Lascars and Indian Ocean Seafaring, 1780–1860

Aaron Jaffer’s fascinating book examines daily life and mutiny on East India Company and ‘country’ ships (privately owned merchant vessels not allowed to trade with Europe before 1813, when the EIC lost its monopoly) in the era of sail, from the late eighteenth century to the end of Company rule following the Great Rebellion. This period, and these country ships in particular, Jaffer explains, made an important contribution to British expansionism in the Indian Ocean region, but have received little attention from historians. Documentary records of and about more than thirty mutinies (including voyage journals, letters, logbooks, trial transcripts and images) provide Jaffer’s core material, not just about violence and resistance, but about the quotidian details of everyday lascar life. Jaffer writes very well indeed, and this book is in many ways an exemplary social history, based on an admirable amount of research in fragmented and geographically dispersed archives. Importantly, he has gone beyond records produced in London, which have tended to lead historians to focus on lascars who spent time in Britain, and uses records from Bengal, Bombay and Madras presidencies. Moreover, Jaffer is acutely aware of the problems posed by the material—log books were not designed to be social history, and prosecutors simplified mutiny narratives in order to secure convictions. Investigators assumed guilt, and wanted ringleaders. Witness testimony was transcribed and translated, and those giving evidence had their own priorities; denials of involvement, changed stories and claims of neutrality were common narrative strategies. I could not help thinking that these sources echo Amanda Vickery’s comments about the distorting effect of the Old Bailey’s ‘low-trust atmosphere’

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · BENGAL · Economic history · Literature · Mutiny · Narrative · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Social unrest · Unrest · Witness · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Maritime Security and History