Debunked The Use Of The Label Coolie In Guyana

By Fisal Ally

During my research and writing of the Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden over the past sixteen years, I came across some very important information, which I will share with you in this study guide. This information will change your perception of who the Indians were that entered British Guiana Guyana starting back on May 5, 1838. We often hear that the derogatory label “coolie” being used for Indians is a false label, but we’re not certain why. The label “coolie” in Guyana (British Guiana) stemmed from this first group of Indian laborers that left India through the Port of Kolkata, journeying across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and into the Americas. The label had taken root in Guyana and seeded throughout the colony. Today this derogatory label is deep rooted in the Guyanese culture, from every branch and leaves throughout this beautiful garden country. This degradation must be uprooted.
In the Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden and in this study guide, I explained how this label had taken wings from India during the request for Indian laborers by the British planters, and as the ships traveled across the oceans. The label became planted in the colony and its history.
I encourage you to study this book and share this information with others, educating them on this topic. Originally, while I was writing this novel, I had just wanted to write a novel, but the novel kept evolving into a Trilogy. I spent more time researching to make the novel more realistic, which I had not initially planned for. Then the real events and real characters entered the novel. I have gained a lot of very important knowledge throughout the years, and I believe that I have debunked the use of the derogatory label “coolie” being used for the Indians in Guyana, presenting important information for readers to learn and reflect on.
The samples provided in this study guide came from the Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden, and may be modified in upcoming revisions. In this study guide, the spellings of Calcutta and Kolkata, Guiana and Guyana, and other names such as Hindustan and India are used interchangeably.
There will be some updates and corrections to this study guide. If you are interested in these updates, please send me an email, and I will place you on our email list and keep you informed. If you have any suggestions, please forward them to me.
I will be expanding my knowledge in this area by writing more on this topic. Furthermore, I will be putting on some enjoyable and knowledgeable online courses on this topic and similar topics. I hope you will join me on our journey and quest for knowledge on this subject by studying this study guide and sharing it with others. Please send me an email if you would like more information on the upcoming online courses. Hopefully you will also have an opportunity to delve into the love story presented in the novels in The Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden...Fisal Ally

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fisal Ally
• Release date: Jul 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781988288338

Fisal Ally

The author, Fisal Ally, hails from La Penitence, a district in Georgetown, Guyana, and grew up in Canada. As a boy, he enjoyed his travels across Guyana, living amongst many cultures. He enjoyed riding in speedboats and on carnival floats. He cherishes his kite flying days and swimming in the American Indian village of Mainstay. His diverse back- ground has influenced his writing and he finds great satisfaction in bringing history to life through his writing by interweaving facts, real people and places with fictional characters.

Book preview

PART I – DEBUNKED THE USE OF THE LABEL COOLIE IN GUYANA

Diagram of the Whitby and Hesperus leaving from the Port of Kolkata

Three definitions to learn

Introduction

How Indian emigration began to British Guiana

An excerpt from Chapter 8 which provides the three definition with three categories of Indian laborers

A summary of the three definitions

A brief analysis of the Hesperus ships’ list

A brief analysis of the Whitby ships’ list

Diagram of route from Kolkata to British Guiana

Diagram of the ships arriving at the shores of British Guiana

How everyone on a ships gets labeled as coolies

Evidence from the sheriff in British Guiana stating who the Indians were

Indians arriving in British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica in 1845

Still shipping an improper class of people to labor in the fields

Indians around the Globe

Examining more mistaken identities

The first group of Indians departed for India with their savings in 1843

Conclusion

Recommendation

Appendix

Sample letter from Gladstone’s to the shipping agent and reply

Excerpts from the Hill-Coolies

References

Samples from Savitri’s Garden

PART II – TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

PART III – OTHER WORKS BY FISAL ALLY

Samples from Signature With Love

Samples from The Adventure of the Cottonfield Kid

Samples from The Cottonfield Kids Mysteries

Some original songs by Fisal Ally

The Author

PART I

DEBUNKED THE USE OF THE LABEL COOLIE

IN GUYANA

DIAGRAM - January 1838. Two ships the Whitby and Hesperus, left India from the Port of Kolkata with 437 Indians, heading towards Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and stopped at the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa for restocking, and then towards South America for British Guiana (Guyana).

THREE DEFINITIONS TO KNOW

WHO WERE THE INDIANS ON THE TWO SHIPS LEAVING from the Port of Kolkata, emigrating to British Guiana Guyana in 1838 to labor on the sugar plantations? Which definition / category below do think the Indians that were on the two ships belongs to?

INSTRUCTIONS - Read the definitions below, and write down your answer to the question above.

Three Definitions used to assist in explaining the misconceptions of who the Indians were that had entered British Guiana Guyana on May 5, 1838, where they were already given the label coolie / hill-coolie, before entering Guyana. The three definitions will be expanded in the pages to come, bringing more clarifications to this topic.

1) Coolies – Baggage carriers, doorkeepers, porters, cleaners where many are from the lowest castes, such as the Sudra caste.

2) Coolies – Agricultural laborers that do agriculture work on the indigo plantations and farms in India.

3) Indians of various classes – Indian workers from many classes and not just from the one class known as the coolie class.

From the definitions given above, you should be able to come up with an answer to the question above, depending on your understanding of who the Indians were. Write down your answer. If you don’t know, take a guess, and write it down. The wording of the definitions above will vary slightly from the ones in the Trilogy. But they are more or less the same.

Good luck on your quest for knowledge. Keep your original answer in a place where you will find it. As you turn the pages, if you realize that you have the wrong answer, then write down your new answer. As you continue reading, if your answer continues to change, write it down. Send us an email telling us about your experience from this study, and any questions or suggestions which you may have. Through this study guide, I will expand on the definitions, bringing more clarifications…Fisal Ally

INTRODUCTION

THIS STUDY GUIDE MAKES CLARIFICATIONS ON THE misconceptions of the term coolie used in Guyana. As the love story and events in the novels in the Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden unfolds, knowledge is presented to teach the history of the Indian laborers.

In general, similar clarifications on the misconceptions in this study guide and in the novels can also be applied to Jamaica, Trinidad, and the other islands in the Caribbean where the Indian laborers had entered to cultivate the sugar plantations. Similar analyses can be carried out to clarify the misconceptions of the Indians that had entered many other countries in the 1800s and 1900s where the term ‘coolie’ was use or is still being used.

During my research over the years, I have linked many pieces of information from many sources. I came up with three definitions that place the Indians in three categories. Everyone is aware of the first definition. I came up with two other definitions based on my research to assist us in our learning, and for explaining who the Indians were that had entered British Guiana in 1838, and where they came from in India.

We must be clear that not everyone in India were labeled as coolies. In India people were grouped into classes, such as the coolie class of workers because of the type of work they performed. We must also ask questions such as, who were the Indians that had boarded the ships? Which class or classes they came from? What part of India they came from? It is important to understand who were labeled as coolies, and who were not labeled as coolies in India. It does not mean because a person had ended up on a ship heading to the colonies that that person was a coolie in India or should now be called coolie. For example, an Indian doctor on the ship treating the Indian emigrants on the ship was not labeled as a coolie. We are all aware that the term, coolie, was generalized to all Indians that had entered British Guiana, but that does not make the use of the term correct. In Guiana, there were people from many backgrounds arriving at the same time the Indians were arriving to work as indentured laborers, such as the Portuguese, new Africans from Africa, Maltese and later the Chinese, but they were not given the label coolie, and many were also paid cheaply; they were doing the type of work on the sugar plantations as the Indians did.

Many had already discredited the use of the term coolie. In this study guide and in the trilogy, I had taken the time to present how I’ve also discredited (debunked) the incorrect use of the term, coolie in Guyana.

To make these clarifications, I often use the labels coolie and hill-coolie for explaining and for demonstration purposes only. This study guide is based on the time period from 1836 to 1843. Since the majority of the first group of Indians had emigrated through the Port of Kolkata in 1838 from the northern region of India, I have only discussed Kolkata—and not Madras or Bombay—to make these clarifications. Indian emigration from Madras to British Guiana had begun in 1845 through the Port of Madras, which is not discussed in this study guide.

The samples provided in this study guide came from the Trilogy of Savitri’s Garden and was modified, and may be modified in upcoming revisions. As mentioned earlier, the spellings of Calcutta and Kolkata, Guiana and Guyana, and other names such as Hindustan and India are used interchangeably.

HOW INDIAN EMIGRATION BEGAN BRITISH GUIANA

IN 1836, JOHN GLADSTONE OF ENGLAND HAD REQUESTED laborers for his plantations in British Guiana because slavery was coming to an end and there would be a shortage of laborers to upkeep production on his plantations. Below is a sample of the letter from the Kolkata shipping agent, Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co. to John Gladstone:

"The tribe that is found to suit best in the Mauritius is from the hills to the north o Calcutta, and the men of which are all well-limbed and active…. The Hill tribes, known by the name of Dhangurs…In sending men to such a distance, it would of course be necessary to be more particular in selecting them….

(Source of sample: Copy of letter from Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co. To John Gladstone, Esq. Calcutta, 6 June, 1836, also see appendix for a copy.)

According to the letter, when it comes to exporting laborers from the Port of Kolkata to work in the British colonies in agriculture, the shipping agent had discussed sending the hardy agricultural laborers known as the Dhangurs that were skilled and experienced in agriculture to get the work done efficiently and timely. The Dhangurs were also in demand by the planters in Mauritius to cultivate their sugar plantations.

An excerpt from chapter 8 explains the three definitions and categories I had grouped the Indian workers in India into.

Indian Ocean—Monday, March 5, 1838

Mary, let the shippers, their agents and their duffadars figure it out for themselves. You and I cannot save the whole world.

If each one of us makes a little bit of a difference, the world shall be saved.

And—and why are we talking about that young lady again?

Learning of the deceptions and kidnappings to supply the British colonies with Indian laborers had made her upset. She regretted boarding the ship and traveling to British Guiana. A few seconds went by and she had a sudden