“…and my blood became hot!” Crimes of Passion, Crimes of Reason: An analysis of the crimes against Masters and Mistresses by their Indian Domestic Servants, Natal, 1880-1920 ² PRINISHA BADASSY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in the Department of Historical Studies, Faculty of Human Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal. February 2005 For my grandparents, … who survived! Declaration This study represents an original work by the author and has not been submitted in any form to another university. Where use has been made of the work of others it has been duly acknowledged in the text. _______________________ Prinisha Badassy February 03, 2005 _______________________ Dr Catherine E. Burns Supervisor February 03, 2005 Abstract “…and my blood became hot!” Crimes of Passion, Crimes of Reason: An analysis of the crimes against Masters and Mistresses by their Indian Domestic Servants, Natal, 1880-1920 by PRINISHA BADASSY Supervised by: Dr Catherine E Burns Department of Historical Studies This thesis posits that the experiences and emotional strain associated with being a domestic servant gave rise to a culture of anger and violence within the ranks of Indian Domestic Servants in Colonial Natal during the period 1880 to 1920. These acts of violence, in particular physical and indecent assault and poisoning are explored here not in admiration of their brutality, but for their historical relevance to the study of Indenture, more specifically in the area of servant-master/mistress relations. The study uses these crimes as a window into the social dynamics of the settler home and domestic space in Colonial Natal, since they were created within their own set of orchestrating emotions and situations. The thesis draws on international and local literature around master/mistress-servant relations as well as relations between domestic slaves and the owners of their labour at the same time in other regions of the world. The findings of this thesis contribute to the historiography of South Africa; to the historiography of Indian South African life; to the historiography of servant- master/mistress relationships; to the analysis of the complex intermingling of private and public labour and lives bound up with this labour form, both in past moulds and in its present form; and to the growing literature on the linkages between utilizing analysis of legal institutions and legal records in researching and writing the history of South African lives. Most importantly however, this thesis is the story of ordinary men and women whose lives, cultures, individualities and histories intersected with the domestic and colonial nexus. Contents Acknowledgements vi List of Images vii List of Graphs and Tables viii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Chapter One – is lying a coolie’s religion? 18 Chapter Two – Have I been indentured to this colony to be trashed or to work? 64 Chapter Three – A Tissue of Lies 101 Chapter Four – Stewed Plums, Baked Porridge and Flavoured Tea 134 Conclusion 159 Appendix 164 Bibliography 193 Acknowledgments questioning the whole threshing floor of the earth, trying to discover the meaning of this vast disorder… perhaps even rebelling at finding no answer. aime cesaire Every Tuesday and sometimes Friday for the past three years, Stephen and I would glumly jump into our cars and dread the long drive to the archives. Sometimes we would be joined by the other graduate students, and on the way there, we would talk about the birds, the bees, life, love, colonial paper cuts, and very, very occasionally about work. And sometimes we never actually made it to the Archives. But all those trips are laced with pleasant memories of arguments on amaFoucault, Mamdani, Wednesday afternoon seminar papers and it was during these long drives that this thesis developed. There are many people that have, in their own little ways contributed to this thesis, but first and most importantly, I would like to thank Stephen Sparks [who wears his heart on his sleeve]. This thesis is as much mine as it is his. Stephen is the greatest friend I have known and if I could describe that friendship in one word, it would be glorious! Many people who will read this thesis I am sure, will feel the energy and passions of Dr Catherine Burns radiating through the pages. She has been so much more than just a supervisor and her dedication, honesty, friendship and inspiration over the past five years is sacred and cherished. To Catherine: who taught me how to be the sand in the oyster! – thank you. I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation as well as the staff at the Pietermaritzburg Archives. I would like to extend my gratitude to Keith Breckenridge, Sandi Thompson, Jeff Guy, Marijke du Toit, Thembisa Waetjen, Vukile Khumalo, Chad Martin, Mike Mahoney, the graduate students – and of course, Julie Parle: the bearer of calmness – it is truly a privilege to be associated with such an excellent department: Mucho Gracias. To Nafisa, Suri, Vash and Melissa, what would the department be without you all? Thank you. I am so grateful for all your ideas, motivation and for helping me finish this thesis. A special thank you to Nafisa – your singing talent is indeed rare! To Buddy and Penny: I know that I speak for both Sershen and I when I say we could not have done this without your love and support. My love and greatest thanks to Sershen’s family and my own, for being so supportive, understanding the long nights and missing us on the weekends and holidays. To the latest member of our family, Keshav: whose spirit glistens like rain, thank you for your smile. And to Sershen Naidoo, … he knows why! … and how can I forget the sandworm! - vi - List of Images 1: Map of the Natal Region xi 2: The Herbert family at their home in Bangalore, c1910 27 3: “Empire made me…Eric Blair with his ayah in India” 30 4: Herbert Family Friends in India: Children with Ayah 32 5: Natal Celebrities In A Small Way 50 6: Map of Murder 79 7: Letter from Sheik Ramthumiah’s Father, Sheik Alli Said. 90 8: TG Colenbrander’s Homestead, New Guelderland 164 9: “INTABENE,” Ridge Road 165 10: Dwelling House on the Berea, Natal RSD Cardin? Pinelands Hill 166 11: Summer Residence on Berea, D’urban, Natal 166 12: Victorian Parlour, Bayview-Durban 167 13: Indian Rickshaw Puller 168 14: Family Picnic 169 15: Ol Bowlby “Doing the Quiet” 170 16: Mary Stainbank with her ayah on the Coedmore Estate 171 17: Field Marshal Lord Roberts and Indian Servant, Pretoria, 1900 172 - vii - List of Graphs 1: No. of Crimes Committed By Indians relative to the Total No. of Crimes in 45 Natal, 1880-1915 [%], as recorded by the office of the Attorney General. 2: No. of Crimes Committed By Indians relative to the Total No. of Crimes in 46 Natal, 1880-1920 [%], brought before the Supreme Court. 3: Total Number of Servants employed in the Colony, showing racial and gender 54 breakdown, 1904. 4: Breakdown of Different Domestic Duties performed by Indians, 1904. 55 List of Tables 1: The approximate proportion % of persons of each race, engaged in Domestic 54 Occupations. 2: No. of Crimes by Indians relative to Total No. of Crimes [%], AGO, 1880-1915. 173 3: Crimes Committed by Indians, Registers, Supreme Court, 1880-1920. 174 - viii - List of Abbreviations AGO – Attorney General's Office (1845 - 1928) CNC – Chief Native Commissioner (1893 - 1952) CSO – Colonial Secretary's Office (1842 - 1919) GH – Government House II – Indian Immigration Department (1858 - 1924) IRD – Immigration Restriction Department (1897 - 1912) MJPW – Minister of Justice and Public Works (1861 - 1910) MSCE – Master of the Supreme Court. Estates (1840 - 1971) NCS – Natal Civil Service NCP – Natal Colonial Publications NIC – Natal Indian Congress NIPU – Natal Indian Patriotic Union NITU – Natal Indian Teacher’s Union NT – Natal Treasury (1846 - 1912) PAR – Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository PMG – Postmaster General (1855 - 1901) RSC – Registrar, Supreme Court, Pietermaritzburg (1846 - 1966) SGO – Surveyor General's Office (1837 - 1914) - ix - … And this also, thought the word lie heavy upon your hearts: The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed. The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked, And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon. Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured. And still more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless and unblamed. You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked; For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together. And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also.1 1 Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet. (Arkana: Penguin, 1998), 47-48. - x - Map of the Natal Region2 2 Robert Morrell. From Boys to Gentlemen: Settler Masculinity in Colonial Natal, 1880-1920. (Pretoria: University of South Africa Press, 2001), 2. - xi - Introduction Introduction In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Karl Marx said that “They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.”1 Marx was of course referring to small- holding peasants, but the phrase is used here to describe the way in which this thesis represents the beginning of an attempt to bring to life the stories of those individuals that existed within the inner sanctum of colonial life. Interesting in their behaviour and actions and enigmatic in their thoughts and ideologies, for them, domesticity arrested their sense of individuality and they strived to exist outside of the bounds of their contract with their masters and mistresses.