4 The 1870s and 1880s
4.3 Indians in Natal's economy
Bank was clearly the one in the capital and the biggest branch for the Standard Bank was as clearly the Durban branch. The three other imperial banks that started operating in Natal by the end of the nineteenth century centred their activity overwhelmingly on Durban. That the commercial interests (represented by the imperial banks) left Pietermaritzburg is consonant with its demise as an important commercial centre. Durban was increasingly becoming the only commercial hub of the colony while settler interests increasingly dominated the capital.
community in Natal today, most Indians in the late nineteenth century eked out a living in the countryside or on the urban-rural fringes. Indian cultivators could be identified as two
different groups, a peasantry much like the African peasantry and market gardeners who settled close to Durban, for example in Clairmont102 - the village that was described as suitable for market gardens, pineries and supplying milk for Durban (as above). Both groups were important in supplying the city (the market gardeners) and the important sugar region (the Indian peasantry) with cheap produce and occasionally with temporary labour.103 In this function they largely supplanted the African producers. Access to capital through the channels of the Indian merchant networks and more familiarity with the money economy were the important factors in this process. By 1900 Indians had a virtual monopoly on the cultivation of beans, mealies, vegetables and tobacco in the Durban area.1 This made some
accumulation possible, but - j u s t as with the African peasantry - the 'success' of the Indian cultivators in supplying the markets was not a sign of prosperity.105 It could be said that this success was based on a high degree of 'self-exploitation'. Another way to supply food and make a living was as fishermen. Possibly as early as the 1860s there was a predominantly Tamil fishermen-village on Salisbury Island with a population of 187 in 1886. 07 The mineral revolution also created opportunities on the labour market, which was still undersupplied, and as tradesmen and hawkers.108 Others moved into trade and during the 1870s the number of stores owned by free Indians in Durban increased significantly. In 1870 there were two such stores in Durban, ten in 1875 and in 1880 thirty. By 1875 the first 'Arab' had however also established a shop in the city and with their better experience, capital resources and connections with merchants in India, they would soon outshine the free Indians. By 1885 there were forty 'Arab' stores in Durban and only twenty-six stores owned by ex-indentured labourers. Half of all these 'Arab' stores were located on West Street." The Indian traders who were not able to compete in Durban moved into the rural 'Kaffir trade' in search for their own niche. One trader noted that 'in those days there were [Indian] shops throughout the country; if you went every 10-12 miles there was a country store. [...] the traders went into the country to serve the African people.'
By 1866 there were 5041 Indians living in Natal, 16,963 Europeans and 170,855 Africans. The census of 1891 recorded 41,142 Indians, 46,788 Europeans and 483,690 Africans. By the turn of the century there were more Indians living in the colony than Europeans.114 In 1901 the non-white population of the city of Durban was larger than the white population. But in spite of the existence of an Indian merchant elite, the large number
of Indians in Durban was not reflected in a large share of the wealth. At the end of the nineteenth century the Indians represented twenty-eight per cent of the population of Durban but owned only 3.9 per cent of all property.116 Despite this, many whites regarded them as an economic and social threat and Indian storekeepers were often considered to be 'money- grubbers'.117 Especially poor whites that had to compete for jobs with the Indians and small (rural) European traders were hostile towards the 'coolies'. Between Africans and Indians there was quite a bit of resentment too. Not only were the Indian traders - those Indians with whom Africans have most contact - seen as exploiters, resentment is typically more easily expressed towards a powerless minority. Indians were usually not free of prejudices against Africans either. 9
Durban was, and still is, the centre of the Indian community in Natal. Especially Ward IV, which is at the Western end of the central grid, was a highly racially mixed area with a strong Indian presence.120 It was however especially on the edge of town that the Indian presence was very strong. Patterns of white suburbanisation skipped this space and Europeans went on to live further out of town, on the Berea Ridge.122 Officials and a large part of the urban electorate, which exerted pressure on the local government to ensure continued white dominance in the city, perceived the large Indian population in and around Durban as problematic.123 In the last three decades of the nineteenth century officials were possibly more concerned with Indians than with Africans, as Africans were considered to be mainly a passive threat and Indians were rather regarded as a sophisticated and active menace.124 Pathological images, based on the fear of a white population trying to cope with the reality of a multiracial city, dominated the discourse which racialised socio-economic issues. Struggles largely took place over the question whether measures should be based on race or class: are Indians all 'coolies' or are respectable Indian merchants not just 'coolies'?
Neither the Indian merchants nor the imperial government would however accept any attack on the privileges of the 'British' Indians. London could not accept race as a criterion for citizen rights.125 The strongest weapon at disposal was therefore appeal in London, which was exactly what the newly founded - by Gandhi and others - Natal Indian Congress (NIC) did to protest against the 1894 Disfranchisement Bill.126 Four years earlier prominent merchants had formed the Durban Indian Committee (DIC) and the NIC was more or less the continuation of this. Both organisations had as most important goal protecting the interests of the Indian merchants and were profoundly elitist. The strategy of protecting their privileged economic status, made them emphasise their distance to both the Indian underclasses and the
Africans. The Indian elite wanted to be treated as an elite and liked to point out that they were not just 'coolies'.128 Gandhi would later try to unite all Indians through the NIC and his passive resistance movement and there are reasons to believe that the merchants were not entirely happy with this strategy.12