Inside Indian indenture
Subtitle: a South African story, 1860-1914
By: Ashwin Desai & Goolam Vahed
Contributors: Vahed, Goolam H., 1961-
Publisher: HSRC Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Cape Town
Language: eng
Number of pages: 492
ISBN-13: 9780796922441
Subjects: Social conditions; Contract labor; East Indians; Indentured servants; History
Description: Many were filled with hopes as high as the stars as they crossed the Indian Ocean, making their way from India to Durban in southern Africa in the late 1800s. Yet, realising the dream of a better life and returning home triumphant was not to be for many. Thousands returned with less than they had started out with, only to find that home was no longer the place they had left. The travellers, too, had changed irrevocably: caste had been transgressed, relatives had died and spaces for reintegration had closed up as colonialism tightened its grip. Home for these wandering exiles was no more.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 463-469) and index.