The Making of a Princely State under British Colonialism

Title: The Making of a Princely State under British Colonialism – Realm, Rule and Society in Cochin, 1791 - 1947

Author: J. Omana

Publisher: Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, 2018 (First)

ISBN: 9788193593127

Pages: 276

 

Kerala was divided into three major princely states - Travancore, Cochin and Calicut – in the first half of the eighteenth century. This narrow strip of land shielded by the southernmost spur of Western Ghats enjoyed continuous peace for most of its existence. It is not for nothing that Kerala’s tourism department markets the state as God’s Own Country. But the second half of the eighteenth century witnessed the eruption of a volcano across the border in the kingdom of Mysore. Hyder Ali usurped the throne and set up a powerful Muslim state under his son Tipu Sultan. Tipu ravaged his neighbours in a spirit of jihadi frenzy that extended to loot, arson, forced conversion, rape, enslavement and annexation of territory. The three Kerala kingdoms were no match for Tipu and the northerly Calicut and its ruler – the Zamorin – went under. Tipu cast his bloodthirsty glance at the other two. Having driven to the wall, they were compelled to enter into an alliance with the British as they were the only power who could humble Mysore. This strategy worked and Tipu left them alone. With his defeat in 1799, the British entered into further treaties with the Kerala kingdoms and ensured effective control over all aspects of the native rajas’ administration. This book narrates how Cochin was made into a modern state under British hegemony that lasted from 1791 to 1947, on the occasion of India’s independence. Traditional society in Cochin underwent conspicuous change with British influence. A society dominated by elements of medievalism and feudal institutions like caste hierarchy and customary laws faced a serious threat from the historical forces unleashed by the British. J. Omana is a reader of history at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. She is actively engaged in study, teaching and research of Kerala history. She has presented papers in national and international seminars. This book is part of her research work.

 

The author concentrates on the tools by which the British Empire exerted its vice-like grip on the polity of Cochin in the first part of the book. Tipu had defeated Cochin and annexed its northern regions, most of them in today’s Thrissur district. As the Periyar river was in spate due to monsoon, he could not cross it and reach the capital at Thripunithura. The Military Assistance Treaty signed with the British enabled Cochin to regain the lost territory in return for annual payment of tribute to the British. The British sought to disarm the native troops of both Cochin and Travancore so as to ensure an unchallenged tenure as the overlords. A section of the discontented aristocrats rose in revolt as a result under the leadership of Veluthambi Dalava in Travancore and his counterpart in Cochin, Paliyath Achan. The rebellion was brutally crushed, but the British demanded war indemnity and further say in the administration of the states. Subsequently, a treaty of Perpetual Friendship and Subsidy was signed in 1809, raising the tribute to almost thrice the previous value. A British resident was stationed in Cochin who had the authority to intervene in the administrative affairs of the state. He regulated the Raja’s dealings with outside powers in accordance with the directions of the East India Company. Cochin was rendered toothless by dismantling its fortresses and garrisons. In addition to this, Cochin was forcibly absorbed into the British-Indian trade and commerce network by the Inter-Portal Trade Convention of 1865. It abolished the inland transit duties of British goods travelling through Cochin. Its commercial freedom was further cut short by the elimination of state monopoly on tobacco and equalization of the rates of customs duty at its sea ports with those obtaining at the ports of British India.

 

The British influence on the economy is described in detail. It is astonishing to note that the concept of taxation, which is the cornerstone in a modern nation’s finances, did not exist in Cochin till the advent of the British. Land revenue depended on accurate measurement of land. Survey of the agricultural and plantation lands took place. At first, two native types of estimation such as Kettezhuthu and Kandezhuthu were practiced. The former recorded the land’s area by extracting the information from the owner or tenant while the latter resorted to actual inspection at site. Eventually, modern techniques such as the cadastral survey were held. The survey adopted the ‘cent’ as the unit of land measurement which still persists among people even though the official records have changed it to ‘are’ and ‘hectare’. Earlier, the quantity of seed required to sow in a field was taken as a measure of its area. At the same time agriculture was commercialized, cropping patterns changed because people preferred to cultivate cash crops. This made the state’s economy sensitive to fluctuations in the demand for these commodities in the world market. Cochin was thus integrated into the modern transnational economy. It produced articles for the distant markets but chose to import food.

 

This book summarises the growth of industry in the state. Most of the early industrial units were small-scale and used agricultural products as raw material. Government support for the nascent industries was dismal. A section of the society such as Syrian Christians, Konkani Brahmins and Gujarati settlers handled all trade. To boost trade and industry, State Aid to Industry Act was passed in 1936, but only one loan was disbursed. Existence of all-weather motorable roads was a prerequisite for economic development, but before 1860, there were no carriage roads and only pedestrian trails existed. Goods were carried from place to place on men’s heads. Diwan Sankara Varrier is said to have inaugurated a vigorous era of road and bridge construction.

 

Even though Cochin was the tiniest in territory and weakest in political power among the three princely states of Kerala, its capital city is at present the most industrially advanced. Cochin owes this success to two events – the development of a major port and extension of a rail link to the Madras line at Shoranur. Early efforts of the traders such as Aspinwall and Cochin Chamber of Commerce in building a port are catalogued in the book. Even then, it took almost six decades for the Madras government to take it seriously. The Raja of Cochin was financially too powerless to develop a modern port. Robert Bristow was put in charge of harbour development in 1920. A sand bar having a length of almost 4 km lay at the mouth of the harbour entrance. This reduced the available draft to a measly 4 meters at this point. Only very small vessels could pass above this bar. Bristow broke through the barrier and ensured a draft of 10 meters in the channel. Meanwhile, a serious lack of vision affected the rail line extension. Even though the Madras line was broad gauge, the Shoranur – Cochin link was built as meter gauge to reduce the initial investment. Within a few years, this proved a major bottleneck in cargo movement as it had to be unloaded at Shoranur and reloaded into meter gauge wagons. A new broad gauge line was laid after some time, but almost all the bridges and culverts had to be built anew.

 

The author has used many references in the preparation of this book, but the handling of the subject matter is not inspiring. Flaws are seen in interpreting some of the conclusions. The book states that slavery was an inhuman institution that was prevalent in Cochin. Humans were reported to be ‘bought and sold like animals’ (p.206). This does not seem to be true. This information is taken from A. Sreedhara Menon’s book ‘A Survey of Kerala History’, which is quoted as ‘they could be bought and sold like cattels’. However, the original version contains the word ‘chattels’ which means something much different. It is probable that the author mistook it as ‘cattle’ and that may be the reason for the reference to animals.

 

Many passages in the text are repeated two or three times. The structure and organisation of the book needs considerable improvement. The same paragraphs on fisheries, oil extraction and similar topics are repeated in the sections on agriculture and industry. The book is modeled like a boring text book for students and no original insight is seen in the narrative. However, it uses hitherto unexplored data from the Oriental and India Office collection in London. No comparison to Travancore is made anywhere which could have been an indicator of whether Cochin was the pioneer or simply following the footsteps of its neighbour. Statistical tables are reproduced without any analysis or identification of the problems faced. The author freely quotes numerical figures such as the amount of money used for road repairs and the quantity of cargo moved through the port as part of descriptive text which severely diminishes the readability of the text.

 

The book is recommended.

 

Rating: 2 Star