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~~ ~ ~ W .· ~ Mehra

; r ~ f:/t::L '; f~ I M iranda House, Roll No 2018/3016

~ ~~
HSM-412: History, Culture and Politics in Eastern India

Internal Assessment

of readings, reflect on the

Q) Based on a close reading of a primar y text/te xts from your list
the ninete enth centur y.
various strategies of colonization of northeastern India during

specific focus on the

An enqui ry into the functio ning of the Assam tea plantations with
ly's 'Slavery in British
condition of the labourers throu gh a study of Dwarkanath Gangu
Dominion'

~ ·
if it is not worse than the
"But the position of the labourers in many tea-gardens is almost as bad,
condition of the American Negro slaves before their emancipation ."
K.l. Chattopadhyay , Published
-Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion, Compiled by Prof.
by Sris Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta

ized the transformation of

In the colonial imagination, the spread of tea "gardens" in Assam symbol
ise 1 . With the mobilisation
'wilderness' through the 'civilizing' influence of British capitaf and enterpr
ise was able to supplant
and deployment of labour under the indenture system, this tea enterpr
• However, the expansion
2
China as the leading global exporter by the turn of the twentieth century
sustained by the operation of
of the tea industry was accompanied by greater intensification of work
ed in the columns of the
the penal contract • Through a series of impassioned articles publish
3

Assistant Secretary of the

Bengalee and the Sanjibani, Dwarkanath Ganguly, a Brahmo activist and
a labour system by using the
India Association drew attention to the human costs involved in such
s4 • In this essay, an attempt
very suggestive title ofslavery to describe the conditions of the worker

Tea Plantations of Assam, 1880-

1 Nitin Verma, Coolie Strikes Back: Collective Protest and Action in the Colonial
No. 1 (January 2006). pp. 259-87. With respect
1920, The Indian Economic and Social Historical Review, Vol 33,
upon Jayeeta Sharma 's work writes, "the idyllic
to the use of the term "tea gardens", Elizabeth Kolsky, drawing
reality of the lives of the labourers who
connotations of the term "tea garden" bore no relation to the brutal
ge Univers ity Press, 2010, pg 149.
worked on them. Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice in British India, Cambrid
2 Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice in British India, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pg 162
life': The rise and fall of the
3
Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea and moneyversus human
Peasant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1908, The Journal of
adhyay, Published by Sris
4
Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion, Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattop
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta
r
the
the tea garden labourers in the latter half of
will be made to explore these cond itions of
gh the w ritings
t to living and work ing arrangements, throu
ninet eenth century, from their recru itmen
g other s
Moha patra and Elizabeth Kolsky, who amon
of Ganguly. Works of historians like Prabhu
and
indenture labou r system and the role of law
have looked closely at the funct ionin g of the
get a bette r
be drawn upon in orde r to supp leme nt and
violence on the Assam tea plant ation s will
,~
• ~ 7L-.;A ~ .

~
sense of Gangul~s obse ~ ns.

ctive relations in the tea

G etor~ rka~ h Ganguly' s writings to explore the produ
5 that came to domi nate Uppe r Assam's landscape by
plant ation s or the 'agro-indu strial ' complexes
at how these plao /tt~ came into
. ~ _e.!lJi_Qf tbe ninet eenth centu ry_, it will be
~
o tea m A~ ·
~ i.J / "1i'eing~t fut c f r ~ ~ib~ velro rnfed out1tha~p nor to the " dllco ~
ial officials like Francis Jenkins were stron gly
aRd befor e the British £0Rq1:1est ;f aui n} colon capital.
6
ovem ent'' of Assam with the help of European
advocating a policy of "sett leme nt" and "impr
the "prop erty rights" of the inhab itants of the
A series of land settle ment policies delim ited
gr~cultu ral
by severely restricting th~ir access to non-
Brahmaputra valley and the neighbouring hills
7 lands classified as "was te" ~ ere a ocate d to
comm ons and othe r natural resources • The
to offer
concessional rates and the state was ever ready
the tea plant ation companies at extre mely
ing land ~l.is attv a Kar
even more liberal te~~ ttrac t the plant ers': Aside from direc tly grabb
Assam
joint stock companies inclu ding the famous
~ in a fascii lating essaj ~ES-t10 w ~ veral
d comm un ities
arrangements' with the chiefs of the uplan
/:. P Company enter ed into various 'cont ractu al
..,J.
-~ ~ereby they (the joint stock
~~
companies) agreed to pay cert~in fixed sums

~ rn for availing the resources to which

these communities had claims •
9
of paym ent (called Posa)
l "~ r- )
ir ~ While uncultivated land was abun dantl y availa
ble in Assam and capital was forth comi ng,
10
critical area of concern . Jayeeta Sharma has
labou r
traced the
fl' recru itmen t for tea plant ation s remained a ,
turr~ the
workers for the tea plant ation s befor e the
histo ry of deplo ymen t of diffe rent groups of 1
1)~
Parganas
chiefly from the Chhotanagpur and Santhal
'coolies' or the inden tured labou r recruited ~
of Upper ~
tea growers, the 'lazy' , 'indo lent' inhab itants
(0 These groups included the 'skilled' Chinese
racial
aris from Lower Assam. The afore ment ioned
Assam and the 'prim itiYe' , 'hard work ing' Kach
of these
istent and varied according to the suita bility
attrib utes, Sharma point s out, were never cons 12
work force •
the tea indus try for a comp liant, disciplined
o,1- ~ comm unitie s in adapting to the demands of
as
e these groups of work ers to total submission
V M~ .! ~ Ultim ately , the inabi lity of the plant ers to reduc

of the
and money versus human life': The rise and fall
Lv~~ ana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra (1992) 'Tea nt Studies, 19:3-4 , 142-1 72,
1840-1908, The Journal of Peasa
r indenture system in the Assam tea plantations rn Asian Studies, 43, pp 1287-
and the Assam Tea Industry, Mode
Jayeeta Sharma, 'Lazy' Natives, Coolie Labour,
. .
1324
(r
es in Colonial Assam : A Nineteenth - Century Puzzle Revisited, The
6
Sanjib Baruah, Clash of Resource Use Regim
2001, pp. 109-124
Journal of Peasant Studies, VoL 28, No. 3, April
. '7 ibid icance' of
to the 'ideological richness' and the 'political signif
8 Ibid, Vinay Krishin Gidwani has drawn attention not utilized
oductive' land which could not be taxed or was
•

~ the idea of 'waste.' Thus, it not only signified 'unpr

fic ~ehavi~ural traits associated with such land
use_like
for commercial purposes, b~t also conn~ted s~ec'.

V 'idleness', 'indolent', 'effeminate' etc. Vmay Knshm

Economic and Polit(cal Weekly, Vol.27, No.4, pp.
9 Bodhisattva Kar, Nomadic capital and specu
39-46
lative
Gidwani, 'Waste and the Perm anent Settlement

tribes: A culture of contracts in the Northeaste

l History Review, 53, 1 (2016): 41-67
m Bengal,

rn Frontier

of British India, The Indian Economic and Socia fall of the

'Tea and money versus human life': The rise and
10
Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra (1992) , 142-172
1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-4
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations rn Asian Studie s, 43, pp
and the Assam Tea Industry, Mode
11
Jayeeta Sharma, 'Lazy' Natives, Coolie Labour,
1287-1324
12
ibid
 or non-fulfilment
rt or strike down work in case of low pay
evinced from the latter's tendency to dese th e
m co~ ditions of work mea nt that by the late 1850s, t he tea industry was on
of certain minimu
lookout for other cheap and docile sour
ces of labour13.) JL
Dwarkanath
on the Assam tea gardens in the 1880s,
~ Regarding the composition of workforce
anas (nearly 45%)
ince of Assa m 14
Of thes e emig rant s, the majority came from the Santhal Parg
prov •
ras and Bomba; )
the North-Western Province, Nepal, Mad
while the rest were recruited from Bengal,
shik Ghosh in af'lj ~s~ ~
1

n,. p~ @'~
pref ere~ ce for migr ants ove r local labour merits some attention. Kau15
s of the capitalist logic of the control of
labour • ~ lfas1e't tor
1• - iJ7
artic le expl ains this in term
ter degree of power over dispossessed imm
igrant workers
employers or planters to exercise a grea t po~ tz- eJ
ur to sell and surv ive on' rather than over local ls~our that, 11bt
who had only thei r 'labo 16 raws ~ ttent1on to ,~a
of the loca l resources and landscape . G~osh~
som e acce ss to and know ledg e
thals was itsel f a ~r~
equent migration of groups like the San
the fact that the dispossession and cons new notions
as introduction of 'alien land tenures' 1nd
result of colonial military campaigns as well forced to move in
also resourceless, these Santhalis were
of property. Once rendered homeless and e being
the most physically demanding tasks whil
search of work and could be deployed for 17
and 'hardworking'.
simultaneously glorified as 'industrious'
the Atlantic_and the
labour solution for sugar plantations' in
t 'aving previously been the 'post-slavery were tJsed IA lar:ge
Chottanagpur and Santhal Parganas that
Caribbean, it was the communities from e labour system
18 , from about the mid-1860s, the indentur
_ AfflTi6er5 in the Assam tea gardens • Thus l~ftnf distance and
was transported to the plantations over
%' was put in plac e in Assa m whe re 'labo ur
- specific conditions', as Behal and Moh
apatra put i~ hile the
~~ emp loye d und er cont ract ually
equently, here it may be
fV;., ., impl ications of inde ntur e servitude in Assam will be delved into subs
ion for breach of-contract and granted
widespread
IA .J ~/ mentioned that it entailed criminal prosecut e workers20• Historians like Jan Breman and Elizabeth
F
J.P powers to the planters to punish and disc
argu ed that in the Sou th Asia
iplin
n context, contract was justified as a mea
ns to mobilise a
Kols ky have
provided by
and unresponsive to the opportunities
population that was 'rooted to custom' plantation
were mobilised, they had to be tied to the
capitalism • Ironically, once these migrants
21
22
demands of capitalist production •
through indenture in order to satisfy the
production on the
ess of recruitment and the relations of
This sets the cont.~xt for looking at the proc his articles
as com es acro ss in Gan guly 's writi gs more closely. Since many of
~ p,_-,1 /Jv ~
Assam tea plan tatio ns
o/
~~ -f' -'j ~ ~)--c~
- -- ''-¥ .A.c ...-' \AI, •-·~ d1/ ~
~ tp>"'1 ~
13 ibid T . I
y, Published by Sris ,,: ::: ---
inion, Compiled by Prof. K.L. ciattopadhya
14
Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dom ~
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 2
: Prim itivism and Race Classification in the Inde
ntured Labour ", 7
Prakash and Susie Thar ; / ~
15
Kaushik Ghos h, A Mar ket for Abo riginality
Market of Colonial India in Subaltern Stud
ies Vol. 10, Edited by Gautam Bhadra, Gyan
~ /2 ,.i~
Oxford University Press, pp. 8-48
. .
1
p~ ~ ~ f
.
&' ~

tt
16
fbid. ~' « dc'l&c t, 7 ~
17
Ibid.
~ /JI 2- ~ ~
18
1bid. rise and fall of the ~
19
P. Behal and Prab hu P. Mohapat ra (199 2) 'Tea and money versus human life' : The
Rana ies, 19:3-4, 142-172.
ns 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Stud
indenture system in the Assam tea plantatio e,,,v
20 1bid.
nal of Peasant •f
Co~clusio?: T~e ~a.king o~ a coolie,_ The Jour
Ja~ Bre~an and E. Valen~ine Daniel (1992)
21
e University Press, 2010 ,
Colonial Justice m Bnt,sh lnd,a, Cambridg
Studies, 19.3-4, 268-295. Elizabeth Kolsky, :,l, t.,C ~
pg. 155- 156. .
nal of Peasant - L,J+-J
Conclusion: The making of a coolie, The Jour
Jan Breman and E. Val!!ntine Daniel (1992) l 'h . . .
22
~ z , e , , -- -

Studies, 19:3-4, 268- 295.

 refer to the 1882 Inland Emi ratio
it would be worth h'I g n Act and evaluate the conditions of coolies against Its provisions,
w I e to enumerate e 1· f C_
labour recru·t . eatures of this crucial legislation ~ant to regulate
th
have not d :hment in e Assam tea gar ens. istorians like Prabhu Mahapatra and Elizabeth Kolsky
th e penal sanctions given to the planters and was a
e at e l882 Act strengthene
th 23
~:sponse to e demand of the tea industry to expand production in the face of falling tea prices •
.ese penal sanc~ions included the right of the plantation manager to arrest 'absconding' labourers
without warrant and ti\ e power to conduct summary trials like a magistrate24 • Further, government
.
regulation and supervision of the recruitment of coolies was abolished and the planters were given
~nrest ricted freedom for local contracts25 • Mahapatra has argued that the move to privatize the
indenture labour system actually resulted in the emergence of an unregulated lucrative market in
coolie recruitment, with a number of unlicensed middlemen and contractors coming up to avail the
'increasing profits of the recruitment business26.' As there were no safeguards against forced
recruiting in place, the coolies were exposed to the violence, deLeit and manipulation of the arkatti
or the village recruiter who was connected through a number of intermediaries to the big coolie

~ mst Cal~ ~ .•1 ~ ~ f fJvi h,/-1 /J-'&~

~
~. 1 ~
"-

f,JN'kl fa/'
Ganguly suggests that even though"~°j 11
should ensure that no coolie was c~
r~ , ~ c.ally stated that the Regulating Officers
greements under 'fraud' or
'misrepresentation,' those responsible for implementing the law performed their job most
28
0)-J"- ) perfunctorily and with least concern for the welfare of the coolies • He cites cases of coolie
29
recruiters enticing men and women to migrate to Assam with the promise of better job prospects •
Once these people landed in Dhubri, which was the coolie depot~ district of Assam, they
were entrapped and forced to sign indenture contracts. Gang, •ly ~ ti(l that in order to save
"considerable~~~ their part, Registering Officers examined coolies in groups rather than
individually30. ~ a~scr~ es how coolies gave rehearsed responses to superficial enquiries about
their awareness of the servJCe requirements 111 the Assam tea gardem, responses wh,c.h they were
taught before being brought in for~xamination. Evidently, even if there was a provision in the law to
ascertain that the coolies understood the terms of the contract and the nature of employment, it
was blatantly disregarded and contracts were made binding on them with any infringement being
liable to punishment31•

Having looked at the process of recruitment and registration of coolies, we can no~ fo~ our /"f. .,n-,,

attention on the working conditions and arrangements in the tea gardens of Assa"}\'1Aany sc~ ~ -
, •

VJ-~ h; ~ointe: o,ut:;: chi: :ntr~ on; fG~~ wri; gs l~ ng~ ~,ht ui:_~>n ~
~ ~ ~ M~·
4

If< ,.,.~...,,, , 1,t1,1A ~ 12-,.,( t-~~ /J;t .,

~ ~ 4 1~ ~ ~7' ~~! :86 9'

23
':rr,..,<'""-11" • ~

Rana P. Beh I and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea and money versus human life': The rise A
fall of th~
72. / ,?_
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-1~ . /,,~

Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice in British India, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pg. 149. r.,
/b....,,( ~-
24
ibid ~~ ~ ~,.,~
25
Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea and money versus human life': The rise and fall of th~ K
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172. ~
26 Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea and money versus human life': The rise and fall of the · ___ ../,_A A ,I

indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172. ~ v - v . r - - · •
27

28

29

30
Ibid.

1bid,pg48-56.
Ibid, pg 2-5
n . ?~
~t; ~ -
"
f°
Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion, Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published by Sris
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg 2-5 ff~
~
31
ibid (/
 w.
t-o_✓ - ,

, :-7 ✓e ~ i. ,. / ~
~
•
. . -(
,, /. C" ' ../tl'l li.l • ·

~- ......L1:.,-- -.,. .-L I •

:t r "'I •.i...
~ IJ.., ~ ) I ~'-·

.~ 't
......
JC I \e~•

,-~\.'Z · .
.IA.-
~A , ''"'"\.t-<t....l
1 -
w -~-: . ;;,. $. c ~ y IL ~
4 u ~~ ,1, ,; ·~ I "tc'/ t, , ,Ii 1 f 1/A t ,( a,t l
,. ,1 •..,..,
l-. ._ ~
~ ~ ~
c ,,l't_ 1/t !(i t<
•~
• I ...., ,(,
J
1 1 "'M / ,
, •/ .../': -.

J}.,' • •
~ l \. f
,•~ l(t • t11. - l
, r ,~ ,1 r~ ~ , ... r.- -.f,.' .' ' ., ~
, , ,. ✓,, 1, ~ ~~
t ,/ J ,.
the""to nd1t1ons of c 1•1e 1•1fe C d'
,,.. ..,,
• I \(
. • on 1tlo ns Which h
l )-t , ,
"'" ' l / ~ ~c 1? , r I • '

1.- ~~• ":/

t his slave•like--preutt . e did no~ Kl's lt111
erticie,sl 2 cnnent bf the to , r<u~irforin ~ith sl11vori1 '<!t
ntio ns tha t eve n ~ e-s \vhl('h wt> Sht1l1<ll. 1•11,,,; :~.' It'\ of • ~ ~, • ' {' I .
for ::~ :~ ng uly me tit) t'I ~I Md In II \f'r
and Rs. 3 for childr ) oug h the S tipu lflle d
cooll (Rs, S for men Rs ,4 ~U,;;_:~,.1
re aby smally low In prowpogels of the • · ,v•
ext rac ted fro ni the rn, eve p ttie en lwe ort on to th e amount of work that was fo t....-1_ oJ
am ou t th at actually we nt t
' se ow
Wdges were )eldo
11. In reality, the ~ -w ' , _. '°T
n
"dd o the coo lie' s Poc ket was d ';' Pll1u by the m11nag e,. J,~•-
as also of the several . by the discretion of the employ
er~
(or bl km, . lem en like clerks sirdars ch e ekrmined s etc h 1 " •
I)
commissions ' ' ow idar ·w o evie d the ir own n,..,
ac mail' as Ganguly put it) on tt
coolies wh o . h ie coolie's meagre ni ngs. The newly impor~ ),t ,.. :J h/ .,:..
were unfamilia w,t the nature of work d ear ~·. ,_.u ..-r
plantations oft t .
r urw ,cu stom ed to the climate of th~ •.
en a1le~ to earn even th·is are mlnimuml4;_ ) 7' b . an ~ <-~ ~ .

Th . . ~ ~ bc....
san itar y con ditio
e m~dequate health and resulted In high
the tea gar den ns on th e tea plantations which
mo rta lity rate s on ' th ned with This/
s was someth mg at Ganguly was deeply concer
f t Of life wil l be exp lo d b conn~cted ,c;;:L __ "<.
ace coo lie ore that, another imp orta nt and
re su seq uen tly. Bef .,-
observation tha t Ganguly d raws our attention to ne d tO b ntio ned. namely the utter
. ff iveness of the law th e s e me .
me ect 5 at w~ e meant tog · to pro t
_ect ion to the coo lies from ~
. ive some amoun t
xcessive and unreasonable
work35 Th le w r<--
th e inspector who was authorised to reduce the schedu
d US,
da ily ta sks if hP rons1 rren it un f~1r v,~ 1tcd tt i;Jrd en onl y OllCi' ill ,1 Yl',H (that too wa ~1101
d)36 ' · H'
visit and adjusted
always foll
the r, th e pla nte rs wer e awa re of the timing of the annual
th h d ow e · Fur ted out of the coolies from the
ule of tas k wo rk so as to hid e the real nature of work extrac
. e sc e .
inst putting coolies to tasks
beyond
t th
mspectors31_ This meant th a ere was no real safeguard aga
. ~
.~~
. r st wo rk eve n from min ors and old and disabled per son s 38 •
/
.J,/ ~
,..,,., -d
• lf ~ /'~ I ...
(JJ": .. JJj, hei r rength and extracting ~ '(w . ~
~ ~ ~
~/
who , as Ganguly showsf'@..
t,
ns w~ re sus ta_ine d
_ by penal powers of the planters tv:' ""'f
~ Sue~ ri~ rous exa ctio
nt in dungeons for the "cri me
" of non -
rke r_s to flog gin gs, whippings and confineme /~
; sub Jec ted wo of everyd violence
ay
ued that the purpose of this kind
~V give n task s 3
,4K olsk y has arg df f,- -V
performance ~f our regime ' and
ate ~ t re of fea r' in order to 'enforce the daily lab
on the plantation was to cre dition ,_, .. '-"
/'.~
o e coo Ii~ who tr~ d to flee from these miserable con
f'~ ,,vi' . #" ''prevent workers from deserti
dow n'
ngL
aod rew ard s wer e 0ffe red to f be ~ t~
may be
~ ~ wer.e-lite rally 'RIIRtidrles Dowding, a missionary activist who too was a fierce critic of e indenture
i pointed out tha t Cha
of Assam rlre w par alle ls bet wee n the mr thorl~ of coo lie ra tcl in i
s I."- '

runaway slaves . ~ u
~ ~yster11 111 the te.i garrlens 41 .,__ . f ~
k r-Vf.,.
1
/ der s to cap ture
Americ an slav e hol
and the practises used by the
./~ ~~ ~ 1~ I
~ R ~ ~~ ~ 7h< ~ .. . -:;>
.f l ~~ ~ ~
'1. if> fi u)t~
v ~~4--f /
J
-/1,,._t ~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~
life' · The rise and fall of the
f

Ma hap atra (1 992 ) 'Te;i and monl'v versus hum an

a P. Behal and Pra bhu P. t Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172 .
32 R
Ass am tea plan tatio ns 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasan ,
Y lindenture system in the s, ~010, pg 152. Jayeeta Sharma
l Justice in British Indio, Cambridge Universit~ Pres 324 .
Asian Studies, 43, pp 1287-1
Elizabeth Kolsky, Col onia
~ ~A
'Lazy' Natives, Coolie Labour, and
the Assam Tea Industry, Modern by ~ s...~ J ,..,,I~
rJv-; ,~ - inio n, Com piled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published
~ ~ - a'
· €,,b(. ~..... ~
guly, S/avery in Brit ish Dom
33 owarkanath Gan
~
t., 1), j,..r.. ~ / ~
, Cal cutt a, pg. 12-1 3. ·
,,,d-- ) }/ Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA .:W ~ ~
d by 5ris ~
J,';J.,.,.
bid . ~ dt :.' ff# t:,. __/
Prof. K.l. Chattopadhyay, Publislie
lf' .. 34 1
British o/m nion , Compiled by

'w~A~;f ::: : . '·"

ery in .
\'<> ~ 35 owarka
,
~ ,p- ,-,{·
nath Gan guly Slav
~
J;:Y,,/1;·:7,~. -· 1~ ~ ,
utta , pg. 22.
~ ~ \ '_ / Kumar Kunda, JIJN ASA , Calc

1#.,, I ~ ,-/ },.:::'I,,;, lf"l,,vl~

38 Jbid. ~ fo ~ (,,( (i u ~ ~ fa -A /~ 1. ~
1
,
39 Ibid,pg. 41-44 ~ ~ r
2, y ~r ~ 8- ~ ~~
40 Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice

41
~
in Br;(;sh Indio, Camb~ e U~
?f: ;t; t'i :& ~ :' 7 t~ _jL,,., .~i~~
~
~ ~ ~ ~-u.0~
Ibid, PR- 153 . ~- .., .4 .

, :;;4
;,</4,:( t1 C
:; ;: :: :- -- ~ t,<
acv/ jc.w/ ' ~ ;
 ~ -~ /u,1-~
~
- . /,
~
/. , .
~ ~ · - --~ . ~ <J~

~ ,,6,,...., ~~
I

emai nfunc tiono f ~

.

Penal sanctions Put i I

/ ~
/ ,lb h . ~ ../e,.,__/
J'; ~
c.{_
gue was to 'keep d

r
@ th
. rough such provis ions th
in f'xtrem e s of tern
own wag b n P ace by the
es, . y preventing the o er . ct of 1882, Behal and
at a strict Work regi
A

p at1on of a labour marke

enf d . ,,
t42:
Mahapatra
It was only
be
C, Peratu re s and
~ also during the h
me could
orce m~he althy gardens43," even
t h at t:_! he prices of t
anguly mentions the fact
was to great ly int _ea fell~ he planters tried d un ealthy rainy season
e~perately to cut expe a1tures, the ettect ~
~
. ens1fy the pressure of work

I ··
~
~
prete xt of un
Henry C tt satisf actory work4.i) As rega rd s wage
., .- ;{/ increa sed b
. h
o on cam t

Y nearly 100% wages of. d

.....:J
e o the conclusion that betwee
on t~ol ies, and to withho

n
it m b
186
ld their wages

ay e _noted tha~ a commission headed by

5 and 1900, while the price of foodgrains
on the
7
urably
1 rYJ wit
th e agricu ltural labo~ re . m entured labour stagnated and compared very unfavo
rs outsid e the planta tions4s
1/
b .
A clear indica tor of th th .
e a ysmal condit ions and
.
morta lity, the figure s of h" h on e tea plantations was the high rates of sickness
w IC ,were large enou h t ·1 '
'd g O eas, Y surpass what is counted a frightful f .J,..,,._,,.,,
epI emic in civilized
coolie death s on th t
and malar ia
· e ea ·
.
count ries as Ganguly p ut ·t46
garde '
'
ns the numb
1 · He noted that despite the underreporting of
f -
er O coo 1Ies who succumbed to diseas es such as
h
cholera
~
·
nt
was nearly twent y perce more as compared to the general population of Assam .
These h' h . ~
ig morta lity rate could b ea tt n'b ute d to .insani. tary working environment, inadequate
. .
1o d ging and dietar y provis 1 fl . . . ~
·o pled with
ns~ we t e la of medical care in case of s1ckness°rlou -::...1
~ ._.,;t::;;-:;;.,r ---e-
overw ork and exhau st'ion41 • p rmane ntly m a c1t~d coolies wno were of no use to the planters
F- ~-... ,..,_
to their own~ evices48 . Ganguly also ef~
. we~e actua lly throw n out of the gardens and. left
~ ~ he high infant morta lity rate on the plantations which
was due to the neglect of little children
they be punished and physically assaulted. He
y by paren ts who were forced to turn up for work, lest
was very low and decliningJ and that(ma~ Ir' .,.. ~ 1vV
refers to the fact that ~ rth rate on the plantations
rnt i plPs re~o rtPci t o c1 ho rt1 on for fpa r o f bri ngi
ng up r hilcirPr '. rn such ho\tilP < ,frurns tancP~ ' · R;in
,1 4
comm ent upon the net
)/ ~ Behal and _Prabhu ~ atra in their study of the Assam tea plantations also
,
period of inden ture and penal contract system,
~ ~ repro ductio n rate ~ negat ive throug hou.!_!he
-
every yearJ~ *~
(-;j;;/__Jj, P ~~) ,<~
- -~
f\..t.f ecess itating increased recrui tment of new labou r
/~ '1~ ~
I1
r --.
. -P ,~ Aside from the aforem ention ed causes of high morta
lity, Ganguly points out that deaths due to ~ ..(.r
not uncom mon . Interestingly, such deaths ,
51 ~
~, severe floggings, beatings, canning, kicking etc. were

fall of the
42 Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea and money versus human life': The rise and
The Journal of Peasa nt Studies , 19:3-4, 142-17 2.
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1908, measu re, to the
owe their unhealthines s, in a great
43
Behal and Mahapatra note, "many unhealthy gardens
and to the fact that the greate st pressure on the coolies to work is exercised
insufficiency of labour force
of the year", Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra
during the rains, which is also the most unhealthy time
fall of the indenture syst em in the Assa m tea
(1992) 'Tea and money versus human life' : The rise and
19.3 -4, 142-172.
pldnldliOm 1840-1908, The Journal oj Pea:,anl Sludies,
44 Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Domin ion, Compi led by Prpf. K.l. Chattopadhyay, Published by Sris
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 11.
versus human life': The rise
45 Mentioned in Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra (1992) 'Tea and money
tions 1840-1908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-
and fall of the indenture system in the Assam tea planta
4, 142-172.
46 Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion, Compiled
by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published by Sris

Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 6-7.

47Ibid, pg. 6-9.
48Ibid, pg. 7.
49 fbid, pg. 18-19.
and money versus human life': The rise and fall of the
so Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mahapatra (1992) 'Tea
908, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172.
indenture system in the Assam tea plantations 1840-1
Chattopadhyay, Published by Sris
51 Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion, Compiled by Prof. K.l.
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 42 -43 .
 · . '~
Kolsky shows ~ re bl . ,, .
am ed on the coolies "w ea k bodies which could not m us
52
in t ino r blows .

& ence', with the insi diou

ot free or sub ject ed t 0
s .
sup por t of doc to rs and medical
.
very mild punishments53_)
.
evidence, mur de p nters were let ~
, ~
£) , .✓ ~
J
__, _

n . - ,r o-Cc..
Any discussion on· the viol e ce j ~ ~\1st hi_ihl(gh h fre uen tly
,~
~rt ~ t YJ ':Yl J_t f
gen der ed nat ure of e x ~ ~ £' ,._ _, _ /
we're s n as 'repost o o · -~
' (an 'd rtm' a'ld ,gpp ress/Qn W efact tha t womeh
izzatf hon our , 1 ea common t t· tha t the thre at @

of infl ictin g vi· 1 the m c

° Id b
pa narchal societies) as Nitin Ver
k from
ma put it, mea nt
54, ").
the coolies _yonversel. y, ,t
.
.
o ence on ou e use d to extr act mo re wor • . .LAA ...
also meant th coohes wh1 ~ - ··

p
at sexual and phys·ica 1assau on women led to an ry re risals by the :'.- . / ~J?)..,
~ ~ - /
w . a assault against e
ere communally san erioned5s • It 1s pe · e to te t a ases of sexu
,. . ,,,,, _ £,t,., .,w
.j e and invi ted especial , rv ~ -
coo 1es incl udin g rap e, t ra ffi1ck.mg OT"toncubinage pro "'.o ~ moral outrag
. ".
con d emnat1on. of nat,·ona hst • . . . them 'more heinous than slavery
act,vosts hke Ganguly who called_
st not obscure oth er kinds of
e f~cus on violence against fem
ale coolies in the tea gardens mu
en's wages rem ~ed less than
u
st1ces tha t the y wer e rou tine ly subjected to. Mo st notably, wom
d in less labour intensive wor k
57{!_urthe.§_e j~
men tho ugh it did ~ot mea n tha t the y wer e eng age
pel led wom en to labour even
during pregnancy and rejo in
H,
absence of ma tern ity leave .~~ (Y""'<
imm edi ate ly afte r chil dbir th) 'J1b
guly questions the claim
ing the wor king con ditio ns on the tea gardens of Assam, Gan
Thus describ ically
ntsia abo ut coolies being econom
e by colo nial offic ials and sections of the native intellige
mad 59 s cases of coolies com mit ting
n in the ir native places . He cite
bet ter off in the tea gardens tha opt ing for death ove r life in the
una ble to cop e with the hars h wor k environment, the reb y ,~ }
suicide, ties involved in
of desertions despite the diff icul
60
tea gardens . Ganguly also poin ts to the
tha t
high
co11
rate
dit1ons 111 the tea gardens wer e
so miserable t at t ;J..}~ . ~
as pru of of the fact
tdk1ng suc/J a risk 6
trac t per iod (3-5 years) • In any
;4 ~ -
not be end ure d, eve n for a few years of the stip ulat ed con Y
cou ld n afte r e I atio n of
n trie d to reta in the coolies eve
n aims beh ind the 188 2 Act ~
e of labo ur, plan ters ofte
case, due to the shortag
have argued tha t one of the mai
the ir con trac ts 62
• Beh al and Mo hap atra
trol ove r time -ex pire d ·coolies by pre ven ting the dev
elo pm ent ol J~
ate r con
was for plan ters to gain gre 6
anguly has not ed
ch wou ld incr eas e the bar gaining pow er of the coolies ~
a lab our ma rke t whi to re-engage the services of the
nt among the planters seeking
various frau dule nt pra ctic es pre vale
it~~ 'f A
-137.
ge University Press, 2010, pg. 136
52 Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice in British India, Cambrid
53 Ibid.
Tea Plantations of Assam,
54 Nitin Verma, Coolie Strikes Back: Collective
Protest and Action in the Colonial
1 (January 2006). pp. 259-87.
The Indi an Eco nom ic and Soc ial Historical Review, Vol 33, No.
1880-1920,
55 Ibid.
ttopadhyay, Published by Sris
56 Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dom
inion, Compiled by Prof. K.L. Cha
pg. 46-4 7
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, money versus human life': The rise
and fall of the
57 Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra (1992) 'Tea and
sant Studies, 19:3-4, 142-172.
in the Assam tea plan tatio ns 1840-1908, The Journal of Pea
indenture syst em tations of Assam, 1880-
es Back: Collective Pro test and Action in the Colonial Tea Plan
Nitin Verma, Coolie Strik
1 (January 2006). pp. 259 -87.
ial Historical Review, Vol 33, No.
1920, The Indian Economic and Soc an life' : The rise and fall of the
58 Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra
(1992) 'Tea and money versus hum
: ~tud ,r•, . 19 3 4. 14 2 172
11, /,' 11 11 1, 11 ~1 f>1 •,ho 11
tf'rt p l,1n t,l110 11, IR.:10 J•)().'{ r
1nrl,•ri111r1> , y, U•m ,nth ,• /1\ , .im yay, Published by Sris
guly , Slav ery ,n Briti sh Dom inion , Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadh
» Dwa rkanath Gan
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta
, pg. 40.
were caught when they tried to
guly also cites the case of two Rajput coolie brothers who
Gan submit to its work-discipline.
60 39.
Ibid, pg.
and pre ferr ed to be sho t rath er than return to the garden and
flee a tea garden
61
Ibid. pg. 8.
62
Ibid. pg. 53-54. fall of the
versus human life' : The rise and
63 Rana P. Behal and Prabhu P. Mohapatra (1992) 'Tea and money -4, 142 -17 2.
tea plantations 184 0-1908, The
Journal of Peasant Studies, 19:3
inde ntur e system ,n the Assam
 fl~ "? ,;: /5 ~~ ¼~ ~ .~ ~~
~ ~
7
~ ::z::c
6t&:6 -d~
lb
£.u ,c t_,.
16,, ..

, ./. .
(
~ / .•
~ ~~
~ -

~ /h..(_ ( , , ~
•
7. ;
J /~ ~ t.,,u...,( ;,.' I. ~ ~ l-'1~
~ A?- -.-. ...-~ ·..L
64 ~
coolies • These included fdr;g~ery of cont racts, makl th
TTJ
. . ~ems ~ ~ r e ew the contr ts by ~ ~/ ,;,f,.,

t6p1~·
ng e ~
enticing them through 'extravagant prom Ises' or allu I
labourers through debt . Debt , as~s h 5¥.
sc o ar Ike JaIru s 81 JI
h
~ r ng t em through drink
e,s~ '
entrappln the~ ~
in ,
u ana show, ha s been ed by employers
diverse labour systems to restrict the moblli nature and pace of
. ty of workers and determine the .. ,
their work 65 'As regards the practIs e of attr .
l.,~ acting coolies through the promrse of drink, Nrtrn Verma
has drawn attention to its contradicto It could both
be a hindrance to the ,·nt If' ry Implications In the Assam tea gardens, where )
ens ,cation of work an d a necessary stimulant for controllin~
workforce66 J , •

(
When it came to fraudulent r . f ]~
~ actrces O th
e planters like forging contracts or unlawfully confining
minors who had not ent rs to note how the colon ial
.. • ered into any agreement, Ganguly asks the reade v
!' ·t . h ·1
Off,c,a 1s in Assam were comp ic, in sue I legal cases • This brings us to one of the most important
67
. •
observations in his writ'rngs, name 1Y, that law was interpreted In the interests of the planters whrch
ct
nd nistration of Justice' facile 68 . The fact that distri
~e ered co!onial claims of the 'impartial admi ns mean t ~~
ers during their official visit to the tea garde
inspectors dined and pegged with the plant t /
th the planters and the officials inhabited the same cultural world 1 even if the latter were
at .
ary violenc'e and tyra nny of the planting
supposed to protect the coolies from the arbitr ~
69
~ t.. ( ilU.A.M.>vl /~ ~ ~9"-
~
.I- . c:y,
comm unity . "ft.t . .
~ N '
involving crim~ st the planters tarkly
The actual administration of' ustice' in case Kolsky ~ ~
and normalizing certain kinds of violence,' as
bring to light the 'law's collusion in protecting acqu itted / ~ ·
e planters accused of murdering coolies were
put it7°. Ganguly refers to judgements wher h did not
coolies' attempt to assault the planters (whic
and let off with small fines, while even the
harsh imprisonment • In rape trials, medical
71
result in any physical h~rm) was punished with lack of
lvin Euro eans accuse of the crime by citing
practitioners often played a central role in abso n _./1~ .
body 72 e ' rivrlege tr th value' accorded to
physical evidence of assault on the victims's in rape ~ -
sses resulted in very low rates of conviction
"scie ~~c facts" and the distrust of native witne s of the
in the way of a coolie see ki~t ic~Y , J_erm
cases:Jv1oreover, the impediments that lay
ga(de ns aw,~ he po!ice/ tatiQn~ ~~1 ~
j~al
p,Pogra phi ra l diqa nrP betw pen the tea idation which
~ou nde ~bt a cul~ .dff e ar and intim
knowledge and restrictions on her mobility 4
situation
st her employer cannot be lost sight of7 • The
prevented her from lodging a complaint again s as well as
ers powerful.coAnections in the official circle
of the coolies must be compared to the plant
by Sris
Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published
64 Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion,
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 53-56.
65 Jairus Banaji, The Fictions of Free Labour: Contract, Coerc
ion and so-called Unfree Labour, Historical
Materialism 11(3), pp.69 -95.
66 Nitin Verma, For the Drink of the Nation: Drink, Labou
r and Plantation Capitalism in the Colonial Tea
edited
ry in Marcel van der Linden and Prabhu Mohapatra
Gardens of Assam in the Early Twentieth Centu
Books, pp. 285-318.
Labour Matters: Towards. Global Histories, Tulika by Sris
67 Dwarkanath Gangufy, Slavery in British Domi nion, Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 22, 28.
68 Ibid, pg. 24 .

69 Ibid, pg. 33.

Cambridge University Press, 2010, pg. 11.
70
Elizabeth Kofsky, Colonial Justice in British India, by Sris
Compiled by Prof. K.L. Chattopadhyay, Published
71
Dwarkanath Ganguly, Slavery in British Dominion,
Kumar Kunda, JIJNASA, Calcutta, pg. 36-37 . infamous
Cambridge University Press, 2010, pg. 167. In the
72
Elizabeth Kolsky, Colonial Justice in British India, Webb , "the post-morte m
i by a planter's ~gent Charles
case of the brutal rape of a female coolie Suk~rman y, pg. 180.
died of natural causes." Kolsk
report dubiously concluded that Sukurmani had

~ ~ Jvv ~
74
Ibid, pg . 126.
1bid,pg. 165-169. ~~
~ fh_f ~

Au l
f
~
--~~=~ , /
/4A ~~ /4 ~ ~ u&..-t ~
· f ---
~ ~ / D VVt.. -(
.L ~ . • ~~

.,. ,;;,:~~ ~~