Indigo and the Island - Part Two.
The profit that could be made from indigo, land use practices, the Blue Rebellion and the start of the decline of the industry.
Gaelic version below.
In part one, I wrote about the growth of the Indigo industry in Bihar, India and especially the Skye connection to the industry.
In this second post I will look at just how much profit there was in indigo and the land-owning practices which were implemented in the region of Bihar. Practices which would have made any Highland Laird nod in approval.
I’ll also look at what led to the demise of the indigo industry. That part of the story involves industrial espionage, the outbreak of World War One, and the first political campaign by a young man called Mahatma Gandhi, for the rights of indigo workers.
MORE PROFIT THAN WARREN BUFFETT
That the work was financially successful is in no doubt. One of my informants talked of a letter the family received from a young family member in India who had got a new job as a plantation manager. The job paid £5000 a year, which was the equivalent of “landing a job as a banker in those days”
Money from indigo brought about seismic changes in Scotland’s social hierarchy and landowning landscape. One example – the Duke of Sutherland sold a large part of his estates to a man from Alexandria, near Glasgow, who made his fortune in indigo dyeing.
In the book European indigo factories in Lower Provinces of Bengal, 1831, the profitability of Bengal indigo was “23 percent on total investment”. This is very high indeed. To put that into context, Warren Buffet, the Seer of Omaha, considered the greatest investor who ever lived, managed annualised gains of around 20 percent.
Let’s look at how long it would take an investor to double their money, using the Rule of 72. Dividing 72 by the interest rate gives you 3.1. So an investor would have doubled their money in just three years.
GROWING CONCERNS
With increasing wealth, plantation managers often developed or bought into their own indigo concerns. This diversified into an involvement in sugar production and tea.
One might also bear in mind that many indigo plantations also planted opium, as the growing seasons complemented one another.
This was another lucrative crop, but at an enormous human cost.
LAND USE IN THE INDIGO LANDS OF BIHAR
The arcane and exploitative nature of land use in the indigo lands of Bengal would have made any Highland Chief nod in approval.
“Planters in Bihar organized the cultivation of indigo on land under their direct control on what were called the zirat lands. The ownership of land was usually acquired through the purchase of leases over entire villages from the landlords.
Such leases gave planters access to the traditional power of the landlords in the Bihar countryside. So even if the planters did not “own” the land in any absolute legal sense, they had sufficiently strong rights over the land in their possession. This system of indigo cultivation was different from the prior practice in Bengal, where the indigo was largely grown by giving out contracts to Indian peasants.”(Indigo Plantations and Science, p134)
The Lieutenant- Governor of Bengal J.P. Grant, for the better understanding of the British people, said that:
“One-sixteenth of his whole land is a common portion which, it is insisted, an indigo ryot shall sow in indigo. This is as though a farmer in Great Britain, farming under a long lease of 160 acres of land, at a rent of 21 an acre, were, by some sort of pressure, forced to cultivate 10 acres, say in flax, which he was compelled to sell to a certain neighbouring manufacturer at a dead loss of 140/ a year.
This is worth restating, that the tenant farmers, or ryots (who worked the land but did not own it), made a dead loss working in indigo.
Grant compares this to a new English landlord forcing a loss on several thousand Irish cottars.
“If one remembers that these ryots are not Carolina slaves, but the free yeomanry of this country, and, indeed, strictly speaking, the virtual owners of the greater part of the land in the old cultivated parts of Bengal, so heavy a loss as this will fully account to us for the strength of the opposition to indigo cultivation which we have just experienced. (Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757–1857) by Indrajit Ray (2011)
THE BLUE REBELLION – NIL VIDROHA (1859-60)
The Blue Rebellion (or Nil Vidroha) in1859-60 was the “strength of opposition” to which he referred. This was the beginning of the end for the indigo industry, which became an increasingly widespread campaign against its practices.
It was indeed a violent reflection of people’s attitude towards indigo cultivation. Referring to the rebellion, C. Wood, the Secretary of State for India, agreed with the view put forward by the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal:
“… that the cultivation was unprofitable to the ryot, who was required to furnish the plant at a price which, with the extra charges to which he was subjected, did not reimburse him for the cost of production.” (Ray, 2011)
ARGUMENTS AT THE TIME IN FAVOUR OF INDIGO PLANTATIONS
There were, of course, opposing arguments in favour of the economic activity that indigo cultivation brought to certain areas. Although, I think it might be fair enough to point out that improvements would have been rather more considerable had the ryots not been making a financial loss on the work.
One comment put on record by Raja Rammohan Roy:
“As to the indigo planters, I beg to observe, that I have travelled through several districts in Bengal and Bihar, and I found, the natives residing in the neighbourhood of indigo plantations, evidently better clothed and better conditioned than those who lived at a distance from such stations” (Roy, 2011)
Likewise, the Governor General of India, Lord William Bentinck, minuted:
“every factory is in its degree the centre of a circle of improvement, raising the persons employed in it and the inhabitants of the immediate vicinity above the general level.” (Ray, 2011)
Not everyone agreed with this. Especially the indigo workers themselves.
THE DEMISE OF THE INDIGO INDUSTRY
The Indigo industry was one of the key points of conflict between the British Government and the nascent Indian Independence movement.
It was in Bihar, supporting indigo workers, that Mahatma Ghandi launched one of the first major campaigns for Indian Independence, the “Champaran Satyagraha” campaign in 1917.
But in the end, this was just one of the factors which caused the end of the Indigo industry. Because in 1880 a chemist in Germany called Adolf von Baeyer was to bring a new product to market through his new company. A new chemically produced dye.
The company’s name – BASF.
The third part of the story will explore how a range of factors came together to bring an end to the large-scale indigo industry in India. Scientific breakthroughs in synthetic dyes, the disruptions caused by the First World War, and episodes of industrial espionage all played a role—alongside a growing wave of resistance in the Champaran indigo districts.
GAELIC VERSION
OS-SEALLADH
Sa chiad alt san sreath seo, sgrìobh mi mu dheidhinn mar a dh’fhàs gnìomhachas an Indigo anns an 19mh linn. Cuideachd an ceangal a bh’ aig an Eilean Sgiathanach ris, gu h-àraidh ann am Bihar, sna h-Innseachan.
Anns an dàrna alt seo, bheir sinn sùil air an airgead a bha na chois, mar a dh’fhàs e agus mar a chaidh e a-mach à bith. Cuideachd, mar a chaidh fearann a roinn agus a chleachdadh anns na sgìrean far an robh indigo ga fhàs.
AN T-AIRGEAD A BH’ ANN AN INDIGO
Chan eil teagamh ann nach robh gu leòr dhe na manaidsearan-planntachaidh a’ dèanamh beag-fortan a-mach às an obair. Bhruidhinn mi ri aon neach, bha sgeulachd anns an teaghlach aca mu fhear a sgrìobh dhachaigh leis an naidheachd gun d’ fhuair e obair le tuarasdal luach £5000 sa bhliadhna. Bha sin coltach ri “obair fhaghinn mar bhancair, anns na làithean ud.”
Anns an leabhar European indigo factories in Lower Provinces of Bengal, 1831. Tha an t-ùghdar ag ràdh “the profitability of Bengal indigo was ~23 per cent on total investment”.
Tha seo àrd. Ma choimheadas sinn ri Warren Buffet (the Seer of Omaha), aon de na manaidsearan-airgid as fheàrr a bh’ ann a-riamh. Rinn esan “managed annualised gains of around ~20 percent.” Tha an S&P 500 timcheall ait ~10%, bho thòisich e ann an 1926.
Nan cleachdadh tu ‘Riaghailt 72 ‘(The Rule of 72) – 72 air a roinn le 23, tha sin a’ toirt dhut cia mheud bliadhna a dh’fheumadh tu airson d’ argead a dhùblachadh. Sin ~3 bliadhna a bheireadh e.
Bha prothaid uabhasach àrd ri fhaighinn ann an indigo.
Dh’abhraich an t-airgead a thàinig à indigo atharrachaidhean mòra cuideachd air structar sòisealta agus seilbh fearainn ann an Alba.
Eisimpleir dhen seo – reic Diùc Chataibh pàirt mhòr dhen oighreachd aige ri fear à Alexandria, faisg air Glaschu, a rinn a fhortan le dathadh indigo. Agus anns a’ chad alt, sheall sinn air an àireamh de ‘thaighean mòra’ anns an Eilean Sgiathanach a chaidh a thogail le airgead bho indigo.
Bhiodh manaidsearan cuideachd a’ cleachdadh an airgid a bha’ d a’ cosnadh airson cuibhreann a cheannachd ann an ‘concerns’ eile. Ann an indigo, ach cuideachd ann an siùcar agus teatha,.
Bha cuideachd, planntrais eile ann a bha ag obair math dhaibh – seach gun robh e a’ fàs aig àm diofraichte ri indigo agus ‘ e sin – opium.
Mar a tha fios againn, chaidh fortanan a dhèanamh a-mach à opium. Agus chaidh iomadach beatha a mhilleadh air a sgàth.
CLEACHDAIDHEAN FEARAINN ANN AM BIHAR
Bhiodh uachdaran aig an robh fearann air a Ghàidhealtachd san 19mh linn gu math eòlach air na cleachdaidhean fearainn ann am Bihar aig an àm.
“Planters in Bihar organized the cultivation of indigo on land under their direct control on what were called the zirat lands. The ownership of land was usually acquired through the purchase of leases over entire villages from the landlords. Such leases gave planters access to the traditional power of the landlords in the Bihar countryside.
So even if the planters did not “own” the land in any absolute legal sense, they had sufficiently strong rights over the land in their possession.
This system of indigo cultivation was different from the prior practice in Bengal, where the indigo was largely grown by giving out contracts to Indian peasants.”(Indigo Plantations and Science p 134)
Seo a thuirt an Lieutenant Governor (Bengal), J.P. Grant, a’ mìneachadh mar a bha na ryots (na tuathaniach) a’ call airgead le bhith a’ cur indigo:
“One-sixteenth of his whole land is a common portion which, it is insisted, an indigo ryot shall sow in indigo.
This is as though a farmer in Great Britain, farming under a long lease of 160 acres of land, at a rent of 21 an acre, were, by some sort of pressure, forced to cultivate 10 acres, say in flax, which he was compelled to sell to a certain neighbouring manufacturer at a dead loss of 140/ a year.
If one remembers that these ryots are not Carolina slaves, but the free yeomanry of this country, and, indeed, strictly speaking, the virtual owners of the greater part of the land in the old cultivated parts of Bengal, so heavy a loss as this will fully account to us for the strength of the opposition to indigo cultivation which we have just experienced. (Ray, 2011)
AN ‘T-AR A-MACH GORM’ NO ‘THE BLUE REBELLION'
‘S e an ‘Nil Vidroha’ no ‘The Blue Rebellion’ ann an 1859-60 eisemplair dhen sin. Dh’fhàs e a-mach à cho mì-chothromach ‘s a bha obair an indigo dha muinntir an àite.
Seo a thuirt C. Wood, Rùnaire Stàite aig an àm airson nan Innseachan:
“.. the evidence…is conclusive as to the fact that the cultivation was unprofitable to the ryot, who was required to furnish the plant at a price which, with the extra charges to which he was subjected, did not reimburse him for the cost of production.” (Ray, 2011)
Bha an Governor General aig an àm, Lord William Bentinck, ag argumaid gun robh obair an Indigo a’ toirt piseach air na sgìrean anns an robh e a’ gabhail àite:
“…every factory is in its degree the centre of a circle of improvement, raising the persons employed in it and the inhabitants of the immediate vicinity above the general level.” (Ray, 2011)
Ach, tha e dulich faicinn mar a bha seo fìor nuair nach robh na ryots a’ dèanamh airgead sam bith à obair a bha cho garbh cruaidh, agus gun robhas a’ feuchainn ri toirt orra indigo fhàs an àite an talamh sin a chleachdadh gus biadh fhàs dhaibh pèin.
A’ CHIAD IOMAIRT LE MAHATMA GANDHI
B’ e gnìomhachas an indigo aon de na prìomh adhbharan-còmhstri eadar Riaghaltas Bhreatainn agus a’ ghluasad airson neo-eisimeileachd anns na h-Innseachan.
‘S ann ann am Bihar, a’ toirt taic do luchd-obrach an indigo, a chuir Mahatma Gandhi air bhog a’ chiad iomairt mhòr anns an robh a an sàs airson neo-eisimeileachd nan Innseachan – iomairt “Champaran Satyagraha” ann an 1917.
Ach aig a’ cheann thall, cha b’ e seo ach aon de na rudan a thug crìoch air gnìomhachas an indigo. Oir ann an 1880, bha ceimigear anns a’ Ghearmailt, Adolf von Baeyer, ag obair air dath ùr’ gorma tron chompanaidh fhèin.
B’ e ainm na companaidh – BASF.
Anns an treas phàirt dhen sgeulachd, bheir sinn sùil air na chur às dha obair an Indigo. Eadar WW1, adhartas ann an siadheans dhathan. agus strì eadar Breatainn agus a’ Ghearmailt às dèidh a’ Chogaidh.
DEIREADH.