Sirdars as Intermediaries in Nineteenth-century Indian Ocean Indentured Labour Migration

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3617006
AutoresCrispin Bates (0000-0002-1978-5106, University of Edinburgh, autor correspondente), Marina Carter (University of Edinburgh)
Ano2017
Volume51
Fascículo2
Páginas462-484
Data de publicação2017-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x16000238
OpenAlexW2528836111
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas10

The sirdar (also termed sardar and jobber in Indian historiography)-foreman, recruiter, at once a labour leader and an important intermediary figure for the employers of labour both in India and in the sugar colonies-is reassessed in this article. Tithankar Roy's thoughtful 2007 article looked at how the sirdars' multiple roles represent an incorporation of traditional authority in a modern setting, giving rise to certain contradictions. In 2010 Samita Sen, conversely, developed Rajnarayan Chandavarkar's argument about the use of labour intermediaries in colonial India to reveal how, in the case of the Assam tea plantations, the nexus between contractors and sirdars belies the 'benign' role often accorded to the intermediary within narratives from the tea industry. This article provides examples from the overseas labour destinations in the Indian Ocean region, particularly Mauritius, to further develop and nuance the debate, through an assessment of the complexity of sirdari roles in the colonial Indian labour diaspora

Argument (complex analysis · Art · Biology · Colonialism · Diaspora · Economics · Economy · Historiography · Indian ocean · Intermediary · Literature · Narrative · Nexus (standard · Political science · Sociology · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Economic Zones and Regional Development · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law