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Crispin Bates

University of Edinburgh, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Faculty Member

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I am Professor of Modern and Contemporary South Asian History at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology in The University of Edinburgh and am also an Honorary Professor at the Graduate School of African and Asian Studies in Kyoto University, Japan. I research in the History of India, Indian Ocean and South Asia. My current projects are 'Indian overseas labour migration in the colonial era' and 'The Other From Within: Indian Anthropologists and the Birth of the Nation'.

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Videos by Crispin Bates

Bihari Overseas Labour Migration 1857-1869: origins, intermediaries, and the role of trust

Invited Lecture presented at the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) Silver Jubilee Cele... more

18 views

Books by Crispin Bates

The Indian Labour Diaspora

A resource text for student produced by the ‘Becoming Coolies’ research project on the origins of... more

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume VII: Documents of the Indian Uprising

Documents of the Indian Uprising (Volume 7) is a source book that provides samples from rare docu... more Documents of the Indian Uprising (Volume 7) is a source book that provides samples from rare documents unearthed in the course of extensive research conducted during the Mutiny at the Margins project. Both a research tool and a teaching resource, it employs images and texts to offer a unique range of primary sources relating to the 1857 uprising, its aftermath and legacies. Emphasising subaltern and marginal perspectives, it is designed to complement the previous six volumes of the Mutiny at the Margins series.

International and Human Security in India

Cities in South Asia

Savage Attack: tribal insurgency in India

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume VI: Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprisings of 1857 -- Volume V: Muslim, Dalit and Subaltern Narratives

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume IV: Military Aspects of the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume III: Global Perspectives

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume II: Britain and the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume I: Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality

Subalterns and Raj: South Asia since 1600

Beyond Representation: Colonial and Postcolonial Constructions of Indian Identity

Rethinking Indian Political Institutions

Community, Empire and Migration: South Asians in Diaspora

Papers by Crispin Bates

Interrogating Orientalism: Hindu Festivals and Travellers Tales in the Colonial Indian Ocean

by Crispin Bates and Marina Carter

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 2023

Thimithi – the Tamil Hindu fire-walking ceremony has always attracted the attention of the curiou... more Thimithi – the Tamil Hindu fire-walking ceremony has always attracted the attention of the curious and the thrill seeker and remains a tourist attraction as well as the performance of a solemn vow in many parts of the world where it continues to be enacted. A source of much speculation as to the participants’ apparent ability to withstand the pain of walking over hot coals, travellers’ often exaggerated accounts of eye witness attendance at such events regularly graced the columns of western journals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This article focusses on an unusual investigation carried out in colonial Mauritius in mid-1874. The enquiry resulted from a published description of thimithi written by Nicolas Pike, former American consul on the island which caused concern at the colonial office in London, who asked for an explanation. This produced a set of reports, firstly by British police officers, and secondly, but more remarkably, by leading members of the Tamil community on Mauritius. Their detailed and occasionally humorous responses to the western orientalist gaze deftly unpick the absurdities and hypocrisies of the so-called ruling caste whilst their very involvement serves to complicate our understanding of the relationship between white settler and Indian ‘subject’ in the mid-Victorian colonial empire.

Trust in the Indian Labour Diaspora

Journal of Migration History, 2021

This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activitie... more This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activities of intermediaries (recruiters) in the Indian indentured labour system of the Indian Ocean in the colonial era. A review of the utilisation of trust in development discourse and its applicability to the literature of colonial subaltern migration and to a specific historical context is undertaken. The paper demonstrates that informal trust networks are critical to an understanding of the operation of indenture, that the appraisal of their functioning and effectiveness necessitates the construction of a counter narrative to the ‘official’ archive, and suggests a new means of adapting the trust discourse to this field of study through an assessment of how these knowledge and information networks were disseminated and by whom.

Trust in the Indian Labour Diaspora

Journal of Migration History, 2021

This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activitie... more This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activities of intermediaries (recruiters) in the Indian indentured labour system of the Indian Ocean in the colonial era. A review of the utilisation of trust in development discourse and its applicability to the literature of colonial subaltern migration and to a specific historical context is undertaken. The paper demonstrates that informal trust networks are critical to an understanding of the operation of indenture, that the appraisal of their functioning and effectiveness necessitates the construction of a counter narrative to the ‘official’ archive, and suggests a new means of adapting the trust discourse to this field of study through an assessment of how these knowledge and information networks were disseminated and by whom.

Remigration of Indian Subalterns in the Colonial Indian Ocean

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History , 2021

Even after the official suspension of indentured overseas migration in 1917, "free" migrants stil... more Even after the official suspension of indentured overseas migration in 1917, "free" migrants still travelled overseas and could be cheated by the kanganis, sardars, or maistries (labour intermediaries) who recruited them. The question remains: Why did such a large number of Indian labour migrants who had completed one term of service overseas return to India, and then remigrate, or move from one colonial territory to another? The reasons were diverse and included the difficulties of re-integration in India, returnee recruiting, family regroupment activities, better employment opportunities, and economic recession or discrimination in the colony where they first arrived. At the same time, the frequency of remigration, and of onward migration to other colonies, suggests considerable enterprise and strategic thinking on the part of labour migrants seeking out opportunities within the interstices and constraints of the colonial labour economy. This paper discusses the debates surrounding remigration and presents a thematic reinterpretation drawing upon case studies from Indian Ocean archives.

Bihari Overseas Labour Migration 1857-1869: origins, intermediaries, and the role of trust

Invited Lecture presented at the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) Silver Jubilee Cele... more

18 views

The Indian Labour Diaspora

A resource text for student produced by the ‘Becoming Coolies’ research project on the origins of... more

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume VII: Documents of the Indian Uprising

Documents of the Indian Uprising (Volume 7) is a source book that provides samples from rare docu... more Documents of the Indian Uprising (Volume 7) is a source book that provides samples from rare documents unearthed in the course of extensive research conducted during the Mutiny at the Margins project. Both a research tool and a teaching resource, it employs images and texts to offer a unique range of primary sources relating to the 1857 uprising, its aftermath and legacies. Emphasising subaltern and marginal perspectives, it is designed to complement the previous six volumes of the Mutiny at the Margins series.

International and Human Security in India

Cities in South Asia

Savage Attack: tribal insurgency in India

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume VI: Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprisings of 1857 -- Volume V: Muslim, Dalit and Subaltern Narratives

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume IV: Military Aspects of the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume III: Global Perspectives

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume II: Britain and the Indian Uprising

Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857 -- Volume I: Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality

Subalterns and Raj: South Asia since 1600

Beyond Representation: Colonial and Postcolonial Constructions of Indian Identity

Rethinking Indian Political Institutions

Community, Empire and Migration: South Asians in Diaspora

Interrogating Orientalism: Hindu Festivals and Travellers Tales in the Colonial Indian Ocean

by Crispin Bates and Marina Carter

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 2023

Thimithi – the Tamil Hindu fire-walking ceremony has always attracted the attention of the curiou... more Thimithi – the Tamil Hindu fire-walking ceremony has always attracted the attention of the curious and the thrill seeker and remains a tourist attraction as well as the performance of a solemn vow in many parts of the world where it continues to be enacted. A source of much speculation as to the participants’ apparent ability to withstand the pain of walking over hot coals, travellers’ often exaggerated accounts of eye witness attendance at such events regularly graced the columns of western journals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This article focusses on an unusual investigation carried out in colonial Mauritius in mid-1874. The enquiry resulted from a published description of thimithi written by Nicolas Pike, former American consul on the island which caused concern at the colonial office in London, who asked for an explanation. This produced a set of reports, firstly by British police officers, and secondly, but more remarkably, by leading members of the Tamil community on Mauritius. Their detailed and occasionally humorous responses to the western orientalist gaze deftly unpick the absurdities and hypocrisies of the so-called ruling caste whilst their very involvement serves to complicate our understanding of the relationship between white settler and Indian ‘subject’ in the mid-Victorian colonial empire.

Trust in the Indian Labour Diaspora

Journal of Migration History, 2021

This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activitie... more This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activities of intermediaries (recruiters) in the Indian indentured labour system of the Indian Ocean in the colonial era. A review of the utilisation of trust in development discourse and its applicability to the literature of colonial subaltern migration and to a specific historical context is undertaken. The paper demonstrates that informal trust networks are critical to an understanding of the operation of indenture, that the appraisal of their functioning and effectiveness necessitates the construction of a counter narrative to the ‘official’ archive, and suggests a new means of adapting the trust discourse to this field of study through an assessment of how these knowledge and information networks were disseminated and by whom.

Trust in the Indian Labour Diaspora

Journal of Migration History, 2021

This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activitie... more This paper investigates the role of trust relationships through a re-examination of the activities of intermediaries (recruiters) in the Indian indentured labour system of the Indian Ocean in the colonial era. A review of the utilisation of trust in development discourse and its applicability to the literature of colonial subaltern migration and to a specific historical context is undertaken. The paper demonstrates that informal trust networks are critical to an understanding of the operation of indenture, that the appraisal of their functioning and effectiveness necessitates the construction of a counter narrative to the ‘official’ archive, and suggests a new means of adapting the trust discourse to this field of study through an assessment of how these knowledge and information networks were disseminated and by whom.

Remigration of Indian Subalterns in the Colonial Indian Ocean

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History , 2021

Even after the official suspension of indentured overseas migration in 1917, "free" migrants stil... more Even after the official suspension of indentured overseas migration in 1917, "free" migrants still travelled overseas and could be cheated by the kanganis, sardars, or maistries (labour intermediaries) who recruited them. The question remains: Why did such a large number of Indian labour migrants who had completed one term of service overseas return to India, and then remigrate, or move from one colonial territory to another? The reasons were diverse and included the difficulties of re-integration in India, returnee recruiting, family regroupment activities, better employment opportunities, and economic recession or discrimination in the colony where they first arrived. At the same time, the frequency of remigration, and of onward migration to other colonies, suggests considerable enterprise and strategic thinking on the part of labour migrants seeking out opportunities within the interstices and constraints of the colonial labour economy. This paper discusses the debates surrounding remigration and presents a thematic reinterpretation drawing upon case studies from Indian Ocean archives.

Kala Pani Revisited: Indian Labour Migrants and the Sea Voyage

Journal of Indentureship and its Legacies, 2021

This article examines the reconstruction and deconstruction of the concept of काला पानी or kālā p... more This article examines the reconstruction and deconstruction of the concept of काला पानी or kālā pānā, meaning the ‘black waters’, which all Indians must cross when migrating overseas. From its origin as a Brahmanic text warning about the dangers of oceanic voyages, through its dissemination as a more generalised stricture against emigration and its use and abuse as a British colonial construction, to its recasting as a historical trope and a literary device, the ever-changing influence and meaning of kala pani is interrogated and assessed. Contextualising the kala pani trope against the setting of sepoy, convict and indentureship voyages, this study also evaluates its historical validity and importance in colonial and nationalist realities. Finally, the symbolic value of the kala pani and its reworking as a literary device are explored.

Indian Overseas Migrants in the Colonial Era: exploring the origins and contribution of 19th century Indian labourers

Sunway University: Spotlight on Research, 2020

Migration in the time of empire

Open Democracy , 2017

Millions migrated to work the plantations following the abolition of slavery in the British and F... more

La grande peur des cipayes

Les Mondes de L’Inde, LHistoire, 2017

Loin d'être une simple mutinerie alimentée par la superstition, la rébellion des soldats indigène... more

Some Thoughts on the Representation and Misrepresentation of the Colonial South Asian Labour Diaspora

This paper explores the representation and misrepresentation of indentured Indian labour migratio... more This paper explores the representation and misrepresentation of indentured Indian labour migration in the colonial archive and subsequent historiography, and offers some suggestions for alternate ways of viewing the origins of the South Asian labour diaspora. Drawing on ongoing research, it emphasises the need to move away from well-worn dichotomies of ‘slavery’ and ‘free labour’ and instead to re-centre the role of human agency and creativity, even in the face of structural opposition. By reflecting on the limitations of the colonial archive, and emphasising the role of pre- existing networks, returnees and recruiters in facilitating and informing patterns of migration, it suggests ways to move beyond the persistent popular misrepresentations of this process, and find alternative, subaltern perspectives on the indentured labour experience.

Sirdars as Intermediaries in Nineteenth-century Indian Ocean Indentured Labour Migration

The sirdar (also termed sardar and jobber in Indian historiography)—foreman, recruiter, at once a... more The sirdar (also termed sardar and jobber in Indian historiography)—foreman, recruiter, at once a labour leader and an important intermediary figure for the employers of labour both in India and in the sugar colonies—is reassessed in this article. Tithankar Roy's thoughtful 2007 article looked at how the sirdars' multiple roles represent an incorporation of traditional authority in a modern setting, giving rise to certain contradictions. In 2010 Samita Sen, conversely, developed Rajnarayan Chandavarkar's argument about the use of labour intermediaries in colonial India to reveal how, in the case of the Assam tea plantations, the nexus between contractors and sirdars belies the 'benign' role often accorded to the intermediary within narratives from the tea industry. This article provides examples from the overseas labour destinations in the Indian Ocean region, particularly Mauritius, to further develop and nuance the debate, through an assessment of the complexity of sirdari roles in the colonial Indian labour diaspora.

Sardars and other intermediaries in the South Asian Labour Diaspora

Dalals, Brokers and Intermediaries in the South Asian Economy

The Hidden Story of Partition and its Legacies

The Internationalisation of South Asian Studies

History and the Historiography of ‘adivasi’ Insurrection in India

Adivasi Insurrections in India: the 1857 Rebellion in central India, its wider context and historiography

Savage Attack: Adivasis and Insurgency in India: Introduction

by Alpa Shah and Crispin Bates

Savage Attack: tribal insurgency in India, 2014

Translation and the Indian Social Sciences

Decolonisation and the Issue of Reparations: Perspectives from South Asia

Introduction: Looking back on Human and International Security in India since Independence

International and Human Security in India, 2015

Savage Attack: Adivasi Insurgency in India

by Alpa Shah and Crispin Bates

2014. New Delhi: Social Science Press.