Indian Arrival Day in 2024

When is Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago?

Indian Arrival Day is a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago on 30 May.

If 30 May falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the immediately following Monday.

Indian Arrival Day marks the arrival of the first Indian workers in Trinidad in 1845.

History of Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago

Slavery had been abolished in the British controlled parts of the Caribbean in August 1834. This led to a lack of a supply of workers.

To replace the slaves, Britain started a process of using indentured labour. Effectively indentured workers would work like slaves, but only for the term of their contract, after which they would be freed and in many cases, given some land.

The Indian subcontinent proved to be a plentiful source of labourers, looking to escape the poverty and forge a new life overseas.

The first ship to Trinidad was the Fatel Razack, which left Calcutta on 16 February 1845 and landed in the Gulf of Paria on 30 May 1845, with 227 immigrants onboard. By the time the practice of indentureship was finally banned in 1917, over 147,000 Indians had arrived in Trinidad.

By 1945, people of Indian descent accounted for 35 per cent of the national population. To mark the centenary of the arrival of the Indians and their positive effect on the culture of Trinidad and how they have embraced their new homeland, the first Indian Emigration Day was celebrated.

In 1995, Prime Minister Patrick Manning formally declared May 30 as an annual public holiday for Indian Arrival Day.