Legacy of an Indian migrant in Surinam
Shubha Singh
Describes the lives of the first generation of Indian indentured labourers in Surinam
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN INDIAN INDENTURED LABOURER - Munshi Rahman Khan (1874-1972): Translated by Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff, Ellen Bal and Alok Deo Singh in English; Shipra Publications, 115 A, Vikas Marg, Shakarpur, Delhi-110092. Rs. 495.
Over one and a half million Indians went overseas to earn a living as indentured workers in the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries to Burma, Malaya, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific islands.
Munshi Rahman Khan (1874-1972) was one of the indentured workers, who went to Surinam, but he was an unusual migrant for he kept a diary of his life's experiences. His diary is a fascinating account of the lives of the early migrants.
Khan lived to the ripe old age of 98 years through a period of tremendous changes. He is remembered in Surinam as a poet and was knighted by Queen Juliana of The Netherlands in 1951 for his literary qualities. He was an unusual man, for unlike the majority of indentured workers, he was educated and well-versed in the Ramayana.
Voyage abroad
He was born in Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, (in the then United Provinces) studied up to middle school and became a teacher (munshi) in a government school but his restless and inquiring spirit took him to Kanpur to see the famed Ramlila in the city. There he met two recruiters who offered him a supervisory job in Surinam and he fell victim to the recruiters' tales.
Khan recorded the vast changes that took place in the lives of the migrants as they embarked on the voyage abroad, how the indentured migrants learned to live together and how the Hindus dropped their caste inhibitions and practices, and began eating in the common kitchen. His story relates how Indians lived on the plantations, the new experiences, the troubles, and the voodoo and black magic practised in the region.
He came into confrontation with the authorities on the plantation but his intrinsic abilities came to be recognised and he was offered the position of Sardar of the workers. Among the Indian workers, he was regarded as a Pandit and his knowledge of the Ramayana made him a popular teacher in Surinam.
Autobiography
This book is a valuable one for there is little published material in English about the Indian experience in Surinam. The autobiography is divided into four sections or volumes as they have been termed in the book.
The first volume deals with his life in village Bharkhari, Hamirpur district in the United Provinces till his departure to Surinam, the second is about his experiences under indenture, and the third is about making a living in Surinam. The fourth is shorter but it deals with a painful period for the Indian community and Khan personally. It gives an account of the breakdown of the harmony forged during the indenture days, of how the Hindus got divided into different sects, and the communal differences that arose between the Hindus and the Muslims. The early migrants shared a way of life with similar traditions and evolved a common language for themselves. But later arrivals brought with them the differences that were developing between the Hindus and the Muslims in India. The arrival of Arya Samaj preachers in Surinam, in 1929, caused a rift in the Hindu community, between the followers of Sanatana Dharma and the Arya Samaj.
Translation
A few years later, the Arya Samaj preachers led a boycott of the Muslims that put an end to the close social and cultural contacts that had existed within the Indian community. It was a difficult time for the author for he was no longer welcomed as a `vidwan' among the Hindus or asked to recite the Vedas.
The autobiography was first published in a Dutch translation for the commemoration of the 130th anniversary of the Indian arrival in Surinam. It has now been translated into English by Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff, Ellen Bal and Alok Deo Singh. The translators have performed a valuable service by adding an introduction that provides a brief background to the Indian migration to Surinam and an interpretation of the legacy of Munshi Rahman Khan, poet, writer and `vidwan'.
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