Disciplining Coolies: An Archival Footprint of Trinidad, 1846

302 Pages·2018·4.068 MB·English

by  Amar Wahab

1 Amar Wahab
The early years of the East Indian Indentureship system in the Caribbean saw
experiments on “coolie” laborers under the British Empire. Colonial Trinidad
was one of the main sites for this experiment. This book foregrounds one of the
earliest cases (1846) of occupational and physical cruelty against East Indian
indentured laborers in Trinidad within this very early period of experimenta- D
tion. It presents and analyzes the full transcripts of an inquiry concerning the
i
ill-treatment of “coolie” laborers and the severe punishment and death of one s
laborer, Kunduppa, by a Scottish planter in Trinidad. Drawing on the concepts c
of discipline, governmentality, and Orientalism, the main argument of this i
p
book is that within the early experimental period of Indentureship, the figure
l
of the “coolie” and disciplinary tactics of bodily torture were instrumental to i
n
redrafting and stabilizing the colonial governance of contract labor. It also ar-
i
gues that Crown investigations of “coolie” abuse and death became occasions
n
for establishing a new colonial order, in which the disciplinary powers of plant-
g
Disciplining Coolies
ers were curbed in the interest of protecting and “caring” for the “coolie” —a

discourse that was crucial to re-inventing colonial rule as benevolent. As such, C
the author’s analysis of colonial violence has crucial implications for critically
o
re-thinking colonial liberalism and its legacies in the present.
o
An Archival Footprint of Trinidad, 1846
l
Amar Wahab is Associate Professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and i
e
Women’s Studies at York University, Canada. He received his PhD in sociology
s
and equity studies from the University of Toronto. Among his publications is
the monograph, Colonial Inventions: Landscape, Power and Representation in Nine-
teenth-Century Trinidad (2010).
www.peterlang.com Studies in Transnationalism, vol. 1
P
E
T
E
Cover Image: A composite image of “Outline of Kunduppa’s feet” (Source: R L
CO 295/153: Trinidad 1846. Volume 4: Mr. Walkinshaw’s ill-treatment of AN
G
Coolies. Governor Lord Harris Dispatches 75 and 88. London: Th e National
Archives, 1846. Th is public sector information is licensed under the Open
Government Licence v3.0; permission has been obtained through this li-
cense to adapt the information), juxtaposed with an excerpt of “Aft er/Still
Life” (Source: Author).
1 Amar Wahab
The early years of the East Indian Indentureship system in the Caribbean saw
experiments on “coolie” laborers under the British Empire. Colonial Trinidad
was one of the main sites for this experiment. This book foregrounds one of the
earliest cases (1846) of occupational and physical cruelty against East Indian
indentured laborers in Trinidad within this very early period of experimenta- D
tion. It presents and analyzes the full transcripts of an inquiry concerning the
i
ill-treatment of “coolie” laborers and the severe punishment and death of one s
laborer, Kunduppa, by a Scottish planter in Trinidad. Drawing on the concepts c
of discipline, governmentality, and Orientalism, the main argument of this i
p
book is that within the early experimental period of Indentureship, the figure
l
of the “coolie” and disciplinary tactics of bodily torture were instrumental to i
n
redrafting and stabilizing the colonial governance of contract labor. It also ar-
i
gues that Crown investigations of “coolie” abuse and death became occasions
n
for establishing a new colonial order, in which the disciplinary powers of plant-
g
Disciplining Coolies
ers were curbed in the interest of protecting and “caring” for the “coolie” —a

discourse that was crucial to re-inventing colonial rule as benevolent. As such, C
the author’s analysis of colonial violence has crucial implications for critically
o
re-thinking colonial liberalism and its legacies in the present.
o
An Archival Footprint of Trinidad, 1846
l
Amar Wahab is Associate Professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and i
e
Women’s Studies at York University, Canada. He received his PhD in sociology
s
and equity studies from the University of Toronto. Among his publications is
the monograph, Colonial Inventions: Landscape, Power and Representation in Nine-
teenth-Century Trinidad (2010).
www.peterlang.com Studies in Transnationalism, vol. 1
P
E
T
E
Cover Image: A composite image of “Outline of Kunduppa’s feet” (Source: R L
CO 295/153: Trinidad 1846. Volume 4: Mr. Walkinshaw’s ill-treatment of AN
G
Coolies. Governor Lord Harris Dispatches 75 and 88. London: Th e National
Archives, 1846. Th is public sector information is licensed under the Open
Government Licence v3.0; permission has been obtained through this li-
cense to adapt the information), juxtaposed with an excerpt of “Aft er/Still
Life” (Source: Author).
Disciplining Coolies
Studies in Transnationalism

Jatinder Mann
Series Editor

Vol. 1

The Studies in Transnationalism series is part of the Peter Lang Humanities list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

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Amar Wahab

Disciplining Coolies

An Archival Footprint of
Trinidad, 1846

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wahab, Amar, author.
Title: Disciplining coolies: an archival footprint of Trinidad, 1846 /
Amar Wahab.
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2019.
Series: Studies in transnationalism, vol. 1
ISSN 2578-9317 (print) | ISSN 2578-9325 (online)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018017610 |ISBN 978-1-4331-5616-8 (paperback: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4331-5617-5 (ebook pdf) | ISBN 978-1-4331-5618-2 (epub)
ISBN 978-1-4331-5619-9 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Indentured servants—Violence against—Trinidad and
Tobago—Trinidad—History—19th century. | Foreign workers, East
Indian—Violence against—Trinidad and Tobago—Trinidad—History—19th
century. | Great Britain—Colonies—Administration—History—19th century.
Classification: LCC HD8246.W34 | DDC 331.11/7360972983—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017610
DOI 10.3726/b13462

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Cast of Characters xv
Introduction: The Footprint 1
Chapter 1. D isciplinary Orientalism and Indian Indentureship in
the Colonial Caribbean 29
Chapter 2. ‘ Coolie’ Genealogy as Colonial Governmentality:
An Analysis of ‘Mr. Walkinshaw’s Ill-treatment of Coolies’ 51
Chapter 3. T he Transcripts: Trinidad 1846, Volume 4, Mr. Walkinshaw’s
Ill-treatment of Coolies, Governor Lord Harris,
Disp. 75 and 88 77
Chapter 4. Postscript: ‘Coolie’ Hauntings 259
Index 271

figures
Figure 1.1: Coolie Re/marks 46
Figure 3.1: Outline of Kunduppa’s Feet 257
Figure 4.1: (a) and (b): Abbey of the Parasite: on Human Remains 260
Figure 4.2: Slow Death: Consignment No. 348/520 262
Figure 4.3: (a), (b), and (c): DisAffections: A Parliament of
Things (triptych) 263
Figure 4.4: Re/marks: A Coolie Parliament 264
Figure 4.5: (a) and (b): In a Queer State: The Wail 265
Figure 4.6: (a) and (b): After/Still Life 267