Revolt, testimony, petition: Artisanal protests in colonial Andhra

International Review of Social History

Volumn 46, Issue 9, 2001, Pages 107-129

  Swarnalatha, Potukuchi ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035650239     PISSN: 00208590     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020859001000347     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. The northern, predominantly Telugu-speaking districts of the Madras Presidency in colonial India constituted the Andhra region.
2. David Washbrook, "Law, State and Agrarian Society in Colonial India", Modern Asian Studies, 15 (1981), pp. 649-721; Janaki Nair, Women and Law in Colonial India: A Social History (New Delhi, 1996) and Sudhir Chandra, The Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law and Women's Rights (Delhi, 1998).
3. David Washbrook, "Law, State and Agrarian Society in Colonial India", Modern Asian Studies, 15 (1981), pp. 649-721; Janaki Nair, Women and Law in Colonial India: A Social History (New Delhi, 1996) and Sudhir Chandra, The Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law and Women's Rights (Delhi, 1998).
4. David Washbrook, "Law, State and Agrarian Society in Colonial India", Modern Asian Studies, 15 (1981), pp. 649-721; Janaki Nair, Women and Law in Colonial India: A Social History (New Delhi, 1996) and Sudhir Chandra, The Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law and Women's Rights (Delhi, 1998).
5. See for instance, Hameeda Hossain, The Company Weavers of Bengal: The East India Company and Organization of Textile Production in Bengal: 1750-1813 (New Delhi, 1987).
6. Tapan Ray Chaudhuri, Jan Company in Coromandel, 1605-1690: A Study in Interrelations of European Commerce and Traditional Economies (The Hague, 1962); S. Arasaratnam, Merchants, Weavers and Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740 (Delhi, 1987); Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Rural Industry and Commercial Agriculture in Late Seventeenth Century South Eastern India", Past and Present, 126 (1990), pp. 76-114; and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Economy of Commerce in South India: 1500-1600, (Cambridge, 1990).
7. Tapan Ray Chaudhuri, Jan Company in Coromandel, 1605-1690: A Study in Interrelations of European Commerce and Traditional Economies (The Hague, 1962); S. Arasaratnam, Merchants, Weavers and Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740 (Delhi, 1987); Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Rural Industry and Commercial Agriculture in Late Seventeenth Century South Eastern India", Past and Present, 126 (1990), pp. 76-114; and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Economy of Commerce in South India: 1500-1600, (Cambridge, 1990).
8. Tapan Ray Chaudhuri, Jan Company in Coromandel, 1605-1690: A Study in Interrelations of European Commerce and Traditional Economies (The Hague, 1962); S. Arasaratnam, Merchants, Weavers and Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740 (Delhi, 1987); Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Rural Industry and Commercial Agriculture in Late Seventeenth Century South Eastern India", Past and Present, 126 (1990), pp. 76-114; and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Economy of Commerce in South India: 1500-1600, (Cambridge, 1990).
9. Tapan Ray Chaudhuri, Jan Company in Coromandel, 1605-1690: A Study in Interrelations of European Commerce and Traditional Economies (The Hague, 1962); S. Arasaratnam, Merchants, Weavers and Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740 (Delhi, 1987); Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Rural Industry and Commercial Agriculture in Late Seventeenth Century South Eastern India", Past and Present, 126 (1990), pp. 76-114; and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Economy of Commerce in South India: 1500-1600, (Cambridge, 1990).
10. The head weavers were the principal and prosperous weavers, and in some areas they were called senapaties (literally heads of armies); the copdars were essentially brokers between the merchant and the weaver and were also contractors for supplying long cloth.
11. D.F. Carmichael, A Manual of the district of Vizagapatnam in the Presidency of Madras (Madras, 1869), p. 65; and F.R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteer: Godavari (Madras, 1907), pp. 102-104.
12. D.F. Carmichael, A Manual of the district of Vizagapatnam in the Presidency of Madras (Madras, 1869), p. 65; and F.R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteer: Godavari (Madras, 1907), pp. 102-104.
13. Punjum cloth was the local name for long cloth. It refers to plain white long cloth, popular in Europe on account of its length of about 37 yards or 72 cubits and width of 2 1/4 cubits; punjum literally denotes 120 threads.
14. The term salempores is derived from salembarigudda, the local name whose usual dimensions were a length of 16 yards and width of one yard, and the quality of which varied between an ordinary variety of 12 1/2 punjum to superfine quality of 36 punjum cloth. Salempores were mainly used for block printing in England.
15. The region of Northern Circars, which the Company acquired through the Mughal grant in 1765, was confirmed by a treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1766. Sarojini Regani, Nizam-British relations, 1724-1857 (New Delhi, 1988), provides a detailed account of this.
16. The demand for textiles from Andhra region, chay goods (coloured varieties) from Masulipatnam, and white piece goods (salempores and long cloth) from the Injeram, Maddepollem, and Visakhapatnam factory areas reached a peak during the last decades of the eighteenth century, but started declining continuously between 1810 and 1830, when the factories were finally abolished.
17. For more details on these changes see the author's forthcoming work, World of the Weaver.
18. Until 1774, major sections of weavers were producing fine cloth. The revolt of 1775 was organized by those weavers who were made to weave coarse cloth - the punjum cloth weavers. A section of fine-cloth weavers, who still continued to weave fine cloth, were called upon by the state to be a witness to the proceedings.
19. Proceedings of the Enquiry into the conduct of Sadleir, while Resident at Injeram, 28 November 1775 to 30 March 1776, Public Department Sundries [hereafter PDS] 25, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Madras, vols 24 A and 24 B.
20. Ibid., PDS 24A, pp. 111-115.
21. Ibid., PDS 24A, pp. 70. Proceedings related to Enquiry into Conduct of Sadleir, PDS 24 A, p. 70. Concoply or kanakupillai were native accountants in charge of various functions at the factories. The types of concoplys included beating concoply, washing concoply, and sorting concoply.
22. Testimonies given by the head weavers of Peddapuram, Amalapuram, Hasanallybadah, Arrivatum, Dungalooroo, Rustumbadah, PDS 24 A, pp. 12-15.
23. Ibid. The term "sorting out method" refers to the inspection and sorting out of cloth submitted by weavers, according to quality. If the piece did not conform to the required standard, it was rejected and it was supposed to be returned to the weaver.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.; "No. 2. The answer to the above translation", PDS 24.
26. Ibid.; also PDC 116 B, 17 December 1776, pp. 814-815.
27. Committee meeting on 4 December 1775; 150 weavers of Amalapuram preferred their grievances to the committee; PDS 24A, p. 46.
28. Committee 9 December 1775, Rustumbadah weavers' testimony, PDS 24 A, pp. 106-110; also testimony given by Appagunta Veeresha, head weaver of Peddapatnam in front of the committee headed by Mathew Yeats. This report contains 40 testimonies given by nearly 120 weavers from 39 villages under the control of 27 mootahs; PDS 24A, pp. 43-104.
29. "No. 2. The answer to the above translation", PDS 24.
30. Proceedings of the committee to inquire into the complaints against Anthony Sadleir, Resident, Injeram, PDS 24A; William Hamilton to Committee, 27 November 1775; a list of witnesses is enclosed with this letter, pp. 11-12.
31. William Hamilton's letter to the committee, 17 January 1776, briefing the summary of a letter; petition given by eighteen weavers of Penumallem; a list of the weavers is provided in PDS 24 A.
32. PDS 116 B, 17 December 1776, p. 81-86.
33. The price of thread and weavers coolie (hire) as for second and third sort of cloth is the same at first sort. Committee meeting on 4 December 1775; 150 weavers of Amalapuram presented and testified to the same effect; PDS 24A, p. 46. The list of witnesses, total number of weavers, head weavers, gumastahs, concoplys, peons, and common weavers present from twenty-seven mootahs to prefer their testimonies to the committee; PDS 24 A, p. 180-189.
34. W. Brown, Collector, Cassimcotah, to Robert Malcolm, Commercial Resident [hereafter CR], Visakhapatnam, 24 July 1796; Board of Revenue (Proper), [hereafter BORP], Tamil Nadu State Archives, 162, pp. 8058-8068.
35. Robert Malcolm, CR, to Mr Webb Coll of Northern Division of the Visakhapatnam, 27 July 1796, Visakhapatnam District Records, [hereafter VDR], Andhra Pradesh State Archives, Hyderabad, vol. 3706, pp. 325-327.
36. BORP 162, pp. 8063-8074.
37. John Snow, Collector, Cassimcotah, to Robert Malcolm, CR, Vizianagaram, 26 July 1776; VDR 3706, pp. 330-332.
38. Richard Dillon, CR, Maddepollem to William Fallofield, Board of Trade [hereafter BOT], Godavari District Records, [hereafter GDR] 830, Andhra Pradesh State Archives, pp. 19-46.
39. Richard Dillon, CR, Maddepollem to Benjamin Branfill, Collector, 8 January 1798, GDR 847, pp. 141-142.
40. Richard Dillon, CR, Maddepollem to William Fallofield, BOT, GDR 830, p. 32.
41. The "insurrection" disturbed the state of affairs in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions of Masulipatnam and thereby affected investments at the maddepollem factory; 300 weavers gathered in the village of Daglooroo in the mootah of Chintapurroo in the 2nd division under the leadership of two head weavers - went to Relingy and their number rose to 500; they then proceeded to Yellindeperma in the Nidadavole Parganah of the 3rd division.
42. Richard Dillon, Maddepollem Factory to William Fallowfield, BOT, Madras, 19 January 1798; GDR, 830, pp. 19-23.
43. Boards Proceedings on the Introduction of the Judicial and Revenue System of Bengal, Board of Revenue Miscellaneous, 190, G.No.18288, Tamil Nadu State Archives, pp. 316-319.
44. Ibid.
45. The Humble Petition of the Head Weavers and Weavers employed in Company's punjum Cloth investment in the Vizagpatnam Zillah, presented by the undersigned Agents to the Whole Body, to Hugh Elliot, Governor in Council & Others, Fort St. George, Commercial Department Consultation, [hereafter CDC] 10, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Madras, dated 19 March 1817, pp. 1249-1257.
46. This represents one of the first instances when the term "humble" was used by the weavers in a petition.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Petition of the weavers' agents to the body of Company's punjum gents to the body of Company's punjum cloth weavers, to Board of Trade [hereafter BOT] 29 November 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1257-1263. Also translation of a petition from Emenda Jagapa, Davoleree Romoodoo, Emunda Mulliah, weavers of Coderee Macaum in the district of Visakhapatnam, to the Magistrate, 30 July 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1264-1268.
50. In this petition, the weavers brought out the deterioration in the economic conditions of their community due to the low price offered for their cloth by Henry Taylor, since the time Chinnum Jaggapah was reinstated in 181; petition dated 19 March 1817 to BOT, CDC 10, pp. 1249-1257.
51. Ibid., p. 1251.
52. Ibid., pp. 1251-1252.
53. Ibid., p. 1251.
54. Ibid., pp. 1249-1256. Petition of die weavers' agent to the Body of the Company's punjum cloth weavers in the district of Vizagapatnam, to BOT, 16 December 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1264-1273; petition dated 29 November 1816 to BO; CDC 10, pp. 1257-1264.
55. Ibid.
56. Reference to this petition is provided in CDC 10. Tappal is a system of post wherein articles and letters are transported through a relay system.
57. Weavers' petition to BOT dated 29 November 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1257-1264.
58. Ibid.
59. Weavers' petition to BOT dated 16 December 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1269-1273; weavers' petition to BOT dated 2 February 1817; CDC 10, pp. 1273-1277.
60. Petition to BOT dated 19 March 1817; CDC 10, p. 1255.
61. Ibid., pp. 1255-1256.
62. Petition of the weavers agents to the Body of the Company's punjum cloth weavers in the district of Vizagapatnam, 29 November 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1257-1264.
63. Translation of a petition from Emenda Jagapa, Davoleree Romoodoo, Emunda Mulliah, weavers of Coderee Macaum in the district of Vizagapatnam, to the Magistrate, 30 July 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1264-1268.
64. Petition of weavers' agents to BOT dated 16 December 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1269-1273.
65. Ibid.; also weavers' petition to BOT dated 29 November 1816; CDC 10, pp. 1258-1264.
66. Ibid.; also petition dated 17 May 1817; CDC 10, pp. 565-570.