Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2016 Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed Maps of South Africa and Natal (1910) by Saumya Sethia. Originating publisher: Navayana Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India, 2015. Published in the USA by Stanford University Press. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Desai, Ashwin, author. The South African Gandhi : stretcher-bearer of empire / Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed. pages cm — (South Asia in motion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8047-9608-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8047-9717-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8047-9722-1 (electronic) 1. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948—Political and social views. 2. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948—Relations with British. 3. East Indians—South Africa—Politics and government. 4. South Africa—Race relations—History—19th century. 5. South Africa—Race relations—History—20th century. 6. Great Britain—Colonies—Africa-History. I. Vahed, Goolam H., 1961- author. II. Title. III. Series: South Asia in motion. DS481.G3D39 2015 968.04'9092—dc23 [B] 2015029758 Typeset in Dante MT Std at Navayana THE SOUTH AFRICAN GANDHI STRETCHER-BEARER OF EMPIRE ASHWIN DESAI AND GOOLAM VAHED STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA SOUTH ASIA IN MOTION EDITOR Thomas Blom Hansen EDITORIAL BOARD Sanjib Baruah Anne Blackburn Satish Deshpande Faisal Devji Christophe Jaffrelot Naveeda Khan Stacey Leigh Pigg Mrinalini Sinha Ravi Vasudevan Contents A Note on Sources List of Abbreviations About the Authors Map of South Africa, 1910 Map of Natal, 1910 1. The Remains of Empire 2. Brown over Black 3. The War Within 4. Truth as Experiments 5. Gandhi’s Lieutenants 6. Shadow-Boxing on the Highveld 7. The Bhambatha Rebellion 8. The Black Act 9. Union and its Discontents 10. Hind Swaraj 11. The Moderate as Messiah 12. Stalemates and New Openings 13. Women on the March 14. Border Crossings 15. The Rajah is Coming 16. Striking at the Heart of Cities 17. The Provisional Agreement 18. The Adjudication 19. Goodbye Mr Gandhi 20. Man of Peace, Man of War 21. Between Leaving and Returning References Acknowledgements Index A Note on Sources This study is based on three key sources: the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), newspapers and archival material. The references to CWMG are from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (electronic book), New Delhi, Publications Division, Government of India, 1999, 98 volumes. While some of our initial research was done using the printed version of CWMG, the volume and page numbers differ from the electronic version and in order to be consistent, we have standardised all references to the electronic version. We also extensively used Indian Opinion, the newspaper started by Gandhi, which provided his perspective on issues along with reports from other national and global newspapers. Important sources that provided contemporary reports on events as they unfolded, and were often at odds with Gandhi’s perspectives, were Natal-based newspapers such as Indian Views, African Chronicle, Natal Mercury, Natal Advertiser, and Natal Witness, besides archival sources. Hard copies of the newspapers are available at the Bessie Head Library in Pietermaritzburg and we would like to thank Ms Ishara Singh for her assistance in accessing these. At the Killie Campbell Library, University of KwaZulu- Natal, we consulted African Chronicle and Ilanga Lase Natal. A graduate student in history at the university, Percy Ngonyama, searched the Ilanga newspaper and translated relevant articles into English. Where articles from these newspapers are reproduced in Indian Opinion or CWMG we have, as far as possible, listed both references. Archival material is stored at the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository, where we consulted several collections. A reference such as ‘NAB, AGO 1.8.146, 783/1913, 31 December 1913’ means the document was accessed at the Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository (NAB) from the collection ‘Attorney General’s Office’ (AGO); the other details are to the specific document numbers and date. These sources and the newspapers helped to shed light on the many individuals other than Gandhi and his immediate circle who played a role in shaping the history of this period. We thank the the staff of the archive for their cooperation. Abbreviations AC African Chronicle AG Attorney General AGO Attorney General’s Office ANC African National Congress African People’s Organisation (earlier African Political APO Organisation) BIA British Indian Association CA Cape Argus CBIA Colonial-Born Indian Association CNC Chief Native Commissioner CPU Colonial Patriotic Union CSO Colonial Secretary’s Office CT Cape Times CWMG Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi DFA Diamond Fields Advertiser EIA East India Association EPA European Protection Association ICS Indian Civil Service INC Indian National Congress IV Indian Views IO Indian Opinion IOGN Indian Opinion Golden Number IZ Imvo Zabantsundu JS Johannesburg Star LDS Magistrate and Commissioner, Ladysmith MP Member of Parliament MR Modern Review NA Natal Advertiser NAB Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository NGR Natal Government Railways NIA Natal Indian Association NIC Natal Indian Congress NIPU Natal Indian Patriotic Union, NL Nakdi ea Lesotho NM Natal Mercury NW Natal Witness OFS Orange Free State PMB Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg PMO Principal Medical Officer PN Pretoria News PWD Public Works Department ROM Rand Daily Mail SABIC South African British Indian Committee SAMR South African Mounted Rifles SANC South African Native Congress SANNC South African Native National SAP South African Party TE The Englishman TS The Star TOI The Times of India TIWA Transvaal Indian Women’s Association TL Transvaal Leader YI Young India About the Authors Ashwin Desai is Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg. His previous books include South Africa: Still Revolting, ‘We are the Poors’: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Reading Revolution: Shakespeare on Robben Island, Zuma’s Own Goal: Losing South Africa’s ‘War on Poverty’ (edited with Patrick Bond and Brij Maharaj), and Race to Transform: Sport in Post-Apartheid South Africa (editor). Goolam Vahed is Associate Professor of History at the University of KwaZulu Natal. He writes on histories of migration, ethnicity, religion, and identity formation among Indian South Africans. He has co-authored, with Ashwin Desai, Inside Indian Indenture: A South African Story, 1860–1914 and Chatsworth: The Making of a South African Township and (with Thembisa Waetjen) Schooling Muslims in Natal: Identity, State and the Orient Islamic Educational Institute. His other books include Monty Naicker: Between Reason and Treason, Many Lives: 150 Years of Being Indian in South Africa.