Q. Why indentured labour was taken by the British from India to other colonies? Have they been able to preserve their cultural identity over there? [UPSC-2018]
Ans:
Indentured labour was a system of bonded labour that was instituted following the abolition of slavery throughout British Empire in 1833 as newly free men and women refused to work for low wages on sugar, tea plantations and rail construction projects in British colonies of West Indies, Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, Surinam, Ceylon etc.
Indenture was a contract by which the emigrant was bound to work for a given employer for three- to five-year term, performing the task assigned to him for a specified wage. Most of them originated from the lower to middling social and economic strata, which was always the first to bear the brunt of economic vicissitudes and calamities of nature. ©crackingcivilservices.com
Britain legalised the indentured labour system in 1842. Mauritius was the first of the plantation colonies to import contract workers from India. More than two million Indians would travel to about 20 European colonies before it was finally formally banned by the British regime by the beginning of the 20th century (in 1917). However, the migration for indentured labour went on till at least the third decade of the 20th century. The last ship carrying indentured labourers arrived in Mauritius in 1924.
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Reasons for indentured labours taken by the British from India to other colonies:
- This phenomenon was linked with the demands of British Empire. It began in 1834 when slavery was abolished in the British empire.
- The emancipation of 800,000 slaves in colonies was followed by the emergence of the indentured labour. India replaced Africa as the source of plantation labour.
- The abolition of slavery that year was threatening the survival of the sugarcane plantations. The planters needed workers by the thousands or faced bankruptcy. The only source of cheap labour they could think of was India, poor, overpopulated, and with millions from oppressed castes.
- So obviously the result of the workings of British colonialism both in India and abroad which is highlighted by the fact that the vast majority of Indians emigrated only to the British colonies.
- The historical background against which the Indian overseas emigration was intensified was the penetration of British mercantile capitalism in Asia.
- In the second half of the nineteenth century, as a result of the communication revolution and the opening of the Suez Canal the Asian peripheral economies were fully integrated into the world capitalist system with the result that Britain earned a considerable surplus on her trade with Asia in general, and India in particular. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- The profits from imperial trade were invested by the British in the mines and plantations in Asia and Africa, which created a further demand for labour throughout the British Empire.
- Thus the expanding capitalist economy in the British empire created a great demand for labour.
- The Distress of the Small Peasantry:
- The impact of British colonialism in India arose from the new land policies attuned to capitalist development by the middle of the nineteenth century.
- All the land revenue systems like Zamindari system, Ryotwari system and Mahalwari system was exploitative in nature and land revenue was excessively burden-some to the peasantry.
- Under these land tenure schemes, not only land transfer became easier, disputes over land also encouraged litigation, crime and corruption. Indebtedness forced many cultivators to sell or mortgage their land to the rich peasants or the money-lenders.’ Consequently, the pauperisation of the marginal peasantry increased the number of landless labourers who eventually joined the ranks of overseas migrants.
- Famines:
- Widespread and frequent famines and local scarcities throughout the nineteenth century and during 1905-1908 period were also a major factor in adding to the misery of rural populations, especially small cultivators, artisans, agricultural labourers and other depressed classes.
- The economically poor classes opted to migrate to other country to escape the brunt of famine. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- The Decline of the Handicraft Industry:
- After establishment of British rule and industrial revolution in Britain had significant negative impact on the handicraft industry of Indian.
- The overall progress of industrialisation during the British Raj remained very slow. As late as 1931, out of a total population of 353 million, only just over 1.5 million workers were employed in modern factories
- Under these circumstances, it is obvious that the manufacturing sector of the colonial economy was not capable of absorbing the surplus labour force created in the rural areas.
- African worker reluctance: The natives of African countries were self sufficient and completely relying on cattle farming. They were reluctant to work in the British factories and farms, so Indians became the obvious choice.
- Availability of labour: Most Indian indentured workers came from the present-day regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu. In the mid-nineteenth century these regions experienced many changes – cottage industries declined, land rents rose, lands were cleared for mines and plantations. All this affected the lives of the poor. They failed to pay their rents, became deeply indebted and were forced to migrate in search of work.
- Suitability of Indian labour: Indian workers were perceived as being quiet, docile and industrious by colonists and suitable for working in many plantation and construction works in different colonies of Britain. The recruitment and arrival were done by private parties initially later British government regulated the recruitment of indentured labour.
- Other reasons:
- Excessive dependence on agriculture,
- Seasonal unemployment,
- Mass illiteracy and a caste-bound occupational structure,
- Fleeing from caste oppression as most of the people who left India for Suriname were either from lower castes or very poor. Once in new country, they were freed from caste oppression.
- Trickery on the part of the recruiting agents played its part in stimulating Indian emigration abroad
The majority of these Indian remain there building vibrant Indian communities and sometimes even changing forever the demographies and socio-cultural and political histories of the colonies.
Have they been able to preserve their cultural identities:
- Although there has been some modifications and evolutionary changes, the labourers and their descendants preserved their culture and heritage in its original form and created an India of their imagination, from handed-down memories and later, from satellite TV and cinema.
- Continuity of the culture is also visible in the ways in which Bhojpuri and chutney music, as well as folk dance forms from India like Ahirwa Naach are getting global recognition today in some Girmitiya countries like Suriname, Trinidad and Guyana etc.
- An interesting example over here is that of singer Raj Mohan, whose Bhojpuri songs are extremely popular in India.
- In some Girmitiya countries, women, including young urban girls, who’ve never seen India, wear salwar-kameez and bindis and perform Bharatanatyam.
- Shailesh Bahoran, a descendent of indentured labourer is a dancer based in Netherlands, and uses Indian dance techniques mixed with western style of dance.
- Temples are prominent in the diaspora’s cultural heritage, whether in Mauritius, South Africa, Fiji or the Caribbean, and Shiva and Kali temples, and Amman, Subramanya and Venkateshwara temples dominate.
- Shivratri, Diwali, Thaipoosam and Kavadi are gala events in some of the Girmitiya countries, with most rituals still having similarities with that of the Indians.
- In Mauritius, for instance, a huge crater-lake atop a secluded mountain has been made into their Ganga Talo, where they celebrate Shivratri with bells and incense and rituals, an astonishing recreation of a heritage that travelled with them.
- The people who migrated to these areas may have adopted the living ways of new land but they did not forget their ancient cultural roots. The food culture has evolved into newer forms by interacting with local land but the traces lead back to India. Ex: Bunny chow of South Africa.
- Continued using Indian names e.g. Chandrikapersad Santokhi – president of Suriname. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- The migrated women immensely contributed in the preservation of Indian cultures in these countries. e.g. The GeetGawai tradition of bhojpuri songs sung by hindu women from rural areas in chorus on pre-wedding occasions have been kept alive passed on the tradition from generation to generation.
- It is a combination of prayers, rituals, music, dance and bhojpuri songs performed by women. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are invoked to protect the ceremony.
- The photos of Hindu Gods are displayed during weddings.
- The tradition of building Kalimai shrines (to pray Goddess Kali) under the trees has been transitioned from Bhojpur area to these countries (e.g. Mauritius). The Kalimai shrines have been converted into Kali temples and since people are materially well off.
- The traditional Indian musical instruments namely jhaal, dholok, chimta, lota, thali etc are still found in these communities.
- The migrated Indian labourer families still follow cultural and religious practices from native country with some modifications. These have helped them to stay attached to their roots. Ex: Phagwah festival in Jamaica.
- In Trinidad the annual Muharram procession was transformed into a riotous carnival called ‘Hosay’ (for Imam Hussain) in which workers of all races and religions joined.
- The protest religion of Rastafarianism (made famous by the Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley) is also said to reflect social and cultural links with Indian migrants to the Caribbean.
- The other essay by the same author, titled “Trinidad Hindusim”, outlines the process of Sanskritisation that had begun by the beginning of the 20th century whereby there was a move towards attaining a “standardised form of Hinduism” by eliminating rituals that were seen as not in keeping with the spirit of sanatan dharma.
The preservation of the native cultural elements also facilitated forging a sense of solidarity among them in the hostile environment of oppression and enslavement. The wide appeal of the religious text like Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas also helped in bringing unity among them.
Currently, the government of India is running various schemes for engaging with these communities e.g. known India programme, global pravasi rishta portal, pravasi bharatiya divas, vaishvik bharatiya vaigyanik (vaibhav) summit, community welfare funds etc. ©crackingcivilservices.com
