Most of
us can recognize only one of the three people in the photo above – Abraham Lincoln,
called the Great Emancipator by Americans, because he ended slavery in the
United States – and gave freedom to black people (there were no white or Red
Indian (Native American) slaves in the US). He was so staunchly against
slavery, he launched a Civil War against the Confederacy, the group of Southern
States which seceded from the USA, because they wanted to continue slavery. Lincoln
was appalled at the brutality and inhumanity of Slavery, and his fellow
abolitionists were inspired by the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” written by a brave
compassionate woman, Harriet Beecher Stowe.
This is
a popular narrative. But some questions are rarely asked. Why doesn’t the
United States celebrate Independence Day to commemorate the end of slavery,
rather than the end of colonialism and British Rule? And why didn’t Lincoln
grant women, even white women, the right to vote? And why didn’t Stowe ask for
this right (Was it more controversial than slavery? Would it have also led to
secession by the Confederacy? Women in the USA got the right to vote in the
1920s. Is that date not more suitably American Independence day?)
But what
fascinates me equally is that such questions never arise among Indians about
Indian history. Or about the abolition of slavery ANYWHERE else! Colonialism
and slavery were both rampant in the nineteenth century. Why do we never hear
about any other Emancipator or about any other nation that abolished slavery? How
many did so before Lincoln?
Is it
only historical if a war is waged?
Hence
the photo above. Indian history after 1947, focuses on how Gandhi led the
Congress in a freedom struggle against British Rule. The rhetoric often used is
that Gandhi and other freedom fighters ended the “Slave mentality” of the
Indians. Such fierce rhetoric shines in the poetry of Subramanya Bharathi, the
speeches of Bala Gangadhara Tilak, the sermons of Vivekananda, and books and essays
innumerable. But the British ended slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833
except in territory held by the East India Company. In 1843, slavery was
abolished in the Company’s territory. Hence the Earl of Ellenborough, the Englishman in the picture above. He was Governor General in 1843. Indians know
August 15, 1947 – the day British colonialism officially ended. But shouldn’t
we celebrate April 7, 1843 when the British Parliament passed The Indian
Slavery Act and abolished the terrible practice, not with a war, but with the
stroke of a pen? Notice that this was only in the East India Company’s
territories – the Presidencies of Madras, Bombay and Bengal. The Mughals still
ruled in Delhi and there were other kingdoms throughout India, where slavery continued. There were some
Company officers who opposed the abolition of slavery, because among powerful Hindus
and Muslims, abolition “would be
seen as interference in traditional structures ”!!!
I never
read about this in school, in history books, in a newspaper, in magazines, or
any other forum. “The British enslaved us” is the popular rhetoric. Not one
word in gratitude or even acknowledgement by Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Rajaji,
Vivekananda, Bharati, Tagore or any historian that I know of. One would think
there had never been any slavery in India. The Wikipedia web page for the Earl of
Ellenborough, in its current form and content, doesn’t mention that the
abolition of Slavery. The Wikipedia web page for the Indian Slavery Act
mentions neither Ellenborough nor Sir Robert Peel, who was Prime Minister of England when this Act was passed. How much credit do they deserve?
Most
countries abolished slavery without a civil war in the 19th century.
Most countries fought against colonialism and acquired some sort of freedom – often
they were ruled by much worse, more brutal, more incompetent dictators than the
European colonists. The end of colonialism usually replaced the earlier white
European aristocracy (only some were aristocrats in Europe) with brown, black
or yellow aristocrats (more commonly, kleptocrats). I don’t know if a single Asian
African or Latin American colony acquired freedom by a revolutionary war.
Almost all were accidents of history. After 1776, I think the only two colonialisms
that truly ended because of war, were Napoleon’s and Hitler’s colonizations of
Europe.
The
third person in the picture above explains this silence. This was Sultan Saud bin
Abdulaziz al Saud, of the royal family whose name adorns Saudi Arabia. He
abolished Slavery in his Sultanate in 1962. They were the last major nation to end
slavery. His Wikipedia page doesn’t mention it either. I had to check the
Abolition of Slavery wikipedia page to check the year. You would think he would
be at least half as famous as Lincoln and that it was an accomplishment.
Perhaps his mistake was not waging a war to end slavery. As was Ellenborough’s
or Peel’s. India was outraged that the Republic of South Africa enforced
apartheid in 1961 – so much that we cut off diplomatic relations and refused to
play cricket with them). But the nation that burnt and boycotted mill clothes
from Manchester never refused a drop of Arab oil.
One
would think Ellenborough would at least appeal to ardent Hindus as the first
English Hindutva Governor General – for bringing the gates of the Somnath temple
from Ghazni.
More
accurately, this says something to me about the human thought process. Neither
Elleborough nor Abdulaziz bin Saud have
a constituency. No Hindu or Muslim in India wants to look back at slavery, or abolition. No Gandhian, Congressman
or Indian politician benefits from acknowledging it. No historian could sell a book
about it. Anyone who speaks well of anything England did has a “slave
mentality.” We’d rather salute Lincoln and Gandhi get on with it.
Here are links to Wikipedia pages mentioned above
A Timeline of the Abolition of Slavery
Indian Slavery Act, 1843
If this
essay appalled you for its ridiculous admiration of one aspect of British rule,
these essays may outrage you even more
2. Trautmann on Francis Whyte Ellis (Chennai
pattanathu Elleesan)
3. Madras - India's first modern city
