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“It is the power of the British sword, “as has been well observed,” which secures to the people of India the great blessings of peace and order which were unknown through many weary centuries of turmoil, bloodshed and pillage before the advent of the Briton in India”.
It is quite possible that in the never-ending wars of those days between neighbouring powers, Chera, Chola and Pandya Kings might have by turns appointed Viceroys of their own to rule over the different divisions of Chera, one of whom might have stuck to the southernmost portion, called differently at different times, by the names of Mushika- Khandom, Kupa-Khandom, Venad, Tiruppapur, Tiru-adi-desam or Tiruvitancode, at first as an ally or tributary of the senior Cheraman Perumal — titular emperor of the whole of Chera — but subsequently as an independent ruler himself.
This is the history of the whole of India during the time of the early Hindu kings or under the Moghul Empire. The history of every district in Southern India bears testimony to a similar state of affairs.
The Nawab of Tinnevelly was nominally the agent of the Nawab of Arcot, who was himself ruling the Carnatic in the name of the Delhi Padisha; but beyond a mere name there was nothing in the relationship showing real obedience to a graded or central Imperial authority.
The Nawab of Tinnevelly himself co-existed with scores of independent Poligai’s all over the District, collecting their own taxes, building their own forts, levying and drilling their own troops of war, their chief recreation consisting in the plundering of innocent ryots all over the country or molesting their neighbouring Poligars.
The same story was repeated throughout all the States under the Great Moghul. In fact never before in the history of India has there been one dominion for the whole of the Indian continent from the Himalayas to the Cape, guided by one policy, owing allegiance to one sovereign-power and animated by one feeling of patriotism to a common country, as has been seen since the consolidation of the British power in India a hundred years ago.
From a very early period in its history the English Company had set its face against martial enterprises.
Secondly, of the English Company’s resolution in 1723 to “subject the country to the king” and so facilitate their trade ;
Seeing ourselves as others would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them. - Franklin P. Jones
”A considerable difficulty is found in setting to music the Hindu ragas as, as our system does not supply notes or signs sufficiently expressive of the almost imperceptible elevations and depressions of the voice in these melodies, of which the time is broken and irregular, and the modulations frequent and very wild.
“Many of the Hindu melodies possess the plaintive simplicity of the Scotch and Irish, and others a wild originality pleasing beyond description.”
Altogether different is the language of the Malabar folksongs some of which have been reduced to writing. ...................................... the language is the ordinary colloquial Malayalam, and there are no traces of verbal inflections, and few Sanskrit expressions
The matter in this and other ways reached the ears of the Court of Directors, and in their despatch of 12th December 1821 they expressed considerable dissatisfaction at the lack of precise information which had been vouchsafed to them regarding the cultivators in general, and in particular said :
"We are told, indeed, that part of them (an article of very unwelcome intelligence) are held as slaves ; that they are attached to the soil and marketable property.
"You are directed to obtain and to communicate to us all the useful information with respect to this latter class of persons which you possibly can; the treatment to which they are liable, the habits of their masters with respect to them, the kind of life to which they are doomed, the sort of title by which the property of them is claimed, the price which they bear and more especially the surest and safest means of ultimately effecting their emancipation.
"We also desire to know whether those occupants, 150,000 in number, cultivate immediately the whole of the lands by their slaves and hired servants, or whether there is a class of inferior tenants to whom they let or sub-let a portion of their lands.
“If there is such an interior class of lessees, you will inform us under what conditions they cultivate, what are their circumstances, and what measures, if any, have been employed for their protection."
English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages
From the only reliable evidence which can now be obtained, it would appear that the title Hottentot is not of native origin, but a sobriquet given to them by the early Dutch traders from the almost unpronounceable character of their language.
The Bushmen of Southern Africa have been described by their enemies, not only as being “the lowest of the low," but as the most treacherous, vindictive, and untameable savages on the face of the earth : a race void of all generous impulses, and little removed from the wild beasts with which they associated, one only fitted to be exterminated like noxious vermin, as a blot upon nature, upon whom kindness and forbearance were equally misplaced and thrown away.
This was probably a fugitive clan, that had fled so far to the north whilst their countrymen were being ruthlessly hunted like wild beasts in the southern portions of the country.
He stated that when he was a child, the Bushmen of that part believed that the only people in the world were Bushmen and Lions.
Ireland and Irish history present similar and not less striking points of resemblance to Malabar and its history.
“the superior educational status of women. the scrupulous neatness and attention paid to all matters of personal hygiene by the true Malayali population, the proud Jenmi-tenure of the Brahmins, the living in isolated homesteads with extensive premises round them, respect to elders and to authority more formally expressed, less loquaciousness as a race, the front tuft,
“the wearing of the cloth and the nature of the cloth itself both among men and women, the altered language and scores of different Acharams, are all landmarks still distinguishing the colonists of Parasurama from the inhabitants of the old country beyond the Ghauts.”
Tippu had, unfortunately for himself, by his insolent letters to the Nizam in 1784 after the conclusion of peace with the English at Mangalore, shown that he contemplated the early subjugation of the Nizam himself.
This is in the realm of verbal codes. When he is feeling that he is going to be paramount, his words would become filled with lower pejorative addressing (Nee/Thoo) and referring (Avan/USS) of the other.
However, when he does not become paramount, these very words become triggering codes of brooding hatred; that the other man would not be able to sleep in peace until he has been avenged.
“I have seldom met with a case, in which not only truth and justice, but every feeling of our common humanity are so entirely on one side. The whole civilised world would cry shame upon us, if we did not make a firm stand on such an occasion....”
Trevelyan's most enduring mark on history may be the "quasi" genocidal anti-Irish racial sentiment he expressed during his term in the critical position of administrating relief for the millions of Irish peasants suffering under the potato blight as Assistant Secretary to HM Treasury (1840–1859) under the Whig administration of Lord Russell.
The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people".
By the end of 1847 the British government was effectively turning its back financially on a starving people in the most westerly province of the United Kingdom.
They (Arabian Muslims settled on Malabar coast) have a great regard for the truth, and in their finer feelings they approach nearer to the standard of English gentlemen than any other class of persons in Malabar.
Ireland is essentially a priest-ridden country. Its people, the great bulk of them, are immersed in the darkest depths of ignorance and superstition.
Ireland is a Roman Catholic country dominated by Roman Catholic priests who hold in their hands the keys of all social and political powers.
among Malayalis when a man has risen a bit above his fellows in good or in bad qualities, something of superstitious awe attaches to the place of his dwelling.
The land in Ireland is owned by large proprietors who tease and oppress their tenants to the uttermost. Evictions are sadly too numerous
Socially the cultivators are subjected (particularly if they are Hindus*) to many humiliations and much tyrannical usage by their landlord.
the lamentations of the poor Grubstreet author in the Deserted Village
It is a work of social commentary, and condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth.
Rack-renting has been one of the main features of the Irish Land Question. The Irish tenants have all along been a downtrodden class and the problem of the Irish land has always remained a knotty and intricate one baffling the political skill of England’s greatest statesmen.
.repeated instances of plebeian uprisings in vindication of humanity and justice
In all these various outbreaks the Land Question has figured prominently as one of the essential and pre-disposing causes.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—
There was a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France.
In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
Remember that Napoleon did not surrender to any of his Continental European enemies, after his disaster at Waterloo. He came to a British ship, and surrendered to Admiral Maitland of the Bellerophon. He entrusted himself ‘of his own will’-’not as a prisoner of war’, but as a ‘private person’. To the Regent, his appeal was: I come like Themistocles. (I throw myself upon the hospitality of the British people). I place myself under the protection of your laws.
Many persons, who doubtlessly admire Napoleon, for he definitely was a man with exceptional qualities, may blame Britain for imprisoning him. Yet, it may be safely be understood that Napoleon surrendered to an English nation, knowing that he would not be beaten to death, by the common ruffians.
A very powerful mood of appreciation and admiration for England, English qualities and English colonialism in particular, and to Great Britain in general is there in the book. In all comparisons, be it military, political leadership, colonialism, patriotism and much else, there is a very stubborn message that England and English qualities are to be appreciated, and if possible connected to.
I had, without myself realising it, been inoculated with a certain admiration for the British Parliament, of which I was not easily able to rid myself. The dignity with which the Lower House there fulfilled its tasks (as was so touchingly described in our press) impressed me immensely. Could a people have any more exalted form of self-government.
Nor is England any proof to the contrary, since in consideration of the British Empire we too easily forget the Anglo-Saxon world as such. The position of England, if only because of her linguistic and cultural bond with the American Union, can be compared to no other state in Europe.
For such a policy there was but one ally in Europe: England.
With England alone was it possible, our rear protected, to begin the new Germanic march. Our right to do this would have been no less than the right of our forefathers. None of our pacifists refuses to eat the bread of the East, although the first ploughshare in its day bore the name of ‘sword’ !
no sacrifice should have been too great for winning England’s willingness. We should have renounced colonies and sea-power, and spared English industry our competition
Hitler began to distance himself from the book after becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933. He dismissed it as "fantasies behind bars" that were little more than a series of articles for the Völkischer Beobachter, and later told Hans Frank that "If I had had any idea in 1924 that I would have become Reich chancellor, I never would have written the book."
in certain circles honesty is almost synonymous with stupidity
Not until my fourteenth or fifteenth year did I begin to come across the word ‘Jew,’ with any frequency, partly in connection with political discussions. This filled me with a mild distaste, and I could not rid myself of an unpleasant feeling that always came over me whenever religious quarrels occurred in my presence
Among them is the lie with regard to the language of the Jew. For him it is not a means for expressing his thoughts, but a means for concealing them.
END OF QUOTE.they would try to get ahead of one another in hate-filled struggle and exterminate one another,
First they counted on the stupidity of their adversary, and then, when there was no other way out, they themselves simply played stupid. If all this didn’t help, they pretended not to understand, or, if challenged, they changed the subject in a hurry, quoted platitudes which, if you accepted them, they immediately related to entirely different matters, and then, if again attacked, gave ground and pretended not to know exactly what you were talking about.
We also have given to him (the right of) the feast-cloth(?), housepillars (or pictured rooms ?),
all the, revenue, the curved sword (or dagger),
and in (or with) the sword the sovereign merchant-ship,
the right of proclamation,
the privilege of having forerunners,
the five musical instruments,
the conch, the light (or torch burning) by day,
the spreading cloth,
litter,
royal umbrella,
Vaduca drum (drum of the Telugu’s or of Bhairava?),
the gateway with seats and ornamental arches,
and the sovereign merchant-ship over the four classes (or streets), also the oil-makers and the five kinds of artificers we have subjected to him (or given as slaves to him)
“The people are accustomed to a life of ease and prosperity and they like to sing. However, they are weak-minded and cowardly, and they are given to deceit and treachery. In their relations with each other, there is much trickery and the little courtesy. These people are small in size and unpredictable in their movements.”
It was written as part of my desperate attempts to inform the naive, gullible and stupid Englanders of how they have been cunningly deluded to appear as a most evil nationhood, when actually they ought to be acclaimed as the greatest of social engineers in various far-off, semi-barbarian and totally barbarian geographical locations.
You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link.
This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.
Colonel Munro had also discovered, in 1812, a number of half-starved and naked natives in irons as slaves at the Dutch settlement at Chunganicherry. The proprietor was a Pondicherry man, and the inhabitants of Chunganicherry persisted in the traffic in slaves in defiance of the proclamation of Government.
With one merchant you will see one or two hundred of these carriers, the merchant himself walking. But when the nobles pass from place to place, they ride in a dula made of wood, something like a box, and which is carried upon the shoulders of slaves and hirelings.
.At this interview it is noted that Messrs. Johnson and Taylor, from the progress they had made in “Mallabars,” were able to understand the Prince without the aid of an interpreter, so that the linguist, Pedro Rodrigues, had not to be called in.
A very important step had consequently been taken towards freeing the Chief from underhand intrigues of the linguist
….. in outlying parts, both men and women are still afraid to avail themselves of the privilege of using the public roads.
In passing from one part of the country to another they tramp along through the marshes in mud, and wet often up to their waists, rather than risk the displeasure of their lords and masters by accidentally polluting them while using the public roads.
… at the same time charges of corruption and bribery were brought before the Governor, Mr. Duncan, by the Zamorin against Messers. Stevens, Senior, J. Agnew, and Dewan Ayan Aya, a Palghat Brahman for extorting one lakh of rupees.
The Bombay Government in January 1796, accordingly appointed a commission for special enquiry into these charges and some other minor matters.
Conversion to Muhammadanism has also had a most marked effect in freeing the slave caste from their former burthens.
By conversion, a Cheruman obtains a distinct rise in the social scale, and if he is in consequence bullied or beaten the influence of the whole Muhammadan community comes to his aid.
With fanaticism still rampant, the most powerful of landlords dares not to disregard the possible consequences of making a martyr of his slave
There are, therefore, 40,000 fewer Cherumars than there would have been but for some disturbing cause, and the disturbing cause is very well known to the District Officer to be conversion to Muhammadanism.
In the 1830s, for example, it was reported that in one part of north Malabar a Poolyan’ (Pulayan or Cherumar) might not approach within ten paces of a Vettuvan, a ‘Parian’ (Parayan) was obliged to remain the same distance from a ‘Poolyan’ and a ‘Nyadee’ (Nayadi) twelve paces from a ‘Poolyan’.
Some years later, H. V. Conolly reported that the abhorrence of the Ernad Cherumar to the vicinity of the Nayadi was so great (being “equal... to what is felt by the highest Cast Brahmin”) that nothing could induce the former to work near to the latter.
Nothing more would likely have been done had not Mr. E. B, Thomas, the Judge at Calicut, written in strong terms on 24th November 1841 a letter to the Sadr Adalat, in which he pointed out a number of facts which had come judicially under his notice.
Women in some taluks fetched higher prices in order to breed slaves. The average cost of a young male under ten years was about Rs. 3-8-0, of a female somewhat less. An infant ten months old was sold in a court auction on 10th August 1841 for Rs.1-10-6 independent of the price of its mother.
The accounts were fabricated, actual produce was over-assessed, produce was assessed that did not exist, and assessments were imposed on the wrong men.
Mr. Thomas Lumsden Strange, a Judge of the Sadar Adalat, “whose former long service in Malabar and intimate acquaintance with the people and their peculiar habits and feelings eminently qualify him for the task, while his employment in a different sphere of late years saves him from the influence of any prejudice or bias,” was accordingly selected “to be Special Commissioner for enquiring into the Mappilla disturbances, their causes and remedies.
But meanwhile Mr. Conolly had been successful in his negotiations to induce Saiyid Fazl to depart peaceably.
The Tangal avowed that he had done nothing “to deserve the displeasure of the Government ; that he repudiated the deeds of the fanatics ;and that it was his misfortune that a general blessing, intended to convey spiritual benefits to those alone who acted in accordance with the Muhammadan faith, should be misinterpreted by a few parties who acted in contradiction to its precepts.”
But he added “as his blessing was sometimes misunderstood and his presence in the country unfortunately had led to deeds of horror, he was willing, if the Government chose it, to end further embarrassment by leaving Malabar and taking up his permanent abode among his people in Arabia.
But Mr. Strange went beyond this and proposed that the force should be exclusively composed of Hindus, a measure which it is needless to say was not approved by the Government.
The Government also, on similar grounds, refused to entertain his proposals for putting restrictions on the erection of mosques as being a departure from the policy of a wise and just neutrality in all matters of religion.
“We can only say, stupidity is an illness for which there is no cure. They (the peoples of south-Asia) believe that there is no country as great as theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs.
They are arrogant, foolish and vain, self-conceited, and indifferent. They are by nature miserly in sharing their knowledge, and they take the greatest of efforts to hide it from men of another caste among their own people, and also, of course, from foreigners.
According to their firm belief, there is no other country on earth but theirs, no other race of man but theirs, and no human being besides them have any knowledge or science and such other things. Their conceit is such that, if you inform them of any science or scholar in Khurasan and Persia, they will define you as an idiot and a liar. If they travel and mix with other people in other nations, they would change their mind fast. ....”
The systematic usurpation of the estates of such neighbouring Rajas or Naduvalis or other chiefs as might be incapacitated from poverty or other cause from governing.
The Sastra says the peculiar duty of a king is conquest.
At the fishing harbour in Mangalore, one man went to buy crabs in bulk. He found a few buckets full of crabs. All the buckets were covered with a plastic lid. However one of the buckets was kept open. It was full of intensely active crabs.
He enquired of the fish-seller as to why the crab buckets were kept covered. The fish-seller said that if the buckets were kept open, the crabs would jump out and run off.
Then this man asked: ‘How come one bucket is not covered?’
‘Oh’, said the fish seller, ‘they are Malayalee crabs. When one tries to jump out, the others will pull him down. So there is no need to cover that bucket!’
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