Barbadians

Barbadians, often contracted as Bajans (pronounced ), are people who are identified with the country of Barbados, by being citizens or their descendants in the Bajan diaspora. The connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bajans, several (or all) of those connections exist and are collectively the source of their identity. Bajans are a multi-ethnic and multicultural society of various ethnic, religious and national origins; therefore Bajans do not necessarily equate their ethnicity with their Bajan nationality.

==History== The earliest inhabitants of Barbados were indigenous Kalinago (Caribs) and Arawaks from South America. Between 1536 and 1550, Spanish raiders regularly seized large numbers of indigenous Taino and Kalinago from Barbados to be used as slave labour on regional plantations. This prompted the Kalinago to flee the island for other Caribbean destinations such as Dominica and St Vincent. The first European settlement on Barbados were English colonists. Africans were brought to Barbados during the slave trade. The Portuguese also colonized the island. The English founded a settlement between 1627 and 1628, and Barbados stayed continuously under London’s control until gaining independence in 1966, making it the only Caribbean island that did not change hands during the turbulent colonial period. The island’s early population mainly consisted of English farmers who grew tobacco, cotton, ginger, and indigo. Labor was supplied by European indentured servants or Irish prisoners until the sugar industry began in the 1640s. Sugar cultivation was introduced by Dutch settlers from the Dutch Brazilian territories. Since plantation farming required more laborers than Europe could provide, African slaves were brought in. Eventually, Africans became the largest group in Barbados after slavery. The English Civil War led to many Parliamentarians and Royalists relocating to Barbados. The increasing number of slaves and their harsh living conditions sparked the first slave revolt in 1675. Slavery caused many former European workers to leave, mostly moving to the Carolinas including North Carolina and South Carolina and Jamaica. The island thrived as the English elite gained influence in the British Parliament. Throughout the 18th century, sugar remained the dominant industry, and in 1795, the British government established a permanent military force to defend the island and suppress slave uprisings.