Controlling ‘Coolies’: A Handbook for the Surgeons Superintendent of the Coolie Emigration Service by James M. Laing, Edited with an Introduction by Ashutosh Kumar
From The Colonial Emigration Archives
Controlling ‘Coolies’: A Handbook for the Surgeons Superintendent of the Coolie Emigration Service
AUTHOR- James M. Laing
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY: Ashutosh Kumar
| HB ₹695 |
||
INFORMATION
- EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY : Ashutosh Kumar
- HB ISBN : 978-93-7795-689-9
- Year : 2026
- Extent : 128
- Discount available on checkout
- Usually dispatched within 3 to 5 working days.
Controlling ‘Coolies’ comprises a notable handbook written in 1889 by James M. Laing, an experienced surgeon involved in the transportation of ‘coolie’ labour from India to the sugar-producing colonies. This manual provides information and instructions for newly appointed surgeons superintendent regarding their professional duties on board ‘coolie ships’. It also offers material on how colonial surgeons could ‘control’ indentured labourers during sea voyages—such as how to punish them in case of violation of orders. The significance of this book lies in understanding the functioning of the indentured labour regime and the encounters between the British and the ‘coolies’ on the ocean or Kala Pani.
The Author
Ashutosh Kumar is Professor of History at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has been Visiting Professor at Harvard University and fellow at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Yale University, USA; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi; Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla; and has also received the SEPHIS Fellowship during his PhD. He has published numerous books and articles. His most recent publications include Coolies of the Empire: Indentured Indians in the Sugar Colonies, 1830–1920 (2017); The Indian Labour Diaspora (co-authored with Crispin Bates, 2017); and Girmitiyas and Global Indian Diaspora: Origins, Memories and Identities (2024).