INDIAN BUSINESSMEN in KENYA DURING the TWENTIETH CENTURY: a CASE STUDY John Irving Zarwan
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INDIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KENYA DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: A CASE STUDY John Irving Zarwan To cite this version: John Irving Zarwan. INDIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KENYA DURING THE TWENTIETH CEN- TURY: A CASE STUDY. History. Yale University, 1977. English. tel-01259828 HAL Id: tel-01259828 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01259828 Submitted on 21 Jan 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. This is an authorized facsimile, made from the microfilm master copy of the original dissertation or masters thesis published by UMI. Prior to publishing, UMI microfilms the original manuscript and returns it to the author or institution granting the degree. When an order is placed, the complete document is reproduced, on paper or in microform, from the master film copy. This is called on-demand publishing. The bibliographic information for this thesis is contained in UMI's Dissertation Abstracts database, the only central source for accessing almost every doctoral dissertation accepted in North America since 1861. l Dissertation UMa Information Service University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 800-521-0600 OR 313/761-4700 Printed in 1987 by xerographic process on acid-free paper INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means tc photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the Missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find s)ood image of the page in the adjacent frame. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and . specific pages you wish reproduced. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed es received. University Microfilms International 300 Norm Zeeb Road Ann Arbor. SArchigan 48106 USA St. John's Road. Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 77-27,839 ZARWAN, John Irving, 1949 INDIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KENYA DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: A CASE STUDY Yale University, Ph.D., 1977 History, Africa Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 0 Copyright by John Irving Zarwan 1977 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INDIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KENYA DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: A CASE STUDY A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by John Irving Zarwan May, 1977 ABSTRACT INDIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KENYA DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: A CASE STUDY John Irving Zarwan Yale University, 1977 Despite a fairly extensive secondary literature on Indians in . East Africa, there remains a number of significant gaps in our knowledge of their activities. In the most studied field, the political arena, internal. Indian politics, especially on the . caste/community level, have been totally ignored. Similarly, the economic role of Indians in East Africa has been presented only in the most general terms and we still do not have a clear understanding of the actual activities of individuals and their firms. There is a pressing need for specific studies. One of the more interesting and impartwit phenomena of Indian behavior in East Africa is the relationship between social networks, in' particular those of caste and kin, and economic activities. To grasp better the nature of these linkages, the dissertation focuses on one caste, the Visa Oshwal Community in Kenya (popularly known as "Shahs"), as a case study, and within this community on two family groups. Asa micro-analysis, it is very much concerned with the activities and motivations of specific individuals. Using these two families as a starting point, I was able to "work outward" along kinship lines, including marriage, and contact every major commercial and industrial firm of the caste. In addition, interviews were • conducted with a number of other people, primarily Indians, from many communities and occupations. In order to begin "on the ground" rather than at the top, the families chosen are in the middle range of the Indian population in terms of income, size of business, and education. Although they were Selected randomly in the sense that I ,.,ps unaware of the scope and extent of their activities, the actual determination was to a large - degree influenced by the all-pervasive network of social linkages which figures so prominently. The "families" themselves are defined largely in terms of the degree of social relations within the group. The limitations of a case study are clear. Oshwals are not entirely representative of Indians, of Hindus, nor even of businessmen in East Africa. This is even truer of the case studies. However, the' use of a micro-study does point out and highlight differences which are often missed in more general discussions and are useful in illuminating patterns of activity, such as the organization of business, lines of credit, and especially social and economic networks, which are necessarily missed by a more scattered approach. The dangers of examining caste/kin networks as the basis for the study are manifest; . it may well prove to be self-fulfilling. By starting with these networks, others may be ignored. Yet, I believe the evidence supports the presumption. The dissertation should be of interest to both /ndianists and Africanists. It provides an intensive study of the emergence of a caste and the functioning of caste overseas. For the Africanist, it illuminates an important aspect of Kenya's economic history. The study also has comparative value, raising important questions of economic development and underdevelopment, the role of "middleman minorities", trading diasporas, entrepreneurship, and social networks. INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writing of history has traditionally been concerned with prominent individuals, royalty, ministers, men of intellectual force or political power, and has concentrated on issues of statehood, war, nationalism, and ideology. Increasingly, however, historians are turning their - attention to social change and questions which affect more intimately the lives of the majority of people. Even African historians, with an almost unique opportunity to examine these more mundane activities, have only recently shifted their focus from colonialism and other examples of macro political change to the economic and social changes of the continent. In recent years, and especially since the expulsion of Indians from Uganda in 1972, the problem of the South Asian in East Africa has been brought to the attention of the world, although the seeds of this problem were sown many years before. From the early nineteenth century, if not earlier, Indians enjoyed an economic preeminence on the East African coast out of all proportion to the numbers. They provided organization and (especially) capital for the expanding trade in East Africa and acted as intermediaries in its overseas trade. With the advent of colonial rule, Indian traders began to take a more active and direct role in the interior, expanding and exploiting existing trade networks and establishing new centers of commerce. As the colonial economy expanded, Indian visibility and economic activity increased. Despite a fairly extensive secondary literature, both scholarly and polemical, on Indians in East Africa, there remains a number of significant gaps in our knowledge of their activities. In the political arena, the iv subject of most studies, internal Indian politics, particularly on the caste/community level, has been totally ignored. Similarly, the economic role of Indians in East Africa has been presented only in the most general terms; there has been little attempt to examine in detail their economic activities. This is especially surprising given the ostensibly pivotal role played by this so-called middleman minority in eastern Africa. The thesis is a socio-economic history of Indians in Kenya during the twentieth century. As such, its concerns are threefold: a social history, an economic history, and, most importantly, an analysis of the relationship between social networks and economic activities. To understand the nature of these linkages, one caste, the Halari Visa Oshwal Community (popularly ' known as "Shahs"), has been chosen as a case study, and within this community, two families have been studied intensively.