Historical Organization
British India
British India
Details
Organization Timeline
British India targets Aden as an imperial station
📅 1837After a British ship was wrecked near Aden, British officials used the incident and the port’s strategic position to press for control. British India sought a coaling and naval station on the route to...
British forces seize Aden
📅 19 January 1839A British naval and military force captured Aden and annexed it to British India. The occupation secured a strategic port at the mouth of the Red Sea and was part of Britain’s wider imperial network...
The Netherlands and Britain ratify the migration agreement
📅 10 February 1872On 10 February 1872, the Netherlands ratified its 1870 agreement with Britain governing the emigration of so-called free workers from British India to Suriname. This legal framework made it possible...
Lalla Rookh departs Calcutta with contracted workers
📅 26 February 1873The ship Lalla Rookh left Calcutta on 26 February 1873 carrying the first group of British Indian contract workers and their families bound for Suriname. Their migration followed Dutch planning to...
First British Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname
📅 5 June 1873On 5 June 1873 Lalla Rookh arrived with 399 surviving passengers, including men, women, and children, who were assigned to plantations. Their arrival helped form the Hindostani Surinamese community....
Lalla Rookh brings the first large Hindostani contract-worker group
📅 5 June 1873The ship Lalla Rookh reached Suriname on 5 June 1873. The official account states that 410 people departed and 11 died during the voyage; 399 arrived, comprising 279 men, 70 women, 32 boys, and 18...
The Bengal arrives with another contract cohort
📅 8 July 1873The Bengal arrived on 8 July 1873 with the next recorded group of Hindostani contract workers. The colonial immigration registers assigned the arrivals serial contract numbers, connecting people to...
Yorkshire arrival expands recruitment from British India
📅 25 August 1873On 25 August 1873, the Yorkshire brought another group of contract workers from British India. The National Archives ship list associates this arrival with hundreds of contract numbers. Read together,...
Mangalore arrives during the first year of contract migration
📅 8 November 1873The Mangalore arrived in Suriname on 8 November 1873 with a further group of Hindostani workers. Their registration numbers became an enduring administrative identity, and records continued to be...
Calcutta brings the fifth recorded 1873 arrival
📅 25 November 1873The ship Calcutta arrived on 25 November 1873, completing five recorded ship arrivals from British India in the first year of the main migration system. The contract numbers run sequentially across...
Howrah arrives as recruitment continues
📅 8 April 1874The Howrah arrived on 8 April 1874, extending the recruitment stream begun the previous year. Colonial authorities recorded workers in immigration registers and assigned them to employers. Contract...
Dewa marks the final Hindostani contract-worker ship arrival
📅 24 May 1916The Dewa arrived on 24 May 1916 with the final recorded group of Hindostani contract workers from British India. More than 34,000 people had arrived under the recruitment system since 1873. The...
Anglo-Afghan Treaty recognizes Afghanistan’s foreign-policy independence
📅 8 August 1919The Rawalpindi treaty ended the Third Anglo-Afghan War and recognized Afghanistan’s right to conduct its own foreign relations. It followed a British attempt to preserve imperial control over the...
Rawalpindi Treaty ends the Third Anglo-Afghan War
📅 8 August 1919Afghanistan and Britain signed the Rawalpindi treaty after fighting on the imperial frontier. The settlement reopened trade and followed a British decision to recognize Afghanistan’s freedom to...