A Nepalese load carrier (Coolie, Kuli) c. 1910.

Kuli, Coolie, Nepal, Nepalese, load, carrier, porter,  Burlington Smith,
A Nepalese load carrier, Coolie c. 1910.

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.

Illustration, damasks, ornament

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