Colonial Period Research Articles

Untwisting Beycesultan Höyük: the earliest evidence for nålbinding and indigo-dyed textiles in Anatolia

Cuneiform tablets indicate the importance of textile manufacturing in the Bronze Age Old Assyrian Colony Period and Hittite Empire, yet the organic traces of this industry rarely survive. Two burnt textile fragments found at Beycesultan offer an unexpected insight into the Bronze Age textile industry in Anatolia. Here, the authors present the results of chromatographic and microscopic analyses that indicate one fragment was made from hemp using the nålbinding, or single-needle knitting, technique and was dyed with the woad or indigo plant, while the other was a natural tabby weave. Both add to our understanding of the diversity of textile production in the Bronze Age.

The Acculturation of Pakistanis in Singapore

ABSTRACT This article explores the process of acculturation for Pakistanis in Singapore and their later generation descendants from the country’s colonial period to the present day, focusing on the complexities brought about by migration, colonialism, and nationhood. It analyses how the historical context, namely Singapore’s unique position as a multicultural British colony situated in the Malay peninsula has shaped the experiences of this diaspora community in a variety of ways. Using qualitative research methods and employing cross-cultural psychologist John Berry’s acculturation strategies and multicultural adaptation hypothesis, the article argues that the acculturation process has been facilitated by the sense of cultural and socio-economic security among Pakistani immigrants and their families, amidst evolving political developments and top-down policies during Singapore’s transition from a British colony to an independent nation. The findings of this study will contribute to our understanding of diaspora experiences in multicultural societies and provide insights into the complex dynamics of acculturation in a rapidly changing social context.

Indigenous use and conservation of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) at Yakutat, Alaska since the sixteenth century

Sustainable Indigenous resource use reflects balance between animal populations and levels of human consumption, influenced by natural cycles of faunal abundance, community size and subsistence needs, procurement technologies, and the requirements of trade or commodity production. Sustainability is “epiphenomenal” when animal populations are preserved, and community needs met, without deliberate measures to prevent overharvesting. Alternatively, Indigenous conservation—cultural practices that moderate use of a resource to prevent its depletion—may play a determinative role. In this study from the Tlingit community of Yakutat, Alaska in the Northwest Coast cultural region, we interweave Indigenous and scientific perspectives to trace the use and conservation of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from before Western contact through the Russian and American colonial periods to the present. Harbor seals, which concentrate in large numbers at a summer ice floe rookery near Hubbard Glacier, are the community's most important subsistence food and a key to its culture and history. The Smithsonian Institution and Yakutat Tlingit Tribe undertook collaborative research in historical ecology and archaeology in 2011–2014 including oral interviews with elders and subsistence providers, excavations at sealing sites, archaeofaunal analysis, historical and archival research, and consideration of climate cycles and biological regime shifts that influence the harbor seal population in the Gulf of Alaska. We compare technologies and hunting practices before and after Western contact, estimate harvest levels in different periods, and evaluate the effectiveness of traditional conservation practices that included hunting quotas enforced by clan leaders and the seasonal delay of hunting with firearms to prevent abandonment of the rookery by the seal herd.

CRIME IN EKA KURNIAWAN’S NOVEL LELAKI HARIMAU

The novel Lelaki Harimau by Eka Kurniawan describes the life of Javanese people during the Japanese colonial period. In the novel, there are various kinds of social problems, one of which is crime. This research aims to describe the forms of crime in the novel. This research uses a qualitative descriptive method with data collection techniques in the form of library research. The theory used is criminal psychology with a literary psychology approach to bridge the study of psychology and literature. The results of the research show that there are three forms of crime in the novel: domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape committed by the major characters. The domestic violence as well as raping is done by a husband towards his wife; something weird but that is the truth. Sexual harassment is experienced by other female characters owing to hegemony of power and money. The research shows that crime is one of the social problems that occurs in society. These crimes can be caused by various factors, such as poverty, social inequality and family conflict.

PUBLIC POLICIES ON DRUGS: ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENTS OF THE BRAZILIAN PUNITIVIST MODEL

This article presents a critical analysis of the evolution of drug policies in Brazil, from the colonial period to the present day. The research demonstrates how the prohibitionist model, present since the Philippine Ordinances, has consolidated itself as the only strategy for combating drugs over the centuries, undergoing few changes only in the last three decades. The historical analysis reveals a hardening of laws, especially during the Civil-Military Dictatorship, with the criminalization of drug use and the strengthening of the logic of the “War on Drugs”. With the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, there was a paradigm shift, with the recognition of health as a fundamental right and the creation of the Unified Health System. Despite this, the prohibitionist model persisted, albeit with some nuances. The article reflects on the ineffectiveness of the prohibitionist model in reducing consumption and organized crime, defending the need for a more humanitarian approach based on scientific evidence. Finally, this work also proposed to critically analyze current public policies, unraveling the characteristics of each of them.

“Extremely Stupid Guidelines”: On The Development of Historical Questions Around Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Martyrdom

ABSTRACT In 1675, Mughal authorities beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru and, today, the martyrdom has become a highly contested historical question within scholarly circles. This article investigates the emergence of the event as a historical question and how the emphasis of historical fact-finding refashioned scholarly approaches to the Sikh tradition in the colonial and postcolonial periods. I end by exploring how the famous Sikh intellectual and politician, Sirdar Kapur Singh (1909-1986), drew upon the Sikh tradition to challenge the very premises of such historiographical framing in his landmark essay, “Who Killed Guru Tegh Bahadur?” and the limits to his challenge. I ask: What do we make of Kapur Singh’s frustration and disgust at the history writing that came to dominate the Sikh tradition? I show how Kapur Singh does not transcend the epistemological constraints of history through a better or more accurate rendition of the past. Instead, he disrupts the historiographical operation in his frustration with history writing and what he calls its “extremely stupid guidelines.”

Camel Imports and Transport Fantasies in German Southwest Africa, 1884–1915

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the import and introduction of camels to German Southwest Africa (modern-day Namibia) in the period 1884 to 1915. It identifies, narrates, and quantifies the import of camels and explains the camel’s role in transport and warfare during the German colonial period. Gestures towards how the camel and its ‘non-German expert handlers’ were ‘unlikely agents’ in this story are part of the discussion. Arguably, centring German animal transfers can help complicate existing understandings of German imperial fantasies, shed more light on everyday colonial violence and genocide, and alert us to silences regarding non-German experts and African labourers.

FROM THE TRAFFICKERS TO THE OUTSKIRTS: DOMINATION, RESISTANCE AND STRUGGLE

This article examines the subordination of the black population in Brazil from the colonial period to the present day, highlighting the persistence of racist legislation in the Brazilian legal system and the marginalization of Afro-Brazilian voices in literary historiography. Using the interdisciplinary approach of Law and Literature, the research analyzes divergences and convergences in the treatment of Afro-descendants throughout Brazilian history, focusing on the short story A escrava, by Maria Firmina dos Reis. It is argued that Firmina's exclusion from canonical historiographies is a reflection of a political-ideological project rooted in Brazilian Romanticism, whose purpose was to sustain an elitist and Eurocentric national identity. The study concludes by defending the implementation of an anti-racist education, based on Law 10.639/2003, as a way to decolonize knowledge, promoting representation and recognition of Afro-Brazilian contributions in the literary, historical and cultural spheres.

The Case of Dutch and Japanese Colonial Political Policies on Islamic Education in Indonesia

During the colonial period, education must have been very difficult to get, because the colonizers who were in power at that time did not want education to reach the indigenous people. The Islamic education system during the Japanese occupation was basically the same as the Islamic education system in the Dutch era, namely in addition to the pesantren education system established by traditional scholars, there was also a classical education system as seen in madrasas. The Dutch have colonized Indonesia for centuries. And during the Dutch colonial period, access to Islamic education was very difficult because Dutch education was more dominant in non-Islamic education. While Japan actually gave relief to Islamic education in Indonesia, it was precisely the waiver from Japan that made Japan withdraw from Indonesia. The research method used in this study is a Literature Study that collects data from various written sources. This research aims to find out the cases of political policies related to Islamic Education in Indonesia during the Dutch and Japanese colonial periods.

Biography and contributions of Joaquim do Espírito Santo (1901-1984) to the botany of Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe

A biography of Joaquim Viegas da Graça do Espírito Santo (1901–1984) is provided by integrating information from botanical collections and from his record as a civil servant. Born in São Tomé Island (São Tomé and Príncipe), he finished his studies in Portugal in 1924, spent most of his career as an agricultural technical engineer in Guinea-Bissau (1927–1956), and after retiring continued collecting, mostly in São Tomé. He collected at least 5 412 herbarium specimens, including 23 types of plant names. He remains the most prolific plant collector in Guinea-Bissau and is a somewhat neglected collector in São Tomé and Príncipe. He also produced 22 publications. Finally, these contributions are contextualised, taking into consideration that he was one of the few non-white plant collectors from the Portuguese colonial period, while being a member of a family that was pivotal in the inception of independence movements in Lusophone Africa.

O discurso iconográfico como signo das Luzes: o frontispicio da Encyclopédie e a obra de Mestre Ataíde

French Enlightenment thought developed its own iconography. Mestre Ataíde, a prominent Brazilian artist from the colonial period, had engraving manuals in his library, including plates from the Encyclopédie. A comparative analysis of the compositional structure and lines of force of the Frontispiece of the Encyclopédie (Cochin, 1675) and the works Ascension of Christ (1806) and Assumption of the Virgin (1804), both by Mestre Ataíde, suggests the potential presence of Enlightenment symbols in their iconography. Based on this premise, it is expected to contribute to studies that connect French Enlightenment ideals to Brazil in the 19th century.

THE COLLECTIVE HUMAN RIGHT TO HISTORICAL REPARATION VERSUS THE PRECLUSION OF THE RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE AREA OF STATE LIABILITY

It is unanimous in International Law that anyone who has committed an unlawful act must make reparations. However, there has been an increasingly pressing debate over whether it is possible to hold colonial powers legally liable for acts and crimes committed in the past in their former colonies. The rules of international liability indicate, among other issues, that time has already exerted its preclusive influence on possible claims for reparations, according to the rules of intertemporal law, which leads one to believe that International Law still seems incapable of helping those who were colonized and enslaved, since in practice the issue of the collective human right to historical reparations versus the preclusion of the retroactive application of International Law in matters of State liability is being discussed. However, some issues have arisen recently, such as the recent statement by the then Portuguese president, recognizing Portugal's responsibility for enslavement and crimes that occurred during the colonial period. Thus, and given the context of the current scenario, we seem to be witnessing an important historical step in a larger political-legal process. It seems premature to talk about a collective human right to historical reparation, however, it seems that a period of long and important debate is beginning, which is on the agenda of major newspapers, social networks and academic research. Thus, this movement may lead in some way to effective reparation for the serious violations committed in the past.

Exploration Of The Cultural Heritage Potential In Tasikmalaya City As Enrichment Of Local History Teaching Materials

Cultural heritage potential plays an important role in presenting meaningful history learning, unfortunately this has not been done in the Tasikmalaya city. This research aims to: 1) describe the use of cultural heritage in local history teaching materials; 2) describe a brief history of the city of Tasikmalaya, and; 3) Analyze the use of cultural heritage in the city of Tasikmalaya as enrichment of local history teaching materials. This research is qualitative research with a descriptive method where data is obtained through documentation and observation. The research results show that cultural heritage has an important role as a source of learning local history. There are 63 cultural heritage potential sites in the city of Tasikmalaya. There are a number of cultural heritage sites that can be used to enrich local historical material, including: 1) Lingga Yoni Indihiang as material to enrich local historical material during the Hindu-Buddhist era; 2) Sheikh Abdul Ghorib's grave in Kawalu during the Islamic era; 3) The Tasikmalaya Regent's official residence complex and cultural heritage in the center of Tasikmalaya city during the colonial period, and 4) the PETA Monument and the Cooperative Monument during the independence revolution. The use of the cultural heritage potentials in Tasikmalaya City in history learning can be done through two things, namely the application of the field trip method and the design of cultural heritage-based history teaching materials. This is expected to provide meaningful local history learning for students.

The physical well-being of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest: Anthropometric evidence from British Columbia’s jails, 1864–1913

This paper documents the height of Indigenous men from the Pacific Northwest who were incarcerated in British Columbia’s jails during a period of colonization and increasing market access. The average height of adults from a given community reflects the standard of living in that community at the time the adults were growing to maturity. After correcting for the impact of sample selection arising from prisoners’ personal attributes, their home communities’ access to market opportunities, and unobserved height determinants associated with exposure to the colonial criminal justice system, we find that Indigenous men were positively selected into incarceration based on their height. Moreover, the tendency for the tallest men to be incarcerated became stronger over our period of study. Our results suggest that Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest were at a severe bioeconomic disadvantage during the nineteenth century, and their well-being did not improve as market access and colonial institutions spread through the region.

Unequal Treaty in Practice: A Story about Article 23 of the Treaty of Tientsin

Abstract Despite the wealth of research on cross-border activities between China proper and Hong Kong, little has been discussed about the ‘civil fugitives’ who fled from one side to the other during Hong Kong’s early colonial period. Chinese debtors who absconded to China created jurisdictional problems for Hong Kong. The addition of Article 23 in the Treaty of Tientsin was an attempt to solve this issue, and this article explores what the discussions on Article 23, particularly those from 1905 to 1907 among British colonial officials and diplomatic agents, reveal about the characteristics of colonial jurisdiction under international law. In this case, colonial jurisdiction was limited solely to the territory of Hong Kong. Proposals to amend Article 23 attempted to remove the territorial barrier and establish personal jurisdiction for the colonial government in Hong Kong, similar to extraterritorial rights in Qing China.

Evolution of Codified Criminal Laws in India: A Voyage from Colonialization to Decolonization

This research paper delves into the profound evaluation of criminal laws in Bharat from the Vedic era to the decolonization of criminal statutes. The narrative begins with evaluating the criminal justice system from the Vedic ages to today's new decolonized criminal laws in India. The paper scrutinizes the various time duration for evaluation of criminal laws in Bharat: Before the Vedic era (Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva), Shrutis, Puranas, and many more), During the Vedic era (Dharamshastra and Arthshastra), Mughal period, British colonial period, and Decolonialization of criminal laws in India. The various objectives behind the decolonization of new criminal laws include Eradication of Colonial-Era law, Offence against the state, Modernization of the criminal justice system, Strengthening Accountability and Rule of Law, and Democratizing the Law. Understanding the evaluation of laws from the colonial era to the decolonization of criminal laws, importing critical legal changes brought under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Act (BSA) in 2023, this study closely observes the backdrop, what inspires the law to launch such amendments and what subtleties result in these alterations. This historical analysis is taken up first that describes the colonial legacy of India's legal system, and how relics of archaic legislations are part of its system even today. With this background, the exam is placed against a backdrop of rising crime and changing characteristics of criminal behaviors occasioned by new technological breakthroughs that require all-around changes. The paper scrutinizes the supreme provisions of the BNSS towards replacing the archaic Code of Criminal Procedure, the BNS which is poised to replace the Indian Penal Code, and the BSA which is to replace the Evidence Act. This report will appraise the major changes in the number of sections that are incorporated into the new schemes, record digitalization, and the inevitable drift towards forensic science and collection of evidence.

University Students ‘Attitudes toward the Use of Moroccan Arabic and/or Standard Arabic as a Language of Instruction in the Moroccan Educational System Mohammed Rezzaki

The language of instruction is a very debatable issue in Morocco. It is rooted in the Moroccan history since colonization period .It has been controversial during the arabization process which has promoted Standard Arabic (SA) as a language of instruction .In recent years, many voices have risen either to question this process in or to support it. Many attitudes have been raised owing to the historical and current factors that surround this issue. The majority of these attitudes are based on theoretical framework, which has become inadequate way of scientific study, especially in a topic like the langue of instruction. This paper tries to cast light on these attitudes and attempts to construct the grounds from empirical fieldwork trough the use of observation and a questionnaire. The informants are 80 university students of English studies and Islamic studies. The main findings lie in the gap between theoretical and empirical research, the necessity of SA use as a language of instruction in many fields, such as: Islamic studies, the possibility of using reduced Arabic in other domains.

Tiger shikars: The Wodeyars’ construction of a Rajput identity through sport

Abstract This article explores the practice of the sport of tiger hunting among the Wodeyars, the maharajas of Mysore, through an examination of art, archival records, state gazetteers, and a tour diary of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. It argues that the Wodeyars only adopted the sport as an expression of kingship in the late nineteenth century, under British influence. This, I posit, was part of their larger attempt to align their kingship to more popular Indian modes, specifically the Rajputs. By reading accounts of the sport in Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s tour diary, along with examining the Wodeyars’ attempts at forging kinship relations with the Rajputs, the article demonstrates how the sport became crucial to the Wodeyars’ assertion of a Rajput identity and to attempts to obtain a higher position in the princely hierarchy of the colonial period. The recognition that the success of tiger hunts was significant to Rajput kingship and identity, along with rising concern over the diminishing tiger population, led the Wodeyars to enclose forests, establish private hunting preserves and a shikar department, and classify tiger as game in an attempt to improve the sport and make it exclusive.

Historical expansion of tea plantations over 150years (1876-2023) in North Bengal, India.

The Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze agroforestry system has been a dominant driver of land transformation for over a century. However, most previous studies have not captured the dynamics of tea plantations since their inception. To address this research gap, this study investigates 150years (1876 to 2023) of tea area dynamics and two decades (2001-2022) of tree loss in the Bengal-Dooars region (Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts). Various data sources were employed, including Sentinel-2A imagery (10m), early twentieth century topographic maps at a 1:50,000 scale, and historical records from the British colonial period. Results revealed that the tea area expanded from 331 to 95,800ha (a 70% increase) during the study period. The 1-km grid-wise spatial analysis indicated that approximately 70% of the increase was attributed to the 60-90% and > 90% grid categories, signifying the expansion of large tea estates. Most tea gardens(TG) are sustained with trees, which can significantly contribute to carbon stock. Tree loss within and outside TG for 2001-2022 was analyzed using annual tree loss data at 30m from the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform. Between 2001 and 2022, about 52.7% of tree loss was attributed to TG, although tea covers only 15.3% of the geographic area of the study region. Our findings highlight the historical expansion of tea plantations and their impact on natural land cover. We suggest that future studies address the mean age of TG along with tree fractions for improved carbon estimates.

Revisiting resistance: student diaries and educational aspirations in Colonial Korea (1920–1945)

ABSTRACT This article examines the intricate interplay of educational enthusiasm, conformity, and resistance amongst Korean students during the Japanese colonial period (1920–1945). It explores how Japan’s governance shift in the 1920s, which extended schooling years and introduced co-education, elicited mixed responses from Korean students, ranging from compliance to various forms of resistance. By examining student diaries, this study unravels the complexities of educational aspirations and resistance and challenges traditional binary views of colonial educational history. The research highlights the heightened educational zeal in the 1920s and 1930s, characterised by increased school enrolment and fierce competition for admissions. The diaries provide insight into students’ reactions to colonial policies, blending aspirations for advancement with subtle forms of resistance. In analysing diary entries, this paper uncovers how increases in student enrolment and rising educational aspirations reflect both conformity with and resistance to colonial policies. Explicit resistance, more prominent in the 1920s, was replaced by implicit forms as militarism intensified in the 1930s. This study categorises resistance into organised (overt) and disorganised (covert) forms, with the latter including subtler forms of opposition, such as disquieting, indirect, and silent resistances. The diaries examined in this study reflect the dual life experiences of students, who adhered to public norms while nurturing private dissent. Manifestations of resistance ranged from disquieting actions to metaphorical defiance and strategic silence, which illustrates students’ complex navigation between external conformity and internal rebellion. This understanding of compliance and resistance, encompassing overt acts and subtle unspoken forms, underscores the need for a comprehensive view of educational aspirations during this historical period.