The Architecture of Indenture
The Indian presence in South Africa came through various routes. The best-known migration is that of Indian indentured workers to the plantations, railways, coal mines, and domestic service of colonial Natal between 1860 and 1911 numbering 152 184 souls transported on 384 ships. While those numbers might sound large, they pale in comparison to the massive upheaval in African societies in Southern Africa during this period. Part of the cultural heritage of the Asian and African communities in South Africa is their housing and religious practice, in both urban and rural areas, built for the Asian immigrant workers and African wage labourers. While Some physical records remain, guides to Durban architecture make little or no reference to these sites of conscience. This presentation aims to focus on the architecture of indenture and its impact on the built environment of Durban
