Indian Indentureship

Madhdvie Bhagwandeen
Professor Mangru
History 277
Exam III

After the Emancipation in the Caribbean in 1824, the British brought Indians to the Caribbean through indenture ship. They were given a five year contract as an indentured laborer, with the condition of returning home (India) with a free passage. Many were not given this opportunity for various reasons. Indian immigration in British Guiana came to a halt but reopened in 1845. While working on the plantations, indentured laborers were subject to many labor laws that were forced upon them by planters. These laws controlled there every movement; and although they were brought over to a foreign land to work for wages, they were still incompetent and had to depend on the plantations to survive. “The plantations East Indians worked and lived on were like prisons without walls”. Laws were passed on nearly everything a worker did, even on actions you would not even think is punishable. Indentured workers were given five tasks per week to complete and at the same time, they were to follow the labor laws. If they disobeyed the laws they were fined and/or faced imprisonment. Many of the planters, who were against the abolishment of slavery, took this chance to take full advantage of these laws and punished these workers for any little error they might have undertaken. Indians were not used to doing task work, so they worked a bit slower that durable Black workers. Although they were paid for whatever they finished for the week, some were still accountable for punishment because they did not complete a whole week’s worth of tasks. Workers were also fined and/or imprisoned for not attending or wanting to work. Besides those actions, an employer could bring legal action against the workers for negative behavior, threats towards the employer, being physically and verbally abusive and for desertion. As for desertion and refusing to attend roll call, if a worker was fined for that action, it would be about $24 and that is nearly equivalent to half a year’s worth of pay; imprisonment for a month was also an option. If an employer was found drunk on the job, he/she would be fined for that as well. Another action a worker would be penalized for if committed, is if a worker finished his job early and went home during his work hours, he could be arrested or if someone was just recently released from the hospital and is unfit to work, he/she could be penalized for that. These punishments given by the planters make you think if this is really indenture ship or slavery all over again. “Moreover, his contract could be extended to twice the period spent in jail” (Mangru 25). A workers contract could also be extended to double the amount of time they were intended to work or even up to 30 years of indentured labor; that is for the rest of some of the workers life. After the remittance of Indian Immigration into British Guiana was allowed, the condition of receiving a free passage after five years was invalid. In order to get a free passage back home, a worker must stay in the colony for five years but some Indians did not accumulate enough money so they were obligated to agree for another five years on their indenture contract for a free passage return. In addition to labor laws, there were also vagrancy laws. These laws controlled workforces every movement. Meaning, if they were found on some other ground besides the plantation they were put to work on which isn’t in a two mile radius, they could be arrested. In order to be on some other piece of land, they would be required to acquire a pass that was signed by their employer. This pass system was not created because people were just forbidden to go on someone else’s piece of land without permission, it was created because the planters did not want the workers to know and become acquainted with each other. They were afraid they would discuss things such as wages differences and if one learns that the other is being paid more, he/she would protest for a higher wage. Another reason why the planters did not want workers to go on other estates was to prevent them from complaining to the Immigration Department about the ill-treatment they were receiving from their employer. There have been a few cases when the worker was allowed to complain and the manager was penalized. Besides enabling labor and vagrancy laws onto the estate workers, employers found other ways to control their employees: the driver system. In the driver system, drivers, who were Indian workers who had power given to them from their manager, were used to carry outside information back to his employee. Most of the drivers were low caste Indians and they were put above high caste Indians when it came to the driver job. Drivers exploited Indians in numerous ways. They deducted wages from Indians if the work was not done to satisfaction, forced Indians to re-indenture or buy groceries at their shops at inflated prices. These drivers were portrayed as bullies; loans that were given to them by Indian workers were hardly paid back and if someone refused to give him a loan, he/she would be reprimanded. Besides managers, drivers assigned tasks as well. “Complaints against drivers fell on deaf ears as the overseer depended on the report of the driver for the payment of wages” (Mangru 28). Complaints against a driver to their manager would go in one ear and out the other, as if nothing ever happened. Another form of control within the driver system would be through the shops drivers set up. In the shops, they sold things such as “rice, dal, flour, chilies, tobacco and kerosene” and the workers were forced to buy products from their shops only. In some ways, this prevented workers from going onto other estates to purchase items and it also helped increase the driver’s income. If a worker refused to purchase any items at the drivers shop, he/she would be reprimanded by having to work out in the fields with strenuous than usual tasks. During slavery, the planters attempted to destroy the religions of the slaves, because it can lead to resistance. As for indentured workers, they were allowed to practice their religious belief. The planters wanted them to feel happy and satisfied so that they can stay on the estate and continue with work. Not only did they abuse them physically by having them do such demanding work while receiving petty pay, they emotionally abused them to stay on plantations as well. Although they allowed them to keep their religious belief, planters banned some of the rituals many of the workers would commit to. Two significant rituals that were practiced: Hook-Swinging and Tadjah were eventually terminated. Hook-Swinging was the belief that a man who swings on a hook will be granted the honor of fatherhood. If his wife receives there child and it isn’t a boy, he would keep using the hook-swing with that belief in mind. It ended because some Christian missionaries said the act was just too brutal. Another belief that was terminated was Tadjah. This was a mourning ritual commemorating the death of two brothers, Hosein and Hosay. They were the sons of Ali and grandsons of the Prophet, Muhammad. They were killed in battle and people mourned for them and they would carry Tadjah. Indians were given this holiday just so that they could be satisfied with moving to a foreign land and living “comfortably”. This ritual ended in Guyana because the Muslims said it lost its religious purpose after people frequently became drunk. During Tadjah, you would tend to find Black folks participating in the ritual as well, which seemed strange, since there were conflicts between Blacks and Indians. These actions taken by planters to control Indian indentured workers in British Guyana were very harsh. After the abolishment of slavery, it may seem to anyone that they took advantage of the laws presented to them and the workers and punished the workers severely. Indians entered British Guyana as indentured workers but from their living conditions and the way they were treated, you would suspect that planters view of them were as slaves. Laws given to them by the government were used against their every movement. Planters created insiders to reveal things that were going on within the estate and they allowed the Indians to continue with their religious beliefs in order to pacify them to stay on the plantation. These planters were quite devious in a peculiar way.

Bibliography

Mangru, Basdeo. Indians in Guyana: A Concise History from Their Arrival to the Present. Chicago: Adams, 1999. Print.

Ishmael, Odeen. "NEW INDIAN IMMIGRATION AFTER 1845." N.p., n.d. Web.

Naidu, Janet A. "Guyana Journal | Women in Guyana." Guyana Journal | Women in Guyana. Guyana Journal, n.d. Web. <http://www.guyanajournal.com/women_gy.html>.

"Chapter III." Chapter III. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://home.uchicago.edu/~rts1/chapter_iii.htm>.

Bibliography: Mangru, Basdeo. Indians in Guyana: A Concise History from Their Arrival to the Present. Chicago: Adams, 1999. Print. Ishmael, Odeen. "NEW INDIAN IMMIGRATION AFTER 1845." N.p., n.d. Web. Naidu, Janet A. "Guyana Journal | Women in Guyana." Guyana Journal | Women in Guyana. Guyana Journal, n.d. Web. &lt;http://www.guyanajournal.com/women_gy.html&gt;. "Chapter III." Chapter III. N.p., n.d. Web. &lt;http://home.uchicago.edu/~rts1/chapter_iii.htm&gt;.