[BITList] Fwd: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] History of The Lascars

[John Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar" <bosham at gmail.com>
Date: 8 December 2008 3:54:22 PM
To: <india-british-raj at rootsweb.com>
Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] History of The Lascars
Reply-To: india-british-raj at rootsweb.com

Author Shahida Rahman speaks about the historical background
of her novel - ''The Lascar''.

The Lascar is my first historical novel set in the 1860s. Although the
word 'Lascar' is presently outmoded, it points to a rich and unique
aspect of world history.

Translated directly, the word means 'sailor from East India.' However,
the term bears a wider applicability and was regularly used in reference
to non-Europeans that served on British sea vessels. Lascars were
recruited for work aboard British ships from Bengal, Yemen, Assam,
and Gujarat. The Lascar experience was defined by two overriding
factors: performing work at a servile capacity and remaining in  
ceaseless
activity while at sea, be it maintaining a particular vessel or working
on a variety of crafts.

The story that follows expresses the essential, spiritual truth of the
Lascar experience, using a fictional modality.  On display will be the
characteristic harshness and dislocation of the typical Lascar  
experience,
illustrated through the narrative of a Bengali man named Ayan.

The First Asians in England

The Lascars, who were instrumental in the expansion of the British Raj
during the 19th and 20th centuries, were employed on ships ferrying
cargoes back to Britain, with some 3,000 Lascars visiting Britain  
annually.
Calcutta became the Indian terminus of the P&O line in 1842. In 1856,
Calcutta became the headquarters of the British India Steam Navigation
Company (BINSC). Bengali Lascars thus entered into the British Merchant
Navy working on steamships in large numbers.  These Bengali Lascars
began arriving in London on the P&O mail Clan Line Steamers, British
India Steamship Company vessels and passenger ships. Between
1830 and 1903, approximately 40,000 foreign seamen sailed with
British merchant and war ships, the majority spending some time in
British ports, either in transit or discharged. Some English men,  
however,
resented the employment of foreign seamen on British ships. Many
were robbed of their earnings and were not treated as humans because
of the colour of their skin.

Tragically, many Lascars did not survive the inhumane conditions and
barbaric treatment to which they were subjected. Those who did survive
were often cruelly abandoned in Britain, left penniless and starving,
whilst others were savagely beaten and crammed like animals into  
lodgings
that were unfit for habitation.  Although many of the seamen lived lives
of desperate poverty and degradation in British ports, they chose the
chance for a better life working in shipyards and railroads over the
dangerous journey home.

Those who were paid received very low wages. Unfortunately, however,
the majority of the Lascars, uneducated and unwanted, eked out  
existences
as street sweepers, peddlers, and even beggars in London's dockland
areas of Shadwell, Wapping and Poplar. Many were also victimised
by keepers of lodging-houses.  Some houses became opium dens.

Aside from their meagre employment and housing opportunities, Lascars
were ill equipped for the cold weather in England.  They owned only  
thin,
pyjama-like garments and heelless shoes. Unable to find shelter against
the British winters, many perished on the streets. In the winter of  
1850,
40 Asian men, also known as 'sons of India', were found dead of cold
and hunger on the streets of London.

This prompted the founding of the Strangers home in West India Dock
Road, Limehouse, and London by The Society for the Protection of
Asian Sailors, a missionary group, in June 1857. This sheltered up to
200 Lascars and was a safe haven for destitute Lascars.

Moreover, many British women gave lodging to the displaced seamen
and even ended up marrying them. A lodge run by an Englishwoman
called 'Calcutta' Louisa and another run by 'Lascar' Sally, (Sarah  
Graham)
for Indian Lascars at the riverside of the High Street at Wapping were
both founded by 1873. These English women lived with their Indian
partners and were fluent Bengali or Hindi.

The most famous child of Bengali-British parentage was Albert Mahomet.
He was born in 1858 at Sophia Street in Bow, East London. His mother
was English and his father was an ex-seaman from Calcutta. Mahomet
grew up in a life of crime and poverty that claimed many of his  
siblings.
He became a respected Methodist preacher and photographer after
moving to the city of Wells.

Some missionaries referred to the growing Lascar population as "The
Asiatic in England" and "The East in The West" These Lascars were
the first to settle in East London in places such as Commercial Road
and Whitechapel Road in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

http://www.shahidarahman.co.uk/
================

--- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar



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ooroo

If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door.

Anon.



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