“Nineteenth century indenture has been described as a ‘new system of slavery’. Elucidate with examples

  • In the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations, in mines and in road and railway construction projects around the world.
  • It was a world of faster economic growth as well as great misery, higher incomes for some- and poverty for others.
  • In the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations in mines and in road and railway construction projects around the world.
  • In India, indentured labourers were hired under contracts which promised return travel to India after they had worked for five years on their employer’s plantations.
  • Gradually, in India, cottage industries declined, land rents rose, lands were cleared for mines and plantations. All this affected the lives of the poor; they failed to pay their rents, became indebted and were forced to migrate in search of work.
  • The main destinations of Indian indentured migrants were the Caribbean islands, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Mauritius, Fiji and Ceylon and Malaya.
  • Recruitment was done by agents engaged by employers and paid a small commission.
  • Agents also sometimes tempted these migrants by providing false information about final destinations, modes of travel, nature of work and living and working conditions.
  • Sometimes, agents even forcibly abducted less willing migrants.