The first Javanese contract workers arrive in Suriname

The 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...

The 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...

The 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...

On 24 September 1884, Hindostani laborers at the sugar plantation Zorg en Hoop protested severe tasks and low payments. A confrontation followed after an overseer judged the assigned work incomplete...

On 26 September 1884, colonial forces fired on resisting workers at Zorg en Hoop. Janey Tetary, a Hindostani woman who helped mobilize other women in the resistance, was shot and killed along with six...

The 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...

On 28 June 1902, 137 workers at plantation Alliance—100 Hindostani and 37 Javanese—stopped work and went to Frederiksdorp to present grievances. They objected to excessive tasks, low wages, and the...

On 29 June 1902, officials arrested Jumpa Raygaroo after workers had returned to Alliance from their protest. Fellow workers demanded his release, and a confrontation escalated around the official...

On 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...

On 27 July 1902, a group of reed cutters refused a work task paid at 15 cents per bed. Management proposed a higher rate for the longest beds, but workers considered the offer inadequate. Their...