SS Dewa - The last ship to bring Indian indentured servants to Jamaica


This article is about the SS Dewa, the last ship to bring Indian indentured servants to Jamaica.


On June 9, 1916, the SS Dewa arrived with the last set of Indian indentured servants for Jamaica.

On June 9, 1916, the SS Dewa arrived with the last set of Indian indentured servants for Jamaica.

The last ship to bring Indian indentured servants to Jamaica was the SS Dewa that landed on June 9, 1916.

An article from the Jamaica Gleaner noted that it departed from Madras, India. 350 Indians were from Calcutta and 250 were from Madras.

They were sent to quarantine and treated for hookworm.

The article concluded: “The immigration Agent at Madras has written to the Government here saying that he is exercising great care in the selection of the coolies so as to ensure that only persons accustomed to agricultural labour are sent here.”

The only other online reference that I found indicated that this ship might have stopped in Suriname on May 24, 1916.

This newspaper article was kindly sent to me by Djamil Ninsoo @douglabwoy_.

This article was about the SS Dewa, the last ship to bring Indian indentured servants to Jamaica.

By Melissa D. Goolsarran Ramnauth, Esq. | This content is copyright of West Indian Diplomacy, LLC and may not be reproduced without permission.

She runs West Indian Diplomacy, a Caribbean blog aimed at promoting West Indian history and business in the global marketplace.

Melissa has been an attorney for over 10 years. She currently focuses on trademark registration, trademark searches, and office actions. She also has extensive legal experience in the areas of trademarks, copyrights, contracts, and business formations. She owns her own Trademark Law Firm that is virtually based out of Fort Lauderdale.


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