Madras Kraals , animal labour and Veterinary Corps: colonising wild elephants in British South India

Abstract

ABSTRACTAnimals, animal labour and animal capital, were vital in developing colonial capitalism. For labour theories, working animals constituted only as tools or resources and affirmed the property rights of humans over animals by capturing, confining, breeding and training. The capitalist interactions with animals developed from the early warfare and hunting practices to the later discourses of conservation, juridical control and the commoditization of animals in the capital-intensive colonial industries. This article examines the entangled histories of wild elephants in colonial settings who were captured, tamed, and trained as working animals and sold as commodities to the capitalist timber industries. By using Jonathan Saha's conceptualization of 'undead capital', this article addresses how the wild elephants were transformed from being hunted to being protected, fed, provided for and kept healthy by veterinarians through the Kraal system only to be commoditized as working animals. However, such commoditization resulted in the subjugation of animals, the transformation of ecologies, and the fostering of new interspecies relationships between the elephants and their caretakers. The knowledge and experience of caretakers of elephants became central in colonial animal management and was perceived as a route through which colonialism created new knowledge about wild animals and the forests.KEYWORDS: Animal labourcommodificationworking animalstimber industryinterspecies relationships AcknowledgmentsThis article is developed from the Exploratory Research Project on ‘Animal Care, Science and Colonialism’, funded by the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT Madras, Chennai, India. Part of this article was presented at the International Workshop on Commodities of Empire at the University of York in July 2023. We would like to thank ICSR, IIT Madras for funding, Teresa Joshy for archival assistance and all the York workshop participants for their feedback. We also thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers of this paper.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. For a detailed analysis of liberal and Marxian thoughts on nonhuman animals and labour, see Blattner et al. (Citation2020). Animal labour: A new frontier of interspecies justice? Oxford University Press.2. Government of Madras. (Citation1887). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. Tamil Nadu State Archives Chennai (hereafter TSAC).3. Government of Madras. (1888). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.4. Government of Madras. (1892). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.5. Government of Madras. (1912). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.6. Government of Madras. (1913, February 7). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.7. Government of India. (1879). Elephant Preservation Act 1879.8. Government of Madras. (1885, June 20). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.9. Ibid.10. District Collector of Coimbatore (1879, February 6). [Letter to Chief Secretary, Government of Madras]. TSAC.11. District Collector of Malabar. (1900). [Letter to Commissioners of Land Revenue, Government of Madras]. TSAC.12. Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore. (1915). [Letter to Commissioners of Land Revenue, Government of Madras]. TSAC.13. Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore. (1908). [Letter to Commissioners of Land Revenue, Government of Madras]. TSAC.14. Agent to the Governor of Vizagapatanam District. (1891, December 3). [Letter, to the Chief Secretary, Government of Madras]. TSAC.15. District Collector of Ganjam. (1915, July 7). [Letter to Chief Secretary, Government of Madras]. TSAC.16. Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore. (1912). [Letter to Commissioners of Land Revenue, Government of Madras]. TSAC.17. Government of Madras. (1913). Board of Revenue (Forest) Despatches. TSAC.18. Government of Madras. (1933, March 8). Development Department Despatches, Hire of Elephant to Private Parties. TSAC.19. Diwan. (Citation1900, May 19). [Letter to Resident, Government of Madras. Kerala State Archives Trivandrum (hereafter KSAT).20. Resident. (1900, May 27). [Letter to Diwan, Government of Madras]. KSAT.21. Government of Madras. (1912, September, 30). Memorandum of the Board of Revenue (Forest). TSAC.22. Acting Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department. (1912, July 22). [Letter to the Conservator of Forests, Western Circle, Coimbatore]. TSAC.23. Government of Madras. (1912, September, 30). Memorandum of the Board of Revenue (Forest). TSAC.24. Agent to the Governor of Vizagapatanam. (1891, October 20). [Telegram to the Madras Government, Judicial Department]. TSAC.25. District Collector of Ganjam. (1915, July 7). [Letter to Chief Secretary, Government of Madras]. TSAC.26. Ibid.27. Acting Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department. (1912, July 22). [Letter to the Conservator of Forests, Western Circle, Coimbatore]. TSAC.28. Ibid.Additional informationFundingExploratory Research Scheme, Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (RF22230282HSRFER008556)Notes on contributorsSanthosh AbrahamSanthosh Abraham is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. His current research interests include animal labour, colonial labour and plantations, colonial law, psychiatry in British India, and colonial veterinary medical practices.Susy VarugheseSusy Varughese is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. Apart from engineering, her research interests include ecology, environment, conservation and natural resource management.