ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses annual variations in emigration of indentured labour from northern India to the sugar-producing colonies during the period 1888 to 1911 to see if this international migration was due to excess supply of labour in the areas of its origin. It uses relevant datasets available in India, including some hitherto unused evidence, and evaluates the prevailing views among scholars and colonial officials regarding the issue on grounds of both evidence and theory. This study reveals that the received wisdom is neither based on evidence nor on theory. We propose plausible alternative explanations, which are consistent with the available evidence and theoretical insights regarding labour market and migration. Thus, it makes significant contribution to the literature on the subject of emigration of indentured labour to the overseas sugar colonies and has important implications for the theories of migration and the labour markets.
