Dutch settlement in Pulicat was used to trade Indian slaves.
We all know about the dark history of African slavery but
how many of us know about the plight of Indian slaves?
For most of the 16th and 17th centuries ,
Europeans on the Coromandal coast were extensively involved
in trading, brokering and shipment of slaves from India to
Ceylon (old name of srilanka)and the West Indies.
The Dutch were "the nexus of an enormous slave trade"
and between 1621 and 1665 alone, used 131 ships to
transport 38,441 Indian slaves.
The slaves were given different chores - from cleaning clothes,
repairing ships to agriculture/plantation work. Missionaries even
used them for carrying them into hinterlands in a palanquin.
Several men, women and children died in the slave-carrying vessels
as human cargo were thrown into the sea.
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN PULICAT :
We all know about the dark history of African slavery but
how many of us know about the plight of Indian slaves?
For most of the 16th and 17th centuries ,
Europeans on the Coromandal coast were extensively involved
in trading, brokering and shipment of slaves from India to
Ceylon (old name of srilanka)and the West Indies.
The Dutch were "the nexus of an enormous slave trade"
and between 1621 and 1665 alone, used 131 ships to
transport 38,441 Indian slaves.
The slaves were given different chores - from cleaning clothes,
repairing ships to agriculture/plantation work. Missionaries even
used them for carrying them into hinterlands in a palanquin.
Several men, women and children died in the slave-carrying vessels
as human cargo were thrown into the sea.
DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN PULICAT :
