Coolies ([[Dhangar]]s), and 1,840 female wives and daughters were transported in 1844.

The repatriation of Indians who had completed indenture remained a problem with a high death rate and investigations revealed that regulations for the return voyages were not being satisfactorily followed.

Without enough recruits from Calcutta to satisfy the demands of European planters in Mauritius, permission was granted in 1847 to reopen emigration from Madras with the first ship leaving Madras for Mauritius in 1850.

There were also Company officials stationed in colonies that hosted Indian immigrants. For example, when the Danish plantation owners began recruiting Indians, the British representative - also considered a consul - to the Danish West Indies was called the Protector of Immigrants.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Indian Indenture in the Danish West Indies, 1863-1873|last=Roopnarine|first=Lomarsh|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2016|isbn=9783319307091|location=New York|pages=12}}</ref> This official oversaw the welfare of the workers and ensured that the terms of the agreement they signed were implemented.

== Indian labour transportation to the Caribbean ==
{{see also|Indo-Caribbean|Indentured servitude in the Americas}}
After the end of slavery, the European-led [[West Indian]] [[sugar]] colonies tried the use of [[emancipated]] [[slave]]s, families from [[Ireland]], [[Germany]] and [[Malta]] and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] from [[Madeira]]. All these efforts failed to satisfy the labour needs of the colonies due to high mortality of the new arrivals and their reluctance to continue working at the end of their indenture. On 16 November 1844, the British Indian Government legalised emigration to [[Jamaica]], [[Trinidad]] and [[Demerara]] ([[Guyana]]). The first ship, the ''Whitby'', sailed from Port Calcutta for British Guiana on 13 January 1838, and arrived in Berbice on 5 May 1838. Transportation to the [[Caribbean]] stopped in 1848 due to problems in the sugar industry and resumed in Demerara and Trinidad in 1851 and Jamaica in 1860.

Importing indentured labour became viable for plantation owners because newly emancipated slaves refused to work for low wages. This is demonstrated in the sheer number of freed slaves in colonies that imported Indian workers. Jamaica had 322,000 while British Guiana and Barbados had about 90,000 and 82,000 freed slaves, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Subaltern Indian Woman: Domination and Social Degradation|last=Misir|first=Prem|publisher=Springer|year=2017|location=Berlin|pages=20}}</ref> There was also a political incentive to the British import of foreign workers. The influx of Indian workers diminished the competitive leverage and bargaining power of the freed slaves, marginalizing their position within the so-called [[plantocracy]] system persisting in the British colonies.<ref>Misir, p. 20.</ref>

== Persuading labourers to prolong their indenture ==

=== Renouncing claim to free passage ===
The European planters pressed consistently for longer indentures. In an effort to persuade labourers to stay on, the Mauritius Government, in 1847, offered a [[gratuity]] of £2 to each labourer who decided to remain in Mauritius and renounce his claim to a free passage. The Mauritius Government also wanted to discontinue the return passage and finally on 3 August 1852, the Government of British India agreed to change the conditions whereby if a passage was not claimed within six months of entitlement, it would be forfeited, but with safeguards for the sick and poor. A further change in 1852 stipulated that labourers could return after five years (contributing $35 towards the return passage) but would qualify for a free return passage after 10 years. This had a negative effect on recruitment as few wanted to sign up for 10 years and a sum of $35 was prohibitive; the change was discontinued after 1858.

=== Increasing proportion of women ===
It was also considered that if the indentured labourers had a family life in the colonies they would be more likely to stay on. The proportion of women in early migration to [[Mauritius]] was small and the first effort to correct this imbalance was when, on 18 March 1856, the Secretary for the Colonies sent a dispatch to the Governor of Demerara that stated that for the season 1856–7 women must form 25 percent of the total and in the following years males must not exceed three times the number of females dispatched. It was more difficult to induce women from North India to go overseas than those from South India but the Colonial Office persisted and on 30 July 1868 instructions were issued that the proportion of 40 women to 100 men should be adhered to. It remained in force of the rest of the indenture period.

=== Land grants ===
[[Trinidad]] followed a different trend where the Government offered the labourers a stake in the colony by providing real inducements to settle when their indentures had expired. From 1851 £10 was paid to all those who forfeited their return passages. This was replaced by a land grant and in 1873 further incentives were provided in the form of {{convert|5|acre|m2}} of land plus £5 cash. Furthermore, [[Trinidad]] adopted an ordinance in 1870 by which new immigrants were not allotted to plantations where the death rate exceeded 7 percent.

== Recruitment for other European Colonies ==
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 India|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.<ref>Roopnarine, p. 12.</ref> This indenture system, however, did not last.

== Transportation to other parts of the British Empire==
{{further|Indian South Africans}}
Following introduction of labour laws acceptable to the British Government of India, transportation was extended to the smaller British Caribbean islands; [[Grenada]] in 1856, [[St Lucia]] in 1858 and [[St Kitts]] and [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|St Vincent]] in 1860. Emigration to [[Colony of Natal|Natal]] was approved on 7 August 1860, and the first ship from Madras arrived in [[Durban]] on 16 November 1860, forming the basis of the [[Indian South African]] community. The recruits were employed on three-year contracts. The British Government permitted transportation to the [[Denmark|Danish]] colonies in 1862. There was a high mortality rate in the one ship load sent to [[St Croix]], and following adverse reports from the British Consul on the treatment of indentured labourers, further emigration was stopped. The survivors returned to India in 1868, leaving about eighty Indians behind. Permission was granted for emigration to [[Queensland]] in 1864, but no Indians were transported under the indenture system to this part of [[Australia]].

== Streamlining the indentured labour system of British India ==
There were a lot of discrepancies between systems used for indentured Colonial British Indian labour to various colonies. Colonial British Government regulations of 1864 made general provisions for recruitment of Indian labour in an attempt to minimise abuse of the system. These included the appearance of the recruit before a magistrate in the district of recruitment and not the port of embarkation, licensing of recruiters and penalties to recruiters for not observing rules for recruitment, legally defined rules for the Protector of Emigrants, rules for the depots, payment for agents to be by salary and not commission, the treatment of emigrants on board ships and the proportion of females to males were set uniformly to 25 females to 100 males. Despite this the sugar colonies were able to devise labour laws that were disadvantageous to the immigrants. For example, in [[Demerara]] an ordinance in 1864 made it a crime for a labourer to be absent from work, misbehaving or not completing five tasks each week. New labour laws in [[Mauritius]] in 1867 made it impossible for time-expired labourers to shake free of the estate economy. They were required to carry passes, which showed their occupation and district and anyone found outside his district was liable to arrest and dispatched Immigration Depot. If he was found to be without employment he was deemed a vagrant.

== Transportation to Suriname == Transportation of Indian labour to [[Suriname]] began under an agreement that has been declared as Imperial. In return for [[Netherlands|Dutch]] rights to recruit Indian labour, the Dutch transferred some old forts (remnants of slave trade) in West [[Africa]] to the British and also bargained for an end to British claims in [[Sumatra]]. Labourers were signed up for five years and were provided with a return passage at the end of this term, but were to be subject to Dutch law. The first ship carrying Indian indentured labourers arrived in Suriname in June 1873 followed by six more ships during the same year.

==British transportation of Indian labour, 1842 to 1870 ==
Following the abolition of slavery throughout the [[British Empire]], it was again abolished in the [[French colonial empire]] in 1848, and the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865 with the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]].

Between 1842 and 1870 a total of 525,482 Indians emigrated to the British and French Colonies. Of these, 351,401 went to [[Mauritius]], 76,691 went to [[Demerara]], 42,519 went to [[Trinidad]], 15,169 went to [[Jamaica]], 6,448 went to [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], 15,005 went to [[Réunion]] and 16,341 went to the other French colonies. This figure does not include the 30,000 who went to [[Mauritius]] earlier, labourers who went to [[Ceylon]] or [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and illegal recruitment to the French colonies. Thus by 1870 the indenture system, transporting Indian labour to the colonies, was an established system of providing labour for European colonial plantations and when, in 1879, [[Fiji]] became a recipient of Indian labour it was this same system with a few minor modifications.

== The Indenture Agreement ==
The following is the indenture agreement of 1912:
#Period of Service-Five Years from the Date of Arrival in the Colony.
#Nature of labour-Work in connection with the Cultivation of the soil or the manufacture of the produce on any plantation.
#Number of days on which the Emigrant is required to labour in each Week-Everyday, excepting Sundays and authorized holidays.
#Number of hours in every day during which he is required to labour without extra remuneration-Nine hours on each of five consecutive days in every week commencing with the Monday of each week, and five hours on the Saturday of each week.
#Monthly or Daily Wages and Task-Work Rates-When employed at time-work every adult male Emigrant above the age of fifteen years will be paid not less than one shilling, which is at present equivalent to twelve annas and every adult female Emigrant above that age not less than nine pence, which is at present equivalent to nine annas, for every working day of nine hours; children below that age will receive wages proportionate to the amount of work done.
#When employed at task or ticca-work every adult male Emigrant above the age of fifteen years will be paid not less than one shilling, and every adult female Emigrant above that age not less than nine pence for every task which shall be performed.
#The law is that a man's task shall be as much as ordinary able-bodied adult male Emigrant can do in six hours’ steady work, and that a woman's task shall be three-fourths of a man's task. An employer is not bound to allot, nor is an Emigrant bound to perform more than one task in each day, but by mutual agreement such extra work may be allotted, performed and paid for.
#Wages are paid weekly on the Saturday of each week.
#Conditions as to return passage-Emigrants may return to India at their own expense after completing five years’ industrial residence in the Colony.
#After ten years’ continuous residence every Emigrant who was above the age of twelve on introduction to the Colony and who during that period has completed an industrial residence of five years, shall be entitled to a free-return passage if he claims it within two years after the completion of the ten years’ continuous residence. If the Emigrant was under twelve years of age when he was introduced into the colony, he will be entitled to a free return passage if he claims it before he reaches 24 years of age and fulfills the other conditions as to residence. A child of an Emigrant born within the colony will be entitled to a free return passage until he reaches the age of twelve, and must be accompanied on the voyage by his parents or guardian.
#Other Conditions-Emigrants will receive rations from their employers during the first six months after their arrival on the plantation according to the scale prescribed by the government of Fiji at a daily cost of four pence, which is at present equivalent to four annas, for each person of twelve years of age and upwards.
#Every child between five and twelve years of age will receive approximately half rations free of cost, and every child, five years of age and under, nine chattacks of milk daily free of cost, during the first year after their arrival.
#Suitable dwelling will be assigned to Emigrants under indenture free of rent and will be kept in good repair by the employers. When Emigrants under indenture are ill they will be provided with Hospital accommodation, Medical attendance, Medicines, Medical comforts and Food free of charge.
#An Emigrant who has a wife still living is not allowed to marry another wife in the Colony unless his marriage with his first wife shall have been legally dissolved; but if he is married to more than one wife in his country he can take them all with him to the Colony and they will then be legally registered and acknowledged as his wives.

==Final ban on indenture system==
The British-led Indian indenture system was finally banned in 1917.<ref name="eco" >{{cite news|title=The legacy of Indian migration to European colonies|url=https://www.economist.com/news/international/21727896-century-after-india-ended-system-indentured-labour-its-diaspora-building|access-date=2 September 2017|work=[[The Economist]]|date=2 September 2017}}</ref> 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."<ref name="eco" />

==British transportation of Indian indentured labour by country ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Indian indentured labour importing colonies
! Name of Colony !! Number of Labourers Transported
|-
|[[British Mauritius]] || 453,063
|-
|[[British Guiana]]||238,909
|-
|[[British Trinidad and Tobago]]||143,939
|-
|[[British Jamaica]]||36,412
|-
|[[British Malaya]]||400,000
|-
|[[British Grenada]]||3,200
|-
|[[British Saint Lucia]]||4,350
|-

|[[Colony of Natal|Natal]]||152,184
|-
|[[Saint Kitts]]||337
|-
|[[Saint Vincent (Antilles)|Saint Vincent]]||2,472
|-
|[[Réunion]]||26,507
|-
|[[Dutch Surinam]]||34,304
|-
|[[British Fiji]]||60,965
|-
|[[East Africa Protectorate|East Africa]]||32,000<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/762515.stm |title=Kenya's Asian heritage on display |publisher=BBC News |date=2000-05-24 |access-date=2017-09-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Seychelles]]||6,315
|-
| [[British Singapore]]||3,000<ref>[http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/INFOPEDIA/articles/SIP_39_2005-02-02.html Indian convicts’ contributions to early Singapore (1825–1873) - Vernon Cornelius-Takahama]</ref>
|-
|'''Total'''||'''1,597,957'''
|}

==See also==
* [[Garden Reach#Surinaam Ghat|Surinaam Ghat]]
* [[Coolitude]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Sen, Sunanda. "Indentured Labour from India in the Age of Empire." ''Social Scientist'' 44.1/2 (2016): 35–74. [http://www.academia.edu/download/61349480/Indentured_Labour_in_the_Age_of_Empire_220191126-77315-tjre0f.pdf online]
* Tinker, H. ''A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labour Overseas 1820-1920'', Oxford University Press, London, 1974
* Lal, B.V. ''Girmitiyas: The Origins of the Fiji Indians'', Fiji Institute of Applied Studies, Lautoka, Fiji, 2004
* Khal Torabully (with Marina Carter), ''Coolitude'' : An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora, Anthem Press (2002) {{ISBN|1-84331-003-1}}
* Khal Torabully, Voices from the Aapravasi ghat : indentured imaginaries, Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund, Mauritius, 2013, 9788990388220
* Gaiutra Bahadur, ''Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture''. The University of Chicago (2014) {{ISBN|978-0-226-21138-1}}
* de Verteuil, Anthony. 1989. ''Eight East Indian Immigrants: Gokool, Soodeen, Sookoo, Capildeo, Beccani, Ruknaddeen, Valiama, Bunsee'' {{ISBN|976-8054-25-5}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/indian-indentured-labour.htm Indian indentured labourers - The National Archives of the UK Government]
* [[Coolitude]]
* The genesis of the Indentured Labour Route of UNESCO, https://www.lemauricien.com/le-mauricien/the-story-of-the-international-indentured-labour-route-project-and-its-philosophy/400344/

[[Category:Debt bondage]]
[[Category:History of Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:History of the Colony of Jamaica]]
[[Category:History of British Grenada]]
[[Category:History of Fiji]]
[[Category:History of Guyana]]
[[Category:History of Mauritius]]
[[Category:History of Malaysia]]
[[Category:History of South Africa]]
[[Category:Indentured servitude]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora]]
[[Category:Slavery in Asia]]
[[Category:Slavery in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Social history of India]]
[[Category:Pakistani diaspora]]
[[Category:Indian domestic workers]]
[[Category:Slavery in India]]

[[fr:Engagisme]]

Indian indenture system - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:53, 2 January 2022