Indo-Guyanese
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| 400,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Guyana: Georgetown · Berbice · New Amsterdam Overseas: |
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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-Guyanese are the largest ethnic group identified by the official census, making up 43.45% of the population in 2002.[1]
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[edit] History
On May 5, 1838, the year of the final slave emancipation in the British West Indies and the beginning of the indentured labor system, 396 Indian immigrants popularly known as the 'Gladstone Coolies' landed in British Guiana (now Guyana) from Calcutta (now Kolkata).[2] This was the beginning of the indenture system which was to continue for over three-quarters of a century and whose essential features were very reminiscent of slavery. Within a decade Indian immigration was largely responsible for changing the fortunes of the sugar industry, the mainstay of the economy, from the predicted 'ruin' to prosperity.
Up to the early 1860s recruits in North India were drawn from in and around Calcutta and from the Chota Nagpur plateau, a sub-division of the Bengal Presidency about two to three hundred miles from Calcutta. Those from Chota Nagpur were the 'Hill Coolies' or Dhangars. The Dhangars were in great demand by tea garden planters to clear the jungle for the expansion of tea cultivation. Consequently, recruiting operations were pushed further north-westwards and the North-Western Provinces and Oudh (Modern Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar became the main suppliers of colonial labor.
The importation of labor from the Indian subcontinent was part of a continuing search by Guianese planters for a labor force that was docile, reliable and amenable to discipline under harsh, tropical conditions. Emancipation had conferred on the Guianese laborers both physical and occupational mobility. The majority of Indian immigrants were drawn from North India with smaller batches coming from the Tamil and Telugu districts of South India. They were recruited, very often on spurious promises, by professional recruiters, largely assisted by paid local agents called "Arkatis" in North India and "Maistris" in South India.
This system of recruitment by local agents formed the backbone of all recruiting operations from the inception of the system to its cessation in 1917. Intimidation, coercion and deception were very often used to recruit Indian laborers. Women, in particular, were very vulnerable. When laborers were difficult to enlist, the recruiters resorted to such illegal practices as kidnapping and forced detention.
[edit] Culture
Unlike the African slaves, the East Indian indentured workers were permitted to retain many of their cultural traditions. But the process of assimilation has made the culture of the modern Indo-Guyanese more homogeneous than that of their caste-conscious immigrant ancestors.[3]
[edit] Religion and Caste system
Although the great majority of the Indian immigrant workers were from North India, there were variations among them in caste and religion. Some 30 percent of the East Indians were from agricultural castes and 31 percent were from low castes or were Dalits (untouchables). Brahmins, the highest caste, constituted 14 percent of the East Indian immigrants. About 25 percent were Muslims. The only acknowledgment the colonial government and the plantation managers gave to caste differences was their distrust of the Brahmans as potential leaders. East Indian workers were housed together and placed in work gangs without consideration of caste.
[edit] Festivals and Holidays
Guyanese Hindus continue to observe holidays such as Holi (burning of Holika) and Diwali (festival of lights) among others while Muslims celebrate the holidays Eid and Kurbani (sacrifice of the sheep).[4] In Guyana, Indian Arrival Day is celebrated on May 5 commemorating the first arrival of indentured servants from India to the country, on May 5, 1838. On this day, the workers arrived to work in sugar plantations.[5]
[edit] Marriage
Among Hindus and Muslims, arranged, comparatively early marriages are common. Middle-class Indians have greater freedom in choosing a spouse, especially if the woman is a professional. Marriage usually occurs later, and the family is smaller. Indian families are patriarchal and often function as corporate economic units.[6] Weddings are performed with the bride and groom dressed in traditional Indian clothing influenced by the fashion of other races in the country.
[edit] Cuisine
The blending of cultures made Indian cuisine more widely known and accepted as national dishes, such as gulab jamun, parasad (sweet coconut paste with raisins), sweet rice, dhal puri (Indian-style pancakes), chicken curry and seven curry, a dish of seven curries eaten at one meal, generally served at weddings, poojas, and religious funtions.
[edit] Notable Indo-Guyanese
[edit] Politics
- Cheddi Jagan - Former President of Guyana
- Bharrat Jagdeo - Current President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
- Sir Shridath Ramphal - Former Commonwealth Secretary General
[edit] Academics
- David Dabydeen - Professor (University of Warwick, UK) and Historian
- Clem Seecharan - Professor and Caribbean Historian
[edit] Arts and Entertainment
- Anjulie - Canadian singer/songwriter
- Dave Baksh - Former lead guitarist of Canadian band, Sum 41 (now with Brown Brigade)
- Shakira Caine - Former Miss Guyana
- Melanie Fiona - Canadian R&B singer-songwriter, also of Afro-Guyanese descent
- Laxmi Kallicharan - Writer
- Nicole Narain - American model and actress, also of Afro-Guyanese and Chinese Guyanese descent
- Thara Prashad - Singer
- Melinda Shankar - Canadian actress in hit TV show Degrassi the Next Generation
[edit] Sports
- Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Former captain of the West Indies cricket team
- Narsingh Deonarine - West Indian cricketer
- Rohan Kanhai - Former West Indies Captain
- Alvin Kallicharran - Former West Indies Captain
- Kriskal Persaud - Chess player
- Mark Ramprakash - British Cricketer
- Ramnaresh Sarwan - Former Captain and current Vice Captain of the West Indies cricket team
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Population Charachteristics". Census 2002. Guyana Bureau of Statistics. http://www.statisticsguyana.gov.gy/pubs/Chapter2_Population_Composition.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ History Today - Indian Labour in British Guiana
- ^ Country studies - Indo-Guyanese
- ^ infosurhoy - Guyana: Indo-Guyanese community thriving
- ^ http://www.overseasindian.in/2006/apr/news/24dia4.shtml
- ^ Countries and their culture - Guyana
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Ethnic groups in Guyana
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