Alternative history of indenture: view from margins

Abstract

This paper departs from the prevailing approaches to studying the Indian indenture system and examines it from the perspective of marginalised social groups in India. While most studies on indentureship, from contemporary observers to historians and scholars, homogenise labourers’ experiences by neglecting the voices of lower castes and Dalits/untouchables within the Indian hierarchical social structure, this paper brings such marginalised voices to the centre of analysis. In the absence of writings by labourers from marginalised communities such as lower castes and Dalits, this study is based on the close reading of Indian nationalists’ writings, speeches, and memoirs of high caste girmitiyas, mainly Totaram Sanadhya, using the method of reading against the grain. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.