The Hosay Massacre of 1884 (Transcript)
Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of murder, police brutality, indentureship and the abuse of women.
Before we begin this episode, we would like to bring something to your awareness which we at The Yaad found out, while creating this episode. In Jamaica, historically, the Hosay festival have been held in three parishes: St. Mary, Clarendon and Westmoreland. However, in recent years, the event has only been held in Clarendon. But for the past three years, it has not been held. For 2020 and 2021, the issue was Covid restrictions. However, in 2022, Jamaica, a country which celebrates how diverse it in its racial population, the organisers faced the issue of funding; and that affected the planning of the event in 2022 - 2022, which was Jamaica 60th celebration. As such, if anyone has any connection to the Member of Parliament of the area where the festival is held, Luthan Cousins, or the mayor of Clarendon, Winston Maragh, or the Ministry of Culture, Babsy, Terrelonge and their people, to help in the assistance of the festival been held come 2023 by getting the organisers funding - please pressure them. And to you our listeners, across the Caribbean and the diaspora, we ask, in anyway or form, in assisting one of the Indo-Muslim communities in the region.Introduction
Upon the arrival of large numbers of Indians to the Caribbean, through the Indentureship system, they also brought their religion and other aspect of their culture. Their aversion to not assimilating to whiteness, was seen as a problem by the colonial governments. And no other event in the 1800’s would portray this than the 1884 Hosay Massacre in Trinidad which say agents of the colonial state - the police- turn their guns on Indians taking part in the annual Hosay festival.Arrival of the Indians
The mass population of Indians arrived in the Caribbean through indentureship which took place after the full emancipation of enslaved Africans occurred in the British West Indies in 1838. Indentureship was a means for white planters to meet the demand of cheap labour now that slavery had been abolished. The Indians became one of these indentured population. Historians Juanita and Arthur Niehoff states that the majority of indentured Indians that came to the Caribbean were recruited from northeastern Indians, specifically the United Provinces of Agra and Uttar Pradesh and the adjacent province of Bihar.
The largest population of indentured Indians arrived in Guyana, Trinidad and Jamaica. Over the period of indentureship from 1834 to 1918, 238,909 Indians arrived in Guyana, 143,939 arrived in Trinidad and 36,412 arrived in Jamaica. And if you are wondering, there’s a reason why there is a significant difference in the amount of Indians arriving to Jamaica in comparison to the other larger British territories.
As it happens, Trinidad and Guyana did not have fully developed plantation economies by 1938 when slavery ended unlike Jamaica with a large plantain system which led to the island having the highest sugar output in the British West Indies prior to Emancipation. As such, this led to Jamaica soil already been burdened by sugar production while both Guyana and Trinidad has vast acres of open fertile land for the British to exploit after emancipation. This allowed for white planters in Guyana and Trinidad to be in a far better position to get the necessary credit to contract East Indian labour compared to that of Jamaica. As such, Jamaica had far less indentured Indians arriving than Guyana and Trinidad. It was this large population of indentured servants, primarily from India and China that allowed for Guyana and Trinidad to be the leading sugar producers in the Caribbean by 1882, while Jamaica sugar production fell greatly.
To note, outside of the big three countries in the British West Indians, Indians indentured servants also settled in other parts of the Caribbean. Between 1834 - 1918, 4,354 arrived in St. Lucia; 3,200 arrived in Grenada; 2,472 in St. Vincent and 339 in St. Kitts. Specifically to Trinidad and Tobago, the first ship of Indians arrived in Port-of-Spain, carrying 227 Indian persons in 1845 - 206 men and 21 women. The Politics of Indentureship
In her book, Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad, 1870 - 1900, historian Dr. Bridget Brereton states: “Of all the immigrants groups which came to Trinidad during the course of the nineteenth century, the Indians were immeasurably the most important."
As such, from the ports of Calcutta, between, 1845 to 1917, with a short break in 1848 to 1851, Indians arrived in Trinidad, where they were the dominant workers on the Trinidad’s sugar plantation. By 1872, they made up 75.3% of all workers on Trinidad’s sugar plantation, becoming one of the most important population of Trinidad’s sugar plantation. From 1862, indentured labourers signed up for a five year indentureship contract. According to their contract, they could not leave their employer, demands higher wages or refuse any work given to them. Not abiding by any of these will result in criminal prosecution. An indentured servant was in law, subjected to 280 days work per calendar year, with five days a week during the growing season and six days during harvesting. An abled body worker in the field could spend at least nine hours working while those in the factory, fifthteen hour days were allowed. Still, a law was passed in 1872 establishing a minimum wage but during the 1880’s, indentured Indian found their wage falling significantly, with Indians earning far less than the minimum they were to be legally paid. For Indian women, it was even lower. On some estates, a pregnant woman was seen as a debt and this meant they would not received wages for month, even years. Also, many Indian women were subjected to the brutal abuse by estates overseers. This, alongside the lack of infrastructure and resources to sustain the non-white population created a harsh, unliveable society for indentured servants. To this, historian Dr. Bridget states: “Those critics of the system who claimed that indentureship was merely slavery with the jail substituted for the whip, were not far from the truth”
Then, once the indentureship is up, persons were set free, and given a “certificate of industrial residence” a sort of free paper, which verified that an individual’s indenture has expired and they are free. But former indentured Indians had restrictions placed on them where these same restrictions did not apply to the rest of the population. Even after receiving their free papers, Indians were not entitled to a free return until they have lived in Trinidad for 10 years. Then the colonial government embarked on a land exchange program. In 1869, the Governor of Trinidad, Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, agreed to grant twenty-five free Indians portions of Crown Lands in exchange for their claim to return home. On our season 5, episode 2 episode, “The 1859 Toll Riots of Jamaica”, we discuss the politics of Crown Lands in the British West Indians in the 1800’s. Still, in Trinidad, through this land exchange program, the Crown hoped to reduce the financial liability of the government to pay for the return of Indian labourers back home and to settle free Indians near sugar cane plantations allowing for planters to have a supply of seasonal workers. Then, when more portions of Crown Lands became available for purchase later, more Indians had the opportunity to become small landowners. Between 1885 to 1869, 24% of all Crown Lands were sold to Indians. By 1895, 34% of Crown Lands were in Indian ownership. And then with the passing of a 1885 law establishing that Indians had to pay a portion of the cost to return home, many decided to just settle in Trinidad. These events gave way to the settlement of the Indian community on the island and subsequently the birth of the Trini-born Indian population - a unique population with their own culture. A culture that they refused to give up to please the English government. This would be a problem for the colonial government. Protests and Disturbances
Between 1838 and 1905, there were twenty one disturbances that took place in the British West Indies; four of these took place in Trinidad where two involve the Indian community during the Hosay Festival. Hosay, otherwise known as Jahaji or Moharram, is an almost 1300-year-old Islamic holiday. The holiday is held in the honour of Hosein, grandson of Mohammed the Prophet. Hosein attempted to reclaim the headship of the Muslim Empire, after the murder of his brother, Hassan. But in A.D. 680, on his march to Baghdad, Hosein was killed by his rivals. The day of his defeat, the 10th day of Moharram, became the holy day of the Shiites, who uphold the legitimacy of Fatima's descendants as, successors of the Prophet. That holy day has passed through the centuries and is celebrated every year during Moharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Hosay generally includes a ten-day fast and prayer period ending with three nights of festivities. In their paper, “Hosay and its Creolization”, researchers, Ajai Mansingh and Laxi Mansingh states that creolization of Moharram in the Caribbean started with a change in its name to HOSAY the word, in which créoles thought they heard repeatedly when the mourners loudly and repeatedly remembered Hosein.As such, when the Indian immigrants, who are of Muslim faith, settled in the Caribbean, they brought their commemoration of Hosay to their Indo-Caribbean communities. But at some point, Hosay became engraved in the life of oppressed persons in the Caribbean, especially in Trinidad and Guyana. At Hosay celebrations, Hindu and Muslim Indians as well as Black West Indians, took part in the festival. During the celebrations in the 1800’s, Muslim Indians in the Caribbean would recreate the tomb of Husein, called a tadjah. It was usually made out of bamboo, tinsel and cloth, and Muslim Indians would carry the usually 30ft high memorial piece, during the event. The tomb would then be carried out to sea and drown, thus signifying the end of event. Another component of this festival was the stick fights. Stick fights were acted out as it commemorates the military exploits of Hassan and Hosein’s live. However, there were moments where stick were replaced with cutlasses and this cause concern with the colonial states as violence was prone to broke out. Indo-Caribbean historian, Dr. Basdeo Mangru, in his publication, “Indenture and Abolition: Sacrifice and Survival on the Guyanese Sugar Plantations” states:“Violence became more widespread when rival Tadjah processions clashed in the middle of the road, each refusing to give way to the other.... it was not uncommon for rival Tadjah fractions to hire Chinese immigrants, reputed to be 'the best and strongest fighters' to spearhead their encounter. Frequently the procession blocked the road completely and the participants in their excited and inebriated state would assault estate personnel and travellers who refused to show reverence."
Then, as stated before, Hosay celebrations are not only attended by Muslim Indians, but other persons. This unification became an issue with the colonial government, as one thing history as shown is that is better to oppressed persons, along different racial lines, when they were separated. And so it happens that the colonial government would use these squabbles during Hosay as an excuse to oppressed Indian culture and as such, it should come as no surprise that the colonial government wanted to banned Hosay celebrations in Trinidad. Still, this is not the first time, that Trinidad’s colonial government had issue with celebrations organised by the Indian community. Firepass, a South Indian festival, was celebrated by Madrasi Indians since 1868 at Peru Village near Port of Spain. This festival includes the walking over of hot coals and this was one of the factors in why it attracted great publicity all over Trinidad. But by the 1870’s, the press criticised the festival, labelling it as a “degrading practice carried on by a gangs of semi-barbarians”. One editor of a newspaper even went as far as to say that he regretted that “the Police have not thought proper to interfere with these scandals doing of the Coolies, which go to show their local ignorance of civilisation”. By the early 1880’s restrictions were placed on Firepass to discourage the celebration. Then following the Carnival Riots of Trinidad in 1881, caused by a result of colonial police, under orders from the colonial government, where persons protest in response to restrictions place on Carnival, the colonial authorities turned their sights on Hosay. The Hamilton Report of 1881, which states that restrictions should be placed on Hosay celebrations to prevent a repeat of the Carnival Riots, added to this.Later in 1881, an Indian was killed during a disturbance between Indians of different estates. And it was then that steps was put in place to curb Hosay and other Indian celebrations. In 1882, the Festival Ordinance of 1882-1884 Amendment was brought into effect where the sword stick or Hakka use during the stick fights were banned. By 1884, strict restrictions were placed on the Hosay festival, and has you might have guess, this did not go down well with Trinidad’s Indian community. As Dr. Mangru states, for the Indians who participated in Hosay, the festival was more than a religious observation but an act of resistance against the “feeling of helplessness and dependence” as a result of their experience as indentured labourers. Hosay
On July 30th, 1884, the colonial authorities implemented Indians from taking part in Hosay by restricting persons from entering Port of Spain and San Fernando and from going along any public highway. Still, around midday, on the 30th of October, Indians who celebrated Hosay, attempting to enter San Fernando. Of all accounts they were around 8000 persons approaching the town to attend the event. As they approach the entrance, there stood police officers who were under the command of the inspector general of Trinidad Constabulary, Captain Arthur Wybrow Baker. From his appointment in 1880, Captain Baker had a reputation among for his zero-tolerance approach to the Trinidad’s lower class. As such, when participants were 100ft or less away from the barricades to enter the town, they were met with a hail of bullets by the colonial police, at all entrances. As the crowd failed to disperse, 17 persons killed and 98 wounded. The list of persons murdered were compiled by Dr. Kenneth Parmasan. They were: JaggernathGildariManooEman KhanChaddeeNebebocusDiphanMooditAmeer KhanRamnathJungleeChaydarAbdool-KuniaSeetalRamgolamChowtonicChotah
The then governor of Jamaica, Sir Henry Norman, was sent to Trinidad to oversee the inquiry. In his report, he states that the precautions taken to stop the procession entering San Fernando were appropriate; that the sergeant of police who, at the request of the magistrates, gave the order to fire did so with coolness and that the magistrates did all in their power to persuade the coolies not to enter the town. In summary, the brutality of the police and the subsequent murder of Indians were justified. Norman ended his report by staying that regulations on Hosay are justifiable and Indians must adhere to them. He effectively clear the Governor of Trinidad, Sir Sanford Freeling from all blame, who was eventually transferred to another British colony. As such, despite the tragedy of 1884, the colonial powers enforce even more regulations against Hosay, come 1885. And since one of the objectives of the 1884 regulation was to discouraged other races from attending the festival, many Blacks in Trinidad stop attending Hosay and eventually withdrew from the festival, all together. Hosay
Today, the Muslim Indian community in Trinidad still takes part in the Hosay celebrations. Not only in Trinidad but across the Caribbean, most notably, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica. A 1995 documentary by John Bishop and Frank J. Korom, showcase the preparation undertaken by Trinis during the Hosay festival . One Trini in particular was spotlighted as he takes great care in the construction of a tadjah. Hosay even had an impact on Trini Carnival, one of the most spectral events in the world. According to Frank J. Korom in his book, Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo-Caribbean Diaspora states that as early as 1878, there are journalistic reports of the ‘Coolie Hose’, the tadjah, at Carnival. Over the years, Hosay float has appeared at events during Trini’s Carnival season. Still, the Hosay Massacre of 1884, is one of the many instances in Caribbean history, where the resistance of oppressed West Indians were seen as an annoyance by colonial institutions. In the case of the massacre, that annoyance translated to murder. The victims of the massacre - they were buried in the local Paradise Cemetery, which today, lies near the San Fernando Central Market. In her article,“What Happened During The 1884 Hosay Massacre In The Caribbean”, Jessica Aya Harn states: ““As the market continues to flourish, their graves hidden under years of history, perhaps we can instead celebrate the diversity and strength that came out of such a brutal time in history, and hope that they will all be dutifully rewarded in the end”.