Coolies of the Empire : Indentured Indians in the Sugar Colonies, 1830–1920

DescriptionContentsResourcesCoursesAbout the Authors This book studies Indian overseas labour migration in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which involved millions of Indians traversing the globe in the age of empire, subsequent to the abolition of slavery in 1833. This migration led to the presence of Indians and their culture being felt all over the world. This study delves deep into the lives of these indentured workers from India who called themselves girmitiyas; it is a narrative of their experiences in India and in the sugar colonies abroad. It foregrounds the alternative world view of the girmitiyas, and their socio-cultural and religious life in the colonies. In this book, the author has developed highly original insights into the experience of colonial indentured migrant labour, describing the ways in which migrants managed to survive and even flourish within the interstices of the indentured labour system and how considerably the experience of migration changed over time. Focuses On The Overseas Indians Who Left Their Homeland To Work On Colonial Sugar Plantations During The 19th And Early 20th Centuries Under The Indenture System, Introduced In The British Empire Subsequent To The Abolition Of Slavery In 1833-- Introduction: Indentured Emigrants In The Literature -- Naukari, Network And Indenture -- Regulating Indenture -- The Journey -- Agriculture And Culture Between Two Worlds -- Writing The Girmitiya Experience -- The End Of The Indenture System -- Conclusion. Ashutosh Kumar. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Focuses on the overseas Indians who left their homeland to work on colonial sugar plantations during the 19th and early 20th centuries under the indenture system, introduced in the British Empire subsequent to the abolition of slavery in 1833"-- Provided by publisher This book unfolds the story of the indenture system within the British Empire, with India as the 'mother country' of coolies