Agency of Labor Resistance in Nineteenth Century India: Significance of Bulandshahr and F.S
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Agency of Labor Resistance in Nineteenth Century India: Significance of Bulandshahr and F.S. Growse’s Account A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2018 by Bhaswar Mallick B. Arch, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, 2011. Committee: Rebecca Williamson, Ph.D. (Chair), and Arati Kanekar, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Hasty urbanization of non-metropolitan India has followed economic liberalization policies since the 1990s. To attract capital investments, such development has been compliant of globalization. However, agrarian protests and tribal Maoist insurgencies evidence resistance amidst concerns of internal colonialization. For the local building crafts, globalization has brought a ‘technological civilizing’. Facing technology that competes to replace rather than supplement labor, the resistance of masons and craftsmen has remained unheard, or marginalized. This is a legacy of colonialism. British historians, while glorifying ancient Indian architecture, argued to legitimize imperialism by portraying a decline. To deny the vitality of native architecture under colonialism, it was essential to marginalize the prevailing masons and craftsmen – a strain that later enabled portrayal of architects as professional experts in the modern world. Over the last few decades, members of the Subaltern Studies group, which originated in India, have critiqued post-colonial theory as being a vestige of and hostage to colonialism. Instead, they have prioritized the task of de-colonialization by reclaiming the history for the subaltern. A similar study in architecture is however lacking. This thesis thus proposes to initiate this work through an enquiry anchored on F.S. Growse’s, 1883 book, Bulandshahr: Sketches of an Indian district. The book is appropriate, as it argued that architecture in India remained a living art, especially identifying the agency of masons and craftsmen. The colonial government saw the book as advocating for native autonomy. Further prints of the book were prohibited, and its author subsequently transferred. This thesis would focus on situating the architectural subaltern in 19th century India, not as timidly transitioning and transforming, but in dignified confrontation with colonialism. It aims to establish the continued vitality of non-metropolitan Indian architecture, by legitimizing the role of local masons, craftsmen and architects – the subalterns of contemporary architecture. It would show British I administrators facing similar resistance, and question if a working compromise then established, can be a guiding light now. The research, although aligning itself with the Subaltern Studies group, finds their literary methodology insufficient. However, their way of understanding history as “storying” – or “historying”, and alternate history as an alternate storying, particularly insightful. As such the research would read Growse’s book with the intent of: discerning and documenting facts versus observations and propositions. A commentary of the situation described, steps undertaken and goals idealized, will then help critiquing Growse’s proposed model for its colonial advocacy as well as its implications for urbanism today. The situation of architectural labor in 19th century India would be established as a vital instrument that confronted colonial rule. Removing the stigma associated with supposedly backward building practices and uncivilized labor would facilitate decolonization of colonial Indian architectural history. This would help ignite a discourse on labors’ significance in architecture, not just as a mode of production or idealized form, but as an agency essential for its continued vitality. In doing so it would encourage further critical history-writing, for the marginalia in India, and for architecture everywhere. II III PREFACE My first job as an Architect, back in 2011, came in the form of supervising the building of a sophisticated office building in a rather backward part of the state of Chhattisgarh, in central India. Seeing a project from beginning till the end gave me a realization of the problems of practice within a rapidly developing country. The level of precision in construction essential to achieving the aesthetics of globalization seemed alien in a land where people were still predominantly living in mud houses with clay tile roofs. The efforts of a rigorous practice in detailing specific to typology was lost on local labor still trying to catch up with construction methods oblivious and unsympathetic to the demands of our western- trained eyes. The project, finally, embodied a certain violence of both a projected ideology on traditional craft as well as in reciprocation in the form of resistance to formal exactitude. This thesis is a direct outcome of this experience. My wanderings for an explanation to the situation, lead to my discovery of F.S. Growse’s 1883 book – Bulandshahr: Sketches of an Indian district. When I first read the book, I had a feeling of déjà vu. It struck me how these commentaries remained so relevant to issues in Indian architecture now, and yet the book was barely known or appreciated to the extent it deserved. I would like to acknowledge the continuous guidance and encouragement of Professors Rebecca Williamson and Arati Kanekar. Professor John Hancock helped initially to refine the abstract and structure the thesis. I am grateful to Professor Adrian Parr for introducing and encouraging me to explore Subaltern Studies. I am also grateful to Sudipto Ghosh for helping realize, and encourage exploration of the problems this thesis addresses. I wish to thank Anam Akhter for helping edit the final document. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their support and encouragement. IV ABSTRACT I LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VI INTRODUCTION 1 1. Background 9 1.1. Bulandshahr: location and history 1.2. Public Works Department: origin and policies 1.3. F.S. Growse’s life and works 2. Kohane’s thesis: Ferguson and Ruskin 23 3. Growse and labor’s agency in Bulandshahr 3.1. The existing material surroundings and practices 29 3.1.1. Built environment: villages and sanitation 3.1.2. Changes in environment: major infrastructure 3.1.3. Influence of Islamic rule 3.1.4. State of architectural practice 3.1.5. Existing architecture of significance 3.2. Economic and political forces: the agenda for power 39 3.2.1. Critique of pilgrimages and marriage-feasts 3.2.2. Role of government 3.2.3. Remedy of education policies 3.2.4. Grip on architecture 3.3. Relations and conditions of knowledge 47 3.3.1. Native rituals and faculties 3.3.2. Role of government 3.3.3. Education policy and schools 3.3.4. The PWD and traditional skills of architectural labor 3.4. Expectations and aspirations: production of ideals and the future 52 3.4.1. The PWD and opportunities for local crafts 3.4.2. Role of government 3.4.3. European scholastic training 4. CONCLUSION 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1-2. The Delhi sketch book. India Office Library. (1853). 3. Bhatia, Ashwani. Growse-1, Digital image, April 26, 2010. brajdiscovery.org. https://en.brajdiscovery.org 4. Tillotson, G. H. R. The Tradition of Indian Architecture: Continuity, Controversy, and Change since 1850. New Haven: Yale University Press, (1989): 85. VI Introduction The British colonial rule of India marked a decisive shift in the agency of architectural practitioners in the 19th century. Architectural practice in India, is dominated by traditional craftsmen and masons, who are formed into guilds. The leader of such guilds, is the Mistri, or the head mason, who designs and supervises the work. Beyond the large metropolitan urban centers where architects flourish, these Mistris dominate. Economic development in alliance with globalization is now reaching into these regions and is in direct conflict with this traditional form of practice. But, any resolution to this conflict is stunted by the poor documentation of this Mistri lead form of architectural practice. The Mistri class, undereducated and uncertified as they are, are often assumed to be ritualistic, uninspired, and incapable of any architectural evolution. British historians in the 19th century glorified ancient Indian architecture, but legitimized imperialism by portraying a decline. To deny vitality of native architecture, it was essential to marginalize the prevailing masons and craftsmen – a strain that later enabled portrayal of architects as professional experts in the modern world. A gap in continuity of traditional knowledge brought on by British colonialism is projected, wherein all remains of indigenous architectural knowledge was purged, translated and transitioned to Western modes of production. The Mistri class is thus cut off, as legitimate traditionalists, easy to dominate as evidenced by their subservient transformation during the British occupation. This thesis would instead argue that the Mistris, craftsmen and architectural labor of 19th century India indeed resisted British reforms, and showcase their changing circumstances that threatened their very existence. 1 1. Cartoon The New House 1: The plight of building in India and how the local Mistris are to blame. 2 2. Cartoon The New House 2: The plight of building in India and how the local Mistris are to blame. + 3 Accounts by British civil servants of their oriental experiences while