Indian Arrival Day is a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago on 30 May which marks the arrival of the first Indian workers in Trinidad in 1845.

Slavery had been abolished in the British controlled parts of the Caribbean in August 1834. This led to a lack of supply of workers. To replace the slaves, Britain started a process of using indentured labor. Effectively indentured workers would work as slaves.

The Indian subcontinent proved to be a plentiful source of laborers, looking to escape poverty and forge a new life overseas. The first ship to Trinidad was the Fatel Razack, which left Calcutta on 16 February 1845 and landed in the Gulf of Paria on 30 May 1845, with 227 immigrants on-board. By the time the practice of indentureship was finally banned in 1917, over 147,000 Indians had arrived in Trinidad.

To mark their contribution to the country, the Trinidad and Tobago Post issued a 3 cents stamp in the year 1970. The stamp commemorates the Municipality of San Fernando and depicts East Indian immigrant couple. The stamp has been designed from a painting of Cazbon.

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Image Courtesy: Colnect