The Hustler and the Mooch: Slavery in Late Eighteenth-Century Bombay

Abstract

ABSTRACT How did property in persons manifest itself in late eighteenth-century Bombay? This article uses judicial records to explore how the master-slave relationship could be inverted: a woman sued a man who claimed to ‘own’ her for the money she spent on maintaining him. These records provide a unique insight into the biography and everyday life of an urban slave in this period and the intertwining of domesticity, caste, religion and kin-building. Jaffer Mahomed claimed that Assa was a slave and collateral on a debt and produced a deed of sale and a mortgage bond. Assa claimed she had maintained him and produced an itemized account of everyday expenditure and a manumission document. Through an analysis of the documents produced in court, interrogations, complaints and rejoinders, this article demonstrates how judicial sources can help understand the strategic choices and horizon of possibilities available to urban slaves in this period.