The British began the colonization of India when the East India Company's men first landed in Surat in 1612. The 'Company's men' were brutal colonizers. Their battles with other European colonizers and native armies, their monopolies of commerce, and exploitation of native peasants caused tragic sufferings and deaths in India.
Surat, India (from a 1780 Antique Map)
Location of Surat
from: "Map of Surat, India." CVFLVBP.
"The oppressions of India, and even of the English settled there, under the rapine and cruelties of the servants of the Company, had now reached England, and created great clamour here. Some books… represented him (Lord Robert Clive, the head of the Company's men in Bengal area at that time) as a monster in assassination, usurpation, and extortion, with heavy accusations of his monopolizing in open defiance of the orders of the Company... To such monopolies were imputed the late famine in Bengal, and the loss of three millions of the inhabitants. A tithe of these crimes was sufficient to inspire horror."
- From a 1772 report of English writer and politician Horace Walpole (1717-1797)
An East India Company Official as a British Colonial Governor in India (1825)
from: "East India Company." Britannica.
However, life in a foreign country, especially in a remote Asian country, was difficult for the colonizers. Above all, their domestic life required a great deal of help from the native servants. Many native Indians, especially those from lower castes, also wanted the job because it was relatively less arduous and the pays were satisfactory. Therefore, the relationship of the British 'sahibs' and the Indian servants were mostly cooperative, because each needed the other for tranquil life.
Missionary, soldier, civil officer, merchant, or what not, sahib has his durwan (doorkeeper) and his bell... Punkah-men will be behind, waving their great hand-fans... Mohammedan table servants, and Hindoo bedroom servants, and low-caste sweepers, will be busy within, while the mallies (gardeners) adorn the rooms with freshly-cut and well-selected flowers. If you call at nine you will find sahib and mem sahib (his wife) at their large breakfast (their burree hazree) of mutton, fowl, friend potatoes, curry of various dishes, beer, wines.
- From a report on English rule in India and the Native’s opinions written by a British journalist James Routledge (1830-1898)
Indian Servants in a British Sahib’s House
from: “Colonial 'Gora Sahib' and their Indian servants.” Historum.
Like the Portuguese, the majority of the British population in India were men. These British male colonizers desperately needed the help of the native Indian servants or native women in their houses. Therefore, the Company’s merchants and soldiers lived with Indian mistresses and maids and soon learned to enjoy Indian food.
"I have observed that those who have lived with native women for any length of time never marry a European; they are so amusingly playful, so anxious to oblige and please, that a person, after being accustomed to their society, shrinks from the idea of encountering the whims or yielding to the fancies of an Englishwoman."
- From a letter written in India in 1828 by a British civil servant Samuel Sneade Brown (1809-1875)
A Company Official in India
from: "Company painting depicting an official of the East India Company, c. 1760." Wikipedia.
At the time, the British discovered the delights of Goan cuisine, especially vindaloo. The Company men’s mistresses and cooks began to cook Goan ‘kari,’ which the British called ‘curry.’ The Madras version soon became the most popular Anglo-Indian dish.
"All classes of European society here (in Madras) live sumptuously... The economy of their tables is trusted entirely to native servants, who load them with dishes of solid meat... and in most houses there is but a scanty supply of vegetables. Even rice and curry, the staple food of the country, are often omitted, probably because they are common; but they are the best and most wholesome nourishment which India affords."
- From the travel writing of an English Minister James Cordiner (1775-1836), who visited Madras in 1799
Madras, India (from a 1682 Antique Map)
Madras was one of the earliest British colonies in India
from: "What Is Colonialism and How Did It Arise?" World 101.
Madras Curry
from: Sujatha, J. "Madras Mutton Curry." Lekha Foods.
"Madras Kárhí
Cut a part of a neck of mutton into small pieces, taking out the bones; fry in its own fat until brown. Let it stew for two hours in some water or good stock. Add some fried onion, pepper, and salt to taste, season it, and a few minutes before serving put a tablespoonful of curry-powder on the meat, mixing well, letting it simmer for about five minutes."
- From The Wife’s Help to Indian Cookery written by W. H. Dawe
Just like the Portuguese in Goa, the British who came to India were mostly colonizers. When it came to their diet, the British communicated with the newly colonized Indians about their gastronomical preferences. Like vindaloo, Madras curry was a result of Anglo-Indian cooperative communication.
