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Origin and history of coolie

coolie(n.)

name given by Europeans to hired native laborers employed in menial work in India and China, c. 1600, according to OED from Hindi quli "hired servant," probably from kuli, name of an aboriginal tribe or caste in Gujarat. The name was picked up by the Portuguese, who used it in southern India (where by coincidence kuli in Tamil meant "hire") and in China.

also from c. 1600

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Trends of coolie

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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