First Freely Elected President
Cheddi Jagan
Guyana's first freely elected President (1992). A descendant of Girmitiyas from Port Mourant.
British Guiana (Guyana)
(South America)
From 1838, the Caribbean's second-largest Girmitiya colony, 238,909 labourers on sugar estates.
British Guiana (now Guyana) received 238,909 Indian indentured labourers between 1838 and 1916. The Gladstone Experiment of 1838 brought the first wave, transforming coastal sugar estates and creating one of the largest Indo-Caribbean communities.
Major Historical Events
1838
5 May, Whitby and Hesperus arrived in Berbice. The first Indians landed in the Caribbean.
1838
Men earned 25 cents per day, women 16 cents. Leaving the estate without permission was a criminal offence.
1900
Indians became the largest ethnic group. They transformed Guyana into a major rice-exporting nation.
1916
Indenture system abolished. A total of 238,909 Girmitiyas came to this colony.
From 1838, the Caribbean's second-largest Girmitiya colony, 238,909 labourers on sugar estates.
British Guiana (now Guyana) received 238,909 Indian indentured labourers between 1838 and 1916. The Gladstone Experiment of 1838 brought the first wave, transforming coastal sugar estates and creating one of the largest Indo-Caribbean communities.
Major Historical Events
1838
5 May, Whitby and Hesperus arrived in Berbice. The first Indians landed in the Caribbean.
1838
Men earned 25 cents per day, women 16 cents. Leaving the estate without permission was a criminal offence.
1900
Indians became the largest ethnic group. They transformed Guyana into a major rice-exporting nation.
1916
Indenture system abolished. A total of 238,909 Girmitiyas came to this colony.
1838 to 1916
Period
238,909
Total Arrivals
South America
Region
Key Girmitiya Figures
Official Documents & Reports
The Des Voeux Commission Report
Authored by George W. Des Voeux