Ephemeral Mobility

critical appraisal of the facets of indian migration and the maistry mediation in Burma (c. 1880-1940)

Resumen

The significance of Burma to the history of global and Indian migration
can be understood by the fact that it was the destination accounting for
the largest mobility of Indian migrants during the century 1830s-1930s.
This article is an attempt to complicate the parameters which have
conventionally defined the characteristics of Indian migration during
the colonial period. Broadly, it is also attempted to challenge and deconstruct
the Eurocentric perceptions on non-European migrations in
the global migration framework, by focussing on the quality, quantity,
stimulating agency and nature of the colonial Indian migration. To do
so, the article delves into analysing the content, pattern, nature and
functioning of the informally regulated maistry system, which mediated
the recruitment of Indian labour and their supervision in Burma
through networks of “kin-intermediary” called maistry.