British Colonial Administration Research Articles

Journey through Time: Mapping Cachar's Nineteenth Century Roadways

Nestled in the southern part of Assam, Cachar holds a fascinating and rich history. This remote area, situated in the northeastern corner of India and endowed with abundant natural resources, proved to be an enticing prospect for the British colonial administration. The tumultuous conditions prevalent in Cachar during the latter part of the Cachari rule under Govinda Chandra provided an opening for the British. Following the tragic assassination of Govinda Chandra in 1830, the English East India Company annexed Cachar on 14th August 1832. Subsequently, with an aim for administrative efficiency, the British government embarked on various developmental initiatives, including the construction and improvement of infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as part of their colonization endeavors in the region. This initiative indirectly contributed to the overall well-being of the people of Cachar. This paper aims to highlight the advancements made in the development of road networks in Cachar, essential elements that not only facilitated internal and external trade and commerce but also created avenues for new markets. The progress in infrastructure played a pivotal role in the expansion of the tea plantation in Cachar. Furthermore, these developments proved crucial for British administrators in Cachar, empowering them to effectively govern the region.

“Moderate” vs “Extremist” Muslims? How a decontextualized distinction can trigger a contradictory assessment of security and radicalization in Malaysia

Abstract This article demonstrates how the application of a broad and decontextualized distinction between “moderate” and “extremist” Muslims can undermine our assessment of an Islamic identity, security, and radicalization. It compares how this distinction has been used by the British colonial administrators (in Raffles, Crawfurd, Marsden, and Swettenham) in nineteenth-century Malaya and by Malaysia's Prime Ministers (Mahathir, Badawi, and Najib) in the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries. This comparison demonstrates that both groups, despite their very different backgrounds (Western non-Muslim and Muslim non-Western), introduced a similar distinction between “moderate” and “extremist” driven more by socio-political objectives than by religious ones. Furthermore, the article stresses the importance of considering the socio-political and contextual dimensions of Islamic identity before attempting to explain the process of radicalization and its implications for security. Such an approach discourages reference to broad categories such as “moderate,” “extremist,” “Islamism,” or “Salafism,” and allows for discussion of their contextual and socio-political connotations.

Legacies of Colonial Violence in Contemporary Transitional Justice: Memories of Mau Mau, the ‘Kapenguria Six’ and the ‘Ocampo Six’ in Kenya

ABSTRACT∞ This article assesses the enduring impact of colonial violence in responses to modern conflict by transitional justice mechanisms. It presents an example of how societies continue to be structured by racial and colonial injustice and how this influences contemporary transitional justice. This is done through an analysis of the popular memory of the Mau Mau insurgency from 1952 to 1960 in Kenya, the trial of the six Kenyan nationalists known as the ‘Kapenguria Six’ by the British colonial administration and the trials of six Kenyans alleged to be most responsible for orchestrating the 2007–2008 post-election violence in Kenya, known as the ‘Ocampo Six’ before the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the Kenyan context, the influence of memories of colonial violence enabled the promotion of political agendas and arguably coloured public debate surrounding the two Kenya cases before the ICC. Transitional justice mechanisms such as the ICC do not operate in an ahistorical vacuum and international criminal trials as a form of transitional justice may be contested where there is no genuine accountability, redress or reparations for victims of colonial crimes. However, the juxtaposition of colonial crimes and the ICC prosecutions in Kenya also raises important questions relating to accountability for historical crimes in former colonies, the temporal limitations of transitional justice mechanisms and their unequal application.

A History of Exploitation of the Colonised in Northern Nigeria During the Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919

The 1918 influenza pandemic was a devastating event that killed millions of people around the world. In Northern Nigeria, the pandemic was particularly deadly, and the British colonial administration's response to the crisis was characterised by exploitation and neglect. This article examines a variety of historical sources, including letters, memoirs, and reports written by British colonial officials in Northern Nigeria during the pandemic. The study adopts the theory of dependency. The article finds that the colonial government exploited the colonised people of Northern Nigeria during the pandemic. The article argues that the colonial government's exploitation during the pandemic was a clear example of their disregard for the lives and well-being of the people they governed. It also argues that the pandemic provides a valuable lens through which to examine the ways in which colonial powers prioritised their own interests over the well-being of those they ruled during times of crisis. The article concludes by calling for further research on the exploitation of the colonised during the influenza pandemic and other historical crises.

Colonial Roots of the Contemporary Economic Crisis in Subsaharan Africa (SSA): The Case of Nigeria and Tanzania

Tanzania is a low-income oil-importing developing country, with characteristics that typify the vulnerability of a Third World economy, with external debt payment crisis. Nigeria on the other hand, is a mineral-rich oil-exporting country also enmeshed in debt crisis. Sadly, Nigeria has been the region’s largest borrower. Both countries have different economic development strategies. While Tanzania with initial socialist bent, capitulated to the conditionalities of multilateral agencies, Nigeria on the other hand followed the path of a mixed economy and later reverted to the capitalist economic mode. This discourse examines the colonial roots of the economic crisis in both Nigeria and Tanzania. The study also x-rays the impacts of British colonial administration on Nigeria and Tanzania, and the political and economic systems that evolved in these colonies. The work found out that the imposition of indirect rule, which meant the superimposition of the colonial method of government on the various indigenous emirates, kingdoms, and tribal chieftaincies in Nigeria and Tanzania was for economic exploitation. The work submits that the underlying motive of colonialism was to ensure the effective and unchallenged exploitation of the colonies for the benefit of British capitalists, and the indirect rule system was intended as the best way to accomplish this end. This exploitation has however continued unabetted into the present-day neo-colonial exploitation aided by both Nigerian and Tanzanian collaborators.

Transforming African musics at a South African university

Abstract This article critically engages with the discipline of African musics in the academy. It examines the process of curriculum transformation of the African music section at the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town since 2005 as an emergent curriculum model for an integrated approach to the teaching of African musics at universities. The adoption of this curriculum predated the 2015–2016 fervent calls in South Africa to decolonise the university, which necessitates an approach to teaching African musics not rooted in its colonial past. As is known, the study and research of African musics in the academy partly stemmed from the efforts of European (and later US) researchers who often received support through the British colonial administration and much of their output seemed to be focused on convincing their peers about the virtues of ‘African music’ and the study thereof. Despite this history, there is evidence to support the fact that in most African universities, the music departments are far more interested in teaching Western art music and its virtues. In recognition of the calls by students for radical changes to the curricula in South African universities, the article seeks to answer the question ‘how do we consider ongoing changes to the knowledge both received and produced in this field?’

Two-Nation Theory and division of the Indian Subcontinent: analysing the idealist and revisionist perspectives

Two-Nation Theory, long regarded as the linchpin of the partition of the Indian Subcontinent in 1947, has come under scrutiny by revisionist scholars who seek to challenge and question the prevailing idealism surrounding this historical division. Revisionist perspectives offer a critical analysis of the Two-Nation Theory by contesting its oversimplified portrayal of Muslims in the Subcontinent. These scholars assert that the theory, which framed the partition because of irreconcilable religious differences, neglects the intricate tapestry of cultural, linguistic, and regional identities among Muslims. Moreover, revisionists delve into the multifaceted causes of partition, asserting that it cannot be solely attributed to religious disparities. They emphasise the role of political manoeuvring, economic inequalities, power dynamics, and the shortcomings of leadership in shaping this historical event. Revisionist arguments also suggest that political leaders, such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the All-India Muslim League, may have strategically employed the Two-Nation Theory to secure advantages during negotiations with the British colonial administration. This challenges the prevailing notion that the demand for a separate Muslim state primarily reflects religious sentiment. This research attempts to contemplate the revisionist perspectives on the Two-Nation Theory, which ultimately led to the division of the Subcontinent.

The Criminalisation of the Indian-Irani Community by British Colonial Administration in India During Years 1842 to 1940 and Onwards

Indian Iranis are denotified/nomadic tribes living in India since the sixteenth century. A large migrating group of them was declared criminals under British law. Post-independence too this label continued. Even today, police, media and society treat them as criminals. This article argues that though the British-targeted group of the Indian-Irani community was not involved in crime considerably (28 convictions of petty thefts in 98 years), it was noted as criminal tribes in police reports in and around the Bombay presidency from the year 1842 to 1940. A Police Report on Vagrant Bands of Foreigners of 1879 and notes and books by the then British police officers reflect the same. A then foreign-originated, nontribal, isolated community of Indian Iranis was labelled as criminals by the British colonial administration step-wise. The article briefs that the undue criminalisation of one group from this community further led to the criminalisation of the larger group from this community in independent India. Primary data witnessing the impact of such constant criminalisation on the current generation of the community in Ambivli, Thane district, Maharashtra is also briefly discussed in this article. The theories of labelling in criminology most fit to describe this criminalisation.

Female Education in Contemporary North-East; With a Special Reference to Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States, Nigeria: Impediments and Prospects

This study titled “Female Education In Contemporary North-East; with A Special Reference To Yobe, Borno And Adamawa States, Nigeria: Impediments And Prospects has been established to examine the inception, growth, nature, essence extent and impact of its acquisition on human existence and society of the areas under review, as well as the positive and negative development associated with it aimed at highlighting some of the major obstacles confronting our subject matter of study for an outstanding solution to the problems. This signifies that it is an intellectual attempt to portray what the concept of Female Education means from gender point of view. In the course of conducting the study both interviews, published and unpublished source were interacted with. In addition to the above, both quantitative and qualitative techniques for presentation and analysis were adopted and applied into use. In the first instance, the study argues that there was neither evidence of the emergence of female scholars nor schools established for female education in the Northern Emirates, regardless of the studied areas until after the 1804 Sokoto Jihad (Islamic Revolutionary Movement), which brought about the formation of Yantaru Institute for Female Religious Education in the Sokoto Caliphate founded by Nana Asma’u Bin-Fodio’s biological daughter. The study also stresses that by 1903, this brand of education was not the priority of the British Colonial Administration but Political Power consolidation for the satisfaction of their multiple interests, purely for political, economic and social advancement of the metropolitan Europe, a full scale project inwardly executed under the pretext of exploitation of human and material resources of the colonized nations. The study observes that by 1930’s this brand of education started gathering momentum in our studied states and the North at large. It is against this backdrop, the idea of forming collaborative partnership between

Media wars: Remaking the logics of propaganda in India’s wartime cine-ecologies

AbstractRecent Second World War historiography has rightly highlighted the forgotten contributions of South Asia in the Allied war effort, and the everyday meanings of the war in South Asia. The role of cinema here, however, remains largely overlooked. This article focuses on British efforts to produce war propaganda in India with the help of Indian filmmakers, through varying tactics of incentivization and coercion. Between 1940 and 1945, the British colonial administration attempted several strategies to build a local film propaganda apparatus in India but, as I demonstrate, each stage was met with differentiated forms of cooperation, reluctance, and outright refusal, finally leading to the adoption of the unlikely genre of the full-length fiction film as the main mode of war propaganda in India. Derided as frivolous and half-hearted by critics at the time, the Indian-language ‘war effort’ film is more generatively framed as a form of ‘useless cinema’ that defied the logics of propaganda and privileged ideological ambivalence. This article brings together media history, film analysis, industrial debates about supply chains and licence regimes, aesthetic concerns about subtlety, and political differences about the ideological meanings of the war to situate the Second World War within the complex cine-ecologies of India. I read films and film industrial negotiations together to add to the multi-sited story of India’s experience of the Second World War that this special issue develops.

Cultural diplomacy in times of crisis: the British Council’s departure from Burma during the military dictatorship (1962-1966)

ABSTRACT In 1948, when Burma became independent, the British colonial administration left the country and was replaced by a British embassy and a British Council centre, in order to establish new diplomatic relations. Cultural diplomacy appeared as a good, informal way of furthering the embassy’s initial goal of promoting peaceful and preferential diplomatic relations between Burma and Britain after the colonial era. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the British Council offered English classes to the Burmese public and encouraged the development of academic partnerships between the two countries. Yet in 1962, a military coup led by General Ne Win overthrew Prime Minister U Nu’s democratically elected government and disrupted Anglo-Burmese relations. In the name of strict neutrality in foreign affairs, Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council restricted all foreign cultural missions’ actions in Burma, notably their ability to teach foreign languages to Burmese students, until the British Council was eventually forced to close down and transfer some of its remaining missions to the British embassy in 1967. Based on British Council archives gathered at the National Archives in London, this article examines a forced ‘diplomatic departure’, by focusing on the impact of the Burmese internal political crisis on Anglo-Burmese diplomatic and cultural relations.

Examining the Anoufom- Dagomba Tribe in Northern Ghana the Case of a Master-Servant Relationship?

The general view of most scholars and indigenes is that the Anoufum have always been subjects of the Dagomba. Others have however opposed this view and speak strongly about it. This paper sets out to find the actual relationship between the Anoufom and the Dagombas in Northern Ghana. Is it a subject-master relationship? This study was qualitative in nature. Data was collected from extensive oral interviews conducted with knowledgeable elders from the Dagbon ethnic groups of Kumbungu, Tolon and Yendi in the Northern Region of Ghana The same was carried out among the Anoufom of Ghana (NaloriI) Chereponi and those in Sansane – Mango in the Northern part of present-day Togo. A scrutiny and analysis of the data gathered indicated that the Anoufom have never been subjects of the Dagombas, whether through war or conquest, or peace treaty. What indeed brought about that perception was a result of colonial administrative policies carried by the British colonial administrators. This was done by merging smaller ethnic groups with that of a larger one for administrative convenience. It was revealed that the Anoufom had never been subjects of Dagombas. This research adds to the existing literature on political relations among the various tribes in Northern Ghana. Keywords: Anoufom, Chakosi, Chokosi, Nalori, Bangsi, Dagbon, Subject, Feudalism, Communalism, Sansane Mango (Mango).

Colonial rodent control in Tanganyika and the application of ecological frameworks

ABSTRACT At the end of the 1920s, Tanganyika Territory experienced several serious rodent outbreaks that threatened cotton and other grain production. At the same time, regular reports of pneumonic and bubonic plague occurred in the northern areas of Tanganyika. These events led the British colonial administration to dispatch several studies into rodent taxonomy and ecology in 1931 to determine the causes of rodent outbreaks and plague disease, and to control future outbreaks. The application of ecological frameworks to the control of rodent outbreaks and plague disease transmission in colonial Tanganyika Territory gradually moved from a view that prioritised 'ecological interrelations' among rodents, fleas and people to one where those interrelations required studies into population dynamics, endemicity and social organisation in order to mitigate pests and pestilence. This shift in Tanganyika anticipated later population ecology approaches on the African continent. Drawing on sources from the Tanzania National Archives, this article offers an important case study of the application of ecological frameworks in a colonial setting that anticipated later global scientific interest in studies of rodent populations and rodent-borne disease ecologies.

The Queen can do no Wrong: An Examination of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II in Africa and the Position of the British Monarch with Regard to International Crimes

Queen Elizabeth II would be remembered by many as a great queen who ruled and reigned for more than seven decades. Her seventy years of reigned as the British Monarch has imparted the world and the African continent whom she has visited more any other continent even before she was crowned as the British Queen. Indeed, Queen Elizabeth II was even proclaimed as British Queen while in Africa. Although many African leaders have hailed the Queen for the roles she played as the leader of the Commonwealth besides being the crowned Monarch, others have accused her for colonial crimes and harsh British practises administered by British colonial administration in Africa. Accordingly, the Queen ascended into the throne during the peak of decolonisation of Africa. International law protects the Queen in her capacity as the British Monarch and as the head of state or leader of the Commonwealth nations. This article examines reign of Queen Elizabeth II and argued that the British Monarch is protected by international law rule on immunities as the head of state of the Commonwealth nations and as a Constitutional Monarch of the United Kingdom (UK), despite many accusations from the African continent. Consequently, the immunities accorded by customary international to senior state officials also protects the Queen in her capacity as the British Monarch and as head of state to the Commonwealth nations. It further maintains that the position of the Constitutional Monarch exempts them for committing crimes unlike the British Prime Minister who exercises political power and could be charged and prosecuted for international crimes.

Overseen and Overlooked: Spanish and British Silencing of Labor Resistance in Post-Emancipation Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the reception and effects of the post-emancipation forced labour system in Puerto Rico (1873–1876) and contributes to the global understanding of the transition from slavery to coerced labour in the nineteenth century. Through an analysis of local reports, metropolitan responses, and archival documentation, I examine the ways both Spanish and British colonial administrators obscured and shaped the historical record through their promotion of the narrative of absolute success of the contracting system and minimization of widespread reports of newly-emancipated libertos’ (freedpeople’s) challenges to it. In addition to interrogating the colonial reporting strategies utilized, motivations for narrative silencing, and the consequent effects on the historiography of Puerto Rican emancipation, the article provides glimpses of liberto resistance that constitute direct contradictions to the dominant narrative.

Sole Native Authority (SNA) and the People at War: A Historical Review of the 1948 Erunkoja tax Riot in Ile-Ife

The establishment of the British colonial administration and the introduction of the Indirect Rule system attracted opposition and riots in some places in Southern Nigeria. Indeed, the British decentralized despotism, the introduction of some burdensome taxation policies, and other prevalent tax related considerations naturally engendered resistance, which manifested in protest movements, revolts and outright riots in some places in Yorubaland. The article adopts the frustration-aggression theory. Evidence gathered from primary and secondary sources, chief among them being archival sources, interviews, and the use of extant literature. The paper argues that the increase in taxes after World War II had a political underpinning to the protest that led to the Erunkoja riot of 1948. Put differently, the riot was a consequence of the overbearing impact that increased taxes from the Second World War had on the people

French Translocalities and Alternative Colonial Genealogies of Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Malaya


 
 
 Much has been discussed on the presence of the British in Malaya and their role as a catalyst for the creation of a multi-ethnic nation. However, there is another set of narratives by a European community that is often left out of this conversation on colonial networks, the French. These have often been at the periphery of discussions, predominantly because they were produced in French, with translations few and far between. In this paper, we attempt to bring various documentation produced by the French community into the circle of postcolonial conversations on early life in Malaya, with the aim of highlighting other European perspectives on the region that existed alongside predominant British narratives. These are drawn particularly from an exploration of selected texts written by French individuals who visited or settled in Malaya in the nineteenth century. We focus on three main groups among the French community, namely seafarers, Catholic missionaries (who were simultaneously either lexicographers or translators), and geological explorers. Of particular significance are the translocal linguistic, cultural, and religious mobilities that were generated as these French individuals made their way through and engaged with a territory that was primarily under the jurisdiction of the British colonial administration and the alternative genealogies of knowledge that were produced.
 
 

KAKITANGAN AWAM MELAYU JOHOR PADA ERA KOLONIAL BRITISH: SATU SOROTAN AWAL, 1914-1941

This research was about the initial survey of Malay Civil Servants in Johor during British colonial administration in year 1914 to year 1941. The role of Malay civil servants has started since the restructuring of the Johor state administration. This study article uses a qualitative method. This analysis was focus on documents and primary sources from files of colonial records such as the Annual Report of Johor files, Johor state government files related to salaries and pension laws. Findings show that the ability of Malay civil servants to help manage the administration of the state of Johor led to the formation of the Johor Civil Service by Sultan Ibrahim in 1895 by appointing young civil servants to work with older figures to enable the younger generation of civil servants to deepen knowledge and knowledge from staff. experienced in Johor state administrative management. Overall, this article will show the ability of the Malays to work in administrative management enabling them to continue to serve as civil servants in the administrative system after the British colonial rule in Johor.

Staging Chinese student activism in Cold War Singapore: Performing Chineseness and embodying the Malayan nation, 1950s–60s

This article is a re-examination of Chinese student activism in Singapore through the lens of cultural performance, which has yet to garner due attention. Tracing the ebb and flow of Chinese school concerts in the politically volatile atmosphere of Cold War era Singapore and Malaya complicates current understanding about student activism in the city state. Whereas the official narratives by the British colonial administration and later, the PAP, often cast Chinese student activism as part of a communist insurgency, this article argues that school concerts—comprising folk dances, songs, choirs and theatre—were an alternative space for Chinese youth to articulate their visions of building an independent socialist state and an integrated multiracial Malayan nation. Unlike the student activism expressed through mass strikes, these school concerts enable one to see how the Chinese students displayed sophisticated ways of discipline, organisation skills, and creative energy through the performing arts in 1950s and 1960s Singapore.

Power and Play

Power and Play