CBSE · Class 10 · Social Science · History: The Making of a Global WorldWhat is meant by 'indentured labour'? Describe the conditions of Indian indentured labourers in the nineteenth century.

Indentured labour refers to a bonded labourer under contract to work for an employer for a specific amount of time, to pay off their passage to a new country or home. In the nineteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations, in mines, and in road and railway construction projects around the world. In India, indentured labourers were hired under contracts which promised return travel to India after they had worked five years on their employer's plantation. Most Indian indentured workers came from present-day regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India, and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu. The living and working conditions for these labourers were extremely harsh, with very few legal rights. It was often described as a 'new system of slavery'. If workers tried to escape into the wilds, they faced severe punishment if caught. However, they also developed new forms of individual and collective self-expression, blending cultural forms.