Dutch-British agreement sets terms for Indian contract migration

Carel Albert Elshot was recorded as manumitted on 31 October 1862, the year of his birth. The archive identifies Charlotte as his mother and notes that he had a brother, Fredericus Wilhelmus. A...

Gustaaf 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...

The 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...

On 22 May 1863, Jacquelina Henrietta Grave was manumitted from plantation Barbados in Beneden Cottica. Born in 1855, she was eight years old and the daughter of Elisabeth Louisa Grave. J. Bronner...

On 1 July 1863, the Dutch law emancipated enslaved people in Suriname. The National Archives estimates roughly 45,000 people were freed across the Dutch Caribbean that day. In Suriname, adults aged...

The treaty enabling recruitment of workers from British India was ratified on 10 February 1872, allowing recruitment to proceed. Workers were promised return passage, medical care, and limits on...

On 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...

The 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...

On 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....

The 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...