India is the second largest country in the world with a population of 1.37 billion people, accounting for 17.7% of the world’s population. But there are also an estimated 25 million Indians living outside of mainland India. There are major communities of Indians in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, other parts of Africa such as Mauritius and Tanzania. There is also a large Indian population living in the Caribbean.
Why Did Indians Come to the Caribbean? What possible motive could have encouraged Indians to travel thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic to take up home in the Caribbean? And where did they eventually settle?
When slavery was abolished in the Caribbean in 1834 – 1838 economics dictated that the enslaved Africans had to be replaced with another source in order to guarantee the production of sugar from sugar cane. Indentured labour was the next best solution. It was cheap and legal. Indians were called ‘indentured’ because they had to work to pay off their ‘debt’ of free transportation the ‘the promise land’, the Caribbean.
On Which Caribbean Islands Did Indians Settle?
Many Indians agreed to leave their home, country and family to become indentured labourers. This was a welcome escape from their condition of widespread poverty and famine. Many Indians travelled alone while others brought along their families. They then settled in the colonies of the Caribbean mostly Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica. In countries such as Guyana and Trinidad, Indians make up around 40% of the respective country’s population.
Where in India Did The Indian Labourers Come From?
Most of the Indian indentured labourers came from the lower castes of the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions of northern India. Some also came from Bengal and other areas in southern India. The majority of Indian immigrants were Hindus (approximately 85%). The remainder were mostly Muslims (14%). And a very small minority were Christians (1%).
Indians Added New Dimensions to Caribbean Culture
The arrival of the Indian indentured labourers into the Caribbean saw the introduction of new dimensions to the social and cultural fabric of the Caribbean. Their influence added new exotic flavours to Caribbean cuisine, new and strange melodies to Caribbean music, different religious beliefs, new vocabulary, dance, fashion, art and festivals.
Read More at https://exceptionalcaribbean.com/2021/05/28/over-180-years-of-indians-in-the-caribbean/
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