Sikkim State Notification for the abolition of Kuruwa.

Literally ‘Kuruwa’ means a long wait in Nepali. Sometimes on account of the road condition and other factors, people sent to transport the Kalo Bhari waited for several days for the arrival of the commodities. The process of serving as a Kuruwa labour was very much similar with the process of Jharlangi. For this labour also the British Officials offered contracts to the local Kazis and Thikadars for the supply of the labourers.  For such contracts the Kazi- Thikadars were handsomely paid. But, as a Kuruwa, a peasant had to work with out any wages. During the entire wait for the Kalo Bhari, the ryot himself had to manage his resources. No excuses of a ryot were granted by the Kazi-Thikadars. Under any circumstances the ryots had to discharge their duties as Kuruwa. There were few cases in the Western Sikkim, when their Zamindar had forced them to work as Kuruwa, when they were performing the death rites of their deceased family members. As a Kuruwa they had to carry Kalo Bhari from a far away distance. There were various centers from where the Sikkimese peasants as Kuruwa labourer had to carry their loads. Some of the important centers for this labour were, Geil Khola, 27^th mile, Rangpo, Melli, Teesta etc. The British Indian Railway used to unload such loads at a place called Geil Khola in Darjeeling district of modern West Bengal. From there the distance of Gangtok is nearly 70 Kilo meters. The Kuruwa had to carry their load from such a long distance and that too at their own expense. The weights of the load varied from time to time and were entirely depended on the commodities sent by the British Government. But, generally the loads were of 40 kg. weight.

If we compare British Imperialism in India with the native feudalism of Sikkim than one can notice Sikkimese feudal system was much tough and cruel. The Sikkimese feudalism became more severe and cruel after the interference of the British Government in the politics of Sikkim. In short, the responsibility for the introduction of feudalism in Sikkim also goes to the British. The Indians in the plains were directly exploited by the British authorities, who were foreigners and were concentrated in a profit making process. Of course, the pricks and pains which the Indian masses received from the colonial rule were also incomparable. But, the Sikkimese peasants were exploited by their own people, who behaved like “the very apt pupil of the British”. In Sikkimese feudalism we find the elements of French feudal system of the mid 18^th century. There also the society was divided into three estates namely, the nobility, the clergy and the common people in Sikkimese society very similar kinds of elements are amply found. The only difference between the French feudalism and Sikkimese feudalism is that the peasants of France had to pay Thithe as religious tax, which was not to be paid by the Sikkimese peasants. Moreover, the story of a poor and destitute either he may belong to Sikkim or France is almost similar, as poverty and suffering does not have a common language, race, caste or even the boundaries. But, in every revolution, some signs, some symbols, comes to occupy a pre eminent position and those signs or symbols become the watchword for the masses. In Sikkim, people’s sufferings, their woes, trials and tribulations came to be symbolized by Kalo Bhari, Jharlangi, Theki Bheti, and Kuruwa.

Such unlawful system was eliminated by the Notification from the Maharaja of Sikkim Sir Tashi Namgyal which is pasted here with this post. It was issued by the General Department (Misc. Branch) Gangtok on the 31^st Day of January 1947. It bears a Notification No. 4816/G(M) and has a Memo No 4817-5316/G(M). The Notification states an immediate implementation of the Royal Order in the entire Kingdom. It was issued in three languages English, Tibetan and Nepali which were regarded as the prominent languages of the former Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim. After the issue of the Notification from His Highness Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal Copies of the same were forwarded to the Landlords, Managers and Officer-in-Charge, Police Out and Patrol Posts in Sikkim for information.

I am greatly obliged to Mr. Shital Pradhan a well known name in Sikkim History for sharing this extraordinary certificate with me. His help and support will lead me a long way in my days to come.  

Time Change: An Autobiography

Kalo Bhari

The evolution of this practice was started in Sikkim after the latter’s contact with the British. Due to the lack of historical documents it is not possible to ascertain that since when the system was applied to the Sikkimese peasants. The literary meaning of the term Kalo Bhari in Nepali is Black Load. The British sold arms and ammunitions to Tibet. The terrain and the inclement weather condition made the trading difficult. The commodities to save them from rain and snow were wrapped in card boards and put inside gunny bags bedaubed with tar. The tar protected the commodities from out side rain, and it also hid the commodities within. The black colour gave the load its local name Kalo Bhari or black load. Besides using these as a means to transporting arms and ammunitions, they also used to transport viands necessary for British staying at Latung of Chumbi valley. On their way back they were loaded with gold dust, which came to Sikkim from there it was transported to the British territory of Bengal.
Many people of Sikkim who carried Kalo Bhari believe that apart from the arms and ammunitions, some time they also had to carry items of daily use like shoes, jackets, woolen blankets etc. for the British officials who were serving in the Sikkim-Tibet border. Some time it used to come in a large quantity and the peasants of three or four villages had to go to carry them from the centers where they were order to go. The peasants of East, West and South districts of the kingdom were greatly suffered by the system of Kalo Bhari due to their proximity to the border. The East district borders Tibet, similarly the West and South are nearby to the Indian state of West Bengal. The loads of commodities of daily use were also wrapped in the same manner as the ammunitions were wrapped. A peasant who had a good relation with the Kazi- Thikadar in some cases got exempted from carrying the load. But, for the others, the orders of their Kazi were some thing not less than a Decree of God. They had to reach to their center in time. The result of disobedience of the Kazi’s order was the confiscation of the private property, injustices while depositing their land tax, imposition of double taxes etc. The people of West Sikkim had to go up to Darjeeling to carry their loads, similarly, the peasants of South Sikkim had to go up to Teesta and sometimes up to Geil Khola which was then connected with railways. Likewise, the people of East Sikkim had to come down up to Rangpo a bordering town with British India. To carry their transport, porters were fixed by the British depending on Kazi- Thikadars. For the transport of each bag paid Rs.2/- per labour per day had to be paid. But, the Kazis and Thikadars kept the whole amount themselves or Rs.1/- and 10 Annas and used to pass 6 Annas per day to the labourer. The contractors never used to pay the whole amount to the labourers rather they forced them to carry the load through the difficult Tibetan terrain during the lashes of rain, thunder, sleet and snow. It has to be mentioned here that there was no specific ethnic group which had to carry Kalo Bhari compulsorily. The Bhutias, with few exceptional cases, and the Lepchas were also equally suffered with the system. There are some references given by few scholars that the Nepali peasants were the major victims of the system. They may be true in their perception and one cannot ignore the fact that Nepalese were greatly targeted under such practices. But, another factor about the greater number of the Nepali peasants among the porters was that, they constituted 75% of the total population and it is obvious that among the sufferers their number was large. Therefore, apart from few unjust cases, the other cases were not the intentional one as justified by other scholars, but it was a rule of the Kazi-Thikadars which was to be followed by every one, it did not matter on which community a peasant belonged to.
The exploitation of the Sikkimese population reached its highest watermark during the last phase of the Second World War. During the time, huge quantities of these loads were transported overland to China via Tibet. Such was the demand for transport for this purpose that the wages offered reached unprecedented heights. The cupidity of the landlords rose in unison and they stooped to swindling. They falsely requisitioned forced labour on the authority of the state to carry these loads. A large number of these loads belonged to private concerns which transported them to Tibet in collusion with the landlords. So high was the profit on the goods that these business concerns offered four or five times the wages prescribed for forced labour. The land lords charged the private concerns the highest rates, paid the ryots the prescribed rates and pocketed the rests. Such sinister acts could not be hided for long time. When the victims learnt about it they approached to the authorities. As the culprits were all ‘high born’ Kazis, the matter was hushed up, and the aggrieved ryots were sent away with the facial advice to ‘let bygones be bygones and to forgive and forget’.