Cambridge sets up fellowship in indentureship studies

THE University of Cambridge has created a visiting fellowship in the study of indentureship, a system that replaced slavery in the British Empire.

According to historical accounts, more than 1.6 million Indian workers were transported to European colonies as a substitute for slave labour.

Cambridge said in a statement that its constituent Selwyn College, which collaborated with the Ameena Gafoor Institute for the fellowship, has appointed professor Gaiutra Bahadur as the Ramesh and Leela Narain visiting bye-fellow for the studies.

Bahadur, who teaches at Rutgers University’s Newark campus, is known for her scholarly book, Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture, which narrates the history of indentured Indian women in colonial plantations in the 19th century.

Published in 2013, the book was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize a year later and won the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Award for Prose.

The Guyanese-American author said she was “honoured and delighted” about her new role.

“When I first began doing research in this area, the funding just wasn’t there, so it was in many ways a labour of love. That’s why I’m so happy to see there’s now visibility and funding like this to help future researchers.”

Cambridge hoped that enough funding would be raised to establish a permanent professorship in indentureship which was recommended by the university’s Advisory Group on the Legacies of Enslavement.

Ameena Gafoor Institute director David Dabydeen said Cambirdge’s move meant bringing the study of indentureship “from the margins to the very centre” after being “barely been included in the history syllabi of British and European universities”.