On the fifth of May, in the year 1838, the first set of ships traveling from Calcutta, India with a cargo of indentured laborers, arrived in Guyana, South America. Over a period of 80 years, 239 000 indentured, Indian laborers would be brought to Guyana and most would give up their rights to return to their home country in exchange for the promise of land. The Indian immigrants brought new religions and traditions with them overseas. About 84% of the Indian immigrants brought to Guyana were Hindus representing various castes (Reporter, 2014). In the 1960s, descendants of Indian laborers began migrating to North America, forming a population of Guyanese Hindus in some larger Canadian and American cities (Jayawardena, 1968). The diaspora of Indians in the nineteenth century resulted in an evolved version of the caste system overseas that would positively affect Hindu traditions and rituals in Guyana but, would later create separation among Guyanese Hindus and Indian Hindus in North America.
To examine the evolution of the caste system in Guyana, it is important to first understand the caste system that existed in nineteenth-century India, and the effects this system had on some Hindu traditions and rituals at the time. First of all, there are four main castes, which are believed to have originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation. From Brahma’s head come the Brahmins, who are primarily priests, teachers, and intellectuals. Next are the Kshatriyas from Brahma’s arms, and they are the warriors and rulers. Thirdly, are the Vaishyas, who are farmers, traders, and merchants created from Brahma’s thighs. From Brahma’s feet come the Shudras who are primarily laborers. There is also a fifth group, referred to as outcastes, tasked with what was considered the worst of the available jobs (BBC, 2019).
It is suggested that the caste system was such an integral part of nineteenth-century India because the British colonial rulers were intent on setting hard boundaries that could easily be governed, thus they encouraged the social order. The British encouragement led to further privilege of the upper castes and repression of the lower castes, something that was not necessarily as prominent prior to this century, as the caste system was more flexible (BBC, 2019). Caste dictated where one could live, whom one could accept food from, religious rights, whom could marry whom, life cycle rites, and more. The focus on the caste system in India during the nineteenth century meant that each caste would typically live segregated from one other. Further, anyone could accept food from a Brahmin, but a Brahmin should not accept certain kinds of food from any lower castes. In some places, only the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas were allowed to make offerings to the gods. The outcastes were not allowed to enter temples and if their shadow touched a Brahmin, that Brahmin would be considered polluted. Marriages between people of different castes were also strongly discouraged, so arranged marriages were common to ensure this did not happen. In terms of certain life cycle rites, different castes had different rites. For example, young boys born into a higher caste were able to participate in the ritual that would make them twice-born (Olcott, 1944).
The examples mentioned previously depict how caste caused a separation in nineteenth-century India that lacked equality yet, the system was meant to provide religious guidance. In the Bhagavad Gita, caste is mentioned, and it relays the message that fulfilling one’s duties according to their caste is a part of one’s dharma, and thus must be adhered to. Traditionally the caste system provided devotees with a way of life to follow in order to get closer to liberation, thus Hindus were likely to get on board with the more rigid system the British colonial rulers implemented without focusing on the negative effects. The negativity surrounding the nineteenth-century caste system is further depicted through the suggestion that when completing immigration documentation to become a laborer, some Indians would allege that they were of a higher caste, possibly as a way to avoid the negative outcomes that came with being born into a lower caste at the time (Moore, 1977).
When the first set of indentured laborers departed from India, the caste system already started to evolve and separate from the system in India. For some of the higher castes, it was said that crossing the Black Waters, or Kali Pani in Hindi, would pollute those individuals, yet there was still a percentage of Hindus who identified as one of the higher castes on those ships (O'Callaghan, 1998). Further, getting laborers onto the ships sometimes required force, thus ships were filled with Indians of all castes who shared a common experience making the caste system they were accustomed to more or less irrelevant right from the beginning of their journeys. When the indentured Indian laborers arrived in Guyana, even if they were not of the caste of farmers, they were required to work on sugar plantations based on their abilities and performance, further straying away from the typical caste system of nineteenth-century India. Laborers of all castes used the same facilities and lived amongst each other; thus, the caste system once again was less relevant. There was no option to live in communities separated based on caste, so this practice was left in India. Due to the small number of female laborers in comparison to males, marrying someone of the same caste was less likely, thus inter-caste marriages became more frequent and less taboo (Moore, 1977). The healthy interaction of individuals in the community regardless of caste was a positive part of the evolution of the caste system in Guyana.
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It is suggested that the reason caste distinctions were not considered as much in the Hindu community in Guyana, was because of an urge to come together as one community due to the large presence of other religions, such as Christianity, in the country. Even so, it is important to note that although the caste system became less relevant because of the conditions in which indentured laborers lived, the jobs and tasks that they were required to complete, and the threat of other religions; the system still existed. Indentured Brahmin laborers brought copies of the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Mahabharata on board the ships that brought them to their job sites. For this reason, Brahmins were able to play an important role in teaching their peers and providing them with the knowledge that deterred the efforts of Christian missionaries in Guyana who were trying to convert the new residents of the country. Brahmins also began to accept and eat food from members of lower castes, they were gurus to lower castes who provided them with religious guidance in their own homes, further deterring the efforts of missionaries (Shiwcharan, 1990). The previous is a positive example of how the caste system that was brought to Guyana helped the Indian immigrants create an identity and community for themselves in a new country, as opposed to conforming and losing their roots completely. This sense of community that did not require completely giving up one’s religion would have been important to a group of people in a new and unfamiliar country, facing the turmoil that came with working and living in harsh conditions. The Ramayana would resonate with Hindus working on plantations is Guyana, as they could relate to facing hardships in order to commit to their duty, to their dharma. The connection that Ramayana would lead Guyanese Hindus to stray away from dharma in terms of the duties outlined by caste and towards dharma in terms of one’s duties to their families, their bosses, and themselves (Shiwcharan, 1990).
There is evidence that says many indentured laborers chose not to go back to their homeland after completing their work term because they had broken many of the rules outlined by the caste system (Jayawardena, 1968). Thus, Hindu temples were erected in Guyana, but the only restriction relating to caste was that a twice-born Brahmin should be the leader of these temples. The indentured system resulted in a redefinition of Hinduism outside of India that brought the community together as one thus influencing the traditions and rituals in the new country. There was once again room for flexibility in the evolved caste system that brought Guyanese Hindus together as opposed to segregating them from one another. The Hindu community celebrated festivals such as Diwali and Holi together as one and continues to do so in Guyana to this day (Reporter, 2014).
Descendants of the indentured laborers in Guyana would eventually begin to immigrate to North America in the 1960s in search of a better life (Ally, 1990). This journey to a new country was now under their own individual terms, and this meant that the Hindus would continue to bring their religion with them. The caste system that existed in Guyana has trickled down to North American cities and there is still a focus on being one community as opposed to being separated based on caste. Rules about eating, drinking, and general interactions are not often followed, as this practice had already been made common by the Hindus of Guyana. Brahmins will still take on the roles of teachers and gurus at local North American temples, but everyone is welcome, with no question as to whether or not a person has the right to be there. When it comes to weddings, marrying within one’s caste is not the ultimate goal. Caste still plays a role in a marriage ceremony in that the colour a bride and groom wear will sometimes reflect the caste in which they were born into. Young boys of higher castes still participate in the ceremony that will make them twice-born.
In North America, Hindus of Guyanese descent tend to band together in the cities in which they have settled; however, this statement is not true of North American Hindus as a whole. Hindus who migrated to Canada straight from India hold very different viewpoints from the Hindus that migrated from Guyana. Although the ancestors of the two groups would have originated from the same country, there is separation because of the way the caste system developed in Guyana in comparison to its development in India. For example, discrimination based on caste was only banded in India in 1948 whereas in Guyana the caste system would have evolved into something less discriminatory almost one hundred years earlier (Cohn & Singer, 1970). In India, caste is still a very important part of Hindu tradition, and thus the practices of Guyanese Hindus are sometimes seen as less than for not abiding by the caste system to the same extent, further creating a divide. It seems that the restructuring of the caste system had a positive impact on the indentured laborers of Guyana; however, when Indians and Guyanese Indians both settled in North America, the different viewpoints made uniting the communities of Hindus very difficult. There are many articles from Guyanese North Americans who share their stories of the struggle to fit in with Indians who do not believe that the descendants of indentured laborers are real Indians at all (Berger, 2004) (Jaikaran, 2017). The negative is the major disconnect that many Guyanese Hindus in North America feel from their roots as a result of such different developments of an integral part of the Hindu religion.
Although the development of the caste system in nineteenth-century Guyana helped the indentured Hindu laborers face the turmoil that came with settling in a new country, this difference in development would create a separation between the Hindus of Guyana and the Hindus of India during later immigration to North America. The development of the caste system as a result of the diaspora of Indians to Guyana would have both a positive and negative impact on Hindu communities overseas. Traditions and rituals would go through minor changes, but otherwise remain somewhat the same throughout the immigration from India to Guyana and then to Canada but, there would still be a separation that seems to largely stem from the development of this ancient system in Hinduism.
Works Cited
- Ally, Bruce. (1990). Indo-Caribbean Life in Guyana and Toronto: A Comparative Survey. Retrieved from https://archives.studentscommission.ca/magic/mt25.html
- BBC (2019). What is India's caste system? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616.
- Berger, J. (2004). Indian, Twice Removed. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/nyregion/indian-twice-removed.html.
- Cohn, B. S., & Singer, M. B. (1970). Structure and change in Indian society. Chicago: Aldine.
- Jaikaran, Elizabeth (2017). The Indo-Caribbean Experience: Now and Then. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-indocaribbean-experie_b_8799132.
- Jayawardena, C. (1968). Migration and Social Change: A Survey of Indian Communities Overseas. Geographical Review, 58(3), 426-449. doi:10.2307/212565.
- Moore, B. (1977). The Retention of Caste Notions among the Indian Immigrants in British Guiana during the Nineteenth Century. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 19(1), 96-107. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/177986.
- O'Callaghan, Marion (1998). 'Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora in Trinidad,' Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 11, Article 5. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1178.
- Olcott, Mason. (1944). The Caste System of India. American Sociological Review, 9(6), 648-657. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/2085128.
- Reporter, S. (2014). The Long Journey: From India to Guyana. Retrieved from http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/05/the-long-journey-from-india-to-guyana.
- Shiwcharan, Clement. (1990). Indians in British Guiana, 1919-1929: A Study in Effort and Achievement. Retrieved from http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2700/1/WRAP_THESIS_Shiwcharan_1990.pdf
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