| Abstract: | After the abolition of slavery in British colonies in 1834, many thousand labourers left India under indenture for employment on colonial plantations. Their efforts resulted in a striking rise in exports of plantation products. At the end of their indenture, many Indians decided to settle in their new home, especially in British Guiana, Trinidad, Mauritius and Fiji. The paper discusses the districts in India from which labourers were recruited ; the conditions of service under the indenture system, and its advantages and abuses. It discusses the opportunities open to the Indian labourer at the end of his indenture, and the facilities which the government or the planters provided for his settlement on the land. Those who did not settle on the land turned to the professions or trades, often with success. The paper discusses the attitude of the “communities of reception” to the Indian during and after indenture, and his adjustment to a multi-racial society. It analyses his change in outlook as a result of emigration, the increase in his ambition and initiative, and his transition from submissiveness to independence. |
