About the Prize

In memory of late Professor Brij V. Lal (1952–2021), the Lal family has established an annual Brij V. Lal Prize of £1000 for the best published article in any academic journal covering the broad subject of Indian indentureship, Girmit and Girmitya, and its legacies.

Reflecting Brij’s academic interests and extensive body of publications on this broad subject, this Prize will underscore Brij’s emphasis on originality, academic rigour and in research and writing, as well as a depth of understanding and passion about historical or contemporary lived experience of Girmitiyas living in Indo-African -Caribbean-Pacific countries, and their global diasporic communities.

Call for Submissions and criteria

The Prize will be awarded for the best article published in a journal in 2025. Submissions comparing Indian indenture with other forms of unfree labour or with other racial categories of indentured labourers will be accepted so long as Indian indentured labourers are integral to the discussion. 

‘Legacies’ is taken to mean the experiences of the diasporic descendants of the original indentured migrants – in other words, broader diasporic issues of relevance to the general readership of the indenture legacy. Submissions on the ‘twice banished’ or the ‘twice migrants’ (e.g. Fiji and Uganda) are welcome.

Fiction and creative writing are not eligible for submission and neither are book chapters or interviews. Submissions must be in the English-language. 

The judges will privilege conceptually sophisticated submissions as well as empirically-based submissions drawn from rigorous analysis of archival records and/or field observations, and which demonstrate a fine literary sensibility. We strongly encourage submissions that prioritize clarity of expression. Please be advised that the judging panel places a high premium on readability and intelligibility; articles that are difficult to follow or overly opaque will be at a distinct competitive disadvantage during the evaluation process. 

Only articles with a 2025 publication date (i.e. assigned to a specific volume and issue of a journal) are eligible for the 2026 Prize. We cannot accept ‘early view’, ‘first view’, ‘latest article’ or ‘advance access’ essays that remain unassigned to a volume, regardless of their online availability. These can be entered for the 2027 Prize.

Entries can be submitted by the author, or by a third party with the author’s agreement, to bvlprize@gmail.com. 

Co-authored articles are welcome. A maximum of two essays published in 2025 may be submitted by the same author. 

A PDF of the entry should be provided. 

Closing date of submissions is 31th May 2026. The winner will be announced on 21st August 2026 to coincide with Brij’s date of birth