Indentured Indians: past and present – an introduction

This article introduces the special issue ‘Indentured Indians: Past and Present’. It emerged from discussions held during two international seminars sponsored by Banaras Hindu University (BHU), India, and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS), South Africa, on the Indian indentured diaspora. The recent focus on global history has influenced a rethinking of the nineteenth century labour migration from India to the various sugar plantations globally. Hence, both meetings focused on various aspects of indentured history, which has been studied inadequately. This special issue, in an endeavour to fill this gap in historiography, focuses on issues of indenture administration, caste, identity, dispossession, memories, music, religion, culture, nature, gastronomy, and returnees. Finally, it gives an alternative perspective on the history of indenture and highlights the lived experiences, the strength and resilience of these communities in the face of many challenges in host nations.