Salt, smuggling and citizenship

Redefining princely sovereignty through salt in Baroda, 1870–1920

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8961518
AutoresKate Boehme (0000-0002-6199-7794, University of Edinburgh, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume60
Fascículo4
Páginas431-450
Data de publicação2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Indian Economic & Social History Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0019-4646 • E-ISSN: 0973-0893
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00194646231200327
OpenAlexW4388183849
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas14

The centrality of salt within the political and economic history of India is well established in recent scholarship. Its significance was particularly profound in the western region of Gujarat; long before the arrival of the British, the princely state of Baroda had a tradition of salt manufacturing. With both government-owned pans and widespread ‘home manufacturing’ operating within the state, salt was undeniably critical to the local economy. It also held a cultural significance. In the mid-1800s, with the introduction of the British salt monopoly, these industries were officially subsumed by the colonial state. However, in their efforts to enforce the monopoly and suppress ‘illicit’ production, the British continued to face considerable resistance from all levels of the Baroda administration into the twentieth century. This article examines the contestations that occurred between the colonial and princely authorities over the issue of salt, particularly on the frontiers where jurisdiction was uncertain. It asserts that, through these processes, salt came to represent a crucial battleground for debates concerning legal sovereignty, subjecthood and economic autonomy

Citizenship · Colonialism · Economics · Economy · Jurisdiction · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law