Colonial Emigration 19th, 20th Centuries: Annual Reports from The Port of Calcutta to The British & Foreign Colonies (Volume 4)

In the grip of gruelling poverty, deprivation, starvation, and threatened by recurring famines, the helpless people from Indian villages preferred the unknown terrains to a hopeless existence in their native place. They either were forced to be a part of indentured labour or volunteered to emigrate to new shores, new climates. The colonial masters: not the British alone, but the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch and others, too took advantage of the abject poverty of Indian natives. The first batch of indentured labourers was sent to Mauritius in 1834 – under the rule of the first British Governor General of India, Lord Bentick. From 1834 to 1837, the officials of the East India Company had been utterly indifferent to the depressing plight of the indentured labourers. However, faced with mounting criticism for the Company’s apathetic attitude, the Crown in England passed the first Colonial Emigration Act in 1837. Which asked not only for the preparation of meticulously detailed ‘annual reports’, but also for a detailed account of all happenings, all malpractices to be brought to the notice of the authorities. Over the years, the Colonial Emigration Acts were amended – from the one page Act of 1837, the Acts went on to be over 100 pages by 1883, as every detail had to be compulsorily recoded. Here is the first ever compilation of ‘Annul Reports of Colonial Emigration’ from the port of Calcutta to the British, the Portuguese, the French, and the Dutch colonies during 19th-20th centuries. Offered in six volumes, the author’s Introduction to each volume provides an insight into the political, economic, and social life lived in India then – highlighting how the abject poverty, deprivation and insecurity of peasants, coupled with the fear of recurring famines, left them with no option, but to migrate to alien lands. This compilation too, like its companion volume: Colonial Emigration Acts 1837-1938: Indentured Labour: From Slavery to Salvation, is the outcome of Leela Sarup’s long persevered, painstaking research work in various archives. Also included here are maps and photographic reproductions of rare pictures and paintings. Leela Gujadhur Sarup is an independent researcher and author.