Patterns of Internal Labour Migrations in Colonial Madras Presidency (Andhra),1845–1930

The study of labour migration requires combining the skills and approaches of scholars from several disciplines such as anthropology, demography, economics, sociology, law, political science, and history. Migration between one area and another within the same country as also between one country and another can be traced back to the pre-modern period. It continues to be an important socio-economic phenomenon in most parts of the world. However, in Europe, North America, Latin America and Africa, more than the internal movement of people, the international angle has captured the imagination of scholars interested in migration studies. In India, migration of both the varieties is distinctly traceable to the nineteenth century through the colonial archives. It is evident that the country witnessed the mass migration of Indian labourers into overseas territories for meeting the labour required by the transnational capitalists who expanded their influence into underdeveloped countries. The discussion of that is beyond the scope of this paper.