Nepali Coolie c. 1910.
A Nepalese load carrier. Coolies were mainly Chinese and South Asian unskilled labourers in the 19th century and early 20th century who worked for a company as contract workers or day labourers. They were mainly employed on plantations, in coal mines, as porters or for other low-paid physical labour.
The word Kuli or Coolie has survived in various countries as a term for luggage trolleys (Kofferkuli) at railway stations. It can be used in a derogatory sense when referring to people.
Source: Views of Darjeeling: With typical native portraits and groups by J. Burlington Smith.
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