ABSTRACT
The key persons in the migration story were the arkatiyas or recruiters of Indian labourers to work in the sugar plantations of Suriname, Mauritius and other European colonies. The arkatiyas were the direct recruiters of Indian labourers who had a wide network in the villages and kasbahs of North India and operated during feasts, melas, open-air traditional shows, pilgrimages and so on, where a large number of people used to gather. The arkatiyas presented an image of being gentlemen with well-starched clothes. The manner in which candidates were recruited by arkatiyas can be understood from the documentation of Munshi Rahman Khan, mentioned by Gautam, who was taken to Suriname in the early twentieth century. The movement of the migrants by train to their depots was not as much of a trauma as the moment when they embarked on the ship. The journey by ship was a grim foreboding of the misfortune awaiting the coolies in the colonial plantations.
