Frontiersmen in imperial Delhi
Regulating Afghans and their moneylending, 1912–49
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8961734 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Priyanka Sharma (0000-0002-6663-6517, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, India, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-229 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Indian Economic & Social History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0019-4646 • E-ISSN: 0973-0893 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00194646241241670 |
| OpenAlex | W4396659862 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
This article traces the complex regulatory efforts directed at Afghans in colonial Delhi to control or distance them from the imperial capital. To the colonial authorities, the Afghan moneylenders who operated within the expanding new imperial capital, providing their services to government employees as well as the growing population, appeared as a new problem in the city. The colonial authorities viewed the Afghan moneylender as a typical ‘goonda’ contributing to disorder. The imperial and provincial administration discussed the possibilities of deportations, extended extraordinary legislation (Goonda Act, 1937) and used high-handed practices to deal with this ‘menace’. Being foreign subjects, the Afghans resisted these regulatory measures by involving the Afghan consulate to defend their socio-economic rights in British India. The need to avoid friction with the Afghan government amidst tensions at the frontier was an enduring consideration when dealing with Afghan moneylenders, especially after the creation of the new nation-state of India
Afghan · Ancient history · Capital (architecture · Colonialism · Frontier · Government (linguistics · Legislation · Political science · Population · Sociology · State (computer science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Demography · History · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Public Administration · South Asian Studies and Conflicts
Crime and criminality in British India
Imperial power and popular politics
The Economic History of India, 1857-2010
Ramparts of Empire
The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India
Tests and Measurements Department
Spaces of Colonialism
Prostitution and the Ends of Empire
Ideologies of the Raj
The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947
Asian and African Studies
Settle, Mobilize, Verify
Indigenous Banking in India
The Indian Central Banking Inquiry Committee, 1931
The Monsoon and the Market for Money in Late-colonial India
The Kabuliwalas
Images of the Pathan
Military Security and Urban Development
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |