Historical Organization
Suriname
Suriname
Details
Organization Timeline
Arawak reinforcements arrive from Berbice
📅 11 July 1679Eight canoes carrying about 250 Arawaks under the leadership of Warray arrive from Berbice. The Dutch government wants to deploy them against Carib fighters. Hira shows that the Arawaks did not simply...
Colonial proclamation bans slave trading and importation
📅 12 January 1819A proclamation issued in Suriname on 12 January 1819 prohibited fitting out slave ships, participating in the trade, and importing enslaved people into American Dutch possessions. It restricted...
Betje Steltman
📅 6 November 1832The Suriname manumission index records Betje’s release on 6 November 1832. Her entry names her mother as well as the estate and people who stood surety. The required guarantee of 400 guilders...
Artist Gerrit Schouten makes portraits of three condemned men
📅 24 January 1833Two days before their execution, Gerrit Schouten visited Kodjo, Mentor, and Present in custody and drew ink portraits of them. Historian Natalie Zemon Davis notes the portraits show individual...
Laurentius Haarlo is manumitted
📅 3 July 1833On 3 July 1833, Laurentius Haarlo was manumitted. The National Archives identifies him as the son of Fanny Haarlo and records that he later petitioned to change his surname to Thijm. His record...
Annaatje Visser is recorded as Anna Visser
📅 23 April 1844On 23 April 1844, Annaatje was manumitted and recorded with the name Anna Visser. The entry identifies her owner as J.G. Balfour van Burleigh and preserves a resolution number. The change from...
Emelina Sophia Reewe is manumitted as a child
📅 8 June 1858The index records the manumission of Sophietje, later listed as Emelina Sophia Reewe, on 8 June 1858. Born in 1856, she was the daughter of Truytje. Her owner, S.L. Reewer, requested freedom for...
Johan Alfarez is manumitted while still a child
📅 15 October 1858Johan was recorded as manumitted on 15 October 1858. Born around 1847, he was a child when freed, and the archive names Saraatje as his mother. The request was made by I.A. Alvares while J.C. Anches...
Johannis Marius Mehciz, a tailor, gains freedom
📅 13 November 1858On 13 November 1858, Johannis was manumitted and entered as Johannis Marius Mehciz. The record identifies him as a tailor and as the son of Leentje. It associates the petition with his owner, the...
Theodorus Stam is manumitted from Catharina Sophia
📅 12 May 1862A record dated 12 May 1862 lists Doris, registered as Theodorus Stam, as manumitted from the government-owned plantation Catharina Sophia. Born in 1808, he had lived most of his life under slavery...
Gustaaf Theodorus Prener is manumitted as a child
📅 12 December 1862Gustaaf Theodorus Prener, born in 1861, was manumitted on 12 December 1862. The entry records Anna as his mother. This release came only months before general emancipation, but it did not make the...
George Frits Prix is manumitted through a freedom purchase
📅 9 April 1863The archive records George Frits Prix, born in 1841 and the son of Louisa, as manumitted on 9 April 1863. J.H. Kruse acted “for freedom,” and the record lists George as a house servant. This...
Slavery is abolished in Suriname and the Caribbean
📅 1 July 1863About 45,000 people were legally freed. Suriname’s emancipated population remained under state supervision and compulsory labor until 1873. Former owners received compensation; the people whose...
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...
The first Javanese contract workers arrive in Suriname
📅 9 August 1890On 9 August 1890, the first recorded Javanese contract workers arrived in Paramaribo aboard the Prins Alexander and Prins Willem II. The experiment placed them at Mariënburg, where they joined an...
A new Javanese cohort arrives aboard Voorwaarts
📅 16 June 1894The steamship Voorwaarts arrived on 16 June 1894 with the second major recorded Javanese cohort in the National Archives ship chronology. Recruitment from Java was still experimental, but it became...
Mariënburg workers stop work over wages and labor conditions
📅 2 July 1902On 2 July 1902, workers at Mariënburg were in open conflict with management over low pay and demanding work. Earlier disputes included reduced payment per work task and an unresolved demand for higher...
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...
Javanese recruitment continues after Indian recruitment ends
📅 10 January 1917On 10 January 1917, the Javanese ship Rotti arrived in Suriname with a new cohort of contract workers. The date came months after the final Hindostani ship, showing that the colonial labor system...
Kota Gede brings the final recorded Javanese migration group
📅 13 December 1939On 13 December 1939, the Kota Gede arrivals began their contracts in Suriname, marking the end of the recorded Javanese migration stream. The National Archives counts 32,965 Javanese arrivals from...