In this valuable historical study of one of the smaller Indian communities in the Caribbean, Verene Shepherd explores the contrary tendencies towards cultural absorption and cultural autonomy which can be seen in the history of the group.

The role of population size and density, the availability of economic 'niches', the activity of missionaries and educators and the attitudes of the wider society are examined as contexts within which the Indo-Jamaican community worked out its destiny. Chapters on indenture, patterns of rural and urban settlement, education, economic activity and political participation provide comparative standpoints for looking at variations within the total Indo-Caribbean experience.

Verene Shepherd lectures in history at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. She is co-editor of Caribbean Slave Society and Economy: A Student Reader.