I glanced at the article.
Calcutta was the seat of the British Raj. Famine was rampant and ppl were walking skeletons throughout Bihar. They travelled to Calcutta seeking assistance whoever could make the trek.
The first of set Indians sought a way out of the misery. They took an advance payment and were logded at Garden Reach before setting sail.
The recruitment was not meant for the ppl that lived on the plains. The aim was for the ppl living on the hills. I think the British wanted the hills for cultivations. By the time it came around to ship the Dhangars there were not many to fullfil the contract for Gladstone. Many had moved on to tea plantations and Mauritius.
It is the same historical accounts as told by the ppl on the logies.
Examination of the history of what was taking place in Bihar at the time would tell a different story why ppl left Bhojpur. The farming system were transformed by the Islamic conquerers, taxation was in the form of the harvest handled by a person appointed by the nawab. When the muslim lost control, the British really taxed the Indians, many only worked to pay the taxes.
It is a long story. The Brahmins never permitted the hindus travel to beyond the Saraswati and the Ganges. So for a hindu to decide to abandon those commandments it had to be real bad.
I knew a few Indians who were indentured in the last years. In 1954, atleast two returned back to calcutta, leaving their children behind.