Question

Explain the term ‘Indentured Labour’.

Answer 1

1. The Indentured Labour System was a form of debt bondage.
2. By this system, 3.5 million Indians were transported to various British colonies to provide labour for the plantations (mainly sugar).
3. It started in 1843, the year of the abolition of slavery in India, and continued until 1920.
4. This resulted in the development of a large Indian diaspora, which spread from the Indian Ocean (Reunion and Mauritius) to the Pacific Ocean (Fiji), as well as contributing to the growth of the Indo-Caribbean and Indo-African population.
5. The Indenture system was a penal contract system.
6. The contract made punishable the refusal of an indentured labourer to work or his abstention from work, or his defiance of the orders of his master or absconding.