Most Indian indentured workers came from:

1. Recruitment followed the regions where rural distress was sharpest. 2. Most Indian indentured workers came from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu. 3. Cottage industries had declined there and land rents had risen. _Source: syllabus Social Science, 'India and the Contemporary World II', Ch 3 'The Making of a Global World'_