Slavery in Madras Presidency
|
Imperial entities of India | |
| Dutch India | 1605–1825 |
|---|---|
| Danish India | 1620–1869 |
| French India | 1769–1954 |
| Casa da Índia | 1434–1833 |
| Portuguese East India Company | 1628–1633 |
| East India Company | 1612–1757 |
| Company rule in India | 1757–1858 |
| British Raj | 1858–1947 |
| British rule in Burma | 1824–1948 |
| Princely states | 1721–1949 |
| Partition of India |
1947 |
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| |
Slavery in Madras Presidency during the British rule in India was affecting close to 20% of the population. With the huge numbers and also the imminent issues, various laws were implemented to prevent it. The landlords were predominantly from the higher castes and the lower caste people borrowed money against their lands from them, defaulting which, entered into a bonding for years. Slavery in Madras Presidency during the early 19th century was confined to transfer of agricultural labourers from one landlord to the other, but later periods saw slavery throughout their life for non-payment of debt. The slaves formed 12.2% of the total population in 1930.
The pattern of slavery and the population of slaves varied between various districts in the presidency. Various laws were passed during 1811, 1812 and 1823 to restrict slavery and prevent child labour, but was totally abolished with the Act V of 1843, and the selling of slaves became criminal offence in 1862 under the new Indian Penal Code.
Pattern
The mirasdars or landlords were predominantly from the higher castes. The lower caste people borrowed money against their lands from the mirasdars for their marriage expenses, house building and farming. They thus enter into a bonding for some years due to default. In some cases, the hereditary relationships continue between the master and the slaves. There is divided opinion on whether Brahmins directly employed the slaves or hired labourers. A theory emitting from the note of the collector of Trichonopoly in 1819 states that Brahmins employed the lower caste people and the non-Brahmin land lords employed the lower caste people as slaves. Slavery was observed in almost all castes from Brahmins to non-Brahmins.[1]
Slavery in Madras Presidency during the early 19th century was confined to transfer of agricultural labourers (referred as pannaiyals) from one landlord to the other. People were also subject to slavery throughout their life for non-payment of debt.[2] The pattern of slavery varied between different districts of the presidency.[3] The pattern of selling the slaves with their lands also varied between the different districts. In South Arcot and Coimbatore districts, the slaves could be sold to anyone from an alien village. In Coimbatore district, slavery during the early 19th century was predominantly debt based. The slaves were sold along with their lands in Trichonopoly district and if they were sold away, they were not taken back in the village. The collector of Tinnevelly reported during 1919 that there was no specific pattern for selling slaves with and without land. It was later observed that the slaves were sold with their lands. A similar pattern was observed in Tanjore district, where selling of slaves to alien lands was rare. In Madurai district, slavery was gradually reducing as early as 1819. Some of the slaves after getting liberated joined British rule as Sepoys and some cultivated their own lands. In the northern parts of the presidency like Masulipatnam and Ganjam, agrarian slavery was minimal. In the Telugu speaking districts, the slaves were of three kinds – servants to zamindars, servants of the Muslims and hired labourers attached to lands.
Distribution
The Law Commission report on slavery in 1841 contains the indicative figures on the number of slaves, computed based on accounting number in specific castes of Pallar and Paraiyar.[2] In South Arcot district, the number of slaves was 17,000 in 1819, comprising less than 4% of the population. In Tanjore, the numbers were reported to be numerous, while in Madurai it was less. The Tinnelvely Collector reported 38% slaves of the whole population. In Trichonopoly, the Collector estimated 10,000 slaves in wet parts and 600 in dry parts of the district. In Nellore district, the slave population was 14.6% of the total population in 1827 and 16% in 1930. The slaves formed 12.2% of the total population in 1930.[4]
Laws
During 1811, a law was passed by the government for repression of human beings, on the advocacy of Dushrut Singh, an officer for the Raja of Nepal. In 1812, it was decided that this does not affect slaves brought by their owners from foreign provinces legally held within British Provinces. There were proposed regulations in 1823 to prevent child labour.[5] In 1833, the British Crown and the House of Commons proposed immediate abolition of slavery in India, but East India Company decreed otherwise.[6] All legal recognition to permit the civil status of slavery were withdrawn with the Act V of 1843 and selling of slavery became criminal offence in 1862 under the new Indian Penal Code.[7]
See also
Notes
- ↑ British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society 1841, p. 5
- 1 2 British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society 1841, p. 4
- ↑ Kumar pp. 43–48
- ↑ Kumar pp. 52–53
- ↑ British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society 1841, p. 27
- ↑ Price, Thomas (1837). Slavery in America: With Notices of the Present State of Slavery and the Slave Trade Throughout the World. Oxford University. p. 154.
- ↑ Chatterjee, Indrani; Eaton, Richard Maxwell (2006). Slavery & South Asian History. Indiana University Press. p. 231. ISBN 0-253-34810-2.
Bibliography
- British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society (1841). Slavery and the slave trade in British India: with notices of the existence of these evils in the islands of Ceylon, Malacca, and Penang, drawn from official documents. T. Ward, and to be had at the office of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery society.
- Dharma, Kumar (1965). Land and Caste in South India: Agricultural Labor in the Madras Presidency During the Nineteenth Century. CUP Archive.