New Delhi, April 5
There is a general lack of
awareness in India about China's Opium Wars and the India connection,
according to eminent author AmitavGhosh.
The poppy plant was
grown in India and the opium extracted from it was transported to
China. It was the soldiers in the British Indian Army who fought in
China in the Opium Wars. The opium trade was the driver of British
expansionism in China. These Opium Wars' led to a humiliating defeat of
the Chinese resulting in a trade treaty that ceded Hong Kong to the
British.
It was not opium that interested Ghosh, when he started
work on the first book in his Ibis trilogy, he wanted to write about
migration, about Indians who had left India to travel to distant places.
"I wanted to write a book about Indians who had left India. Migration
started in the 19th century to Mauritius," Ghosh told IANS in an
interview.
But once he started researching it, all the roads led
back to opium. The indentured migration started in the 1830s, the opium
traffic was at its peak and that decade culminated in the Opium Wars
against China.
"The first opium war planned in India, it was
financed by Indian money, it was fought with Indian soldiers. But it has
all completely vanished from our historical memory," Ghosh said,
adding: "The putting together of the expeditionary force took place in
India. The British naval ships for the expedition were accompanied by 50
supply ships, all provided for by Parsi merchants in Bombay (now
Mumbai). From top to bottom, it was a completely Indian enterprise; all
the wherewithal for it came from India".
Amitav Ghosh is known
for his aversion to attending literary fests; he doesn't like to take
part in public discussions while he is working on a book. But his latest
work, the third and last of his critically acclaimed "Ibis" trilogy is
due to be released by May. And Ghosh was ready to talk about his
forthcoming book at his publisher Penguin's 'Spring Fest' here.
"Flood
of Fire" is set in the 1830s. One of the main characters in the book is
Kesri Singh, brother of Deeti, whose journey to Mauritius was related
in 'Sea of Poppies', the first of the series. Kesri, a havildar in the
British Indian Army goes to China to fight in the Opium Wars. The Ibis
sailing and the opium trade is the connector in the trilogy. In the 'Sea
of Poppies', the Ibis takes indentured labourers to Mauritius from the
hinterland of Bihar, where the poppy is grown and opium is extracted; in
the "River of Sorrow" the ship is a trader on the India-China route and
finally in "Flood of Fire", it carries opium to China.
Ghosh
sought to dispel the notion that Indians were settled in the place where
they lived and did not travel much. This picture is a misleading one,
according to him. "India was a place that was absolutely churning. There
was a lot of migration, particularly because of the dhams. People were
going on pilgrimages, Muslims were going to Ajmer Sharif. There was a
lot of movement."
There were wars and the armies were
accompanied by a huge hordes of camp followers; there would be about 10
camp followers to every fighting soldier - they were the cobblers, the
tailors, bishties, the cooks and the like. All of them travelled when
the army moved and some stayed behind after the wars were done.
Ghosh
is an anthropologist and historian; his trilogy is historical fiction
filled with historical facts, many of them not known in India. His books
are meticulously researched, but how much of that history does he put
in his books? "My rule is simple. I put in everything I find
interesting. At the end of the day I am my first reader. I have to live
with the characters for days."
His books try to give "a sense of
lived history. I try to recreate the texture of that experience. I want
to know what was the sailor on the ship was feeling." His work is "not
reflecting reality, it is recreating a reality. Unlike film, we have
only words to do so - to recreate the experience."
(04-04-2015-Shubha Singh can be contacted at [email protected]
