30/05/2023
FATEL RAZACK
The ship, Fatel Razack, was not European, but likely Indian built and owned by an Indian merchant, Abdol Razack Dugman, a resident of Calcutta.
Fatel Razack (Fath Al Razack, Victory of Allah the Provider, Arabic: قتح الرزاق) was the first ship to bring indentured labourers from India to Trinidad. The ship was built in Aprenade for a trader named Ibrahim Bin Yussef, an Indian Muslim merchant in Bombay. It was constructed from teak and had a carrying capacity of 415 tons. The ship was used for transporting Haj pilgrims from India to and from Arabia, Indian labourers to Mauritius, trade between Britain and the Persian Gulf as well as in the India-China trade.
When the British decided they were going to bring Indians to Trinidad in 1845, most of the traditional British ship owners did not wish to be involved. The confusion as to the proper name possibly stems from the name "Futtle Razak", which was on the ship's manifest.
The ship was originally named Cecrops, but upon delivery it was renamed to Fath Al Razack. The ship left Calcutta on 16 February 1845 and landed in the Gulf of Paria on 30 May 1845, with 227 immigrants. The ship, surprisingly, made only one voyage to Trinidad, the historic 1845 trip. The voyage took 3 months.
Dr. Dennison Moore write the book; .
The first Indians to Trinidad..
It should be of interest to bo historians and lay readers with an interest in the migration of East Indians to the Caribbean in general and the 1845 arrival of the first East Indians in Trinidad in particular. The book is well-researched, well-argued and superbly written. The research includes official correspondence between the British Government of India and the Colonial Office, as well as the Governor of Trinidad and the Colonial Office with regard to the migration of the first East Indians. In addition the book benefitted from the Diary and private papers of Captain Rundle, and details of the ship construction and handling.
Captain Rundle (1818-1899) had remarkable careers on both sea and land. He rose from being a ship’s boy to a full and duly certified captain. After leaving the merchant navy, he worked as an Engineer for the East India Railway Company, mainly as a bridge-builder, and later as Superintendent of Canal Works and Canal Agent with the then Government of India building the historical irrigation works in the Punjab., and even later still as the Chief Engineer of the principality of Kapurthala, whose Rajah held him in high esteem and regarded him a close friend. After his retirement, unlike most British officials who typically retired to England, he chose to remain in India and lived in Dharmsala, with the Himalayas as a background. He died there at the ripe old age of 81 in that era, and is buried in the Cemetery of the Church of St. John in the Wilderness.
