Indo-Caribbean Heritage - New settlement

145 years ago on June 1, 1861 a ship with 260 Indians landed on the Western end of the Kingstown harbour, Edinboro. They had travelled for about 94 days from Madras, India to St. Vincent. This was the first of eight ships to bring a total number of 2,475 Indians to St. Vincent. The other seven ships departed from Calcutta with Indians who originated from the Northern provinces of India. The migration of Indians to St. Vincent lasted for about 20 years from 1861 to 1880.

Why did they come to St. Vincent?

The economic conditions in India were very bad. The British had just taken over the governance of India (1850s) and the offer of contract work in St. Vincent was made to Indians. Famines in India in the 1870s also impacted on Indian emigration.

Indian migration to the Caribbean had started since the late1830s to British Guyana. Consequent to the termination of slavery in St. Vincent on August 1, 1838 there was a shortage of labour as the resident workers refused to work on the estates. During the period 1839 to 1864, prior to the Indians, 1,036 liberated Africans and 2,110 Portuguese Madeirans had taken up work in St. Vincent. Typically, an Indian signed a bond to work for a period of five or 10 years at a rate of 10 pence per day after which he would be entitled to passage back to India.

Phases of Indian immigration to St. Vincent

There were several phases of the Indian immigration to St. Vincent which was mainly dictated by conditions in the sugar market; but other factors such as epidemics in SVG and ill treatment of Indians also had an impact. When the price of sugar was good, Indian immigration increased but when the Industry suffered the Indians also suffered.

For example, in 1862 when the second ship of Indians arrived, the price of sugar had fallen and the planters did not take up their share of workers and many Indian workers had to remain in the depot. The planters attempted to cut cost by lowering wages and withdrawing the weekly allowances of sugar, rum and molasses. This resulted in riots, disturbances, abandonment of estates and the neglect and abuse of the Indians. The depot where the unassigned Indians were kept was the commissariat building for the militia.

Indian immigration to St. Vincent can be divided into five phases:-

l 1861-62: First arrivals followed by riots; estates abandoned

l 1862-65: immigration suspended and estates consolidated

l 1866-75: Revival of sugar; most immigration; prosperity

l 1876-80: Decline of sugar in SVG

l 1880-85: Last arrivals, protest and end of indenture system

Protest and End of Indenture

By 1880 when the last ship of Indians arrived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the sugar market had become very competitive and planters tried to cut costs by reducing wages, increasing tasks and neglecting their contractual obligations to the Indians. The Indians were treated horribly and in 1882 the Acting Administrator Roger Goldsworthy received 82 formal complaints from Indians alleging ill-treatment, non payment of wages and other abuses.

The frequency of complaints forced Governor Robinson to order an investigation. This was conducted by R.P. Cropper, the St. Lucia Protector of Indians. His report describes the horrible conditions under which the Indians had to live and work. Like the Africans, they were exploited and treated harshly by the plantation owners.

However, this investigation did not make things better for the Indians. Rather, their treatment continued to worsen. Finally, on October 7th, 1882, in an effort to bring their grievances directly to the Lieutenant Governor, 50 Indians marched from Argyle to Kingstown. They protested against abuse, loss of wages, and some claimed they were robbed out of their return passage to India.

The march resulted in 7 Indians being found guilty of vagrancy, i.e. going more than 2 miles from the estate. These Indians, who later came to be known as the "Argyle Seven", were assisted by Barrister George Smith who petitioned the colonial office and won the case giving the Argyle Seven their right to a passage back to India. The case also exposed the sloppy way the records of the Indians were kept as they could not be relied upon to prove whether an Indian or the employer had fulfilled their contractual obligations. A decision was therefore taken by the Colonial office that all Indians who had no work or a place to live should be given passage back to India.

During the period 1871 to 1885 a total of 1,141 Indian indentured workers departed SVG for India. However, many were prevented from returning due to the plantation owners' devious manipulation of the system. Those who could not return included those who were kidnapped as children in India and brought to St. Vincent. When the Indians went to Kingstown on August 1st, 1885 to board the last ship to India they had to walk through two long lines of armed officers or militia. This tight security was to prevent certain Indians from getting onto the ship. There were a few Indians who voluntarily forfeited their right to a return passage to India by accepting a £10.00 bounty offered. Many migrated to Guyana and Trinidad but those who remained in St. Vincent lived mainly on estates at Argyle and at Lot 14, near to the indigenous Carib community.

Post Indenture Life

The hurricane of 1898 and volcanic eruption of 1902 crippled the sugar industry and the estate system was finally broken up. A new land settlement scheme in St. Vincent allowed the Indians to move away from the estates. They settled mainly at Calder, Akers, Richland Park, Park Hill, Georgetown and Rose Bank. In 1902 the Indian population in SVG was just under 500 but by the 1950s Indians in SVG numbered over 5000. It was not uncommon for a married couple to have more than ten children.

The Indians assimilated into the Vincentian community and worked alongside a melting pot of cultures: Africans, Portuguese, British, the aboriginal Amerindians or Yellow Caribs and the Black Garifuna Caribs. They were mainly involved in agriculture, manufacturing and trade. They were thrifty and hardly got involved in crime. They adopted British names and Christian religions. By the 1920s when the indentured labour system was abolished in the Caribbean, the Indians had integrated into the society and had made an impact on the culture of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Curry, roti, rice and dhal were now embraced as a vital part of the Vincentian diet.

There was a small amount of Indian migration from St. Vincent to other Caribbean islands in the first half of the 20th century but the latter half saw migration of hundreds of Indians to the UK, USA and Canada.

INDIANS IN BELIZE

Belize: Identity and Ethnicity in a Multi-Ethnic State

Ralph Premdas

http://www.uwichill.edu.bb/bnccde/belize/conference/papers/premdas.html

In April 2001, I embarked on a journey of discovery into Belize. The University of the West Indies had launched a new experimental program involving the deployment of scholars, artists, and scientists to its non-campus countries that it served also. Its main campuses were in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. I was granted an assignment to Belize for a month. By formal training, I am a political scientist who, over the years, had constructed his research and scholarship mainly from fieldwork in places like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Quebec, Guyana, Trinidad, etc. My research interest was focused primarily on ethnic pluralism and conflict examining ways in which social and cultural cleavages were transformed politically into sites of struggle over identity, power, recognition and resources. I was interested not only in the causes of these conflicts but also in the modes by which they were managed especially within a democratic framework. Belize, a multi-ethnic state with eight ethno-cultural communities, was more ethnically diverse than all of the Caribbean countries including Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname, and had a special appeal to me since it seemed to have been able to contain the rival claims of ethnic communities so as to produce a harmonious whole. In other parts of the world, this was hardly the case with ethnic strife widespread as they were destructive. In the month that I spent in Belize, I embarked on a journey to all parts of the country seeking out meetings with citizens and groups trying to learn about how they saw themselves in relation to persons form other communities, their identities and issues of communal co-existence. In this essay, I recapitulate some of these conversations and findings locating them within the wider ambit of Belize's features and the theoretical materials on ethnic relations. The method that I applied is a travelogue, which catches a glimpse into the country. A travelogue does not make claim to be scientific exposition based on a carefully selected sample. It is bounded by the route traveled and by the interests of the observer. As a method, it has the advantage of reporting on a wide assortment of events which are often omitted in a systematic and pointed treatise. I have tried to be informative by presenting relevant statistical data so as to temper my presentation from being solely an impressionistic enterprise.

The group that was most curious in terms of attachment to an ethnic community was the East Indians. Having lost practically all their old values in religion and rituals including the loss of traditional Indian names, food, and attire, they still seemed to think that they were Indians but only in a secondary sense of belonging to Belize first. One young Indian from Corozal told me that when his secondary school put up a program to highlight Belize's ethnic diversity, he was chosen to exemplify East Indians but that he knew practically nothing about them and wanted to know about "his culture". The East Indian Cultural Council has made it as part of its program to learn more about Indians in the Caribbean and to recover something of their lost Indiannness. In a sort of cultural revival that is current going on in Belize, they will literally have to invent their Indianness.

I was on my way to PG where I would stay for my visit. I was rather intrigued by the fact that I was going to meet East Indians in fairly large concentrated numbers. On the way to the township of PG, I was shown a series of villages that were East Indian settlements. Who were these Indians? How did they get to Belize and how are they faring? I had a natural curiosity being a descendant of Indian laborers to the Caribbean myself. I made contact with Tyrone Bardalez, an odd name for an Indian, and he was the President of the East Indian Council which was based in PG. I was invited on a Sunday to the home of the Bardalez in the village of Forest Home on the outskirts of PG. On Saturday night I was however free and decided to see if there is any Indian restaurants in the town. The search yielded a restaurant that was run by an East Indian woman and it was said that she would obviously have curry dishes on her menu. When I went to restaurant, I could not see any curry dishes on the menu and asked to see the Indian woman. She was about 30 years old, spoke perfect Belizean English and said that they made mainly general Belizean food for sale but that the previous day they had made a curry dish that was not made the way I would have expected. She said she did not use curry power which could not be obtained in Belize so they used "yellow ginger", an ingredient of curry. They only used this ingredient which in its powered form was produced by the Mayas. The Mayas themselves did not use the item to make a curry dish for themselves but produced it for sale to the Indians. The next day, at the Bardalez's home, a few other Indians also came to meet me. Among them was the acknowledged local East Indian historian, Wellington Ranguy. These were all familiarly looking Indian faces but no one wore a traditional Indian attire and everyone possessed a hybrid English and Spanish name and all were Christians. No Hindus or Muslims among them. They were in a simple but wooden home with an assortment of modern furniture but nothing to brag about. No Hindu or Muslim icons or photos in the house but family pictures and of Jesus Christ. They were most warmly welcoming as if they were meeting a long lost relative and were as cautious about me as I was curious about them. It was a strange feeling of affinity, about the surprise of survival in the New World, our ancestors coming across the Oceans that saw made die and many others dying on the plantations on which they were deployed, discriminated against, mistreated, and oppressed. Even though we were all several generations born locally in different locations in the New World, we seem to have shared sense of belonging in a common narrative of struggle and survival. I told them about Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname where large numbers of Indians lived and where a fairly vibrant Indian cultural retention was in existence. They were very apologetic claiming to be shorn of practically all things Indian remembering little and wanting me to tell them more about Indian life in the Caribbean. They were really surprised with the large numbers of Indians in Trinidad where of a population of 1.3 million, Indians constituted about 42% of the total and in Guyana of a population of some 800,000 Indians were about 56% of the population. I noted that there was an Indian cultural revival in Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname with much interaction and that Trinidad had emerged as the site of a very vigorous Indian community constituted of a large reservoir of skilled and well educated persons and professionals as well as a prosperous business community and numerous temples and synagogues. Trinidad was also the home of many Indian cultural artists who produced new local Indian musical songs and dances. Indians had risen to positions of political leadership so that both Guyana and Trinidad had Indian Prime Ministers. They were awed.

Belizean Indians are clearly more Belizean than Indian constituting about 3.5% of the population and living in parts of the country today but mainly in Toledo, Corozal and Belize Districts. They came originally to Belize to provide a cheap source of labor for plantations arriving directly from both India and Jamaica. Mr. Wellington Rangy, the Indian historian, said in an essay he gave me that Indians from India first arrived in Belize in 1858. Mr. Ranguy recounted how after the Sepoy rebellion in India, the British parliament dispatched 1,000 Sepoy mutineers to Belize. Some were settled in Belize City on Queen Charlotte Street while most were consigned to work on sugar and lumber plantations in Corozal District leading to the development of three Indian settlements namely San Antonio, Calcutta Village and Carolina Village. Other Indians lived in Orange walk District, the site of the only remaining sugar refining factory in Belize. that became known as Calcutta Village.

The second batch of Indians arrived in 1872 recruited mainly from Jamaica to serve on sugar and banana plantations that were erected by ex-Confederates who had departed from the American South after the American Civil War. Needing cheap labor, these planters who had acquired tracts of land not far away from PG, they traveled to Caribbean ports such as Jamaica where they acquired East Indians. Most of those who came to Belize stayed after their labor contract expired. Some of those who came to the Punta Gorda area of Toledo District acquired land contiguous to the plantations and became permanent residents of Belize. A series of Indian villages exist today on the PG-San Antonio road named Forest Home, Cattle Landing, West Morland, Fairview, Mt. Royal, Jacintoville and Mafredi. It is said that the Indians in the PG villages have retained some Indian words which can be heard in their conversations which also seem to have a special speech inflection. A number of the Indians on completion of their contract migrated to Belize City and joined the Indian community on Queen Charlotte Street which became known as "Coolie Town".

The Indians I met in Forest Home explained that they were very isolated from other Indians in the Caribbean and that they knew very little about their historical memory but through Mr. Ranguy they were assembling old books, artifacts, and furniture towards establishing some sort of a museum later. They explained without apologizing for it that they had converted to Christianity through their plantation experience and mingling with other communities. There was also a fair amount of intermarriages with other groups. Their names had also changed as part of a simplification process initially and then through Christianisation and acculturation so that Ranghai became Ranguy, Ramcalorinea to Ramclan, Parhemran to Parham, Suphala to Supaul, Mangharan to Mangar etc. In Toledo, many Indians adapted surnames such as Williams, Edwards, Jacobs, and Coleman. I wanted to know the extent to which Indian practices such as food preparations and clothing styles were retained or adapted. Curry remained a dish but it was constructed almost entirely from yellow ginger supplied by the Mayas. They made a curry dish for lunch and it was mainly yellow but tasted just fine. Their clothing was entirely westernized like all Belizeans but they had no Indian music.

I asked about the Indian Cultural Council and was told that they simply followed suit by the example set by the establishment of the Creole Cultural Council, the Garifuna Cultural Council, and the Maya Cultural Council. They had successfully articulated, defended and promoted the interests of their respective communities and they felt that they should do the same. One success that they cited to me was their wresting from the Central government official recognition of the Indian community and their contribution to the development of Belize. At the moment, the East Indian Cultural Council was engaged in a dispute with the claims of the Maya Cultural Council for a Maya Homeland. They had linked their efforts in a coalition with the Creole an Garifuna Cultural Councils to oppose the Mayan demand since the land that is claimed by the Mayas include areas which have been traditionally occupied by Creoles, Garifuna and East Indians. These communities have disputed the position of the Mayas in Toledo that they were the original descendants of the area and countered that the Indians, Garifuna and Creoles were on some of this land before the Mayas had arrived in the area. The issue had become a national affair embroiled in partisan politics. The Minister for Lands was a Mayan and he was supportive of the Mayan land claim. Through the establishment of a Toledo Development Corporation (TDC), these land claims were to be settled so that whoever controlled the TDC would win out in this conflict, which had clearly become ethnic and communalized. The TDC was to be run by a Board and the elections for it had already begun in the convening of village meetings throughout Toledo.

Professor Guy Lasserre in his two-volume work on Guadeloupe has devoted a chapter to the ' Indians' of Guadeloupe, and published also an article in the Cahiers d'outre-mer in which he states that until 1882 the migrants were entered in a separate category from the rest of the population, and they formed on 31^st December, 1882, a total of 21,084 immigrants distributed mostly in plantations, especially of sugar cane.

He mentions the Tamil names and generally classes the migrants as Dravidians. For Martinique, however, no study has been made, and the impression both among the majority of Indians and non-Indians was that the immigrants came from India and were Hindi-speaking. A study made of the history of migrations to Martinique is contained in an unpublished thesis presented to the Sorbonne in 1965, in which Eugene Revert has studied the policy and the practice of migrations to the Martinique.

The sources from which a study of this kind may be made are many, but the present paper confines itself to the published material, to the references in the Bulletin Officiel de la Martinique, (BOM) the Annuaire Martinique, and to the weekly newspapers, e.g., Le. moniteur de la Martinique Journal officiel de la colonie, the baptismal and school registers, and to personal interviews.

Slavery was abolished in Martinique in the year 184S, and this was the occasion for many slaves to abandon the sugar and other plantations on which they had worked. The negroes were particularly averse to working in agricultural estates since it was in these estates that they had been forcefully employed.

The economy of the islands was very much dependent on labour, and an attempt was made to recruit labour from Madeira and from Europe, but the experiment proved a failure. The Governor and his advisers as well as the Ministry for the colonies advocated the introduction of Indian labour, which they observed had been such a success in the Burbon and Reunion islands.

The Moniteur stated in an article on February 4, 1855 (Vol. I, No. 4) that the British, having tried Germans, Irish, Portuguese, Maltese and Africans, finally found that the Indians were the saviours in Demerera, Jamaica, Trinidad and ten other colonies.

On September 13, 1851 the Governor of Martinique in a letter admitted that immigration was "une des necessites de l'epoque" and that it was indispensable and urgent. It was estimated that more than 7,000 agriculturists were necessary to continue the work on the plantations so that the economy might not fail.

The planters themselves were most anxious that Indian labour should be recruited for Martinique and various reasons were advanced, such as the success of Indian labour in the Burbon islands; the need in Martinique for an intermediary ethnic group which would soften the ethnic rivalries already found among existing groups in the island, and that ' les noirs' were inconsistent and irregular whereas the Indians were docile, hardworking and belonged to an enlightened country and people, and labour would be cheap.

There were others who argued in favour of immigration from Africa because the Africans would be able to acclimatise themselves more easily and would integrate better with the existing population of African origin. The opponents of Indian immigration added that the Indians belonged to a soft and lackadaisical race and would not be able to stand the rigours of perpetual

rain, cold and fever. The Governors, however, of both islands favoured simultaneous immigration (from Africa and India).

A proprietor planter from Francois in Martinique wrote to Mr. St. Remy in Paris (28th August, 1851) that he would not demand labourers from Europe since the few who had been introduced in the colony had given a bad example and spread nefarious doctrines, the evil results of which they were experiencing. He looked both to India and to Africa for labour. Africa, Madeira, the Canary islands and even the Azores were considered places which could be exploited for

Accordingly the necessary legislation was passed and the conditions of immigration, of repatriation, of re-employment and of permanent residence were cautiously stipulated. These decrees and contracts of labour followed the same pattern as for immigration to other countries, but were not always so strictly observed in the Antilles. Gradually, as the number of immigrants increased, a committee for immigration was instituted (1861) for the allocation of immigrants.

Already by the decree of 1852, a special agent had to be appointed at the place of emigration, the recruits were subject to a medical inspection and had to live in depots prior to embarkation; the ship itself had to be inspected in France prior to its departure for the country from which the immigrants embarked, and the food, clothing, medical attention, separation of men from women, and disciplinary action for indiscipline during the voyage, were all provided for.

In order to ensure a safe working of the plans of immigration, a commission was set up consisting of M. M. L. Hayot and M. de Percin Northumb, proprietor planters of sugar who were authorised to travel to Trinidad and Barbados on the ship " Chimere " to study the agriculture and economy and the conditions of Indian and Chinese workers, and to make " practical and perceptible recommendations for the exploitation of agriculture in Martinique." (BOM. 1853, p. 271).

Since most of the recruitment of labour was done in the British colonies, on 1st July, 1861, a convention was signed between France and Great Britain concerning the conditions under which labour could be recruited and employed. The second clause of Article 9 provided for the repatriation of the labourer, and of his wife, and children born in the colonies. The labourer was required to work on six days out of seven, and for nine and a half hours each day (Art. 10).

Sailings of emigrant vessels to ports east of the Cape of Good Hope were permitted any time of the year. For other Colonies, the period of sailing had to be between the 1st of August and the 15th March. This restriction applied only to sailing vessels; steamships, however, could take immigrants any month of the year (Art. 10). A European doctor and an interpreter were provided for. Any person over ten years of age was considered an adult emigrant, and two children between the years of one and ten could be counted as one adult. The women and children were to be accommodated on the ship in positions different from the men.

Because of complaints which arose during periods of transportation, further restrictions were imposed on the movement of men to other parts of the ship and maistrys were appointed to supervise discipline and be intermediaries between the officers and the emigrants (Art. 14). It was also defined that the same convention applied to Indian immigration to Reunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe and their dependencies, and to French Guiana.

The decree of 27th March 1852 said that in order to augment the agricultural potential of the island the business of transportation was being confided to a Captain Blanc who already had satisfactory experience of transporting emigrants between India and Reunion.

The first batch of Tamil labour arrived in Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1852 and 1853, and until 1883 there were regular sailings from India. Sometimes there was more than one sailing a year carrying new contingents of labourers, as well as sailings from India of repatriated labourers. Statistical tables are available for the years 1853 to 1899.

The importation of Indian labour was discontinued after 1883 partly because of the objections raised by the Government of India against the recruitment of labour in its territories and partly because of the high mobility of Indian labour. Most of the recorded sailings of Indian labour are from Pondicherry and Karaikal. An agreement was signed dated 20th April, 1864 between the Government of Martinique and the Compagnie Generale transatlantlique for the transport of labourers recruited in India.

The signatories were M. Gabriel Contarier representing the Government and M. Charles Borde representing the Company. According to the agreement, in 1864 and 1865, 1400 immigrants were to be introduced. The women were to be between 14 and 30 years; the men between 16 and 36. Children over ten were to be considered as adults, and children under ten of both sexes were not to form more than a tenth of the contingent. This classification was to be made before their departure from India, and the Company was not to refuse to receive and transport all the children accompanying their mothers.

Article 4 of the Agreement explicity stated that workers from India destined for Martinique were to be embarked exclusively from the French ports of Pondicherry, Karikal or Yanaon or from the ports of the Madras Presidency. The company was to provide each " engage " with some clothing for the journey, a pair of trousers and a shirt (pantalon, chemise) for the men, cloth (pagne) for the women, a blanket sheet for each person, and clothing of wool necessary for passing through the lower latitudes. These articles of clothing became the property of the immigrant. The Company was to be paid for each living adult immigrant they landed the sum of 415 francs and 45 centimes. Children under ten years were not to be paid for.

The Company was to have a sailing to Martinique at least once a year, and from 1865 were to take back to India contingents of repatriates for whom stipulated sums would be paid: 291 francs per person, if total of repatriates was below 50; 242 francs 50 c. per person, if total of repatriates was below 100; 194 francs per person, if total was below 100 or over.

That the vast majority of migrants to Martinique and Guadeloupe were Tamil speakers is also evident from the provisions made for the celebration of the Pongal festivities in Martinique. It was stipulated in the "Contrat d'engagement de travail " (1858) that every year at the end of the year, a four-day holiday shall be given in order that the " Indien " might celebrate the feast of Pongal.

The new weekly newspaper Le Morliteur published on 14th January, 1855 (Vol. I, No. 4, p. 2), a full account by a planter from Francois in Martinique about the celebration of the Pongal feast in his estate. The chief priest chosen from among them was adorned with flowers and two lambs adorned with garlands were killed as a sacrifice. The boiling of the rice and the cries of " Pongal " are described by him in detail.

The sailings of ships from Karikal and Pondicherry were followed with great concern in Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the official newspapers published lists of planters with the number of labourers they were prepared to employ. The demand was far in excess of the supply and therefore the commission decided on the number they would be prepared to assign each year.

The official newspaper gives the dates of departure of ships from the Indian ports, and the dates of their arrival in the Antilles. For example, there is a record of the Hampden which left Pondicherry on 22^nd September, 1856 with 570 persons - men 440, women 81, children (m) non-adults 36, children (f) non-adults 2, infants and " non-engages " 11. Again on the 11th December, the newspapers announces that the Hampden has arrived at Saint Pierre with 549 Indians and 4,430 sacks of rice.

Since the cessation of migration and repatriation in 1893, the history of the Tamil community has been one of slow integration with the rest of the Martiniquian and Guadeloupian population.

The migrants did not find themselves socially accepted even by the population of African descent. For an Indian migrant to be married outside his own community was considered to be an elevation of social status, and for such persons was applied the term " Chappes-Coolies ", or one who had escaped the disabilities of his own milieu.

On the other hand, in Guadeloupe there was still a distinction, until the last generation between the "Calcuttas " or those of North-Indian origin and the "Malabars " of South Indian descent.

Vis-a-vis those of African descent, the " Indians " maintain that they have closer affinities with the European than with the African. Though intermarriage of Indians with those of African and Creole descent has reached a stage where only a few Tamil families remain without any kind of racial admixture, somatic characteristics such as colour and hair, still make a type easily recognizable as Indian and Dravidian.

The Indians themselves are completely integrated culturally with the rest of the population. They are now the third or fourth generation, and bear no memories of India and no kind of contact or

affiliation with anything Indian in or from India. A type of checked cloth worn as head dress by the women is known as " Madras ", probably from the cotton imported from Madras. A number of terms used in cooking are of Tamil origin.

Of a possible population of Indian descent of 15,000 in Martinique and 20,000 in Guadeloupe, hardly 17 persons speak Tamil. These are mostly above the age of 60 or 70. One of them, Albert Marimuttu, speaks it extremely well, and recordings of his speech were made. The only clue to the region of their origin is in the Tamil or Indian names which are used as family names.

From personal interviews, baptismal registers and school registers were collected the family names, but one has to note that the spelling and pronunciation have been very gallicized, sometimes beyond recognition.

In the process of gallicization, however, the alveolar "l" seems to have been maintained and the palatal " r" changed to "1". A name like Naidu is written Nayaradou; Muththamal is written Moutammalle. Some of the other names are: Moutou, Moutoussamy, Sacarabany, Pavade, Caroupin, Rangon, Ainama, Vaity, Kamatchy, Vaillammal, Thangaman, Velaye, Virapin, Sinama, Kouppy, Poonga, Carpin, Chinama, Rengasamy, Govindin, Palvilli, Narainen, Subarayan, Soupama.

There seems to have been interest in the study of the Tamil language through private tuition for some time. One elderly informant was able to recite verses from plays which had been staged in Martinique, such as Raama nhaaTakam, HiraNiya nhaaTakam, Theecingka raja nhaaTakam and oppaari verses. There were others who tried to remember Tamil songs they had sung in their childhood, and they seemed to remember more and more of the texts as they made the effort to remember.

     Out Of Many Cultures The People Who Came

      The Arrival Of The Indians

      A group of East Indians re-enact their arrival to Jamaica, stepping onto
      new ground at Old Harbour Bay, where they first landed in May 1845.

      By Dr. Rebecca Tortello
      From 1845 to 1921, over 36,000 East Indians, mainly of the Hindu faith,
      were brought to Jamaica. Close to two-thirds of them remained. Following
      the abolition of slavery in the1830s, after failed attempts to source
      much-needed labour through bountied European immigration, the Jamaican
      Government turned to India and China. Indian labourers who had already
      proved successful in Mauritius, were therefore considered to be a good bet
      for survival in Jamaica.

      They were, however, paid less than the ex-slaves and therefore originally
      lodged at the bottom of the society. Ironically, under the terms of their
      caste system, which valued light skin over dark, they in turn looked down
      on the ex-slaves. Relations between the two groups did not therefore begin
      on the best of footings.

      The Indian Government took great interest in indentured labour. Recruiting
      depots were established in Calcutta and Madras and agents were paid
      significantly less, per recruit, than for a European labourer). The
      Government monitored recruitment, the terms and conditions of
      indentureship, and the guidelines for transport to Jamaica as well as
      eventual repatriation to India. Most Indians who signed onto indentureship
      did so with the hope of returning to their homelands with greater wealth
      and therefore better social positions. It even appointed a Protector of
      Immigrants in the country of indenture.

      Unfortunately, as the Protector was never an Indian national, he tended to
      be more interested in the welfare of the employers than the labourers a
      sign that the programme would equal one of hardship for the labourers.

      In order to sign onto an indentureship Indians were to appear before a
      magistrate, hold a government permit and fully understand the conditions
      of the labour contract. However, the contract was often explained in
      English and thousands of labourers simply put their thumb marks on the
      required line, without any true understanding of what awaited them
      following their journey across the sea.

      ARRIVAL IN JAMAICA
      In 1845 the first group landed at Old Harbour Bay. They came from Northern
      India, 200 men, 28 women under 30 years old and 33 children under 12 years
      old, 261 people in all. The next year, five times more arrived, 1, 852 the
      following year, almost double that number, 2,439. At that point, the
      Indian Government stopped immigration in order to examine the way the
      system was working. The programme began again 11 years later in 1859 and
      continued without break until it was interrupted by World War I even
      though by the 1870s the Indian government began to regard the practice
      with disgust as stories of the hardship encountered by Indians on arrival
      in the West Indies began to circulate.

      On arrival, the labourers were given one suit of clothing, agricultural
      tools and cooking utensils. Divided into groups of 20 and 40 they were
      then sent first by mule cart and later by overcrowded freight trains to
      plantations in Portland, St. Thomas, St. Mary, Clarendon and Westmoreland.
      Many were forced to walk to the plantation from the nearest railway
      station. Once on the plantation itself, they were forced to work five to
      six days a week for one shilling a day and lived in squalid conditions.
      Barracks of no more than 3 or 4 rooms were expected to accommodate several
      individuals and families in each room. Two shillings and six pence were
      deducted weekly for their rice, flour, dried fish or goat, peas and
      seasoning rations. Children received half rations and employers were
      warned to treat the children well. For example, they were supposed to
      receive quarterly medical check ups.

      During the 70 years of Indian immigrant labour, little consideration was
      shown for their religious beliefs and cultural practices. For example,
      non-Christian unions went unrecognized until 1956 and many were therefore
      forced to accept Christianity. The terms of indenture could be as short as
      one year and as long as five, with two weeks annual leave. Labourers could
      be released from their indenture due to illness, physical disability or in
      the rare case, manumission or commutation, when the labourer paid the
      unexpired portion of the contract to their employer. They could only leave
      the plantation, however, if in possession of a permit. If caught without
      one or if they failed to work because of ill health or any other reason,
      they often faced fines and even imprisonment. Many suffered greatly from
      yaws, hookworm and other tropical diseases such as malaria. Although
      available, quinine, able to prevent malaria, was not often provided by the
      planters.

      When their indentureships were up, they became known as time-expired
      Indians and issued certificates of freedom that enabled them free access
      to any part of the island. Two years later and no earlier, they could
      apply for repatriation. If they did not do so they became ineligible even
      though they could only be repatriated after having lived in Jamaica for 10
      years. Of course, there was always the other option to renew their
      contracts and become "second-term coolies". Few made this choice.

      SETTLEMENT AND REPATRIATION
      Most of the planters were against repatriation as the costs of sending the
      immigrants home were thought to exceed any advantage gained from having
      them in Jamaica. They effectively lobbied the Government to provide
      incentives for settlement and to limit their required contribution to
      repatriation costs. In the early years of Indian immigration, land and
      money were used as the main incentives. Time-expired Indians could accept
      10 or 12 acres of Crown land. Often the land offered was mountainous and
      infertile so many chose to take the cash in hand. By 1877 close to £32,000
      had been spent on these money grants.

      In 1879, however, money grants were suspended so all who decided not to
      take up the land grants were forced to find land on their own. The land
      grants themselves were suspended briefly from 1897 to 1903 and then
      finally abandoned in 1906. The land grant system was proving to be as
      expensive as repatriation themselves with land grants costing £12 per
      person and repatriation costing some £15 per person.

      In addition, the number seeking repatriation did not diminish
      drama-tically even though after 1899 male immigrants seeking repatriation
      were obliged to pay up to one-half of their passage and female immigrants
      up to one-third. Immigrants were further required to pay for blankets and
      warm clothing.

      1989: The scene on Spanish Town Road as dozens of Indian-Jamaicans
      celebrate the ritual of Hussay. The very expensive tabernacle, lifted at
      centre, is blessed in a religious ceremony, carried through the streets
      and then dumped into the sea. FILE PHOTOS.
      PROBLEMS IN RETURNING

      Other factors that led to greater numbers of time-expired Indians settling
      in Jamaica included the fact that Jamaica failed to regularly provide
      ships for repatriation one reason stated was that the ship needed to be
      full to sail and full passage was not always guaranteed given the number
      of stipulations to which the immigrants had to adhere. Other times, the
      ships were overfull and some, most often the healthiest, were forced stay
      behind. Preference tended to be given to the old and infirm. Occasionally
      disabled or invalid immigrants seeking return passage were denied and
      forced to remain in Jamaica where they became charges of the immigration
      fund of the parochial treasury. After 1914, World War I also disrupted
      ocean travel as ships were needed for war service.

      In addition, the Indian Government was not very happy about reclaiming
      these immigrants because often they returned destitute, had high mortality
      rates and suffered significant re-adjustment problems as they were in
      essence strangers in the land of their birth.

      The last set of Indian indentured immigrants arrived in Jamaica in 1914
      and the last repatriates left in 1929 with legal repatriation ending in
      1930. After 70 years 53 per cent of Indians who arrived in Jamaica between
      1845 and 1916 remained. They survived by sticking closely together,
      building on bonds forged during their journeys where ship brothers and
      sisters were created, and sharing in religious and cultural practices. In
      the 1880s many left Jamaica to work on the Panama railroad and canal in
      the 1880s to return at a later date. On the plantations when their
      required work was over the Indians often tended their own gardens and
      filled their evenings with storytelling, singing, ganja smoking and
      drinking. In fact it was the Indians who introduced ganja and the chillum
      pipe, called a chilam in India, to Jamaica. They held regular weekend
      prayer meetings and special ceremonies to commemorate weddings, Hindu
      festivals such as Diwali (the festival of lights) and Islamic festivals of
      Hosay and Eid. Others left the plantations for Kingston and took jobs that
      used skills they brought with them and others they acquired. They began to
      learn English and became jewellers, fishermen, barbers, shopkeepers.
      Regardless of whether they lived in the city or the country, many worked
      hard to maintain their cultural traditions as best as they could even
      though out of a need for economic survival and social acceptance many
      became Christians.

       JAMAICAN INDIANS
      Indian contributions to Jamaican culture are legion. Indian jewellery
      designs have made their mark especially in the form of intricately wrought
      thin, gold bangles. The tradition goes back to the 1860s when plantation
      workers began to create these pieces and organized traveling salesmen to
      peddle them island-wide. It was the Indians who first managed to grow rice
      in Jamaica, establishing the island's first successful rice mill in the
      1890s. They also dominated the island's vegetable production until well
      into the 1940s.

      Old animosities forgotten, elements of traditional Indian dress can be
      found in Jonkonnu processions and many African-Jamaicans participate
      alongside their Indian-Jamaican brothers and sisters in the Indian
      inspired cultural celebrations of Hosay and Divali. Hosay is a muslim
      festival that re-enacts a war between Mohammed's sons, their death and
      burial. It lasts for 9 nights and on the tenth day the tazia (a paper and
      bamboo replica of a tomb) is taken to the streets in a large, colourful
      procession led by a Tasa drummer and followed by stick and horse dancers.

      In the past, every plantation in each parish celebrated Hosay. Today it
      has been called an Indian carnival and is perhaps most well known in
      Clarendon where it is celebrated each August. Divali, a Hindu festival
      linked with the reaping of grain, the return of Prince Rama after 14 years
      in exile, and the victory of good over evil, is celebrated late October to
      early November on the darkest night of the year. Houses are cleaned and
      brightly lit and everyone is in high spirits.

      Today there is an estimated number of close to 70,000 Indians living in
      Jamaica. They maintain their own cultural organizations, aspiring to keep
      links to their roots whilst still managing to assimilate into the national
      scene. This is perhaps well illustrated by the fact that traditional
      Indian foods such as curry goat, roti and callaloo have become part of the
      national cuisine. Caste is not a significant issue and arranged marriages
      are no longer common. Descendants of the immigrant workers have influenced
      the fields of farming, medicine, politics and even horse-racing. Names
      such as Chatani, Chulani, Tewani, Mahtani, Daswani, Vaswani and Chandiram
      have become synonymous with manufacturing, wholesale, retail and in-bond
      businesses providing employment for thousands of Jamaicans.

      Sources: Mansingh, L. and A. "The Indian tradition lives on" in A tapestry
      of Jamaica The best of Skywritings, Air Jamaica's in-flight magazine.
      Kingston: Creative Communications Ltd. and Oxford: Macmillan Publishers.
      p. 364-366, Mansingh, L. and A. Indian heritage in Jamaica in The Jamaica
      Journal, 10, (2,3,4), 10-19, Parboosingh, I.S. An Indo-Jamaica beginning
      in The Jamaica Journal, 18, (3), 2-10, 12, Sherlock, P. and Bennett, H.
      (1998). The story of the Jamaican people. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers,
      Shepherd, V. Transients to citizens The development of a settled East
      Indian Community in The Jamaica Journal, 18, (3), 17-26.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAST INDIANS IN SURINAME

Hanan Orna

After the abolition of slavery in Suriname in 1863, it became important for the colonizers to find cheap labor to work the Surinamese plantations. For this reason East Indians were contracted to work in Suriname under slave-like conditions. They left the port of Calcutta and began arriving in Surname in 1870. Before their arrival however, the first east Indians had arrived from British and French settlements in the region and from the Netherlands and the gold coast of Africa. These workers had already completed their contracts in there regions and were subsequently brought to Suriname since before the massive importation of East Indians from India had begun. Although many east Indians were simply kidnaped and taken to the big ships which left India regularly, many others voluntarily left for a number of socio-economic reasons. British industrialization in India had taken its toll on the livelihood of the population, especially on arts and crafts, and much poverty has resulted. The adverse conditions had been exacerbated by both an infrequent harvest, due to climactic conditions, and by the unequal social conditions caused by the caste system.

The East Indian laborers who were leaving India came from Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Bihar, Bengal, and from the east sub-Himalayan districts, as well as from Gorakhpur, Basti, Gonda, Fyzabad, Jaunpur, Benares, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Ballia. From the state of Bihar the immigrants came fro the districts of Saran, Muzajjarpur, Darbhangah, Shahabad, Patna and Gaya. From the Himalaya proper ( the Northern border of the U.P. and from Nepal), there were hte Pahariayas ( literally mountain people), who are known in Suriname by their very light skin color, and the Gurkhas who are half Indian and half Mongol. There were furthermore only a few people from South India who were Telugus as well as some Tamils from Madras.

In the Suriname of 1870, two groups of east Indians were visible; the higher cast east Indians who had emigrated on their own, and the lower caste who entered as contract workers ( Oedayrajsingh Varma, 1994). From 1873-1916,64 ships with 34,304 East Indian slaves went directly from India, supposedly free, but inactuality only small number came freely. Since 1882, 3000 Indians had come rom the English and the French Caribbean. To help them solve the various problems they faced at that time, they formed a union named Ek Kheti Karaur Hak. Mr. Grace Schneidars Howard championed the cause of east Indians and earns the distinction of having been their first patron.

When contracting or abducting laborers, attention was paid to caste, as the lower castes knew about agriculture. As a result about 90 percent of East Indians who arrived in Suriname were of lower caste and untouchable. The wealthier castes did not emigrate as much as they were the most educated and wealthy segment of the population. They were not suited for slavery and more importantly fostered dissent against slavery. As a result, the colonizers tried to vitiate against the immigration of the upper castes so that many people changed their names so as to be able to book passage on one of the ships headed for Suriname. This is why there are several East Indian families who, although considered to be of a lower caste, are actually Brahmins. Kshatriyas ( soldiers, noblemen, government officers ) also made up 5 percent of the East Indian population in Suriname at the time. Not all of the East Indians who arrived in Suriname had been agricultural laborers but had to work the plantations regardless of caste. The tendency of some immigrants to present themselves as members of other than their actual caste, in order t fulfill immigration requirements, was done for practical reasons. Furthermore, the need for wives led some to marry across castes. Given these facts, it is small wonder that eventually, considerable amelioration of the castes resulted in Suriname.

The Dutch had carefully regulated the conditions under which the East Indians were to complete their contracts. This included not just pay rate, but issues such as citizenship and landownership. After their contracts were up, East Indians had the right to return to India but could choose to stay and receive a tract of land and DF100. Many received the land but not the money.

The average scenario on any given day of the last century could be as follows: A young woman is waiting for her husband to return from work. He does not appear and she is worried, as he had left early in the morning to work on the big plantation. He had been ill, but had recovered to resume work. The next day at sunup the village is in disarray because of the failure of the husband to return. Subsequent investigations reveal that he was severely punished by the authorities for having been absent from work which was considered a breach of contract. He was summarily thrown in jail for punishment and also because the powers wanted to set an example for other East Indian contract workers that their agreements in their contracts were not to be broken. This example is but one incident of many in the lives and times of East Indian contract workers in the Suriname a century ago. For , while most East Indians had arrived on South America’s north coast with hopes of better or reasonable lives, these hopes were met with broken promises and maltreatment, which they eventually resisted and triumphed over. While space does not permit a discussion of the historical exodus of all East Indians who are now in the Diaspora, it may be safely inferred from conditions which slaves and immigrants faced abroad at that time, that the lot of the East Indians was one of suffering and often despair.

The medical provision for the East Indian Suriname was taken care of by the government. A law passed on January 21, 1879 provided exact guidelines as to their medical treatment. Hospitals and the care to be received on the plantations were carefully detailed and there was an inspector who oversaw their medical care. Because medical care was excellent and was of benefit to the workers, the conditions under which they had to labor were inhumane and the remuneration below standard, the reasons for the attention to their medical condition calls into question the simultaneous inhumane aspects of the working conditions. Because of their maltreatment, the medical provision appears to have been in place so that the workers’ lives would be spared in order to man the plantations and make as much profit for the Dutch as possible.

There was mandatory education in Suriname since March 18, 1878. This law because of plantation style living which meant the inaccessibility of terrain, was not enforced. The education of all, particularly that of girls, subsequently suffered, although parity with boys would be achieved in the next century.

In 1890, there was the erection of schools who hired East Indian teachers to provide education to East Indian children. During this time East Indians suffered political alienation because of non-citizenship and because they were not westernized. As an ethnic group steeped mostly in east Indian culture and tradition in a country determined to be westernized, and where the western paradigm has always been a marker of upward mobility, this group has, event into the present, been able to retain its cultural base while sharing in all aspects of what success entails in modern day Suriname.

On April 30, 1878, a nationalist movement in India came into being. This movement vitiated against the exploitation of East Indians in India by the British. This movement, the Arya Samaj, was founded by Swami Dayan and Saraswatie, and was transported to Suriname in 1928. Their aim was to launch a campaign against the enslavement of East Indians. For this reason, the British prohibited the use of their books and papers among the population so as to avoid an uprising. The East Indians, not being politically active, had no power in the decision making process of Suriname. This would change, beginning with the granting of citizenship status in the next decade. All East Indians, whether or not they were born in Suriname, were considered aliens until 1927. This prevented them from becoming Dutch citizens since Suriname was considered part of the empire of the Netherlands. This move prevented political participation which made it difficult for the East Indians to fight for their rights. On June 10, 1927 an immigration law was passed which actually was in existence since February 1910 but was only applied in Indonesia. This law mandated that East Indians who were born in Suriname would now be considered Dutch subjects. Political participation of East Indians in Suriname had begun.

While it would seem as if the duration of their stay in Suriname would have brought about a complete acculturation and assimilation with other existing ethnic groups, the Surinamese East Indian population maintains its ethnic identity. Despite the tremendous influence of the Dutch in terms of all cultural aspects, East Indian culture is flourishing, although considerable linguistic changes are part and parcel of Surinamese East Indian life.

Linguists do not provide a clear historical and linear development of the Sarnami language, but it has been ascertained that Bhojpur, Awadhi, Hindustani, Hindi and Urdu all contributed to some extent in forming Sarnami as it is spoken in Suriname. Kishna (1983) mentions the similarities in syntax, morphology and phonlogy between Bhojpuri. Because of the similarities between Bhojpuri and Sarnami, Kishna states that it ma be surmised that the basis of Sarnmai was indeed formed by the Bhojpuri language. Given the impact of other languages upon Sarnami, their impact on this relatively new language is currently in process.

On June 4, 1997, on the 124th anniversary of the arrival of the East Indians in Suriname, a celebration was held in the capital city of Paramaribo. This anniversary was arranged under the auspices of Mrs. Djwalaperszd, chairperson of the National Assembly, in cooperation with other East Indian organizations. This event was a prelude to the upcoming 125th anniversary, when many of the 120,000 East Indians of all religions will unite to commemorate their arrival in Suriname. A description of East Indian Surinamese life at the end of the millennium shows the bridges that have been crossed, and the changes that occurred in a little over a century. While East Indians maintain many cultural traditions from the sending country, they have not failed to get a western-style education for their offspring and indeed are an ethnic group that has made considerable progress and continues to do so in all areas. The considerable wealth of many East Indians in Suriname attests to their success. Studies also point out that not only east Indian men enter the professions and become successful, but that a sizable number of eat Indian women do so and in fact may have westernized notions of how to shape and conduct their lives and that of their children ( RNA, 1997, 1998 ). Given the trend of consistent success and upward mobility, it is fair to say that East Indians have beaten the odds against them and have every reason to enter the new millennium optimistically.

The Long Journey to Today
East Indians in Guyana
Dr. Lomarsh Roopnarine

May 5th marks the arrival of East Indians to the shores of Guyana, known then as Demerara or Damra, a hundred
The Indian Heritage monument on Camp Street, a ship, represents the journey Indians took across the Kala Pani.

and sixty-seven years ago. East Indians arrived in Guyana in response to a so-called labour vacuum caused by the gradual withdrawal of Africans from plantation agriculture, and failed experiments with various immigration schemes following final emancipation in 1838. This movement was in keeping with the spirit of the age. Soon after emancipation, the sugar planters throughout most of the Caribbean, substituted slave labour with indentured labour contracts. For over three quarters of a century, about 240,000 East Indians were shipped over high-seas to labour on Guyana’s sugar plantations as indentured servants under conditions reminiscent of slavery. The influx of East Indians into Guyana continued until 1917, when for reasons relating to the inequities in the recruitment system and mal-treatment of East Indians abroad, the Indian government deservedly handed down a death-blow to the system of indentured servitude. Of the 240,000 East Indians who were brought to Guyana, 70,000 would succumb to plantation life and returned to a familiar and settled life in their janmubhuni (motherland). The remainder would sever the umbilical chord and accept Guyana as their new found home in light of deplorable and adverse conditions in India.

A majority of East Indian emigrants who came to Guyana were single males in the prime age group of between 20 and 30 years old. Fewer families, children and single women came to Guyana. The emigrants who came alone carried a low dependency burden with them since they had few dependents and were required to return home after completing their terms of contract, especially during the early phase of indentured emigration. East Indians were drawn principally from North and South India, and varied remarkably in caste and area of recruitment (districts) with the passing of time. The caste composition of East Indians: Brahmin (priest), Kshatriya (warriors and rulers), Vaishya (business and agricultural caste), and Sudras (menial caste), matched the caste composition of the area East Indians came from, which meant that more East Indians from the low caste than the high caste came to Guyana. Similarly, the religious composition of East Indians in Guyana mirrored the religious composition of India: 80 % being Hindus and 15 % being Muslims and others. However, the gender ratio in India did not match East Indian emigration. Of the total emigrants to Guyana only 25 % were women.

Migration has always been important to the lives of East Indians in India. East Indians migrated in and around India for employment and religious reasons. But the nineteenth century movement of East Indians to labour in Guyana and the Caribbean was not the norm. The decision to leave was indeed hard. East Indians in India were tied to the same environment with their families for generations. Being closed to love ones infused confidence, happiness, care, whether real or imagined, even in the midst of immense material poverty. Moreover, long distance East Indian migration was also suppressed by the caste system. Crossing the high seas (Kala Pani) to Guyana was synonymous with committing a serious crime that carried the risk of caste defilement and social exclusion. East Indians who undertook the sea voyage and returned home had to spend substantial sums of money to feast their gurus and undergo spiritual purification rites - which were sometimes rigorous and gruesome – in order to be reinstated into their respective caste. For this reason, many East Indians indentured themselves to Guyana and the Caribbean for the second and even third time and never returned to India.

Besides this, there was suspicion that the entire indenture system was fraudulent, reinforced by the negative news received from returning emigrants. Would-be East Indian emigrants were under the assumption that they would be denied wages, converted to Christianity, and forced to eat beef and pork. Brahmins were convinced that when they landed in Guyana their holy threads would be confiscated. Other East Indians believed they were shipped to have the oil extracted from their heads and for human sacrifices.

In spite of these impediments to migration, East Indians in large numbers embarked on the journey to Guyana for a variety of reasons. British colonialism in India strangled the local economy causing mass unemployment and displacement, and many East Indians salvaged themselves by accepting migration as a way out of economic hardship. The imposition of social oppression through semi-slavery and feudal relations also contributed to the number of migrants. The tide of emigration to Guyana was also buttressed by natural disasters in India, such as droughts, floods, and famines. Together, these calamities brought panic, despair, scarcity, starvation, death, broken village moral, disorganization and instability, leading to mass inland and overseas migration. Civil wars, like the great Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, also contributed to the pool of migrants who ventured to Guyana. There were, of course, East Indians who came to Guyana for eccentric and unusual reasons. There were those who became widowed, fleeing from family quarrels, while others left for sake of adventure, like the dancing girls who wound up in Suriname in 1870.

The manner by which these souls were recruited to labour in Guyana was, however, glaring, accompanied by grave irregularities, abuses and fraud that led some East Indian critics to label the indenture system, the Cooly Slave Trade. East Indians were rudely snatched from the jaws of their affectionate heartland as they went about doing their daily business. With tears streaming down from their eyes, they often would recall that unfortunate day when they were kidnapped, inveigled, and cozened by the wiles of unscrupulous recruiters into signing terms of contracts of which they had little knowledge. Political and economic instability in nineteenth century India permitted this fraudulent practice, aided by the work of local recruiters (Arkatis) - individuals of low moral standing - who roamed the countryside, hanging around famine stricken areas, roadsides, shelters, where they picked up the desperate and needy and induced them with inflated and misleading promises and pictures of Guyana. Being innocent and uneducated, these poor souls would ignorantly and willingly proceed to do what was asked of them, only to find themselves waiting at the Calcutta depot to be shipped to some unknown destination.

The Indian government was partially to blame for this vile practice. For over three quarters of a century, the system of procuring labour for Guyana was carried out with mass deception, and yet the Indian government maintained its position of benevolent neutrality, one that echoed sentiments not to get mixed up in any bargains and transactions with the parties involved. It was only when the worst cases of abuse became evident would the Indian government from time to time intervene and introduce reforms, often superficially.

The depot where East Indians were hoarded prior to embarkation to Guyana was a world of its own, comprised of East Indians from various backgrounds speaking different dialects, which under normal circumstances, many would have avoided. Sanitation was poor, and diseases, such as cholera, were rampant. Having passed the medical inspection - a procedure which was marred with loopholes – East Indians were marched to the ship; women went first and were sent to the aft, then families followed, and finally single men who took their position in the anterior of the ship. As they floated away on the four-month journey into the vast and deep ocean to Guyana, with only the sky above and roaring waves below, many would die, while others would be born.

On landing in Guyana, they were dispatched in-groups of 30-40 individuals to various plantations, occupying barracks which African slaves had recently vacated. Under the contract system, East Indians were bound on plantation for five years on fixed daily wage. At the end of this time, and another five years of industrial residence in Guyana, the labourers were entitled to free repatriation. The plantations East Indians worked and lived on were like prisons without walls. They were governed by a series of elaborate labour ordinances that effectively put the power in the hands of the planters. East Indians were subjected to strict labour laws, long hours of arduous work, flogged, and above all, they had to carry a pass. Failure to carry out these duties was met with the harshest punishment, fines, and imprisonment. But despite the authoritarian structure of the plantation system, East Indians continued to come to Guyana, averaging about 3,000 to 4,000 a year. Their presence revolutionized the sugar plantation, adding to the climax of prosperity so enjoyed by the planter class after decades of uncertainty.

In regards to those East Indians who renounced their rights to return passages in lieu of parcels of land to settle down, did so, in an atmosphere of unnecessary prejudice and hate. East Indians came to Guyana at a time when things were seen only through European lenses. Because they occupied ex-slave dwelling quarters and did jobs that Africans despised, East Indians were seen as inferior and were treated as such. Their religion and culture, being ancient and different, were often a sense of amusement and ridicule. The shallowness of Western culture to remotely acknowledge the “other” translated into stereotypes. East Indians were spoken of being more akin to monkey than man.

The Protector of Immigrants, the Stipendiary Magistrates, and Governors, who were entrusted to safeguard the rights of East Indians, were subservient to the views of the planters since both groups shared common interests. It was perhaps for this reason that East Indians relied on their own cultural resilience for survival. East Indians created semblance of lost India through religion, festivals, and feasts, to guide them. Close ties of Jahaja Bhai and Bahin (ship-brothers and sisters) developed and flourished regardless of caste, class or religion.

There were those, in the face of enormous adversity, who took militant actions only to be subdued by the more powerful colonial force through direct violence and the method of divide and rule. But not all had the tenacity to withstand the drudgery of plantation life, either passively or actively. Some East Indians, when goaded beyond what they could handle, turned to alcohol to mask the harsh reality of plantation life, while others, when losing the urge to go on, took their own lives, uttering words of despair.

But in spite of the dark chapters in East Indian history in Guyana, there are many bright pages to be recorded. East Indian agricultural skills have rescued Guyana from total disaster. Whether in the cane-fields under blazing tropical heat with half-protected bodies or in the rice fields in knee high water and mud, they have helped, in no small way, to build the economic structure of Guyana. East Indian agricultural skills still continue to feed Guyana and the Caribbean. Likewise, their persevering and thrifty habits have taught us how to save by example. In the words of George Lamming, “those Indian hands – whether in British Guiana or Trinidad – have fed us all. They are, perhaps, our only jewels of a true native thrift and industry. They have taught us by example the value of money; for they respect money as the only people with a high sense of communal responsibility can.”

In the view of social and political handicaps, East Indians accepted western forms of education, but never fully lost their cultural magnetism. Since this awakening to educational demands and necessities in the early part of the last century, East Indians have excelled in politics, law, literature, and medicine. East Indian communities are gratified to have produced the Jagans, the Luckhoos, and the Naipauls, to steer them, particularly in the period of turbulent post-independent Guyana. East Indians have shown that they have the capacity to respond appropriately to discrimination and difficulties like their forefathers under indenture.

The success of East Indians in business is equally pronounced. We can find them today as cattle rearers, land and shop owners, druggists, moneylenders, etc. East Indians can also be found in the civil service, of which two became Presidents of Guyana. East Indians' music, dance, and drama have charmed Guyana for years, and their foods, curry chicken and roti, have graced our homes and become national dishes.

Like everyone else's history, East Indians in Guyana had their doubts and hopes, their triumphs and tribulations, their tragedies and comedies. They have made significant contributions to Guyana in the fields of politics, economics and culture. Their love for the land has achieved results that constitute a sort of romance with tropical life. East Indians have aided greatly in the building of Guyana. It is only fitting that we remember when they arrived to Guyana on May 5th, a 167 years ago.

==========

An Indentureship Timeline
1837 - John Gladstone suggests East Indian indentured labour as a solution to the drifting of Africans from the plantations to the towns. Permission is granted to bring 'Coolies' for his two plantations.

1838 - The first indentured labourers drawn from the hill areas of South India, arrive in Guiana. 156 East Indians arrive from Calcutta on the "Hesperus". They are under indenture for a five year period, and for the first part, they are housed and given rations, but are not paid. Great mistreatment of the labourers result in prosecution of some of the planters.

1839 - Four hundred German Rinelanders and Wurtembergers are enticed to British Guiana. (Almost all succumb to tropical diseases).

1843 - The end of the first period of indenture. Many of the labourers return to India.

The 1840's - England suspends the indentured labourer system. Immigrant labour from India, Portugal (mainly Madeira) and China is permitted, under Government control.

1853 - January 12th. The first contract Chinese labourers arrive in British Guiana on the "Glentanner". Most are assigned to Windsor Forest, Pouderoyen and La Jelousie estates.

1856 - February 18th,Georgetown riots - property of Portuguese destroyed.

1860 - March 11th. The first female Chinese labourers arrive on the "Whirlwind".

1874 - The last contract Chinese labourers arrive in Demerara.

1900 - October 18. The Jagans, Cheddi's parents, left Calcutta in the "

The Indian community is the largest minority group in Grenada. This group was first introduced during the second half of the nineteenth century when Grenada experimented with indentured labour. By the second half of the twentieth century Indians were so integrated into Grenada’s society that a distinct Indian cultural identity was generally invisible. In addition, Indians were involved in every aspect of Grenadian life. This article examines the transition of the Indian community from the status of immigrants to citizens of Grenada under the following themes: the establishment of the Indo-Grenadian community, cultural and religious experience, race relations with the majority Afro-Grenadian population, and the contribution of Indians to Grenada’s society.

The establishment of the Indian community

Grenada’s sugar industry was overwhelmed with financial problems before the full emancipation of slaves in 1838, yet planters blamed emancipation for creating a shortage of labour which, in their view, was responsible for the collapse of the industry.[1] It was in this context that indentured labour schemes were introduced with the anticipation that such labour would not only be cheaper and more easily controlled than the local black labour force but also to rejuvenate the sugar industry. Experiments were conducted with African, Maltese and Portuguese indentured labourers, but with little success.[2] Consequently, Indian indentured labour, which became the most successful labour scheme, was introduced in May 1857. A total of 3,200 Indians were imported into Grenada between 1857 and 1885.[3] However, over eighty-five per cent of these Indians remained permanently in Grenada after the labour scheme came to an end in 1890, consequently leading to the establishment of an Indian community in Grenada.[4] The Indian indenture system, therefore, served as the origin of a permanent Indian community in Grenada.

The acquisition of land became a main trend among Indians who settled in Grenada after the completion of their indenture requirements. From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Indians acquired land in areas where they were concentrated during the period of indenture. Therefore, the parishes of St. Andrew’s and St. Patrick’s became relatively multicultural and multiracial zones in Grenada. From the early 1870s it was evident that a considerable number of Indians had already purchased lands and become growers of cocoa, provisions, and livestock.[5] In fact, the steady increase of land acquisition among Indians attracted the attention of the authorities because planters, who had anticipated continued control over Indian labour, even after the completion of their contracts, considered this phenomenon to be partly responsible for what transpired, namely the withdrawal of Indian labour from the sugar estates.[6] Clearly, Indian immigrants were establishing themselves as members of Grenada’s peasantry and owners of land in general. In addition, those who were unable to purchase lands were opting to rent:

The coolie immigrants are now becoming a new class of peasantry settled in our midst, upon their small patches of land, or otherwise comparatively of easy and comfortable circumstances through their own industry, and as a whole indefatigable in their anxiety to hold position, to own lands, money, horses, and cattle—in the two first desires, they are fast succeeding, and the two latter, specimens can be produced worthy of admiration, and example….[7]

The sizes of these parcels of land were usually between one and ten acres.[8] This is understandable because the Indians, similar to the majority African population, were financially restricted from purchasing larger parcels of property. The general decline of Grenada’s sugar industry during the second half of the nineteenth century provided the opportunity for labourers to purchase and/or rent lands. Bankrupt estates were forced to sell small parcels of land in order to pay debts and other expenses. In addition, estate owners who lost all hope in the profitability of sugar decided to sell their estates by dividing the land into small portions at relatively low rates.[9] Thus by 1881, a large amount of land in Grenada was cultivated by peasant proprietors. Accordingly, there were about 3,000 landowners owning from one to fifty acres, or, in other words, one in every three adult males in Grenada in the 1880s was a landowner.[10] These landowner and peasant groups were comprised of both Indians and Africans. The acquisition of land among Indians represented a sense of permanency and citizenship in Grenada.

A Creole culture, born out of a history of African slavery and European hegemony, existed before the influx of Indian immigrants to Grenada.[11] It was this Creole world which Indians first encountered when they were introduced into Grenada. Out of this encounter, in the course of time, Indians were incorporated into mainstream Grenadian society. Because of the way in which prevailing power relations structured the Indians’ engagement with Grenadian society, the Indian cultural formation was placed in a subordinate relationship to the dominant Creole formation. Despite this subordinate relationship, elements of Indian culture were eventually incorporated into the Creole culture of Grenada.[12] Certain food items such as roti, dhal (split peas) and curry have remained comparatively visible. Similarly, a small degree of Indian music, song and dance was evident in the late twentieth century during the Rainbow City and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.[13] Indian elements in general, however, had become increasingly invisible by the second half of the twentieth century. This general invisibility of Indian culture and religion is a consequence of the cultural integration of the Indian community, a process so intense that by the 1950s Indians no longer displayed any particular loyalties to their former culture.[14] A number of factors have contributed to this phenomenon.

Firstly, the colonial government of Grenada in collaboration with the estate administration implemented a system through which Indians would, ultimately, be forced to abandon all aspects of their ancestral culture. The intention of this assimilative framework is reiterated in this statement made by a colonial official in 1862:

What are we to do with these people? Leave them to grow up from year to year in worse than brutal ignorance? This would be wrong: we bring them hither, and we thus become responsible for their Christian instruction; not indeed, by coercion, but by the gentle and insinuating influences of our holy Christianity. Tolerate them not in their Hinduism!... does not our Christianity compel us to seek to benefit those barbarians thus placed within our reach…. It is not enough to depend on the docility of the coolies. That docility may co-exist with considerable subtlety and cunning.[15]

This effort to transform the Indian immigrants culturally was largely as a result of Grenada’s white colonists wanting to impose their own Christian cultural values on a subordinated and economically poor Indian minority. Thus, a conscious programme of deculturation was intimately linked with Christianisation. Consequently, the Association for the Instruction of Indian Immigrants was established in April 1864.[16] This organisation functioned as the nucleus for implementing special strategies for Indian cultural transformation. The Association embraced all Christian denominations in Grenada and was aimed mainly at making the Indians into Christians:

The character of our Association may be understood that our principle of membership is so broad as to embrace all religious denominations. We have no connexion with any sect. All may come under our flag…. The immigrants finding themselves objects of competition, would stand out for a high price, and would thus be petted and spoiled; whereas, seeing us actuated by a disinterested desire that they should know the truth and they are quick enough to see this, our power over their conscience will be without any drawback…. Our object is neither to make the immigrants Roman Catholics nor Protestants, but to bring their souls in contact with the word of God… to make them Christians....[17]

The Association for the Instruction of Indian Immigrants was responsible for providing the human and reading resources necessary for proselytising the Indians on the different estates. The success of this Association was limited but it was reported in January 1865 that in a church service “50 coolies attended; and in the course of the service, 2 of them read with ease two chapters of the Gospel of John.”[18] This organisation, however, had collapsed by 1872 because of a lack of adequate instructors and funding. But the colonial government was set on enforcing its deculturation policy so it applied to the Canadian Mission in Trinidad for help to run missions for the Indians in Grenada. Accordingly, the Mission to the East Indian Immigrants was established in 1884 under the authority of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission Church.[19] The Grenada Population Census 1891 indicated that this Mission had succeeded in converting 165 Indians.[20]

Significant to the colony’s assimilative agenda was its Anglicising policy. Anglicanism was considered by the British as the official religion of Grenada despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Grenadian population, particularly Afro-Grenadians, were Roman Catholics.[21] The French had ceded Grenada to the British in 1763 and subsequently the British embarked on an operation to remake Grenada culturally into a thoroughgoing English colony, an Anglicising process which continued into the early twentieth century. For example, towns, streets and parishes were renamed.[22] Also, attempts were made to weaken the influence of the Roman Catholic Church by omitting Catholic officials from government and withdrawing government grants to the Church.[23] This Anglicising drive was highly active when the Indians were introduced into Grenada in 1857. It was not surprising, therefore, that the majority of Indians were later to be found as members of the Anglican Church. In 1891, out of a total of 2,432 Indians in Grenada, sixty-one per cent or 1,501 were Anglicans, 165 were Presbyterians and 185 Roman Catholics. There were 509 Hindus and seventy-two Muslims. In other words, within thirty-four years of their arrival seventy-six per cent of the Indian population was already converted to Christianity, particularly to Anglicanism.[24] In addition, the elementary schools established by the Anglican Church as well as the other denominations served as the primary bearers of the prescribed roles and dominant value-orientation of the Grenadian Creole world. They functioned as primary agencies in the cultural integration of the Indian minority group.[25]

Secondly, the duration of the indenture period and the size of the Indian population directly affected the cultural process. The indenture system functioned for only thirty-three years in Grenada (1857-1890) and only 3,200 Indian labourers were imported. Grenada, as a result, did not experience the constantly increasing influx of new Indian immigrants as was the case in Trinidad and Guyana where the importation of such labourers continued until 1917.[26] During the period 1845-1917 Trinidad imported 143,939 Indian labourers while Guyana imported 238,909.[27] With each shipment of labourers the cultural vivacity of the Indian community in these countries was replenished. This was in contrast to what pertained in Grenada. Consequently, there was a very early break in the communication between Indians in Grenada and India, which in turn contributed towards the rapid decline of the traditional culture. Even communication between Indians in Grenada and Trinidad was limited, despite their close proximity. The capacity to resist the cultural influence of the wider society was based on the frequency of arrival and the number of Indians arriving. The higher the frequency of arrival and the larger their number, the better able Indians in Grenada would have been to maintain their cultural identity. Furthermore, the small size and low density of the Indian population, combined with other host factors, contributed towards their cultural integration. It is reasonable to suggest that if the density of the Indian population were higher, there would have been a greater possibility of resisting the proselytising activities of the Christian churches and other agencies of cultural oppression in Grenada.

Thirdly, the geographical size of Grenada (133 square miles) did not permit the establishment of Indian communities that were isolated from the wider society, as was the case in Trinidad.[28] Indians in Grenada could not have avoided daily interactions with the larger black population, who had already adopted most of the eurocentric Christian customs. Compared to the relatively large size of Trinidad (1,980 square miles), where Indian communities developed in relative isolation and were able to establish a base of resistance against the cultural dominance of the wider society, a similar option was not available to the Indians in Grenada.[29] Thus the geographical or physical size of Grenada facilitated the cultural integration of Indians.

Finally, in analysing the cultural history of the Indian population one must also take into account that an Indian middle class never developed in Grenada as was the case in Trinidad and Guyana, where this class was in formation even during the period of indenture, and consolidated its position through maintaining its linkages with the mass of the Indian population serving as its socio-cultural/ethnic base.[30] From this base it contested the hegemony of the dominant classes in the society, even while its principal concerns were to secure its own class interests. In Grenada, the emergence of Indian middle class elements was late in coming, and did so at a time when the social system had already established the terms of their incorporation within the Grenadian mainstream: essentially, as persons devoid of Indian cultural support.[31] As a consequence, the Indians who were drawn into the middle class in Grenada did so with limited cultural support from their ethnic base.

The combination of these factors, all working simultaneously, meant that the Indians’ effort to resist forces of cultural integration was weak, and their attempts to recreate or reformulate aspects of their ancestral culture were always limited. In such a situation, Indians, as a group, were deficient in their level of cultural confidence. Confidence in its culture makes a community confident in its sense of selfhood and in its relationship with the wider society. The active practice of one’s culture results in the establishment of a cultural presence and serves to define a people. The strength of one’s cultural presence is a great aid in strengthening the significance of the group in any particular space, time or condition.[32] In fact, cultural practice is also a tool for negotiating space. The Indian community in Grenada had limited opportunity for cultural manoeuvre and today many have had little acquaintance with Indian customs or activities. As a result, they are quick to refrain from participation in any such activities at the mere mention of them. The following statement by Joseph Lalite, a Grenadian schoolteacher of Indian descent, certainly points to this situation:

There is so much about my traditional Indian culture that I don’t know. As a boy my grandmother sang Hindi songs, but we never saw it as important. If we had learnt them where would we use it, I saw it as having no place.[33]

Such sentiments are an indication of the relatively unchallenged sway of the integration process in generally eliminating ethnic, social and cultural peculiarities among the Indians. While they resisted integration by recreating or reformulating a few traditional cultural elements, it seems that accommodation became the dominant mode of cultural engagement employed by the Indians. Understandably, by the second half of the twentieth century the overwhelming majority of Indians in Grenada were fully integrated into Grenada’s Creole culture. In 1960 out of a total Indian population of 3,769 there were only eight Hindus, six Muslims and twelve persons who were not members of any particular religion. However, 3,743 were Christians, that is, 99.3% of the Indian community.[34]

Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that during the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Indian religion and culture were relatively visible in Grenada. Not only were there Hindus and Muslims, but also cultural festivals such as Hosay were observed.[35] The Muharram or Hosay festival was observed sporadically in Grenada from the late 1850s to the 1930s.[36] In fact, Hosay had emerged as the most important and spectacular festival of the Indian diaspora in the nineteenth century, collectively celebrated by both Hindus and Muslims.[37] The plantation labour regime provided an overarching commonality of experience to the Indian immigrants, irrespective of inherited differences of creed and caste. Additionally, the structure of Hosay and the procession presented an adequate frame for the expression of community aspirations of the Indian immigrants and their descendants. Moreover, most Indian immigrants were from northern India where Muharram was a popular public festival and were thus familiar with the rituals and observances associated with it.[38] The festival and the procession incorporated a spectrum of practices, which allowed for participation by all the Indian immigrants irrespective of caste and religious affiliations.

It is not surprising that this festival was frequently observed in the early years of the Indians’ presence in Grenada, when the proselytising by the Christian churches and other forces hostile to Indian traditions was not fully effective:

The coolies have had their usual annual demonstration of the Hosse. It has not been a grand affair, but, the few concerned in the arrangement of the show in St. George’s seem to have been zealous and earnest. In such places as Trinidad and Demerara—where the coolie population is something to reckon—this rite of the Mahommedan coolies is, generally, celebrated with much stir, and at no small expense.[39]

It is claimed that the last Hosay procession was held in the 1930s in the parish of St. Andrew’s and was stopped by the police.[40] It can be proposed that the Hosay celebrations, observed in the public domain, were a strategy employed by Indians in their attempt to claim their cultural presence or space in Grenada. However, as cultural integration became increasingly prevalent among the Indian population during the twentieth century, this festival was observed very irregularly and eventually completely disappeared after the 1930s. Its disappearance from Grenada is an indication of the extent to which Indians had been distanced from their earlier traditions and identity.

There were other Indian traditions that withstood the test of time. In the 1950s, there was an Indian orchestra that played Indian music accompanied by Indian dances in the parish of St. Patrick’s where there was a concentration of Indians.[41] Although surviving data points to only Christian marriages among the Indian community, one can imagine that during the period of indenture traditional Indian marriages might have taken place. However, arranged marriages continued to be practised in Grenada up to the 1930s under Christian rites.[42] The Indians were also able to maintain a number of their traditional foods and methods of cooking. The survival of these various Indian cultural practices reinforces the argument that there was a dual process of cultural engagement within the Indian community, and implies that the colonial government was not completely effective in compelling the Indian population to shed all its traditions.

There were also attempts by members of the Indian community to resist the cultural influence of the wider society. In 1954, for example, Fredrick Mirjah formed the Grenada East Indian Cultural Association.[43] The main purpose of this organisation was to stimulate and develop an Indian cultural consciousness among Indians and the wider society. Therefore, it was not surprising that the Grenada East Indian Cultural Association had organised the centenary celebrations of the Indians’ presence, on May 1 1957. Other activities such as the observance of India’s independence were also organised.[44] However, by the middle of the 1960s this Association too had disintegrated, indicating the large degree of cultural negation among the Indians. The vast majority of Indians in Grenada did not consider it essential to have such organisations.[45]

Race relations with the majority Afro-Grenadian population

Competition for scarce economic resources usually shapes race relations in multi-racial societies. This sort of competition is generally manifested in racial prejudice, expressed in actions such as aggression and avoidance behaviour.[46] Indian immigration to Grenada was expected to create competition for estate work, thereby lowering wages and compelling Africans to return to the estates in larger numbers, but this expectation was never fulfilled. On the contrary, in the view of one colonial official, the Africans were not economically threatened by the presence of Indians:

While immigration may serve to stimulate the native labourer to the exercise of greater industry by the healthy competition it will excite… the emancipated class are reluctant to continue the avocations with which so many better associations are connected…. They all more or less aspire to become “independent proprietors” and embrace every opportunity to purchase bits of freeholds in order to sever themselves from their connections with their former masters…. They look with no jealous eye upon the coolies, on the contrary they hail his arrival with joy and seem to regard him as the instrument destined eventually to release them from the necessity of daily manual labour.[47]

Grenada faced economic problems throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, particularly in its sugar industry. Actually, it was during the period of Indian indenture (1857-1890) that Grenada’s sugar economy experienced a severe depression leading to an end of sugar production for export.[48] The peasantry was another area of Grenada’s economy where Indians and Africans shared and cultivated crops mainly for export, thereby leaving little opportunity for competition at the local level. Also, from the second half of the twentieth century Grenada’s public and private sectors became popular areas where both groups searched for employment. However, being a small community, Indians were not a threat to Africans for economic resources and this is partly responsible for the cordial nature of relations between both groups. In the period 1857-1960, the Indian population ranged from 2,000 to 3,767, while the African community ranged from 35,000 to 86,000.[49] Consequently, in every aspect of the economic sphere Indians were outnumbered and were not seen as depriving Africans of any resources.

Unlike Grenada, in Jamaica it was evident that economic competition was directly connected to Indian-African antagonism or hostility. In Jamaica during the 1930s, anti-Indian sentiments were founded on the potential threat Indians created in competing for employment in a situation of scarce job opportunities among essentially agricultural labourers.[50] These workers were attached to the sugar and banana industries which were both operating under volatile global circumstances and were subjected to retrenchment in this period. It was estimated that as many as three persons were competing for each available job, a situation that led to the depressing of wages since there was a large supply of reserve labourers.[51] On the other hand, based on the small size of the Indian population in Grenada, Indians were not capable of successfully protecting (if required) their interests against the dominant African population.

From the early twentieth century the level of interaction between both groups gradually increased because most Indians acquired lands in areas where Africans were already settled. The establishment of mixed communities, mainly in the parishes of St. Patrick’s and St. Andrew’s, caused an increase in the daily interactions between these two groups which, over time, facilitated an improvement in race relations. Nevertheless, with this growing contact, racial stereotyping might have been intensified because the differences between both groups were now under closer scrutiny. The clearest indication of tension between the groups is the derogatory terms used. Indians labelled Africans as nigger and congo, which implied that Africans were wild, stupid and ugly, while Africans called Indians coolie, implying that the Indians were so debased and degraded that they were at a lower level of humanity.[52] Both groups also composed songs or rhymes that expressed their feelings of disgust at each other.

Because of culture-bound attitudes and values operating within each group Indian-African sexual relations were rare before the twentieth century, even though there was a shortage of Indian women in Grenada.[53] As one scholar pointed out,

Given the prevalence of miscegenation throughout the history of the Caribbean, its relative absence among Indians and individuals of African ancestry up to the end of nineteenth century is all the more revealing of racial attitudes and relations than mere cooperation in the workplace.[54]

However, as the twentieth century progressed, such inter-racial unions became widespread. As a consequence of these unions, a new social group was added to the demographic composition of the island, namely the dougla, a person of mixed Indian and African ancestry. The term dougla had a derogatory meaning similar to “bastard” and was derived from the Bhojpuri dialect spoken by most Indian immigrants to the Caribbean.[55] This dougla population became more evident with each successive generation; however, official data on this group is not available. Initially, Africans had been more accommodating and tolerant than Indians with respect to the acceptance of douglas and inter-racial unions. Over time, the negative connotation faced by these mixed persons disappeared and both Indians and Africans accepted them. Further, most Indians in Grenada assume that there is limited opportunity to find suitable Indian partners since the Indian population pool is very small. As a result, a significant number of Indians tend to extend their options by turning to the African and dougla populations to find companions.[56] This obviously affects the growth of the Indian community but simultaneously facilitates a closer relationship between both groups.

It seems logical to suggest that with the growing mixed population and their general acceptance by both Indian and African families, the gap that existed between these groups was being increasingly breached, since these mixed individuals were able to communicate and identify with both worlds and in turn brought both races closer. This formulation, however, gives almost exclusive weight to human agency and ignores completely the importance of process. It was the process of cultural integration between both groups that facilitated a new interactive platform for communication on terms which did not previously exist. This common cultural platform intensified during the twentieth century and brought both races closer.

As stated earlier, the establishment of communities that were comprised of both Indians and Africans contributed towards an improvement in the nature of race relations over the years. This factor was particularly influential when, by the late nineteenth century, Indians began rapidly to adopt Christianity and other aspects of Grenadian culture.[57]With the intensification of the process of cultural integration there was a growing self-identification among Indians with Grenadian culture. Therefore, by the 1950s or even earlier, the Indians had integrated to such an extent that Grenada had become a less culturally fragmented society. Consequently, the racial stereotyping that existed within both groups became less significant.

Grenada’s system of education also played an important role in Indian-African relations. Both primary and secondary schools in Grenada enrolled children from diverse racial backgrounds. Thus an environment was created whereby children from both groups interacted on a daily basis, which in turn facilitated the breaking down of racial differences. To this end, religious denominations played a pivotal role as homogenising agencies among Indians and Africans in Grenada, a role centred on the Christianising mission of these groups. The schools and churches served as a common meeting ground for Indians and Africans. These formal structures were the bearers of the prescribed roles and common value-orientation of the wider society. They became spaces within which the changing tone of race relations between the two groups would be structured.[58]

All social, economic and political institutions were (and are still) shared by both Indians and Africans and thus indirectly functioned as integrating agents among the races in Grenada. Since, in this context, race separation was extremely restricted, Africans and Indians were forced to interact closely with each other on a daily, routine and non-competitive basis, resulting in a drastic breakdown in the common misunderstanding and stereotyping that has long existed. At the same time, however, closer and more intense interaction has not automatically produced harmonious race relations. The evidence suggests that there were cases when such interactions were, in fact, occasions for awakening racial prejudices based on the mutually shared racial stereotypes inherited from colonialism. Though these cases were few, greater interactions between Indians and Africans did not, necessarily, eradicate racial conflict. Furthermore, in Grenada political parties did not have racial or ethnic allegiances because the demographic composition of the island eliminated this possibility. This is quite unlike territories such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago where political leaders commonly appeal to ethnic and racial sentiments in order to enhance their mass support, which has all too often resulted in the political polarisation of these societies.

In Grenada the common cultural platform which emerged as a result of the cultural integration between these groups brought both races closer and played a direct role in the waning of the significance of racial stereotypes by the middle of the twentieth century. In addition, the small size of the Indian population was fundamental in shaping the nature of that relationship because it determined the conditions that the economic resources were shared between these races, and it mitigated any political influences which might have negatively impacted on their relationship with the African population. These historical circumstances have allowed the Grenadian society to move forward without situations of racial hostility and violence.

It remains a moot point whether Indian immigration to Grenada was necessary. Whether it was successful is also a matter of perspective, but at best its success was marginal.[59] Nonetheless, Grenada’s sugar industry neither expanded nor significantly improved during Indian immigration. According to Brizan, it was during the period of Indian indenture (1857-1890) that Grenada’s sugar economy experienced a severe depression leading to an end of sugar production for export.[60] On the other hand, the Indian immigrants played a crucial role in the expansion and development of Grenada’s cocoa industry. Some were indentured on cocoa estates but the majority had cultivated this crop on their private holdings, after completing their indenture contracts. The St. George’s Chronicle commented in 1876 on this phenomenon:

It is to be remarked that since their introduction into Grenada, there has been no increase of the crops of sugar or rum. It will be said on the other side, that production of cocoa has increased, owing to the withdrawal of so many labour [sic] from the sugar estates—and that if both production[s] are looked at [at] once, it will be seen how far the labour of the coolies has benefited the island. Many coolies have[,] apparently, settled in the colony; have purchased lands and settled down as growers of cocoa, provisions, and livestock….[61]

Up to the end of the twentieth century most Indians had remained significantly involved in the island’s agricultural sector.[62] While this sector has experienced its share of frustration, the Indian community, like their fellow Afro-Grenadians, continued to produce food for local consumption.

A minority of Indians have been fortunate enough to become large proprietors. By the 1960s, there were at least three Indians who became conspicuous property owners. Norbert Nyack became the owner of Belmont Estate in St. Patrick’s, and also owned other parcels of land that, in time, made it possible for him to become one of the largest producers and exporters of nutmegs in Grenada. From his success in the nutmeg industry he was then able to acquire real estate property in the town of Grenville, which is still very valuable.[63] In 1964, R. M. Bhola bought two small estates in St. Andrew’s, covering about a hundred acres in total. Bhola concentrated on the cultivation of bananas rather than nutmegs or cocoa.[64] The other notable Indian who acquired a large acreage of land was Mr. Ramdhanny, also from the parish of St. Andrew’s. He was a major cocoa producer and exporter in Grenada. The wealth acquired from cocoa cultivation allowed him to invest in other business enterprises.[65]

In every profession Indians have been qualified and provided their services to the Grenadian public.[66] It is interesting to note that one of the first female doctors in Grenada is Jennifer Isaac-Japal, a woman of Indian descent, who is not only an inspiration to Indian women but also to all Grenadian women in their quest for success and equal opportunity.[67] Since the 1950s, a large number of Indians have worked in the teaching profession, educating the Grenadian population at all levels. One must point out that the Indian community played a very instrumental role in the establishment of the McDonald College in the parish of St. Patrick’s. Due to the agitation of the Grenada East Indian Cultural Association to the Church of Scotland in Grenada, this secondary school was founded on 21 January 1963.[68] Funds were raised by the Association to assist in the building of the school. Initially, it was established to provide secondary education for children of Indian descent who lived in the surrounding parishes. However, the school welcomed students from the wider society and thus has played a fundamental role in providing an opportunity for secondary education for all since 1963.

In the political realm of Grenada’s history, persons of Indian descent have also made remarkable contributions. There have been members of this community in every government since 1961. In every national or general election between 1961 and 2003 persons of Indian ancestry have participated in the political process.[69] The inclusion of Indians in popular party elections enhanced their prominence in the mainstream of national politics and this gave a greater impetus to their engagement with Grenadian society, even at the highest level. Their involvement was not based on race nor did the Indian politicians derive any political mileage as a result of this factor. Their acceptance into these political parties and their being elected by the Grenadian people clearly indicates the Indians’ inclusion into Grenada’s society. Further, the ordinary members of the Indian community participated in the political process by exercising their right to vote, and some Indians who had become members of the upper economic class made large financial contributions to the major political parties.[70]

The indentured labour scheme was directly responsible for the establishment of a permanent Indian community in Grenada during the late nineteenth century. From that period to the present, Indians have become completely incorporated into Grenada’s society. In every aspect of Grenadian life, Indians have identified with it, participated in it and contributed to it. This degree of identification and participation results from the cultural integration of Indians, which in turn, has led to their acceptance by the wider society. Also, the nature of race relations between Indians and the dominant Afro-Grenadian population was and continues to be peaceful. The Indian community did not pose an economic threat to the African population and therefore created a situation of very limited racial tension. In addition, the process of cultural integration between both groups facilitated a new interactive platform for communication on terms which did not previously exist. This common cultural platform, which intensified during the twentieth century, brought both races closer. The above discussion clearly demonstrates that the Indian community have progressed from the status of immigrants or transient migrants to permanent citizens of Grenada.

Notes

[1] Ron Sookram, “Grenada on the eve of Indian Immigration” (The Arts Journal 1, 2005), 26-28.

[2] Beverley Steele, Grenada: A History of its People (Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2003), 185-87.

[3] George Roberts and Joycelyn Byrne, “Summary Statistics on Indenture and Associated Migration Affecting the West Indies, 1834-1918” (Population Studies 20, 1966), 129.

[4] Roberts and Byrne, 129. Only 392 Indian immigrants were repatriated to India. Some had also migrated to other territories such as Trinidad and British Guiana but the vast majority remained in Grenada as permanent settlers.

[5] St. George’s Chronicle and Grenada Gazette, 11 August 1877.

[6] Ron Sookram, “The History and Culture of Indians in Grenada, 1857-2003” (Ph.D. diss., University of the West Indies, 2005), 176.

[7] St. George’s Chronicle, 11 August 1877.

[8] Grenada Registrar Office, 1880-1920. Examination of documents from the Grenada Registrar’s Office dealing with land transactions indicates that this was the average size of land purchased by Indians.

[9] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 177. The rate for one acre ranged from as low as £5 to as high as £15 during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

[10] CO/ 104/ 18. Minutes of the Executive Council 1881 to 1882, 30 June 1881.

[11] Creole culture is essentially the ways of life that have developed in the Americas specifically in those societies where plantations / colonialism have served as a dominant element in the social structure. Creolization is a cultural process which might be divided into two aspects: acculturation, the absorption of one culture by another, and “interculturation,” a more reciprocal and spontaneous process of enrichment and intermixture on both sides. For further information see Kamau Brathwaite, The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770-1820 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), 290-305.

[12] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 96-7.

[13] Ibid., 120. The Rainbow City celebration is an annual event in the parish of St. Andrew’s which marks the emancipation from slavery in Grenada. St. Patrick’s Day is also an annual event celebrating the historical significance of the parish of St. Patrick’s.

[14] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 146.

[15] St. George’s Chronicle, 5 April 1862.

[16] Ibid., 20 May 1865.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid., 10 May 1884. The Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia started the Presbyterian Mission among the Indians in the Caribbean in 1868. With Trinidad as a base, the mission was extended to Grenada, St. Lucia and British Guiana by 1885.

[20] Grenada Population Census, 1891.

[21] Steele, 200.

[22] Ibid., 68.

[23] Ibid., 102-4.

[24] Grenada Population Census, 1891.

[25] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 111.

[26] For further information see Walton Look Lai, Indentured Labour, Caribbean Sugar: Chinese and Indian Migrants to the British West Indies, 1838-1918 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).

[27] Roberts and Byrne, 129.

[28] For further information see Gerad I. M. Tikasingh, “The Establishment of the Indians in Trinidad, 1870-1900” (Ph.D. diss., University of the West Indies, 1973).

[29] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 152.

[30] See Clem Seecharan, ‘Tiger in the Stars’: The Anatomy of Indian Achievement in British Guiana 1919-29 (London, Macmillan Education, 1997), 231-309. Also Bridget Brereton, ‘Social organisation and Class, Racial and Cultural conflict in Nineteenth century Trinidad’ in Kevin A. Yelvington, ed., Trinidad Ethnicity (London: Macmillan Education, 1993), 33-55.

[31] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 276-77

[32] Ibid., 155.

[33] Joseph Lalite, Interview by author, 26 July 2001.

[34] Grenada Population Census, 1960.

[35] Hosay, Muharram tadjah or Hussay was in the nineteenth century celebrated on the first ten days of the first Islamic month of Muharram, or twelve new moons after the last celebration (since the Islamic calendar was a lunar one with alternating months of thirty and twenty nine days). The festival commemorated the death of the Prophets' grandsons Hassan and Hosein and especially the latter's death in the battle of Kerbala at the hands of the Ummaid enemies of the house of Ali.

[36] Kumar Mahabir, “East Indians in Grenada: A study in Absorption” in Bahadur Singh, ed., The Other India: Indians in the Caribbean (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1987), 381.

[37] Prabhu P. Mohapatra, “The Politics of Representation in the Indian Labour Diaspora: West Indies, 1880-1920” (Archives of Indian Labour, 2003. http://www.indialabourarchives.org/publications/prabhu2.htm).

[38] Ibid.

[39] St. George’s Chronicle, 3 March 1877.

[40] Mahabir, 381. I continue to investigate other archival and oral sources for further elaboration of this point.

[41] Ibid., 383.

[42] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 121.

[43] Ibid., 137.

[44] Ibid., 138.

[45] Ibid., 140.

[46] Pierre van den Berghe, Race and Ethnicity: Essays in Comparative Sociology (New York: Basic Books, 1970; London, 1976), 20-41.

[47] CO/ 101/ 114. “Immigration Office to Governor Kortright,” 6 March 1858.

[48] George Brizan, Grenada: Island of Conflict, 2nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1998), 210.

[49] Grenada Population Census Reports, 1881-1960.

[50] Verene Shepherd, “Indians and Blacks in Jamaica in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries: A Micro-Study of the Foundations of Race Relations,” in Mahin Gosine, ed., The Coolie Connection: From the Orient to the Occident (New York, Windsor Press, 1992), 186.

[51] Shepherd, 187.

[52] Beverley Steele, “East Indian Indenture and the Work of the Presbyterian Church among the Indians in Grenada” (Caribbean Quarterly 22, 1976), 34. Also, Gordon St. Bernard, Interview by author, 20 July 2001.

[53] St. George’s Chronicle, 21 March 1867. For Grenada as a whole, in 1867 there were 1,301 Indian men to 557 women; in 1881 out of a total of 1,572 persons there were 959 males and 613 females, the males exceeding the females by 346, at 56.44%.

[54] Edward L. Cox, “Indian Migration to Grenada and St. Vincent, 1857-1885” (paper presented at the International Conference on Asian Diasporas to the Americas, Trinidad and Tobago, August 2002), 21-22.

[55] Rhoda Reddock, “Jahaji Bhai: The emergence of a Dougla Poetics in Trinidad and Tobago” (Identities 5, 1999), 569-601.

[56] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 256.

[57] Grenada Population Census, 1891. In 1891, of the 2,432 Indians in Grenada, 509 were Hindus, 72 were Muslims, 165 were Presbyterians, while 1,501 were Anglicans, and 185 were Roman Catholics.

[58] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 254.

[59] Ibid., 76.

[60] Brizan, 210.

[61] St. George’s Chronicle, 30 December 1876.

[62] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 220.

[63] Ibid., 187.

[64] Richie Donald, “A Force to be Emulated” in Anna McMahon, ed., Ralph Mathias Bhola: 70 Glorious Years (St. George’s, Grenada, 1992), 15

[65] Sookram, “History and Culture,” 187.

[66] Steele, “East Indian Indenture,” 37.

[67] Jennifer Isaac-Japal, Interview by author, 8 May 2006.

[68] Records of the Church of Scotland and Canadian Mission, St. George’s, Grenada, 1970. Also Verda Benjamin, Interview by author, 1 March 2001. Benjamin was Secretary to the Association.

[69] Grenada, Report of Legislative Council Elections, 1952-1976, and Grenada Government Gazette, Report of General Elections, 1984-2003. For example, R. M. Bhola, Oliver Archibald, Kenny Lalsingh, Rupert Japal, and Chrysler Thomas.

[70] Archie Singham, The Hero and the Crowd in a Colonial Polity (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968), 284.

Elbe". Arrived Demerara on January 5th, 1901.

1917 - The Government of India abolishes the indentured system. No more East Indian labour is allowed to enter Guiana.

1928 - March 19. Cheddi Jagan born.

1948 - The Enmore Tragedy occurs, with an attack against militant sugarcane workers. Workers Lallabagee Kissoon, Pooran, Rambarran, Dookhie, and Harry are killed. Later known as the Enmore Martyrs.

Not many know that Indian indentured immigrants went to the Danish colony of St. Croix in the Caribbean during the nineteenth century, and even less know that the first Hindu cremation in the Americas took place in that same colony. They also performed the first Hindu cremation in the Caribbean

ICTimes writer Lloyd Harradan has discovered a long forgotten report by a Mrs B. Hynes on the Indians of the Danish colony of St Croix, published in Harper's New Magazine.

   A noticeable feature of the population of St. Croix is the cooly element, or the occasional appearance of East Indian laborers, imported several years ago by those planters whose means enabled them thns to supply temporarily the deficiency of labor, which, since the emancipation, has been one cause of adversity on the island.     So pressing became this evil that some owners of large estates had little choice between the prospect of great loss and the introduction of foreign labor. Some time before, an arrangement had been agreed upon between the United States and the Danish government, that any slaves captured in these seas by American vessels should land their cargoes on this island, where the Africans were to be employed for wages.     The war occupying our ships elsewhere, this scheme was not carried out, but tended to render the importation of coolies a more familiar necessity.    The expense of bringing three hundred and ten of these people from India amounted to 20,000 pounds, and by the contract one third of them were to be women. They were to remain five years, and at the end of that time such as desired it were to have free passage home.     They were to receive twenty cents a day and the privilege of the estate—that is, suitable lodgings, medical attendance, medicine, and a piece of provision ground thirty feet square, the same as the first class of negroes, without regard to their physical qualifications or superior or inferior capability for work—a clause which more than once has nearly occasioned serious trouble, as there is the same difference in their working value as between negroes, who only receive payment according to their class or labor.     The men are mostly handsome and graceful, while the few women are exceedingly homely. They are shrewd and intelligent, acquire information easily, and some of them write beautifully in the characters and methods of their own country, and frequently communicate with and forward remittances to friends at home through the British consul at Basin.    They are extremely fond of money, and save all they earn, trading among themselves and with the negroes, with whom, however, they will not mix socially, though they do not object to work with them; and, as they still maintain their differences of caste, some portions of their own community will not associate with others, even on the same estate.     They have learned to speak English, or, at least, the patois used by the negroes, with exactly the same accent, but retain most of their own customs.     They insisted on burning the body of the first man who died among them after they were brought to the island; but upon the occasion of another death they were informed that if they desired to perform the same rite they must provide their own lumber for the funeral pile; and as they never expend money when they can avoid it, they have since thrown the dead in the sea.     Some of them were Nena Sahib’s soldiers, and can show scars got before Lucknow, but are very sensitive about having served in that war, and averse to speaking about it to strangers.    They still continue to keep the fasts and feasts of their own religion, and at stated periods fulfill a curious sacrificial ceremony, in which they build an altar, upon the top and at the foot of which they slay three goats, solemnly sprinkling altar and people afterward with the blood.
    But even this limited effort to meet the demands for labor has been found very inefficient, owing to the expense attending the immigration, and the disinclination of the coolies to remain after their contracted time is out; and, consequently, the profits of sugar growing and the number of inhabitants have very much diminished since 1848, when 25,600 blacks, by a concert of action, assembled in the two chief towns and declared themselves freemen; and after two or three days, during which considerable property was destroyed, but no lives taken, the claims of the insurrectionists were allowed.

The Danish West Indies, by Mrs. S. B. Hynes: pp. 196-203, in Harper's new monthly magazine. / Volume 44, Issue 260
9. St. Croix - Some Indians Enumerated 1880-1911