The Bombay Riots - 1921

The Prince of Wales Visit 1921

Lots of things happened in 1921, good and bad. Insulin was discovered, the communist party was formed in China, Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party, Einstein was nominated for the Nobel prize, and so on and so forth. In British India, KR Narayanan and Satyajit Ray were born, Tagore inaugurated his Viswabharathi university, Gandhiji’s noncooperation movement supported by the united front shook up the administration and the English bigwigs in the UK were becoming a nervous lot. What alarmed them however was the Moplah rebellion in Malabar which fanning out in the south, alienating the Muslims and the Hindus in an otherwise laidback region. The communal overtones needed to be handled carefully and differently from the methods which had culminated in a tragedy at Amritsar just two years earlier.

1919 and 1920 were bad years following the massacre at Amritsar and throughout 1920, India continued to be in a serious state of unrest. The Non-Cooperation movement linked up with the Khilafat movement dear to the Muslims, and as days went by, the latter became increasingly turbulent; they wanted to cast their loyalty to the Turkish Sultan, their Caliph or Khalifa, and not the King-Emperor. Other issues such as the poor monsoon, a threat of famine etc. were making both the administrators and the common man feel that matters were getting out of control, that Government authority was breaking down. Strikes followed in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Kanpur and the earlier feeling that Indian support for the WW1 would result in some good, were soon negated.

As the police proved to be ineffectual and the Khilafat undertones continued to feed the frenzy in Malabar, martial law had to be declared and the army was brought in from Bangalore and Burma, in order to deal with the unrest and violence. The military took care of the rioters and rebels ruthlessly, and in the intervening days, as morals were shed and violence reigned supreme, members of all communities suffered huge losses in life and property, leaving the Malabar administration in utter disarray. Slowly things started to get back on even keel, but religious amity which was once prevalent in the region got replaced by hostile animosity, and polarized communities took to avoiding each other.

But there was an important event, planned a long time ago, which was the visit of the Prince of Wales to India, underway. The British had come to an agreement with some princes that the event would not be overshadowed by dissent and violence, though Gandhiji and the Congress hesitated from making such a commitment. Barbara N. Ramusack’s book on the Princes of India, reveals to us that things had not improved in 1920 and the princes had suggested that Edward dole out some boons if he were to be seen as populist.

The intent of these tours through the royal domains was of course to instill awe and respect for the distant monarch, through the visit of his representative. It had to have the pomp and monarchical splendor if only for the people to always remember fondly of the day when they saw a future king, who traveled thus far to see them! Well, it was actually a little bit more, since Edward was supposed to inaugurate the imperial legislative assembly as well as the chamber of princes and stamp a royal approval on new administrative processes in India. The tour which was planned for 1920 was postponed due to royal fatigue, as well as the revolts in India. The inauguration was therefore done by the Duke of Connaught and Edward rested. But as Edward rested royally, India was convulsed with rebellions, and it was a dissenting country which awaited him, with the rumblings under the surface picking up in frequency, and tending towards something much bigger. Cancellation would not do, for Gandhi would add it as a feather on his cap! From the British viewpoint the visit was on, the Prince of Wales’s trip would be of some value during the deepening confrontation between the Indian nationalists and the British Raj, or so they felt.

The logistics had been carefully prepared as a PR event replete with glowing tributes and a lot of handclaps, and Edward‘s route was to cover many cities and towns which were trouble-free and friendly to the crown. Would that event go well or would other events mess it up even more? Well, that is what this story is all about, the happenings in Bombay prior to, during and after the arrival of Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David - the stylish Prince of Wales.

This is also a story where we find a normally placid lot, the Parsees and the Anglo Indians of Bombay, pitted against the other communities of Bombay in a short, but bloody and violent riot which later came to be known as the Prince of Wales riot. It occurred between 17^th and 20^th November 1921, coinciding with the arrival of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII to the metropolis.

The prince’s steamship was to arrive grandly in Bombay and the man would walk through the Gateway of India, which was still under construction, a symbol of "conquest and colonization" commemorating British colonial legacy. A trip that would cover some 40,000 miles in 8 months was underway. While most of the sailing was in the frigate Renown, the Dufferin would take him on the shorter legs to Burma and Calcutta. For the night time land trips, three trains were placed at his disposal, so also camels, elephants, and palanquins for his royal comfort on rough terrains!

On Nov 17^th, he arrived in Bombay. The official record explains the arrival in formal terms – His barge swung alongside the Apollo Bandar, where the Viceroy awaited him, and he passed through the imposing Gateway of India—a lofty, unfinished arch at the waterside— to a crowded amphitheater beyond. Here, in the presence of a glittering assemblage, he stood under a silken canopy, on a carpet of cloth of gold, and read the King's Message. The state procession, with its escort of scarlet cavalry, carried him through five miles of beflagged streets from the modern European city into a residential quarter fully mobilized in his honour, and thence to Government House at the end of Malabar Point.

The obvious sincerity of the welcome on the route was in striking contrast with the disaffection revealed elsewhere. The rioting in the bazaars, that necessitated the employment of armored cars, never extended beyond the limits of the Indian quarter. The Prince heard no discordant note in the rejoicing, saw no sign of hostility in the faces around him.

This was true not only of his first journey through Bombay, but of all other appearances there in public as well. He went about freely outside the native city, fulfilling a program that was in no wise affected by the pressure of political agitators. He walked through a dense throng of Indians on the maidan—a great open space skirting the European quarter—with no more apparent precautions than might be taken to secure him elbow-room in a London crowd. He visited the University, the Seamen's Institute, and the Yacht Club; presented colors to the 7th Rajput’s on the Maidan in the presence of a vast crowd, and witnessed a fine naval and military pageant which followed the final cricket match of the quadrangular tournament between teams representing the Presidency and the Parsees.

The president of the Bombay Corporation, a Bombay once an area gifted many years ago by the Portuguese as a dowry to the Portuguese bride marrying a British Prince, grandly announced that they regarded the throne of England as the enduring symbol of the principles of equity, justice and liberty.

But what we failed to see in these words was that the discontent which had been brewing for months had actually spilled out into a riot just after the speeches by the Prince had been made and the dignitaries left the podium. Let’s take a look at the day, but before that, a little introduction to the Parsee and the Anglo-Indian population in Bombay, two of the groups friendly to the British monarchy.

With the advent of British power in India better and brighter days dawned for the Parsees. The British encouraged the enterprising lot to settle down at Bombay, gave them the land, and they quickly became a bridge between the indigenous peoples and the ruling British, getting immensely prosperous, along the way. Shipbuilding and trading established them as a favorite go-between in the British scheme of things and the lucrative opium trade with China, got them the steady volumes to build upon and prosper. After the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, Bombay incidentally had become India’s principal port. In addition to opium trading and shipbuilding, the Parsees controlled the many cotton mills of Bombay, cotton being a product in great demand in the west, particularly America. Soon they branched out into other industries, transport and whatnot, establishing themselves at the top of the hierarchy of the Indian peoples. But there was one problem, one which comes from wealth and education, for the educated Parsee also wished to be regarded as being separate from the other communities of India, especially so since they were westernized in their habits, they felt they were more British than Indian. After all, they wore suits and western outfits, ate the British way, played the piano, played cricket, spoke fluent English, wore custom shoes, carried themselves proudly, and even attempted to reform the lower masses! Well, one thing was clear - all this was soon going to create more harm than good, as wise men muttered.

As Bombay’s citizens joined the nationalist bandwagon, one could see the prabhat pheris, which was led by groups of people who marched through the streets, singing patriotic songs and asking the common man to do their duty and support their brethren. Down South in Malabar, the rebellion was getting ugly. The events which flared up in Aug 1921, had trended to violence, and on Nov 14th, the rebels had attacked the Gurkha camp at Pandikkad only to be machine-gunned to death. Kunahmed Haji, one of the main leaders fled into the mountain terrain.

Quite a few Parsees were firmly behind Gandhi’s noncooperation movement. Some though involved with the Congress, retained a certain amount of reverence for the British, while some others trod the main course, with Gandhiji. The Indian leader courted this affluent community early, in his efforts to confront the English, for they not only held the purse strings but also had the ear of the British. Gandhiji nevertheless, always held genuine respect for this community with whom he had dealt while in South Africa. He kept exhorting all of them to join the Swaraj movement, but somewhere along the way, a number of not so nationalistic Parsees got alienated from the Indian leader, and his ideology.

Many from the upper echelon Parsees kept aloof from the popular anti-British movements and even stated their distaste in the press, for they also feared an India of the future, governed by strident religious communities such as the Hindu and the Muslim, fearing they would be sidelined as an 80,000 strong micro minority. Most of all, they did not want to support something which threatened their very livelihood – the mills, the offices where they worked, the legal and financial sectors, all of which would be soon brought to a standstill by these movements. Another huge threat was the Gandhiji ban on alcohol sales, for the Parsees not only loved his peg or two but also owned most of the liquor shops in Bombay. They also rented and controlled the palm farms down south which produced the toddy and arrack, and all that business would be bankrupted if they supported prohibition. So, while some moved with Gandhiji, others remained wary and knew that this all the frustration and pent-up emotion of the community was going to erupt, one day.

The Anglo Indians were also a community left in a quandary, for the nation seemed to have no place for them, be it on the British side who treated them with disdain, or the nationalists who mistrusted their loyalties. They had always thrown their lot with the British and had little connection with the nationalists or the swaraj movements, barring a few rare individuals. The British seeing this did think of creating some safe havens for them, but with the jobs available only in cities, these enclaves such as Whitefield and Mccluskiegunj were only of interest to wealthy retirees. In Bombay, they congregated in Colaba, Byculla, Bandra, Mahim and worked for the railways, police, air force, navy and so on. Anglo-Indians also participated actively in the armed forces of the Empire, military and police and some muttered that the Government was not fully utilizing their services. In fact, many were anti Gandhi, right through the movement.

On the 7th Nov 1921, the Bombay Congress announced a hartal and a boycott to coincide with the Prince’s arrival. On 16th Nov, it was formally announced on all prominent newspapers. Prominent leaders arrived and meetings took place in various parts of the city. On 17th a large bonfire was planned, where foreign clothes would be burnt. The protesters wanted the fire to be so tall that the Prince would not fail to notice it. Wary of the situation, preemptive measures were taken with soldiers and police converging on the southern tip of Bombay, lining the streets from Apollo Bunder to Cross Maidan which the Prince would use for his Prince’s procession. As expected, many Parsees, Goan Christians and Anglo Indians decided to welcome the Prince and proceeded to the gateway at Apollo Bunder. While many managed to tram it to the location, some others were prevented by picketing congress supporters.

At 1030 AM, Gandhiji lit the bonfire, and the flames swept upwards as suits and caps, and many objects of apparel with a western feel were consigned to the flames. Sir Jejeebhoy read out Bombay’s welcome while a group of Parsee girls danced a Garba for the prince. After the event, the Parsees and the Christians boarded a few trams and other vehicles heading home to the suburbs. What they had not planned for was the hostile reception planned by the rioters, mainly workers from the Elphinstone mills, waiting just outside the police ring. The mob attacked the trams, assaulted all western attire clad Parsees, Anglo Indians, as well as the few Europeans, resulting in utter chaos. They continued with attacks on liquor shops, smashed trams and killed a few policemen.

Naresh Fernandez explains in his fine book City Adrift - Many of those lessons were learned during the Non-Cooperation Movement, launched in 1920. Among its cornerstones was the idea of swadeshi—self-reliance, with its attendant strategy of boycotting foreign goods. As was to be expected, the campaign, which had direct impact on Bombay’s wallet, divided opinion in India’s industrial capital. While mill workers and the Gujarati and Marwari traders in the city’s cloth markets were keen supporters of the nationalist cause, mill owners, who often needed to import machinery, tended to be loyal to the British. Among the exceptions was Umar Sobani, the owner of Elphinstone Mill. On 31 July 1921, as 12,000 people gathered in the compound of his factory, Sobani stepped forward to set fire to a huge pile of foreign-made clothes. Volunteers had gone door to door collecting garments for the bonfire. By one account, the clothes tossed into the bonfire were worth Rs 30,000. The bonfires were lit again on 17 November, the day that the Prince of Wales arrived in Bombay to tour the empire he would later inherit. Gandhi’s followers wanted the flames to be high enough for the prince to see as he landed at Apollo Bunder, far across town. But the day ended in violence.

The mob fury continued for the next five days as the Parsees and Anglo Indians retaliated. Parsees, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Anglo Indians, mill laborers, all continued with rioting in their own areas, fighting with one other as the attacks became communal in nature. The Parsees attacked anybody wearing a Gandhi cap and the Anglo Indians as well as the Europeans retaliated with ammunition they possessed. There were also rumors that there were some British CID hands behind many of the events, those police wanting to teach Gandhi a lesson and expose him as the one who instigated these riots. It was also felt that the police in general supported the Parsee, Christian and the Jewish sides.

By the third day the mill workers joined in the riots, and now fire temples were attacked, while armed (lathis, canes, stones and even firearms) Parsees joined up at Princess street and attacked anybody who they felt was a Gandhian. Many liquor shops were vandalized and destroyed by the rioters, while one Parsee Cowasji Battliwalla, diffused a worsening situation by bringing all of his liquor casks onto the street and emptying their contents, in front of an applauding crowd. Most humiliating was the story of molestation of a few Parsi women who were assaulted and even had their saris torn from them. Gandhiji wrote that he felt ashamed of this picture of his Swaraj. At 3:30 am on 19th November, Gandhi decided, for the first time in his political career, to employ a hunger strike in order to bring communal rioting to an end. ‘The swaraj that I have witnessed during the last two days has stunk in my nostrils,’ he declared in another leaflet, where he vowed not to eat or drink anything but water until fighting ceased.

Gandhiji felt that the Parsees had been wronged and castigated the warring lot thus – Hindus and Mussulmans will be unworthy of freedom if they do not defend them and their honor with their lives.’ It was therefore incumbent upon the Hindus and Muslims of Bombay to express their ‘full and free repentance’; otherwise, he could not ‘face again the appealing eyes of Parsi men and women’. He also added for the first time that defensive violence may be acceptable by stating - Certainly the Parsee Mavalis are less to blame and ‘I can excuse the aggrieved Parsees and Christians’. After four terrible days, things calmed down. Gandhiji broke his fasting on 22nd, and spoke again, after the mobs slowly dispersed - exhorting his followers and referring to Parsees, Christians and Jews, he stated, ‘We must go out of our way to be friendly to them and to serve and help them, above all to protect them from harm from ourselves.’

At least 58 people lost their lives, including three Europeans, two Parsis, one American and five police officers while many hundreds were injured. William Francis Doherty, an American engineer was one of the unfortunate victims of this riot and his wife Annette swore an affidavit in an LA court that she was requested by Sarojini Naidu and Mahatma Gandhi to remain quiet about the event. Of the many hundred liquor shops, 135 were damaged and four were completely destroyed. The government prosecuted over 400 suspects, eventually hanging two convicted rioters, transporting two others for life, and sentencing over a hundred others to rigorous imprisonment. Those five days proved to be a delicate balancing act for everybody involved, the police, the congress, Bombay’s leading citizens and of course the Prince’s entourage, as the city burned.

Farther south in Malabar, things were no better for the Moplah rebellion was in the last throes. As Hitchcock’s police and the imported military hounded the rioters, many Moplah prisoners who were being transported in a ‘virtually sealed’ goods wagon # 1711, on the 19th Nov 1921, died due of asphyxiation, within a compartment not even fit for animal transport. 70 of the prisoners died a horrible death in that wagon. For Gandhi, Malabar was less of a concern than Bombay though, and he said - ‘It was possible to isolate Malabar. It was also possible to disregard Malegaon. But it is not possible to ignore Bombay.’ The net result was that many of the undecided Parsees now decided that India was their home. But the rest of them, the Anglo Indians and the Jews started to consider safer abodes, they planned to pack their bags and leave.

Let’s take up the story of the man of the moment, Edward VIII. What did he do? After watching a cricket match and the festivities planned for him, he holed up in the Government house at Malabar hill, as the city writhed. He laid a foundation stone on the Shivaji memorial at Poona, moved on to Baroda and Udaipur, then traveled to Calcutta to receive an honorary doctorate opened the Victoria Memorial and moved on to Madras for four days where he got a fine Dravidian welcome and faced some revolt, while Dickie Mountbatten - his ADC (later viceroy) recorded the details of the sporadic riots, shuttered shops, the many children who lined the roads, etc. Then he visited Mysore and Hyderabad, followed by Bhopal and Gwalior, to culminate with the Delhi Durbar in Feb 1922. Jullundur and Karachi followed after which he sailed to Ceylon in March 1922. Four months of waste, many dead game animals shot by him and his entourage, many hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on this wasteful trip, well, then again those were the days of the Raj!

While the press applauded his visit where the Prince came and conquered, he himself muttered that he had learned little, something we can agree with. Polo, pig-sticking, boar hunting, tiger shooting, elephant shikars, and racing doubtless kept him rather busy. Well, the dapper prince certainly came, saw and went, doing absolutely nothing of substance. In Bombay, Gandhian nationalists lay claim to the Esplanade Maidan in South Bombay, a vast open space, a symbolic center of the British establishment, was renamed Azad Maidan later to become the stage for nationalist defiance and protest.

References

Reporting the Raj: The British Press and India, C. 1880-1922 - Chandrika Kaul
Beyond Hindu–Muslim unity: Gandhi, the Parsis and the Prince of Wales Riots of 1921 - Dinyar Patel
The Princes of India in the Twilight of Empire: Dissolution of a Patron-client System, 1914-1939 - Barbara N. Ramusack
Gandhi: Pan-Islamism, Imperialism and Nationalism in India - By B.R. Nanda
The Prince of Wales – Eastern Book
City Adrift - Naresh Fernandes