The Hindustani community of Jamaica, popularly known as Indo-Jamaicans or Indian Jamaicans, are primarily the descendents of indentured workers of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 who are citizens or nationals of Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. Indians form the second largest racial group in Jamaica after Africans.

History

Over 36,000 Indians were taken to Jamaica as indentured workers between 1845 and 1917, with around two thirds of them remaining on the island. The demand for their labour came after the end of slavery in 1830 and the failure to attract workers from Europe. Indian labourers, who had proved their worth in similar conditions in Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

, were sought by the Jamaican Government, in addition to workers coming from China. Indian workers were actually paid less than the former West African slaves and were firmly at the bottom on the social ladder. The legacy of these social divisions was to linger for many decades.

The India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n Government encouraged indentured labour and recruiting depots were established in Calcutta and Madras although agents were paid significantly less, per recruit, than for a European workers. Most Indians who signed contracts did so in the hope of returning to India with the fruits of their labour, rather than intending to migrate permanently. The Indian Government appointed a Protector of Immigrants in Jamaica, although this office tended to protect the interests of the employers rather than the workers. Although technically the workers had to appear before a magistrate and fully understand their terms and conditions, these were written in English and many workers, signing only with a thumb print, did not comprehend the nature of their service.

Arrival in Jamaica

The first ship carrying workers from India, the "Maidstone", landed at Old Harbour Bay in 1845. It bore 200 men, 28 women under 30 years old and 33 children under 12 years old from various towns and villages in Northern India. The numbers arriving increased to 2,439 three years later, at which point the Indian Government halted the scheme to examine its working. The programme resumed in 1859 and continued until the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, although by the 1870s stories of the hardships suffered by Indian indentured workers were causing disquiet on the sub continent.

The labourers were given one suit of clothing, agricultural tools and cooking pots on their arrival, divided into groups of 20 or 40 and sent, first by mule cart and in later years on overcrowded freight trains to the plantations in Portland, St. Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

, St. Mary, Clarendon

Clarendon

-Places:In Australia:*Clarendon, New South Wales, a suburb of northern west Sydney*Clarendon, Queensland*Clarendon, South Australia*Clarendon, Tasmania, a National Trust property near Evandale, Tasmania*Clarendon County, New South WalesIn Canada:...

 and Westmoreland

Westmoreland

Westmoreland is a historic county in England. It may also refer to:-Places:Australia*Westmoreland County, New South WalesCanada*Westmorland County, New BrunswickJamaica*Westmoreland, Jamaica, a parishNew Zealand...

. Here they would work for a shilling a day and live in rudimentary barracks, with several families having to share a single room. Two shillings and six pence were deducted from their meagre wages for the rice, flour, dried fish or goat, peas and seasoning which constituted their rations. Children received half rations but the plantation managers were warned to treat the children well, with quarterly medical check ups theoretically provided. The overwhelming majority of the immigrant labourers were Hindu but little provision was made for their faith and cultural practises. Non-Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 unions were not recognised until 1956 and many accepted Christianity.

The conditions of the indenture varied from between one and five years, with the workers being released if they fell ill or bought themselves out of their contract. They were not allowed to leave the plantation without a permit, on pain of fines or even imprisonment. Many of the workers and their families suffered from yaws, hookworm and malaria.

Settlement and repatriation

Although most of the workers originally planned to return to India, the planters lobbied the Government to allow them to stay and defray their settlement costs, largely to save on the costs of returning them to the sub continent. Money and land were used as incentives, with time expired Indians offered 10 or 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) of Crown land. Often the land was mountainous and infertile so many chose to take the cash in hand and by 1877 close to £32,000 had been spent by the Jamaican authorities.

The monetary grants were suspended in 1879, with the land grants being halted from 1897 to 1903 and abandoned in 1906 as there was little difference in the costs of repatriating a worker (£15 per person) and offering land grants of £12 per head.

After 1899 male immigrants seeking repatriation were obliged to pay up to one-half of their passage and female immigrants up to one-third. Immigrants were further required to pay for blankets and warm clothing.

Problems in returning

The lack of ships available to repatriate the workers was another factor in many of them staying on. Ships refused to sail if not full, and at other times were oversubscribed, leading to some time expired workers being left behind. During World War 1 German submarine warfare and a lack of ships further cut the numbers able to return. The Indian Government did not encourage the return of workers as many were destitute, ill or had lost touch with their own culture.

The final group of Indian indentured immigrants arrived in Jamaica in 1914 and the last repatriates left in 1929 with legal repatriation ending in 1930. After 70 years of indentured labour, over half of the Indians who arrived in Jamaica between 1845 and 1916 remained and the Indian community on the island developed and strengthened. Many workers left Jamaica to work on the Panama railroad and canal in the 1880s, returning when the work was completed.

The Indian workers tended their own gardens after the work on the plantations was done to supplement their diet. Indian workers, in search of relaxation, also introduced marijuana and the chillum

Chillum

A chillum, or chilam, is a straight conical pipe with end-to-end channel, traditionally made of clay and used since at least the 18th century. by wandering Hindu monks, known as sadhus in India...

 pipe, to Jamaica. Hindu festivals such as Diwali were celebrated although many became Christians over time. Gradually workers left the plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s for Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

 and took jobs that better utilised their existing, and newly learned skills. The Indian community adopted English as their first language and became jewellers, fishermen, barbers and shopkeepers.

Indo-Jamaican Culture

Indians have made many contributions to Jamaican culture. Indian jewellery, in the form of intricately wrought gold bangles, are common on Jamaica, with their manufacture and sale going back to the 1860s. Indians established the island's first successful rice mill in the 1890s and dominated the island's vegetable production until the late 1940s.

Forms of Indian dress were adopted by some Jamaicans and can be seen in Jonkonnu processions. Many Christian African-Jamaicans participate alongside Indian-Jamaicans in the Indian inspired cultural celebrations of (Shia Muslims) Hosay and (Hindu) Divali. In the past, every plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 in each parish celebrated Hosay while today it has been rebranded an Indian carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

 and is perhaps most well known in Clarendon where it is celebrated each August. Divali, a Hindu festival linked with the reaping of grain, the return of Prince Rama after 14 years in exile, and the victory of good over evil, is celebrated late October to early November on the darkest night of the year. Houses are cleaned and brightly lit and everyone is in high spirits.

Approximately 61,500 Indians live in Jamaica today, maintaining their own cultural organizations and roots but assimilated into the wider community. Traditional Indian foods such as curry goat

Curry Goat

Curry goat is a dish originating in India and has become very popular in Indo-Jamaican cuisine. This dish has spread throughout the English speaking Caribbean and also the Caribbean diaspora in North America and Great Britain....

 and roti have become part of the national cuisine and are now seen as 'Jamaican'. Alongside Hinduism, the smoking of cannabis was introduced to Jamaica from the Indians. The influence of the Caste system has largely atrophied and arranged marriages are no longer common. Descendants of the immigrant workers have influenced the fields of farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

ing, medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, politics and even horse-racing. Names such as Patel, Chatani, Chulani, Tewani, Mahtani, Ramchandani, Daswani, Vaswani and Chandiram have become synonymous with manufacturing, wholesale, retail and in-bond businesses providing employment for thousands of Jamaicans. Cricketers of an Indian, as opposed to African, background have found success in representing both Jamaica on the domestic scene and the West Indies.

Notable Jamaicans of Indian descent

• Shaun Bridgmohan
  Shaun Bridgmohan
  Shaun X. Bridgmohan is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.At age thirteen, Bridgmohan's family emigrated to the United States, settling in South Florida where he developed an interest in horse racing...
  
  , jockey
• Sabrina Colie
  Sabrina Colie
  Sabrina Diana Colie is a Jamaican actress, voice over artist and director. She resides in New York City.-Education:...
  
  , actress
• Kamala-Jean Gopie, political activist
• Lisa Hanna
  Lisa Hanna
  -External links:*...
  
  , winner of the Miss World title in 1993; currently a member of Jamaica's parliament
• Diana King
  Diana King
  Diana King is a reggae fusion singer-songwriter who specifically performed a mixture and fusion of R&B, reggae, pop and dancehall...
  
  , R&B and dancehall artist
• Rajiv Maragh
  Rajiv Maragh
  Rajiv Maragh is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. An Indo-Jamaican, he is the son of a jockey who rode in Jamaica before relocating to Florida where he began a career as a horse trainer....
  
  , jockey
• Yendi Phillipps, winner of the Miss Jamaica World 2007 beauty pageant
• Super Cat
  Super Cat
  Super Cat is a deejay most popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall movement. Super Cat was born in Jamaica and was nicknamed Wild Apache. His nickname, the "Wild Apache" was given to him by his mentor Early B...
  
  , dancehall artist

See also

• Indo-Guyanese
  Indo-Guyanese
  Indo-Guyanese are mostly descendants of indentured labourers from India who are citizens or nationals of Guyana. They are often referred to as Indians or East Indians...
  
  
• Indo-Trinidadian
  Indo-Trinidadian
  Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago of Indian or other South Asian ancestry.Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians has now become interchangeable with Indians or East Indians. These were people who were taken from India by the British either as workers or educated...
  
  
• Indo-Caribbean
  Indo-Caribbean
  Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times...
  
  
• Indo-Caribbean music
  Indo-Caribbean music
  Indo-Caribbean music refers the music culture of the descendants - now numbering over a million - of indentured immigrants who came from India between 1845 and 1917 to various parts of the Caribbean, primarily Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname....
  
  
• British Indo-Caribbean community
  British Indo-Caribbean community
  The British Indo-Caribbean community consists of residents of the United Kingdom who are of Caribbean origin and whose ancestors were indigenous to India...
  
  
• Indo-Caribbean American
  Indo-Caribbean American
  Indo-Caribbean American people are Americans who trace their ancestry ultimately to India, though whose recent ancestors lived in the Caribbean, where they began migrating in 1838. There are large groups of Indo-Trinidadians, Indo-Guyanese, and Indo-Jamaicans in the United States, especially in New...
  
  
• Indo-Canadians
  Indo-Canadians
  Indo-Canadians are Canadians whose origins trace back to India. The terms East Indian and South Asian are used to distinguish people of ancestral origin from India, from the First Nations peoples of Canada who are often referred to as Indian, and from the people of the Caribbean, who are sometimes...
  
  

Sources

• Mansingh, L. and A. "The Indian tradition lives on", in A tapestry of Jamaica: The best of Skywritings, Air Jamaica's in-flight magazine. Kingston: Creative Communications Ltd. and Oxford: Macmillan Publishers. pp. 364-366.
• Mansingh, L. and A. "Indian heritage in Jamaica", The Jamaica Journal 10 (2,3,4): 10-19.
• Parboosingh, I.S. "An Indo-Jamaica beginning" The Jamaica Journal 18 (3): 2-10, 12.
• Sherlock, P. and Bennett, H. (1998) The story of the Jamaican people. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers,
• Shepherd, V. "Transients to citizens: The development of a settled East Indian Community", The Jamaica Journal 18 (3): 17-21..