Indians as French Citizens in Colonial Indochina, 1858-1940 by Natasha Pairaudeau A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies Department of History June 2009 ProQuest Number: 10672932 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672932 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This study demonstrates how Indians with French citizenship were able through their stay in Indochina to have some say in shaping their position within the French colonial empire, and how in turn they made then' mark on Indochina itself. Known as ‘renouncers’, they gained their citizenship by renoimcing their personal laws in order to to be judged by the French civil code. Mainly residing in Cochinchina, they served primarily as functionaries in the French colonial administration, and spent the early decades of their stay battling to secure recognition of their electoral and civil rights in the colony. Their presence in Indochina in turn had an important influence on the ways in which the peoples of Indochina experienced and assessed French colonialism. Indochina was important to French India from the late-nineteenth century, I maintain, because of the way renouncers were able to develop social and political agendas over long distances to secure their rights within the French empire. I further the study of late-colonial migrations from British India by adding a trajectory under French colonial conditions to other better-known itineraries. I advance thinking on migration by showing how movements stimulated the circulation not just of goods and labour but of ideas. I support claims that colonised peoples were not passive agents, and bring to the fore the struggles o f colonised people fighting not against, but within a colonial framework. I reinstate the Indian presence in the colonial histoiy of Vietnam, not only to support the restoration to southern Vietnam of its historical social diversity, or to draw attention to long-neglected minority groups. The thesis, I argue, brings new insights to the complexities of colonial encounters. The presence of Indian French citizens in colonial Indochina generated encounters between Indians and Vietnamese which were outside of French control. In so doing it highlighted not the strengths but the inherent weaknesses of colonial rule. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Acknowledgements 5 Glossary 9 List of Illustrations and Tables 10 Abbreviations 11 PART ONE 13 Chapter One: introduction 14 C o n t e x t a n d o v e r v ie w 14 Ma in a r g u m e n t , t h e o r y a n d l it e r a t u r e 19 S o u r c e s a n d methodology 38 T e r m s a n d s p e l l in g 41 P eriodisation 45 C h a p t e r s u m m a r y 4 6 Chapter Two: Legal Status and other markers of identity 51 ‘Renunciation ’, it s o r ig in s a n d o f f ic ia l endorsement 5 1 W h o t h e r e n o u n c e r s w e r e a n d w h a t t h e y s o u g h t 57 T HE EXTENT OF RENUNCIATION, AT HOME AND OVERSEAS 64 Lin k s t o In d o c h in a 66 Indian renunciation and A n n a m it e naturalisation compared 72 Re n o u n c e r s ’ l e g a l r ig h t s in C o c h in c h in a 73 S t a t u s in C o c h in c h in a o f o t h e r m ig r a n t s To f In d ia n o r ig in 77 C o n c l u s io n 83 Chapter Three: Renouncer occupations and wider Tamil networks 85 Re n o u n c e r s in t h e c o l o n ia l administration 87 A SUPPRESSED PROFESSIONAL CLASS 96 E m p l o y e e s o f p r iv a t e F r e n c h f ir m s 97 CAREER SOLDIERS AND MILITARY SERVICE 98 ‘In d ia n s h o p s ’ a n d r e l a t e d n ic h e s o f M u slim e n t e r p r is e 100 N a t tu k o t t a i C h e t t ia r s a n d o t h e r T am il b a n k e r s 103 Liv e s t o c k , t r a n s p o r t , a n d milk 108 TAX FARMS AND GOVERNMENT TENDERS 112 U r b a n a n d r u r a l l a n d investments 1 15 P u r v e y o r s t o S a ig o n ’s expatriates 120 T EACHERS OF TAMIL CHILDREN 122 C o n c l u s io n 125 Illustrations 128 3 PART TWO 140 Chapter Four: Electoral Franchise 141 N a t iv e s u f f r a g e in t h e ‘o l d c o l o n ie s ’ a n d t h e ‘n e w ’ 141 E a r l y l ic e n s e a t t h e C ochinchinese b a ll o t b o x 145 T h e In d ia n v o t e c o n t e s t e d 146 T h e 1 8 8 8 D e p u t y e l e c t io n s : a l a s t - m in u t e r e s c u e f o r t h e In d ia n v o t e 151 THE CANDIDATES AND THEIR CAMPAIGNS 153 E l e c t io n d a y a n d t h e o u t c o m e 159 A DEFINITIVE LEGAL RULING 161 T h e ‘LEGEND’ OF INDIAN VOTERS: A POWERFUL BUT MALLEABLE FORCE 164 D e v o t e d d e p u t ie s 167 P o litical disillusion 172 C o n c l u s io n 176 Chapter Five: Renouncer functionaries and ‘European’ contractual privileges 178 ‘E u r o p e a n ’ a g e n t s a n d t h e b a d g e o f assimilation 180 T r o u b l e s w ith 'n a t iv e s t a t u s ’ 191 THE CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND SAIGON’S INDIAN POLICEMEN 197 Informal exclusion and the persistence of ‘native cadres’ 212 Conclusions 217 Chapter Six: Vietnamese Engagement with Renouncers and other Indian Migrants 219 G ilbert Chieu: ‘Hit the C h e t and expel the C h aV 221 T h e C onstitutionalists a n d N g u y e n A n N in h : ‘La q u e s t io n in d ie n n e ’ 227 G r a s s r o o t s r e s p o n s e s a n d increasingly t r o u b l e d r e l a t io n s 23 6 Re l ig io u s accommodation 245 Re a c t io n s t o t h e p r o s p e c t o f k in sh ip 24 6 C o n c l u s io n 2 5 4 Chapter Seven: Raising the Hindou Profile 255 C h a n n e l s o f e x p r e s s i o n 2 5 6 M o d e r n m e n , h is t o r ic a l p u r p o s e 265 U nity a n d d is c o r d 275 In the in terest o f ALL HINDOUS 285 C o n c l u s io n 2 9 4 Conclusion 296 Bibliography 303 A r c h iv e s a n d r e c o r d s 303 S er ia l Ru n s 30 4 B o o k s a n d A r t ic l e s 30 4 INTERNET SITES 31 6 Appendices 317 A p p e n d ix I: Text of the ‘D ecree relative to personal status’, 21 S e p t e m b e r 1881 318 Appendix II: The steam boat ventures of Darmanaden Prouchandy 320 A p p e n d ix III: French Indian social organisations in Cochinchina,1900-1940 3 2 4 4 Acknowledgements I am grateful for financial assistance received from several quarters.