[In the late 1800s, in Durban (in the current South Africa),] The Hindus and Christians were called ‘coolies’ or, simply ‘Sami’, from the suffix of many a south Indian name in Natal, derived from the the Sanskrit ‘Swami’ (master). If an Indian had the cheek to answer, ‘You call me master when you say Sami,’ whites would ‘wince’, ‘swear’ or threaten violence.

From Rajmohan Gandhi’s Mohandas
Pg 63