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Girmitiyas
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Girmitiyas, (Kaithi: 𑂏𑂱𑂩𑂧𑂱𑂗𑂱𑂨𑂰, IPA: [ɡɪɾmɪʈɪjaː]) also known as Jahazis (Hindustani: जहाज़ी, IPA: [dʒəɦaːziː]) or 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.[1][2]
Etymology
[edit]
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.[3] The agreements specified the workers' length of stay in foreign parts and the conditions attached to their return to British India.[4] In Indic (Indo-Aryan) languages such as Hindustani, the word Jahāz (जहाज़), which is sometimes pronounced as Jahāj in certain languages such as Maithili, means 'ship' (from the Arabic/Persian Jahāz/ جهاز), with Jahazi implying 'people of ship' or 'people coming via ship'.[1][2][5] These Indian-origin labourers referred to one another as जहाज़ी भाई jahāzī bhai (ship brother) or जहाज़ी बेहेन jahāzī behen (ship sister), reflecting the brotherly and sisterly bonds made on their voyage from India to the West.[6][7]
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.[8]
In Fiji, Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon discouraged Melanesian Fijians from working on the plantations in an attempt to preserve their culture.[3] Activist Shaneel Lal argues that Girmitiya were deceitfully enslaved by the British.[9]
See also
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References
[edit]- ^ a b Ghosh, Papiya (21 March 2014). Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinent. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-80965-4.
... even as he writes about the bonds of jahazi bhais (ship brothers) being strong among the descendants of the girmitiyas (Mishra 2001b: 327).
- ^ a b Kelly, John D.; Kaplan, Martha (September 2001). Represented Communities: Fiji and World Decolonization. University of Chicago Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-226-42990-8.
Jahazi bhais, ship brothers and sisters, had social relationships persisting long after girmit itself.
- ^ a b
"Girmit History". www.fijigirmit.org. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "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.
- ^ Roy, Shefali; Pereira, Matilda (2017). Challenging Patriarchy: A Humanist Perspective. Synergy Books. p. 75. ISBN 978-93-82059-62-2.
- ^ Sanadhya, Totaram (1991). My Twenty-one Years in the Fiji Islands; And, The Story of the Haunted Line. Fiji Museum. p. 162. ISBN 978-982-208-003-2.
...jahazi bhais, 'brotherly' relationships formed on the ships
- ^ "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
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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