When the Uganda Railway was completed in 1901, the British colonial authorities expected the majority of the 32,000 Indian labourers to be repatriated to India. However, thousands of these workers chose to remain in East Africa. These men made a conscious decision to transition from temporary labourers to permanent settlers, shifting from railway work to trade and commerce. This decision was pivotal in establishing the foundations of the South Asian business community in colonial Kenya.
The Repatriation Plan
The official plan was simple: workers were recruited on fixed-term contracts, expected to complete the railway, and then return to India. The colonial authorities budgeted for repatriation costs and organized the return of a significant portion of the workforce. However, approximately 6,000 to 10,000 Indian workers chose not to take the passage back.
Motivations for Staying
Several factors motivated workers to remain. First, many realized that returning to India meant a return to poverty and limited opportunities. In East Africa, even as labourers with modest savings, they possessed more capital than they would have had in India. Second, the British colonial authorities, recognizing the economic utility of maintaining an Indian labour force, began offering incentives for workers to stay. Third, some workers had already begun informal trading ventures during their time on the railway, glimpsing opportunities in commerce.
Transition from Railway Labour to Trade
The transformation from railway worker to shopkeeper was neither automatic nor easy. Former labourers needed capital to establish shops, credit arrangements with suppliers, and connections to wholesale networks. Established Indian traders who had arrived independently, particularly Gujarati merchants, played a crucial role in facilitating this transition. They provided credit, mentorship, and access to supply networks for those former labourers with entrepreneurial ambitions.
Early Shop Ownership
By 1905, former railway workers were establishing small shops (dukas) throughout the interior of Kenya. These were typically modest enterprises selling basic commodities: salt, sugar, tea, cloth, kerosene, and other everyday goods. Many were located in small market centers that had grown up around railway stations. These early shopkeepers served both the remaining European settlers and the growing African population.
Social Status and Integration
The transition from labourer to trader represented a significant change in social status within the emerging Indian community. Those who successfully established shops moved into the merchant class and began to separate themselves from the remaining labourers. Over time, these distinctions solidified into distinct social hierarchies within the Indian community, with traders enjoying higher status and wealth than wage labourers.
Establishment of Permanent Communities
With their decision to stay and establish shops, these former railway workers became the nuclei of permanent Indian settlements. They brought families from India, built homes near their shops, and began to participate in community religious and social activities. By the 1920s, these had developed into established Indian quarters in towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu.
See Also
- Indian Labourers and the Railway
- Indians and the Uganda Railway
- Indian Traders and the Duka
- Asians in Colonial Kenya
- Asians in Kenya
- Index
Sources
- Gregory, Robert G. (1993). "South Asians in East Africa: An Economic and Social History." Westview Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/
- Mangat, Jagjit S. (1969). "A History of the Asians in East Africa: c. 1886 to 1945." Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/
- Rana, Junaid (2011). "Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in the South Asian Diaspora." Duke University Press. https://www.dukeupress.edu/