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

[John Feltham]

G'day folks,

More cross-pollination

ooroo


Begin forwarded message:


Date: 8 December 2008 5:48:10 PM
To: <india-british-raj at rootsweb.com>
Subject: Re: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] History of The Lascars

A fair percantage of our ships (B.P. Tankers) ran with Indian crew,   
but all
were from the Bombay area and the villages surrounding.
We had our own personnel agency based in Bombay.  If anyone is  
interested,
I could probably find the firm's name from Warwick university which  
holds
the B.P. archives.
Usually our seamen were Hindu and the catering staff for the British
officers were Christian Goanese,  while often the firemen were Muslim.
Each department had their own galley,  and taking a walk aft after  
coming
off watch at 08.00,  to have a fresh chapati for breakfast was always a
treat.  Have found nothing to compare, in England.

They usually served for a year at a time on a ship,  although in the  
1960's
trip lengths could still stretch to two years if the ship did not  
visit the
U.K. during that period.

A large community of Indian seamen became established in South Shields  
in
the ?1930s where many ships called in for routine dry docking and  
surveys.

Our crew were never referred to as Lascars.  We used 'Kalassi' (as per  
'The
Malim Sahib's Hindustani' ) which ment sailor - but was used by us for a
seaman, in the deck department sense.
The term sailor can be used in many ways - M.N. have seamen:  R.N. has
sailors;  seamen usually refers to the deck hands as opposed to  
firemen who
worked below.
Our firemen were 'Ag walla'
I certainly saw none of the prejudices mentioned below.  This would  
not have
been tolerated on board,  or ashore.

Our tankers were tramps,  working all parts of the globe,  and I  
remember
taking one around the North Cape with an Indian crew.  They were  
issued with
double dufflecoats and took on a rather round shape,  as did everyone on
board,  as it was in deep winter.
The Baltic was colder at -40 degrees and we used steam hoses to soften  
the
ropes to allow us to let them go and sail.  Luckily it was a dry cold on
that occassion.
Strangly,  the Gulf at  +40 degrees was more uncomfortable for working  
in,
particularly the northen Gulf which tended to be more humid.

Incidentally,  the use of 'Strangers' can very from place to place:  the
Strangers Hall in Norwich was built for the Dutch and Flemish  
contingents
working there.
Chris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar" <bosham at gmail.com>
To: <india-british-raj at rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 5:54 AM
Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] History of The Lascars


> 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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