East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago

2906 Words12 Pages
Examine the contribution of Indian indentured labourers to the development of Trinidad and Tobago? East Indians came to Trinidad in 1845 as indentured labourers but assimilated themselves as citizens by 1983. As such the aim of this paper is to demonstrate and outline how the East Indians came as indentured labourers but adapted and assimilated themselves as citizens in Trinidad and contributed significantly to nation building. Their contribution brought a different culture and changed Trinidad in many ways. Emancipation of the slaves in the 1830s served a tremendous drawback to plantation owners which left them with options. The first was to rationalize the sugar industry by technological improvements especially labour saving devices or find an extra source of cheap and reliable labour. The latter proved feasible at the time. Firstly an “indenture” means a contract therefore the indentured Indian signed a legal bound before they left India to accept certain terms and conditions. The contract stated that they were not free to leave their employer for the given time. They first looked to Madeira Africa, the Azores, China, Europe, Java, Malta and North America for labour but they all proved futile since the best labour force that was able to withstand the climate and workload came from East India. Most of the recruitment in India came from areas such as North West Province, Orissa, Bhar and the United Province of Agra and Oudh. The districts however included Fyzabad, Lucknow, Gonda, Basti, Sultanpore, Sitapore, Benares and many others. Calcutta was the most popular of them all. The sub continent of India contributed approximately 143, 000 labourers to Trinidad between 1845-1917 The districts however included Fyzabad, Lucknow, Gonda, Basti, Sultanpore, Sitapore, Benares and many others. Calcutta was the most popular of them all. The sub
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