Coolies
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Historical social category.
Coolies is a term historically used for low-wage labourers, typically those of Indian or Chinese descent. The term was first used in the 16th century by European traders across Asia. In the 18th century, it more commonly referred to migrant Indian indentured labourers. In the 19th century, during the British colonial era, the term was adopted for the transportation and employment of Asian labourers via employment contracts on sugar plantations formerly worked by African slaves.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
The Sign of Four (1890)
- Abel White was an Anglo-Indian indigo-planter who hired Jonathan Small as an overseer to look after his coolies (SIGN 2362).
The Dying Detective (1913)
- Sherlock Holmes said he was suffering from a Coolie disease from Sumatra (DYIN 56).
