3.2) asian arrivals Flashcards
who are merchant seamen (lascars) and what did they do?
- men were needed to transport good like ceramics and silk as there was a growing demand on behalf of britain
- during the napoleonic ware many british commercial sailors were drafted and were replaced by sailors from china and india etc.
- 30-40% of the 50,000 were indian and some were muslim and christian too
what happened to the lascars when their ships docked in british ports?
- some remained in britain voluntarily
- while others were forced to stay because they had been employed for a one-way journey
what did the 1814 regulations state about asian sailors?
even though asian sailors were born under british rule, they did not count as british subjects
what did the 1823 and 1894 merchant shipping acts state?
1823:
- EIC was made responsible for the upkeep of their seafarers while in britain
- said that the lascars were british subjects although some were denied rights to employment
- they were paid far less which benefitted the owners but undercut the white seamen
1894:
- required ship owners to remove lascars and even to forcibly round them up
why did lascars continue to come to britain? and how did laws change for this?
- the demand for cheap labour
- the profit of shipping companies depended on lascars so laws were revised so that indian seamen could be regarded as british for employment purposes
what is indentured labour?
workers bound to their employees for a fixed period of time (fixed term slavery)
what is ghat serang?
- local agents from india who arranged indentured for lascars
- they took so much money that there was barely any left for the seamen
how were asian seamen treated as opposed to white seamen?
- they were paid far lower wages, given less food and given less living space on board
- they were resented by the white seamen who felt they were taking their jobs
- the national union of seamen fought to stop foreign employers being hired
- there were often fights that lead to a deeper racial divide
how did the lascars start to establish their lives in england?
- many of them married and settled in england (suffered a lot of racist abuse)
- others created small businesses, including boarding houses for other seamen
- their wide counterparts felt that they were being undercut
- as time progressed, many indians were working all over england in a wide variety of trades
- help create the first working class multi-racial communities
what were the lascars’ first experiences of life in england?
- 1782, lascars who had been discharged were living in the bad conditions of EIC lodgings
- many hoped to work on ships that would return them to their homeland
- they were cut off from wider society and in extreme poverty
what did the missionaries do for lascars?
- they were charitable and sympathetuc but saw the lascars as people to be saved
- they provided food and places to stay
- organised repatriatio [sending someone back to their own country] and attempted to convert them to christianity
what were the experiences of ayahs in england?
- many wealthy families employed ayahs
- some were dismissed on arrival to england if the family had only wanted them for the duration of the voyage
- some employers paid for them to be returned home but most of them had to stay
- 1900 - london city mission set up housing (30 rooms) that would be available to migrant nannies with nowhere to go
what is an ayah?
an indian nanny who took care of children in britain
give two examples of eminent indians in britain
maharajah duleep singh;
- ruler of punjab (at age 5) who was forced to hand over power to the EIC
- first sikh settler in england - converted to christianity and lived comfortably
- after 30 years, he tried to go back to india (as he became critical of british imperialism) but was stopped by the british
cornelia sorabji;
- grew up in india and was the first to teach at an all-male college at 18
- first woman to study law at a british university (oxford)
- faced a long struggle to gain her degree as women weren’t awarded degrees at the time
