#TodayInHistory The first Indian immigrants to Trinidad and Tobago arrive in 1845, on the Fatel Razack, creating the Indian diaspora there. Most of them laborers bought to work on the large sugarcane plantations there owned by British.

Ironically it was the abolition of slavery that bought Indians to Trinidad and Tobago as indentured labor. Basically the sugarcane plantations were faced with a shortage of labor, to make up for it, the British came up with a system of indentured labor.

While there were Chinese too, the majority of the indentured labor bought to Trinidad and Tobago, were primarily Indians, and this period from 1845 to 1917, saw around 147,000 Indians being bought to work on the sugarcane plantations.

Honestly speaking, this "indentured" system was another form of slavery. People were made to sign a contract for 5 years, wages were as low as 25 cents a day, most of the Indian laborers were forcibly retained, contracts kept getting extended to 10 years.

The Indian laborers bought to Trinidad were initially segregated, as per the crown laws, they had to carry a special pass with them, if they ventured outside the plantations, or "Freed Papers" in case their contract was over. It was pretty much slavery in another form.

In order to retain the Indian labor in Trinidad and Tobago, the British plantation owners began to offer them land, settling them across the islands. It was these Indians who started the diaspora in Trinidad, one of the largest in the world now.

Collapse of sugarcane industry during the 1920s, 30s led to many Indian workers losing their jobs, and in a way led to the rise of the Labor movement there. This was led by Arthur Cipriani and Uriah Butler, involving both the Indians as well as Blacks in Trindidad.

However with the British aided by the local Trinidad elite, cracking down on the Labor movement, and instigating diffferences between the Blacks and Indian settlers, it soon collapsed. However with dependency on oil, things took a different turn.

Of the Indian immigrants to Trinidad and Tobago, 50% of them were primarily from the North West and Western UP regions, 24.4% were Awadhi, 13.5% from Bihar, while the rest were primarily from Punjab, Bengal and Madras, creating a mixed culture.

Also inter racial relations and marriages between Indian and Chinese immigrants in Trinidad became common. Even now common to find many families there which are kind of mixed Indo-Chinese ancestry. There were also marriages between Indo-Europeans too

Of the Indian immigrants to Trinidad, majority were Hindus. As per latest census, even now Hinduism(49%) is the dominant religion among Indians there, however good number of Muslims too(11.64), the rest are primarily Xtians of different orders, mostly Pentecostal. Roman Catholic

However Hinduism is the 2nd largest religion in Trinidad and Tobago, and you have had politicians of Hindu-India origin being elected there, some as PM too. In fact politically the Hindu-Indian block in Trinidad is quite influential and almost all parties are pro Hindu.

Again it was not easy journey, in the early days, Hindu cultural display was frowned upon or mocked at. For quite a long time, Indians were basically second class citizens there, however a long struggle saw them being accepted and many laws passed for their benefit.

However Hinduphobia is prevalent in some way or other in Trinidad, often portrayed as backward and miserly. Even in most of the books, there was a lot of negative representation about the Hindus, predominantly during the 1980s, leading to large protests

During the 1986 General Election there was a hue and cry over absence of Gita and Quran for oath taking, as well as absence of any Hindu religious texts at the President's official residence which led to resentment and protests by Hindus there.

The major Hindu group in Trinidad is the Sanathan Dharma Mahasabha, that operates over 150 temples, over 50 schools, has it's own FM station Radio Jaagriti, and it's own TV Channel too called Jagriti. Founded in 1881 for the Hindus there, it's one of the oldest

The other major Hindu groups in Trinidad and Tobago are Arya Samaj, Chinmaya Mission, Satya Sai Baba group, ISKCON, Ramakrishna Math, Prarthana Samaj, but Sanathan Dharma Mahasabha, is the predominant one.

Dipavali and Holi( called as Phagwah there) are public holidays in Trindad and Tobago. Apart from that there are celebrations of Ganesh Puja, Ram Navami, Krishnasthami, Chatth Puja, Mahashivratri, Dussehra, in fact almost all Hindu fesitvals.

One more thing caste distinctions in Trinidad Hindus are almost negligible, much like the Indian diaspora in the Carribean. It could do with the fact that the number of women were lesser among the immigrants, leading to more inter-caste, inter-racial marriage

Trinidad and Tobago have a large number of Hindu temples, around 150 odd on the island. The Karyasiddhi Hanuman Statue at Dattareya Mandir in Carapichaima is quite well known. Cremation was allowed in 1953 and there are around 3 sites on the island.

One of the most famous Indo Trinidadians to date is V.S.Naipaul, the Nobel Prize winning author, whose novel A House for Mr.Biswas is one of the best works ever. He belongs to the Capildeo family, that is known for it's thinkers, writers, mathematicians.

Another famous Indo-Trinidadian is Parvati Khan, remember that Jimmy Jimmy song from Disco Dancer. She is married to son of Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza, scriptwriter of Mahabharat TV series.

Indo- Trindians have come up with their own form of music called as Chutney Music, basically a mix of Bhojpuri and local forms like calypso, soca, use a form of language called Carribean Hindustani. Extensive use of Dholak and Harmonium.

Diwali Nagar is one of the largest Diwali celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago, at Chauganas, started in 1986. Indian Arrival Day too is celebrated with great fanfare here.

Among the Indo-Trinidadians, who made a mark in politics, Basudeo Panday was the most well known. The first person of Indian origin to become Prime Minister, former Chairman of United National Congress, served as PM from 1995 ro 2001.

Among the ones who made a mark in cricket were Dinesh Ramadin, Sunil Narine, Darren Ganga, Ravi Rampaul.
And we had Robin Singh who represented India in many matches.