Indian Indentured Servitude

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer explores the indentured servitude of Indians in terms of both its successful incorporation as part of the colonial system of domination and oppression, as well as in terms of how opposition and resistance to this system influenced political and social development in the region. The writer argues that with reference to both earlier and later periods of indentured servitude on different Caribbean sites, an accurate history of indentured servitude requires such a balanced analysis to understand fully its complexity and significance in terms of regional history.

Outline:
Introduction
Indentured Servitude as Subservience to Colonialism
Indentured Servitude and Resistance
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Indeed, to understand differences in resistance across the region - from island to island - we must acknowledge the extraordinary levels of control of the plantation and civil authorities over the movement and actions of the indentured Indians. For example, while discontent and resistance was widespread in British Guiana, on the neighbouring island of Trinidad - with the second largest colony of indentured Indians in the Caribbean region - there was minimal resistance. The differences between the two situations cannot be explained with reference to caste or class/education of the Indians, as both came from the same pool of migrants. Instead, it is theorized while the appalling labour conditions in the islands represented a tinderbox that would be lit at any moment, different approaches to dealing with potential discontent on the part of the authorities was a critical factor in explaining differences between islands."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mangru, Basdeo. Indenture and Abolition: Sacrifice and Survival on the Guyanese Sugar Plantations. Toronto: TSAR, 1993.
• Ramdin, R. "Indentureship, Free Indians, and the Abolition of the System (1838-1920)." In Arising from Bondage, 51-77. From Course Reader: Indenture, Survival and Change. Ed. Amar Wahab.
• Rodney, Walter. A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881- 1905. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981.
• Shepherd, Verene. "Control, Resistance, Accommodation and Race Relations: Aspects of Indentureship Experience of East Indian Immigrants in Jamaica 1845-1921." In Across Dark Waters, 65- 88. From Course Reader: Indenture, Survival and Change. Ed. Amar Wahab.
• Singh, K. "Introduction." In Bloodstained Tombs: The Muharram Massacre 1884, 1-41. From Course Reader: Indenture, Survival and Change. Ed. Amar Wahab.

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