Girmitiyas, (Kaithi: , ) also known as Jahazis (Hindustani: , ) or Jahajis (), were indentured labourers from British India transported to work on plantations in Fiji, South Africa, Mauritius, and the Caribbean (namely Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, Suriname and Jamaica) as part of the Indian indenture system.
The word girmit represented an Indian pronunciation of the English word "agreement" - from the indenture "agreement" of the British Government with labourers from the Indian subcontinent. The agreements specified the workers' length of stay in foreign parts and the conditions attached to their return to British India. In Indic (Indo-Aryan) languages such as Hindustani, the word JahÃÂz (), which is sometimes pronounced as JahÃÂj in certain languages such as Maithili, means 'ship' (from the Arabic/Persian JahÃÂz/ ìÃÂçò), with Jahazi implying 'people of ship' or 'people coming via ship'. These Indian-origin labourers referred to one another as à ¤Âà ¤¹à ¤¾à ¤Âà ¤¼à ¥ à ¤Âà ¤¾à ¤ jahÃÂzë bhai (ship brother) or à ¤Âà ¤¹à ¤¾à ¤Âà ¤¼à ¥ à ¤¬à ¥Âà ¤¹à ¥Âà ¤¨ jahÃÂzë behen (ship sister), reflecting the brotherly and sisterly bonds made on their voyage from India to the West.
Many GirmitiyasâÂÂindentured labourers taken from British India came from marginalised and lower-caste backgrounds, including a significant number from the Chamar caste. Facing entrenched discrimination, poverty, and limited opportunities in India, they were often drawn by misleading promises of better livelihoods abroad. As a result, they formed an important yet frequently overlooked segment of the indentured workforce in regions such as Fiji, Mauritius, and the Caribbean.
In Fiji, Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon discouraged Melanesian Fijians from working on the plantations in an attempt to preserve their culture. Activist Shaneel Lal argues that Girmitiya were deceitfully enslaved by the British.