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The vast majority of indentured labourers in Guyana came from North India, most notably the Bhojpur and Awadh regions in the Hindi Belt of the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. A significant minority also came from Southern India. [1] Among the immigrants, there were also labourers from other parts of South Asia.
In Guyana the holiday is celebrated in May commemorating the first arrival of indentured labourers from India to the country, on May 5, 1838. On this day, the workers arrived in Guyana to work in sugar plantations. Their descendants today comprise 44 per cent of Guyana's population of over 750,000. [11]
The two largest ethnic groups in Guyana and Suriname are Indians, who are largely descended from indentured labourers from the Bhojpuri regions of India, with smaller numbers from South India; and Africans, descendants of enslaved West Africans brought to the region during colonial times.
Guyana saw major slave rebellions in 1763 and 1823. Following the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa were freed, resulting in plantations contracting indentured workers, mainly from India. Eventually, these Indians joined forces with Afro-Guyanese to demand equal rights in government and society.
The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than 1.6 million workers [1] from British India were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labour, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th century.
Between 1835 and 1918, 341,600 indentured labourers were imported into British Guyana from India. [4] From 1852, Christian missionaries attempted to convert East Indians during the indentured servitude period, but this was met with little success. In response to Christian proselytizing, Hindu priests and monks began administering spiritual ...
The largest ethnic group are the Indo-Guyanese, the descendants of indentured labourers from India, who make up 39.8% of the population, according to the 2012 census. [10] They are followed by the Afro-Guyanese, the descendants of enslaved labourers from Africa, who constitute 29.3. Guyanese of mixed heritage make up 19.9%.
The first numbers of Chinese arrived in British Guiana in 1853, forming an important minority of the indentured workforce. After their indenture, many who stayed on in Guyana came to be known as successful retailers, with considerable integration with the local culture.