Coolie Migrants, Indian Diplomacy

Name: Coolie Migrants, Indian Diplomacy
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ISBN: 9781805262978

Caste, Class and Indenture Abroad, 1914–67

Kalathmika Natarajan

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English

C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
13 February 2026

General & world history

Uncovers the remarkable role of emigration, particularly of indentured labourers, in forging independent India's foreign relations.

Over the centuries, millions of migrant labourers sailed from the Indian subcontinent, across the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, to shape what is now the world's largest diaspora. This book recovers the histories and legacies of those 'coolie' migrants, and presents a new paradigm for the diplomatic history of independent India, going beyond high politics to explore how indenture, emigration and international relations became entangled.

Before and after independence, Indian notions of the international realm as a sanctified space were shaped by migrant journeys; this was a space of anxiety in which to negotiate the 'coolie stain' on the country's reputation. Discourse was defined by intersections of caste, class, race and gender

and framed the migrant worker as the quintessential 'other' of Indian diplomacy.

Drawing on rich, multi-archival analysis spanning the vast geographies of labour migration, Kalathmika Natarajan pieces together the stories of quarantine camps en route to Ceylon; cultural and educational missions in the Caribbean; discretionary passport policies in India; and the mediation of immigrant life in Britain. The result is a nuanced history from the interwar period to the decades after independence, and a critical analysis centring both caste and the negotiation of 'undesirable' mobility as foundational to Indian diplomacy.

By: Kalathmika Natarajan
Imprint: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781805262978
ISBN 10: 1805262971
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 13 February 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kalathmika Natarajan is Lecturer in Modern South Asian History at the University of Exeter. Her interdisciplinary research combines critical approaches to diplomatic history and South Asian migration. She has worked at the University of Edinburgh, and received her doctoral degree from the University of Copenhagen.

Reviews for Coolie Migrants, Indian Diplomacy: Caste, Class and Indenture Abroad, 1914–67

‘A remarkable, pathbreaking work—one of the finest takes on Indian diplomacy to have published for years, with enormous significance for historical and contemporary understanding. This exceptional archival study will herald a new wave of scholarship.’ -- <b>Vineet Thakur, Assistant Professor of History, Leiden University, and author of <i>Postscripts on Independence: Foreign Policy Discourses in India and South Africa</i></b>