Portrayal of Indentured Labour in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies

Abstract

Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer best known for his English fiction. His novels   Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire are popularly known as Ibis trilogy. Ibis is the name of the schooner that carried indentured labourers and convicts from India to Mauritius. Ghosh trilogy is a historical saga which narrates the opium war history elaborately. The historical context of the novels also focus on the Indentured labour system prevailed. Sea of Poppies (SoP) brings out the hidden histories of indentured labourers. Their stay at depots and sea travel portray the sufferings of the ‘grimityas’. Ghosh brings out the social discriminations and ill treatments of the poor labourers thorough his powerful narration. The paper aims to reveal the portrayal of Indentured labour in the first volume of the Ibis trilogy.