Between 1834 and 1920, two million men women and children were taken from India, by the British, to labour on sugar colonies across the Empire under temporary contracts called indentures. The majority of these workers never returned to India and the system of indenture, under which they were bound, has all but been erased from British colonial history. In this lecture, I reflect on how and why this silencing took place. I additionally refer to acts and forms of resistance utilised by indentured labourers and share ideas about the important contemporary contributions of the global Jahaji Bhai – the international indentured labour diaspora – who are currently working towards greater public knowledge of the system of indenture and its legacies.

• Kaladeen, Maria del Pilar 2018. Windrushed, Wasafiri, 33:2, 22-25

• Sundar Anitha and Ruth Pearson Indentured labour from South Asia (1834-1917)

1. The majority of British people are unaware of the system of indenture across the former empire. What do you think accounts for the historical silence around this history?