Lascars: The Invisible Armada of Empire
Lascars:
The Invisible Armada of Empire
In the vast expanse of the British
Empire's maritime dominance, lascars—seafarers primarily from the Indian
subcontinent—emerged as the unsung heroes and exploited backbone of global
trade from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Hired under discriminatory "Lascar
contracts" or Asiatic Articles, these men faced wages a fraction of their
European counterparts, grueling labor in steamship engine rooms, and ambiguous
legal protections despite being imperial subjects. The term "lascar,"
derived from the Persian "lashkar" meaning army or camp, evolved from
military connotations to a catch-all for non-European sailors. Paralleling the
Girmitiya indentured system as a sly workaround to abolished slavery, lascars
numbered in the hundreds of thousands, with peaks like 51,000 in 1914
comprising 17.5% of British mariners. Mostly returning to origins in Bengal,
Gujarat, and Malabar, a minority scattered globally, seeding early South Asian
diasporas in British ports. Their story reveals colonial exploitation's depths,
blending racial hierarchies, economic imperatives, and resilient human spirits.
The Dawn of the Lascar Era: Origins and Etymology
Imagine the creaking decks of 17th-century East India
Company ships, laden with spices, silks, and tea, slicing through
monsoon-swollen seas. Amid the salt-spray and cannon fire, a diverse crew of
men from distant shores toiled relentlessly—the lascars. The Lascar contract,
formally known as the Lascar Agreement or Asiatic Articles, was a specialized
employment framework devised by British and European shipping giants like the
Peninsular and Oriental (P&O) and British India Steam Navigation (BISN) companies.
It targeted seamen from India, the broader subcontinent, Southeast Asia,
Africa, and the Middle East, binding them to terms that ensured profitability
for colonial enterprises while entrenching inequality.
The word "lascar" itself carries the weight of
imperial appropriation. Derived from the Persian and Urdu "lashkar,"
meaning "army" or "camp," it was first adapted by
Portuguese explorers in the early 1500s as "lascarim" or
"laschar," denoting Asian soldiers or militiamen in naval logistics.
As historian Gopalan Balachandran notes, lascars were "the first proper
globalised workforce," their identities fluid and contested, making inter-oceanic
commerce possible for the British Empire. The English corrupted it further in
the 17th century, transforming it into a label for non-European sailors, often
laced with derogatory undertones. Expert Asif Shakoor emphasizes that
"lascar" was a term unrecognized and rejected by the men themselves,
highlighting its colonial imposition. This etymology reflects how lascars were
viewed not as individuals but as expendable extensions of military and economic
might, much like camp followers in ancient armies.
The term's evolution mirrored the shifting sands of empire.
Initially tied to sail-powered vessels, it adapted with the advent of steam in
the 19th century. Lascars weren't a monolithic ethnicity; crews blended Muslims
from Bengal, Hindus from Gujarat, and even Yemenis or Somalis, united only by
their subjugated status under these contracts. Their recruitment often occurred
through intermediaries called serangs or tindals—native "bosses" who
assembled groups in ports like Bombay (Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata),
enforcing discipline aboard. This system, as Ravi Ahuja observes, restricted
their "extraordinary mobility" through legal and extra-legal means,
serving shipowners' vested interests.
Lascars - by Shagnick Bhattacharya - How-to History
The Harsh Realities of the Contract: Exploitation and
Discrimination
Life under the Lascar contract was a brutal symphony of
sweat and subordination. These men earned a pittance—one-fifth to one-quarter
of European sailors' wages—while enduring inferior accommodations, substandard
food, and hazardous duties shunned by whites. In steamship era, lascars
dominated as firemen and trimmers, stoking coal furnaces in sweltering engine
rooms where temperatures soared to 120°F (49°C), leading to exhaustion, burns,
and high mortality. Joseph Salter, a 19th-century missionary, recounted
horrific abuses: lascars "hung up with weights tied to their feet, flogged
with rope and forced to eat pork," violating Muslim dietary laws. Data
from 1802 reveals severe casualties on ships like the Union, where lascars died
from fatigue and exposure, often with impunity for captains.
Their legal status was perilously ambiguous. As British
subjects, lascars theoretically enjoyed maritime protections, but the contracts
placed them at the imperial hierarchy's nadir. The 1823 Merchant Shipping Act
mandated return passages to Asian ports, ostensibly preventing settlement in
Britain, but companies frequently abandoned crews during winter lulls, leaving
them destitute in foggy London docks. Historian Rozina Visram, in "Ayahs,
Lascars and Princes," describes this as systemic racial discrimination,
where harsh conditions and state policies "recolonised" them ashore.
Laura Tabili echoes this, noting how the 1925 Coloured Alien Seamen Order
classified them as "aliens" based on fabricated nationality, denying
rights.
Yet, lascars weren't passive victims. They resisted through
desertion, smuggling networks for guns and drugs, and "subaltern
internationalism," as Jonathan Hyslop details: "By the late 1920s,
lascars had set up an international small-scale arms trade." In
literature, Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed them stereotypically as "rascally
Lascars" in Sherlock Holmes tales, reflecting British anxieties. Evidence
from the 1886 Royal Commission on Loss of Life at Sea commended missions for
reducing reliance on "non-British" labor, underscoring racial
prejudices.
The lascars: Britain's colonial sailors / Our Migration
Story
Parallels with Girmitiya: A Post-Slavery Workaround
The Lascar system didn't exist in isolation; it paralleled
the Girmitiya indentured labor regime, both cunning substitutes for chattel
slavery abolished in 1833. Girmitiya, a Bhojpuri corruption of
"agreement," shuttled over a million Indians—mostly from Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh—to plantations in Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, and South
Africa for five-year terms of debt bondage. Like lascars, girmitiyas faced
coercion, false promises of wealth, grueling work, violence, and restricted
mobility, with high mortality—up to 17% on voyages.
Historians view both as "new systems of slavery."
Hugh Tinker, in "A New System of Slavery," argues girmitiya was
"slavery in all but name," with contracts criminalizing desertion.
Similarly, lascars' maritime bondage ensured cheap labor for ships, as
Balachandran notes, cementing racial hierarchies post-slavery. Differences
abound: lascars focused on transient sea work, girmitiyas on permanent
plantation settlement. Yet, both exploited South Asians' vulnerability, with
lascars' rotational contracts contrasting girmitiyas' land grants after terms.
Marina Carter, an expert on Indian Ocean labor, quotes a girmitiya: "We
were promised gold, but got chains." For lascars, the 1823 Act's
repatriation clause mirrored girmitiya's return offers, but abuses left many
stranded, blurring lines between systems.
Both fueled empire's economy: lascars transported goods,
girmitiyas produced sugar. Data shows girmitiya migration peaked at 1.3 million
from 1834-1920, while lascars' cumulative numbers likely matched or exceeded,
given centuries-long span. Georgie Wemyss highlights how homogenizing lascars
as "Muslims" simplifies their diverse faiths, akin to girmitiyas'
cultural retention.
Quantifying the Scale: Numbers and Historical Peaks
Pinpointing exact lascar numbers is elusive due to patchy
records, but evidence paints a picture of massive scale. By 1810, around 1,400
arrived annually in British ports, surging during Napoleonic Wars to replace
impressed Europeans. In 1903, 36,893 lascars comprised nearly 15% of 247,448
British merchant seamen. By 1914, over 51,000—17.5% of the workforce—manned
ships, rising to over 100,000 during World War II. Cumulative estimates span
hundreds of thousands to millions over 300 years, with 80,000 in India alone at
WWI's start.
During WWI, 3,427 lascars perished (4-5% casualty rate),
facing U-boats and internment in German camps like Zossen-Wünsdorf, where 1,200
endured tuberculosis and forced labor. Lord Muskerry lamented in 1908:
"These are the men who demand first consideration... the life blood of our
nation." In WWII, their indispensability shone, but wages remained
low—serangs at 35 rupees/month. Shagnick Bhattacharya underscores their role:
"Lascars made the inter-oceanic commerce possible."
The Diaspora Dilemma: Returns, Strands, and Settlements
Unlike girmitiyas' permanent diaspora—forming vibrant
communities in the Caribbean and Pacific—lascars' fate was predominantly
transient. Contracts mandated repatriation, and most returned to India after
voyages, cycling through global routes. Yet, abuses scattered a minority:
stranded in Britain without passage, they begged or relied on "Strangers'
Homes." By the 1850s, 3,000-3,600 arrived annually, many settling.
Pre-1950s, 8,000 Indians lived permanently in Britain, a proportion lascars.
This "floating diaspora" seeded multiracial
enclaves in London's East End, Liverpool, Cardiff's Tiger Bay, and Glasgow.
Marrying local women, they birthed mixed-race families, as Chamion Caballero
notes tragic outcomes for children amid moral panics. Globally, lascars
appeared in East Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America, but communities
remained small. Vivek Bald traces U.S. settlements, while David Holland
examines Sheffield networks. Sumita Mukherjee highlights gender and race
intersections: "The lascar body fueled colonial anxieties."
The lascars: Britain's colonial sailors / Our Migration
Story
Regions of Origin: From Coastal Hubs to Inland Recruits
Lascars hailed from maritime heartlands, with Bengal (now
Bangladesh) dominating—districts like Sylhet, Noakhali, and Chittagong via
Calcutta. Gujarat's coastal Kachchh and Khambat fed Bombay recruits, while
Kerala's Malabar Coast and Goa contributed with seafaring traditions. As demand
spiked with steamships and wars, inland Punjab and North West Frontier Province
supplied engine-room labor. Non-Indians—Yemenis, Somalis, Malays—broadened the
pool, but Indians formed the core. The 1814-15 East India Company report noted
religious diversity, with nine in ten Muslims at Strangers' Home in the 1870s.
Robert Prescott questions segregation in accommodations, while Haseeb Khan
notes architectural adaptations for rituals.
Reflection
The lascars' saga is a poignant reminder of empire's human
cost, where oceans connected fortunes but drowned dignities. These men,
navigating treacherous waters and societal tempests, embodied resilience amid
exploitation, their labor propelling Britain's global supremacy while they
languished in shadows. As Gopalan Balachandran reflects, they were pioneers of
globalization, yet their stories underscore persistent inequalities in labor
migration today—from modern seafarers in precarious contracts to migrant
workers in Gulf states echoing girmitiya hardships. Expert views, like Ravi
Ahuja's on mobility curbs, resonate with contemporary border regimes
restricting refugees. Data on their numbers and casualties evoke the uncounted
toll of colonialism, urging us to honor their legacies in multicultural
Britain, where lascar descendants enrich society. The 1925 Order's racial
codification prefigures Brexit-era debates on belonging, as Georgie Wemyss
warns against simplifying diverse identities. In an era of climate-driven
migrations and supply-chain vulnerabilities, lascars teach us about
interconnected fates: their furnace-stoked voyages powered industrial
revolutions, much as today's global workforce sustains economies. Reflecting on
this, we must advocate for equitable labor rights, recognizing that history's
invisible hands still shape our world. Their enduring spirit calls for
reparative justice, transforming narratives from victimhood to agency, ensuring
future generations sail toward fairness.
References
- Balachandran,
Gopalan. "Globalizing Labour? Indian Seafarers and World Shipping, c.
1870-1945." Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Visram,
Rozina. "Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: The Story of Indians in Britain
1700-1947." Pluto Press, 1986.
- Tabili,
Laura. "We Ask for British Justice: Workers and Racial Difference in
Late Imperial Britain." Cornell University Press, 1994.
- Ahuja,
Ravi. "Mobility and Containment: The Voyages of South Asian Seamen,
c. 1900-1960." International Review of Social History, 2006.
- Tinker,
Hugh. "A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labour Overseas,
1830-1920." Oxford University Press, 1974.
- Salter,
Joseph. "The Asiatic in England." Seeley, Jackson &
Halliday, 1873.
- Hyslop,
Jonathan. "Steamship Empire: Asian, African and British Sailors in
the Merchant Marine c. 1880-1945." Journal of Global History, 2013.
- Carter,
Marina. "Voices from Indenture: Experiences of Indian Migrants in the
British Empire." Leicester University Press, 1996.
- Mukherjee,
Sumita, and Wray, Lucy. Various articles in "Mariners: Race, Religion
and Empire." Immigrants & Minorities, 2025.
- Imperial
War Museum and British Library archives on WWI lascar casualties.
Comments
Post a Comment