Georgetown,
GINA, May 4, 2005
East
Indians celebrating Indian
Arrival day at the National Park.
After the
abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean
(1834) the agriculture production in the then British
Guiana had fallen by 60 percent
(1838). Plantations were being closed down at
an alarming rate. Plantation owners feared the
loss of cheap labour after the enslaved
Africans were freed and most of them chose to
leave the plantations. The freed slaves headed
for the villages and towns; refusing to work
for their Plantation owners because of the
inhumane conditions they worked under.
Plantation owners
in British Guiana then turned to immigrants
from England, Germany, Ireland and the British
West Indies. The start of the indentured
system (coolie system) was on its way in
British Guiana, but these workers did not last
on the plantations due to the extreme heat and
strenuous working conditions.
The British
looked for cheap labour to continue the work
that many freed slaves refused to do. They
recruited contract labourers from India
through a Calcutta agency, to help save an
ailing sugar industry. During this period, the
British plantation owners also turned to
Portugal, and later to China, (1853), for
contract labourers.
These workers
were paid wages. The contract labourers were
also given a passage to this country and a
roof over their heads. After the person's
contract was up, he was free to leave. But,
often, circumstances forced them to renew
their contract and to continue with the work
they were doing.
On May 5th, 1838,
the first group of East Indians set sail to
the Americas on the Whitby, (British ship).
Then 244 Indians landed on Guyana’s soil.
The journey to the New World began on January
13th 1838, from the Calcutta port with 249
Indians, and lasted five months. The long
voyage across the oceans brought seasick,
hunger and diseases to the Indians onboard the
ship and five people succumbed. Shortly after
the arrival of the Whitby, another ship the
Hesperus, which left India on January 29th
1838, landed with 165 Indians.
Most Indians, who
left their motherland, had no concept of where
they were going. They did not realize that
they would never see their motherland and
their families again as many had planned to
return home with their savings. Unlike the
Africans who were kidnapped, chained and
forced into slavery, most of the Indians
boarded the ship voluntarily. However, many
were also tricked and lied to.
The living
conditions for the Indians on the sugar
plantations were appalling and workers were
compelled to work 12 hours a day. The Indians
lived in barrack-type buildings, 100 feet long
and divided into 10-foot long sections. One
family was crammed into this small area.
For many, the sun
was extremely hot, especially for the ones who
came from places like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab
where it snows in some regions during the
winter and has altitudes that vary from 100 to
over 3000 metres above sea level. Guyana is
below sea level, at the equator and hot
throughout the entire year. The Indians
adjusted to their new environment and endured
the strenuous conditions.
Many Indians who
remained in Guyana progressed, holding top
positions in some of the country's political
parties and businesses. Many are also the
proud owners of businesses having benefited
from the sacrifice of their ancestors- the
people of the ship or “Jahan”
who crossed the great oceans as contract
labourers, to escape poverty, unemployment and
decaying economic conditions of the
Indian-subcontinent.
