Travelling Experiences Of Girmityas

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As you have already read in earlier articles about how Indian people were recruited, in this article I am going to talk about the journey and travelling conditions the people faced.

It was in 1838, first ships left the ports of Calcutta carry about 400 people, Girmityas, in the ships. These people were taken to various different British colonies, such as Mauritius, Natal, Fiji, Jamaica and etc. These ships took on average seventy three days and the steamships took thirty days.

During these long journeys the Indian people faced many hardships. Some of them being lack of medical, food and living conditions. There was high mortality rate in the ships were appalling. It is said that about one third of the Indian dies during the journey. Mostly these people died of measles, whooping cough and other illnesses.

One of the ships carrying the Girmityas to Fiji was Leonidas. It was one of the first ships that took Indian indentured migrants to Fiji from between 1879 and 1916. After 3 months of leaving the port of Hoogly with 500 Girmityas in 1879, cholera and smallpox started spreading out between people. First it struck the sailors and then it spread into all the Girmityas. Even though many precautions were taken about 19 people died.

Other problem the Girmityas faced was that the travelling itself. For most of the people, it was their first time travelling on ship. It was traumatic for them. They also experienced physical discomfort such as crowded quarters stench and seasickness.

When the ship reached near the bay of Fiji, it was not allowed to stop in the port. The Fiji government feared that the Cholera and smallpox that happened in the ship would spread into Fiji and cause a massive epidemic. Fiji was anyway suffering from measles, and many had died. Then for some time there was a talk about making the ship turn back but finally that didn’t happen.

One of the important events that happened was mixture of people from all caste, wealth, languages and religion. Some from high castes, some from middle castes and some from low castes. There were many who were from different religions. Initially there were these barriers, but as they lived in a crowded quarter these barriers started breaking. People started mixing regarded less of their past differences. This was mainly because away from their own homeland these people found comfort and escape with other people from the same homeland.

The journey to Fiji fostered community between the people from different background. No one cared about the other’s caste, religion or social background. To prevent depression, the people enjoyed themselves by wrestling, playing cards, singing and playing drums. This brought about the comradeship, which later could be seen when people travelled long distances to just meet the jahajibhais (Ship mates) and cherish the old memories of pain and joy.

Finally, there were over sixty thousand people who came to work in Fiji as indentured labourers, Girmityas. Though we get to see the travelling experiences to Fiji, these experiences were also true for the Girmityas travelling to the other colonies of Britain, whether or not the ship was going to Fiji. The people had to live in crowded spaces, which resulted in easier spread of diseases. This resulted in high mortality rate. There were many times the ship carrying the indentured people were made to wait for many days in the sea before asking them to turn back to where they came from. But the journey also broke the differences between people from different caste, language, social background, and religion. It bonded people like brothers.

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Written by Sudipta

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Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxl4q_jfDPI
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h3ss
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/working-abroad/indian-indentured-labourers-a-story-of-success-diplomat/articleshow/61542627.cms?from=mdr
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h3ss.12#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h3ss.11#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://qz.com/india/290497/the-forgotten-story-of-indias-colonial-slave-workers-who-began-leaving-home-180-years-ago
Chalo Jahaji : on a journey through indenture in Fiji by historian Brij V. Lal
· INDIAN INDENTURED LABOUR IN FIJI by Eugene J. D'Souza

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