Mahatma Gandhi’s role in ending indentureship — Vishnu Bisram — Opinion

Mahatma Gandhi’s role in ending indentureship

October 8, 2026·4 min read

Dear Editor,

Nearly a hundred and ten years (March/May 1917) after the end of recruitment of indentured labourers from India and nearly 106 years after the abolition of indentureship in British colonies, the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi to the campaign against that dehumanizing system remains an important chapter in the history of India and the making of the Indian diaspora that is spread across the globe. The abolition of indentureship stands as a significant milestone in the history of the Indian diaspora.

The struggle of Gandhi and other Indian freedom fighters was critical in ending that exploitative labour system. Gandhi’s opposition to indentureship developed from his experiences in observing that repressive, predatory labour system in South Africa where he spent considerable years opposing it and the ill-treatment of Indians and Blacks. He led a campaign against racism in South Africa and later became involved in the national campaign in India to end indentureship of Indian laborers overseas.

Indentureship was a system under which Indian workers (girmitiyas) entered contracts to labour for fixed periods in British colonies and other imperial territories (of France, Holland, Denmark). The Indian indentureship period began in 1828 first to (French) Reunion Island where indentureship and slavery existed side by side and where Indians, according to reports, also served as slaves alongside Africans. Indentured labourers were sent to Mauritius in 1834, BritishGuiana in 1838, and other territories thereafter. Some 1.5 million Indians were transported to places including South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, British Guiana, Trinidad, Jamaica, French Guiana, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Belize, St. Croix, Seychelles, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and other colonies. Workers were promised (low) wages and other benefits (that were not delivered especially in British colonies in the Caribbean), and many faced difficult labouring conditions, restrictions on movements and cultural practices, poor nutrition, diseases that killed many, inadequate pay and at times no payment, fines if they ‘violate’ the contract, and very harsh, oppressive treatment. The system became increasingly controversial and was condemned by Indian nationalists (championing India’s independence) as an affront to human dignity. It was criticised for its coercive character as labourers could not venture more than two miles from the estate and the dead (Hindus) could not be cremated. Workers could face penalties for breaches of labour regulations and faced restrictions on movement and difficult working conditions. Reports of abuse and exploitation gradually attracted attention in India and among reformers in the colonies.

Gandhi’s personal experience in South Africa gave him an intimate understanding of the problems faced by indentured labourers and confronting indentured Indians and their descendants overseas.

One of the major issues in South Africa was a burdensome £3 tax imposed on former indentured workers who remained in Natal after completing their contracts. Gandhi opposed the tax because it placed an unfair burden on workers who had completed their period of indenture and wanted to engage in free labour. His wider South African campaign eventually contributed to the abolition of the tax and other measures affecting the Indian community. The 1914 settlement between Gandhi and the White South African authorities not only abolished the £3 tax but also recognized Indian marriages. Recognition of Indian marriages in Guyana and other territories came much later.

Gandhi’s South African experience strengthened his conviction that indentureship had to end altogether. After returning to India in January 1915, he turned his attention to the continuing recruitment of Indian labourers for overseas colonies. He joined the growing campaign against indentured emigration. He was not alone as political leaders, reformers, journalists and community organisations had already been raising concerns about the system. His campaign coincided with growing criticism of indentureship throughout the Caribbean and India. Reports about the conditions of workers overseas had created increasing pressure on the colonial authorities.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, in particular, played an important role in pressing for abolition.^[1] Gandhi’s contribution was to bring additional public energy and moral force to the campaign.

In 1916, the Indian nationalist Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya moved a resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council calling for abolition of indentureship.^[2] Although the British Government indicated that the system would eventually end, Gandhi believed that an indefinite promise was insufficient. He argued that India should demand a definite date for abolition.

In early 1917, Gandhi began a determined campaign to build public opinion against indentured emigration. He travelled to major centres and addressed public meetings, urging Indians to reject a system that he considered degrading to the country’s dignity. CF Andrews, a lay preacher and sympathizer of Indians and a supporter of Gandhi, was sent abroad by the Indian leadership to look into conditions of the indentured labourers.^[3] CF Andrew’s visited Guyana and other colonies. He reported that the indentured labourers and their descendants were treated very poorly. Gandhi himself acknowledged that public agitation and the work of other campaigners were important factors in securing the result.

A significant moment came during Gandhi’s visit to Calcutta in March 1917. At a large public meeting at the Town Hall, he supported demands for the immediate abolition of indentured emigration.^[4] He insisted that India could not continue to tolerate the system while discussions and official procedures were repeatedly used to postpone action. The campaign helped create strong public pressure on the Government.

The British Government subsequently moved towards ending recruitment. The suspension of indentured recruitment was announced in March 1917, although reports say it was May 25, and the system was abolished on January 1, 1920.^[5]

The abolition of indentureship was also the result of the courage and persistence of some of the workers themselves, as well as the efforts of many activists, politicians, journalists and reformers.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

References

Madan Mohan Malaviya — en.wikipedia.org ↩
Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya — www.malaviyamission.org ↩
From Cambridge to Calcutta: C. F. Andrews | Pembroke — www.pem.cam.ac.uk ↩
Abolition of indentured emigration | Gandhi Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth — www.mkgandhi.org ↩
INDENTURED EMIGRATION, INDIA. (Hansard, 4 April 1917) — api.parliament.uk ↩

Madan Mohan Malaviya

en.wikipedia.org

He was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1912 until 1919, when it was converted to the Central Legislative Assembly, of which he remained a member until 1926. [21] Malaviya was an important figure in the Non-cooperation movement. [22] He was opposed to the politics of appeasement and the participation of Congress in the Khilafat movement. ... He is also remembered for his role in ending the Indian indenture system, especially in the Caribbean. His efforts in helping the Indo-Caribbeans is compared to Mahatma Gandhi's efforts of helping Indian South Africans. [39] [40]

Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya

www.malaviyamission.org

My Lord, I beg to move ‘That this Council recommend to the Governor-General-in-Council that early steps be taken for the abolition of the system of Indian Indentured Labour’. It is now nearly eighty years since the system of indentured labour was first introduced in India. It followed in the wake of the abolition of slavery by the British Parliament in British Colonies. That happened in 1834, and at that time the planters in British Colonies, who severely suffered from the total abolition of slavery, tried to get labour from India in order to carry on their work. They could not reconcile themselves to the loss of slave labour, and the object that they had in view was to get persons who would work for them under conditions as favourable to them as they could establish. The Sanderson Committee, which was appointed a few years ago, said that the object of these planters was to re-establish the conditions of labour, so far as they could, which existed when slavery had not been abolished. ‘The aim of the planters who had suffered so severely from the entire discontinuance of slave labour,’ said the Committee, ‘was too often to acquire complete control over the labour market by means of regulations and measures which aimed at compelling the coolie to re-engage himself on the expiry of his indenture rather than encouraging free settlers.’ In consequence of this feeling, the laws relating to Indian immigrants, introduced into several colonies, ‘gradually assumed a complexion less and less favourable to freedom, and, as the report of subsequent Commissions show, they were framed and administered in a spirit of substantial injustice to Indian immigrants.’ Various serious abuses naturally cropped up under this system in different Colonies, and Commissions were ... . The aim of the ... The Council will remember that, in 1910, our late lamented friend, Mr. Gokhale, moved a resolution urging the prohibition of the recruitment of indentured labour for the Colony of Natal. He was convinced even then, as he said, that the system should be done away with altogether. But he was content with urging, at the time, as a prudential measure, the prohibition of indentured labour to Natal, and the Government of India was pleased to accept that recommendation,, and prohibited the supply of indentured labour so far as Natal was concerned. Two years later, he brought forward another resolution urging the total abolition of the system, the evils of which he graphically described, and which he rightly characterized as ‘a monstrous system, iniquitous in itself, based on fraud and maintained by force, a system so wholly opposed to modern sentiments of justice and humanity as to be a grave blot on the civilization of any country that tolerates it.’ ... evils which are inseparable from the system of indentured labour. It is a system which cannot be mended; it is therefore necessary that it should be ended. My Lord, since it was announced that the Government of India had recommended the abolition of this system to the Secretary of State, there has been a great feeling of relief and thankfulness. The system has worked enough moral havoc during 75 years. We cannot think, my Lord, without intense pain and humiliation of the blasted lives of its victims, of the anguish of soul to which our numerous brothers and sisters have been subjected by this system. It is high time that this should be abolished. My Lord, the British Government abolished slavery and paid down 25 million for emancipating the slaves. The Government of India has sacrificed their opium revenue in order to save the Chinese people from its demoralising effects. It is to such a Government that we appeal against the utterly degrading and immoral system of indentured labour, and, I am sure, we do not appeal in vain. I feel confident that Your Excellency’s Government will be pleased, as we humbly beg to recommend, to put an end to this system at as early a date as possible.

Source

Mahatma Gandhi’s role in ending indentureship in Kiskadee Watch, October 8, 2026

From Cambridge to Calcutta: C. F. Andrews | Pembroke

www.pem.cam.ac.uk

Charles Freer Andrews (1890) was a priest and social reformer who studied Classics and Theology at Pembroke. He worked for a time at the Pembroke College Mission in London and then travelled to India, where he became an advocate for Indian independence and a supporter and friend of Mahatma Gandhi. ... In 1913, Andrews made the decision to travel to South Africa. He had been following the efforts of Mohandas K. Gandhi to improve conditions for the Indian labourers working in Natal, and to end the racial discrimination which Gandhi himself had frequently experienced. Upon landing at Durban on January 1st 1914, Andrews immediately approached Gandhi, who had recently been released from prison, and stooped down to touch his feet, a gesture which ‘horrified the Europeans on the quayside’. Gandhi later said of his friendship with Andrews, ‘Nobody probably knew Charlie Andrews as well as I did. When we met in South Africa we simply met as brothers and remained as such to the end.’ Andrews spent the next six weeks with Gandhi, visiting Indian labourers and observing their conditions. He wrote of his time in South Africa, ‘If I go down the street talking with one of my new Indian friends, everyone turns around to have a big stare, and I am buttonholed afterwards by someone who tells me, “Look here, you know. This really won’t do, you know. We don’t do these things in this country.”’ On returning to India later that year, Andrews decided to abandon his role as a missionary; he felt it was incompatible with the wider sphere of work he wished to undertake. He travelled to Fiji in 1915, having heard about the appalling conditions being imposed on Indian labourers on the sugar estates there. Gandhi, in an article in 1919, described the indentured labour system as ‘a state of semi-slavery’, and Andrews, living among the labourers, became convinced that the system had to be abolished. Andrews campaigned steadily for the next decade, and in 1929 the system was finally dismantled. Returning to Fiji in 1936. Andrews joyfully described the change in conditions there: ‘It was as if some great weight had been lifted, and people were breathing again.’ The workers in Fiji nicknamed him Deenabandhu, ‘Friend of the Poor’. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Andrews supported his friend Gandhi in the non-violent struggle for Indian independence. He was at Gandhi’s side during the latter’s ‘Great Fast’ of 1924, prompted by tensions between Muslims and Hindus and the subsequent interventions by the British. In 1931 he accompanied Gandhi on a visit to England, during which Gandhi visited Andrews’s old college and was photographed outside the Master’s Lodge. ... In 1937, Andrews returned to India for the last time, accompanying a sick student. He worked in India for the next three years until becoming ill, in March 1940, and being admitted to the Presidency General Hospital in Calcutta. He died there on April 5th, with Gandhi by his side. His last words reportedly were: ‘Swaraj [‘self-rule’, or ‘independence’] is coming, Mohan. Both Englishmen and Indians can make it come if they will.’ Andrews was buried in the Lower Circular Road Cemetery, Calcutta, where he is commemorated by his nickname of Deenabandhu. He is remembered for his commitment to ending inequality, his work both in Britain and in India in support of Indian independence, and his lifelong stand against racism. His role as Gandhi’s friend and closest supporter is included in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 film Gandhi, where Andrews was portrayed by Ian Charleson.

Abolition of indentured emigration | Gandhi Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth

www.mkgandhi.org

to be moved at the meeting. Dr. Stanley Reed, Sjt. (now Sir) Lallubhai Samaldas, Sjt. Natarajan and Mr. Petit were present at the Committee meeting. The discussion centred round the fixing of the period within which the Government was to be asked to abolish the system. There were three proposals, viz, for abolition 'as soon as possible', abolition 'by the 31st July', and 'immediate abolition'. I was for a definite date, as we could then decide what to do if the Government failed to accede to our request within the time limit. Sjt. Lallubhai was for 'immediate' abolition. He said 'immediate' indicated a shorter period than the 31st July. I explained that the people would not understand the word 'immediate'. If we wanted to get them to do something, they must have a more definite word. Everyone would interpret 'immediate' in his own way - Government one way, the people another way. There was no question of misunderstanding 'the 31st of July', and if nothing was done by that date, we could proceed further. Dr. Reed saw the force of the argument, and ultimately Sjt. Lallubhai also agreed. We adopted the 31st July as the latest date by which the abolition should be announced, a resolution to that effect was passed at the public meeting, and meetings throughout India resolved accordingly. Mrs. Jaiji Petit put all her energies into the organization of a ladies' deputation to the Viceroy. Amongst the ladies from Bombay who formed the deputation, I remember the names of Lady Tata and the late Dilshad Begam. The deputation had a great effect. The Viceroy gave an encouraging reply. I visited Karachi, Calcutta and various other places. There were fine meetings everywhere, and there was unbounded enthusiasm. I had not expected anything like it when the agitation was launched. In those days I used to travel alone, and had therefore wonderful experiences. The C.I.D. men were always after me. But as I had nothing to conceal, they did not molest me, nor did I cause them any trouble. Fortunately I had not then received the stamp of Mahatmaship, though the shout of that name was quite common where people knew me. On one occasion the detectives disturbed me at several stations, asked for my ticket and took down the number. I, of course, readily replied to all questions they asked. My fellow passengers had taken me to be a sadhu or a fakir. When they saw that I was being molested at every station, they were exasperated and swore at the detectives. 'Why are you worrying the poor sadhu for nothing?' they protested. 'Don't you show these scoundrels your ticket,' they said, addressing me. I said to them gently: 'It is no trouble to show them my ticket. They are doing their duty.' The passengers were not satisfied, they evinced more and more sympathy, and strongly objected to this sort of ill- treatment of innocent men. But the detectives were nothing. The real hardship was the third class travelling. My bitterest experience was from Lahore to Delhi. I was going to Calcutta from Karachi via Lahore where I had to change trains. It was impossible to find a place in the train. It was full, and those who could get in did so by sheer force, often sneaking through windows if the doors were locked. I had to reach Calcutta on the date fixed for the meeting, and if I missed this train I could not arrive in time. I had almost given up hope of getting in. No one was willing to accept me, when a porter discovering my plight came to me and said, 'Give me twelve annas and I'll get you a seat.' 'Yes,' said I, 'you shall have twelve annas if you do procure me a seat.' The young man went from carriage to carriage entreating passengers but no one heeded him. As the train was about to start, some passengers said, 'There is no room here, but you can shove him in if you like. He will have to stand.' 'Well?' asked the young porter. I readily agreed, and he shoved me in bodily through the window. Thus I got in and the porter earned his twelve annas. The night was a trial.