Lalla Rookh, the first ship that brought Indian indentured labour to Suriname from Calcutta leaves behind a bitter-sweet legacy

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The ship Lalla Rookh which transported the first batch of Indian immigrants to Suriname to work as indentured labourers in the Dutch plantations (Pic. Courtesy Twitter/@urbandesiwomen)

History is full of twists and turns, making one wonder if events in future can be ever predicted. Take for instance the movement of indentured Indian labourers to Suriname, a tropical country located on the north eastern Atlantic coast of South America, a majority of whom refused to return even after the expiry of their contract!

With the Netherlands abolishing slavery on July 1, 1863, the plantations in Suriname – a Dutch colony – faced huge labour shortage. Consequently, the Dutch colonialists tapped imperial Britain to make up for the shortfall at the farms. The result -- an immigration treaty between the two was drafted in 1870 to streamline flow of Indian labour to the Caribbean.

It was on June 5, 1873, 149 years ago, that the first ship Lalla Rookh with 399 emigrants from Calcutta landed at Suriname’s Nieuw Amsterdam. For the next 50 years these ships went ahead with their perilous voyages, during which Indians mainly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, landed in the Dutch colony braving several debilitating diseases enroute. The ship started its voyage February 26 with 410 passengers of whom 11 died.

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