Abstract
This article aims to look at the realities of Indian life in Deli tobacco plantations throughout 1872-1900. By using a research method that combines the historical study of East Sumatra plantation communities with the study of Indian coolies photos in the area taken from the Digital Collections Leiden University Libraries website, the reality of Indian coolies' life has never been written by Indonesian historians. The daily reality of Indians captured in photographs is the everyday side of working in Deli tobacco plantations. Differentiation of work, appearance, and settlement based on race is a picture of their lives while living on plantations. While working on plantations, Indian coolies earned an inadequate wage and had to bear the tremendous burden of life. Through photo narration, it can be understood how the reality of daily life of Indians in East Sumatra, which is currently a marginalized group in Indonesian history textbooks.
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