Girmitiyas
Girmitiyas, (Kaithi: 𑂏𑂱𑂩𑂧𑂱𑂗𑂱𑂨𑂰, IPA: [ɡɪɾmɪʈɪjaː]) also known as Jahajis (IPA: [dʒəɦaːdʒiː]), were indentured labourers from British India transported to work on plantations in Fiji, South Africa, Mauritius, and the Caribbean (namely Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, Suriname and Jamaica) as part of the Indian indenture system.
Etymology
The word girmit represented an Indian pronunciation of the English word "agreement" - from the indenture "agreement" of the British Government with labourers from the Indian subcontinent.[1] The agreements specified the workers' length of stay in foreign parts and the conditions attached to their return to the British Raj.[2] The word Jahāj refers to 'ship' in Indic languages (from the Arabic/Persian Jahāz/جهاز), with Jahaji implying 'people of ship' or 'people coming via ship'.[3]
Many Girmitiyas - indentured labourers taken from British India came from marginalised and lower-caste backgrounds, including a significant number from the Chamar caste. Facing entrenched discrimination, poverty, and limited opportunities in India, they were often drawn by misleading promises of better livelihoods abroad. As a result, they formed an important yet frequently overlooked segment of the indentured workforce in regions such as Fiji, Mauritius, and the Caribbean.[4]
In Fiji, Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon discouraged Melanesian Fijians from working on the plantations in an attempt to preserve their culture.[1] Activist Shaneel Lal argues that Girmitiya were deceitfully enslaved by the British.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Girmit History". www.fijigirmit.org. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
- ^ "Article 2". www.fijigirmit.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2004. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
- ^ Lal, Brij V. "Chalo Jahaji – on a journey through indenture in Fiji". New Girmit.org. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ "Origins of Girmityas" (PDF). Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ "Shaneel Lal: The Royal Family stole my ancestors". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
Further reading
- Gillion, Kenneth (1962). Fiji's Indian migrants : a history of the end of indenture in 1920. Melbourne: Oxford U.P.
- Brij V. Lal and Kate Fortune, ed. (2000). "Girmitiya". The Pacific Islands : an encyclopedia ([Repr.]. ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 082482265X.
- Lal, Brij V. (2004). Girmitiyas : the origins of the Fiji Indians. Lautoka, Fiji: Fiji Institute of Applied Studies. ISBN 978-0-8248-2265-1.
- Gaiutra Bahadur (2014). Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture. The University of Chicago. ISBN 978-0-226-21138-1
- Carter, Marina; Torabully, Khal (2002). Coolitude : an anthology of the Indian labour diaspora. London: Anthem. ISBN 1843310031.
- Praveen Kumar Jha (2019). Coolie Lines Archived 2022-01-18 at the Wayback Machine. New Delhi: Vani Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-88684-04-0
External links
- South Asian Indentured Labor – Online Archive of Research and Resources – an online archive and living syllabus of text-based resources related to Indian indentureship, with country-specific resources and material related to global Indian indenture diasporas
- Interview Archived 2022-06-18 at the Wayback Machine of Mahendra Chaudhry about Girmitiyas in Fiji