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Indian indenture: History and historiography in a nutshell
Abstract
The establishment of the academic study of Indentureship is a relatively recent development that has been led by descendants of indentured labourers from across the diaspora. This article highlights key moments in both the history and historiography of Indentureship. Looking first at the system established by the British on plantations across their colonies, it goes on to consider the variety of labourers' backgrounds and the process of social equalisation that was fostered by both voyage and plantation. Considering the injustices of the system, the author emphasises the ways in which labourers were able to disrupt the power of the plantocracy and analyses the particular perils the system held for women. The religious life of the labourers as well as the maintenance of the Panchayat and the importance of the Ramayana are also weighed. The historiography section of this article traces the attention paid to the system of indenture and the diaspora it created; from the initial attentions of missionaries and ‘benevolent’ organisations in the nineteenth century to the creation of a global network of scholars of Indentureship with roots in South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana and Trinidad. It further emphasises key moments and publications during this period.
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Notes
I thank David Dabydeen for the invitation to write this paper and Doug Munro for reading an early draft of it.
In the case of Trinidad and Fiji, for instance, the sugar industry is in the doldrums, with cane farms abandoned and milling infrastructure in decay.
The literature is vast but see among many others, Carter 1994; Lal 1985; Pande 2020; Goundar et al. 2021.
See Lal 2010. For a comprehensive list of studies of indentured women's experiences, by dozens of scholars, many women, see the Bibliography section of the Ameena Gafoor Institute website, ameenagafoorinstitute.org
There are several centres for the study of Indian diaspora in India, dealing partially with the indenture experience. Among many scholars with serious commitment to the history of Indian migrants are Ashutosh Kumar of Banaras Hindu University and Amit Mishra of Ashoka University. Several early career researchers are working on literary and gender issues.
An earlier such compilation was Macdonald 1998.