Troubling bodies: ‘eunuchs,’ masculinity and impotence in colonial North India

Abstract

This article considers colonial masculinity from the margins, examining two groups of sexual, gender and caste subalterns classified as ‘eunuchs,’ the hijra and zenana. From the 1850s, several moral panics concerning eunuchs occurred in the official circles of northern India, culminating in the registration of eunuchs under Part II of the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871. Masculinity was crucial to the historical marginalization of hijras and zenanas, who challenged binary gender, with hijras often describing themselves as ‘neither men nor women.’ These groups were labelled as ‘men,’ only to be stigmatized as failures of masculinity, in order to erase their embodied difference and socio-cultural identity. I analyse the colonial government's attempts to precisely define and control eunuch deviance, as well as the ambivalences of this project. In particular, this article analyses the definition of the ‘eunuch’ as an ‘impotent man.’ The determination of potency provides a case study for the analysis of medical understandings of masculinity and the contested authority of medical knowledge of sexuality within the broader colonial project. This article concludes by considering the response of hijras and zenanas to the CTA, in particular their articulation of communal and gendered identity.

Keywords:

• eunuchs
• hijra
• zenana
• criminality
• sexuality and colonialism
• masculinity
• impotence
• third gender
• Criminal Tribes Act

Notes

1. Bayly, “Knowing the Country,” 39.

2. BL/IOR/P/235/33: Couper to NWP MLC, 12 February 1861.

3. BL/IOR/V/22/659: NWP Nizamut Adawlut, Government vs. Ali Buksh, 6 November 1852.

4. BL/IOR/V/8/42: Act XXVII of 1871.

5. Ibid.

6. NAI/HD/JB October 1877 159–161: Sparks to Officiating Secretary, Government of India, 21 September 1877.

7. NAI/HD/JB December 1872 72–73: Griffin to Off Sec, GoI, 8 November 1872; BL/IOR/L/PJ/5/82: Barron to Commissioner, Delhi, 22 August 1910.

8. BL/IOR/P/438/61: Simson to IG Police, NWP, 9 June 1865; BL/IOR/P/92: Elliot, “Abstract of Replies,” 21 April 1871.

9. BL/IOR/P/438/62: Simson, “Replies,” 20 April 1866.

10. Robinson, “Consultation,” 313.

11. BL/IOR/L/PJ/5/82: Jenkins, “Statement of Objects and Reasons,” 21 May 1910.

12. Metcalf, Aftermath.

13. Oldenburg, Colonial Lucknow, xxvi.

14. Singha, “Colonial Law,” 92–4.

15. Bhaskaran, “Politics of Penetration”; Narrain, “Policing of Homosexuality.”

16. NAI/HD/JB 19/06/1869 14–15; NAI/HD/JB 24/07/1869 36–37; NAI/HD/JB 11/10/1865 35–36; and NAI/HD/JB 11/05/1870 59–60. Also Sen, Colonial Childhoods, 71.

17. Ballhatchet, Race, Sex, 10, 162; Levine, Prostitution, 292–3.

18. Yang ed., Crime and Criminality.

19. Hall, “Sexual Insult”; Lal, “Not This”; Nanda, Neither Man; Nanda, “Hijras”; Reddy, “Crossing “Lines” ”; and Reddy, With Respect.

20. Gannon, “Translating the Hijra.”

21. Osella, Osella and Chopra, “Introduction,” 2.

22. Sinha, Colonial Masculinity; Gupta, “Feminine.”

23. This is evident in Harrison and Pati”s overview of existing literature in their recent collection. Harrison and Pati, “Social History,” 8.

24. Sleeman, A Journey, vol I, lxvii–lxviii, lxxi–lxxii; Sleeman, A Journey, vol II, 205–6, 320–1; and Ali, Observations, vol II, 70.

25. Solvyns, Les Hindouŝ.

26. Italics in original. NAI/HD/JB 30/07/1870 53–54: Khan to Strachey, 14 April 1870.

27. BL/IOR/P/92: Tiernan to Superintendent of Police, Gorakhpur, 26 May 1871.

28. Italics added. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

29. BL/IOR/V/9/11: Stokes, “Abstract,” 3 October 1870; BL/IOR/P/92: Elliot to IG Police, NWP, 1 December 1871.

30. BL/IOR/P/438/62: Simson, “Replies,” 20 April 1866; BL/IOR/P/438/61: Simson to NWP Comms, 9 June 1865; BL/IOR/P/438/62: Roberts and Spankie, “Draft Act,” 24 March 1866; NAI/HD/JB 09/04/1871 9–14: Mayne, “An Act,” 28 May 1867; and BL/IOR/V/9/11: Stokes, “Abstract,” 3 October 1870.

31. UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Short, “List of Eunuchs,” 1872–3.

32. Crooke, Tribes and Castes, 495–7.

33. Russell, Tribes and Castes, 206–12; Enthoven, Tribes and Castes, 226–8; and Shortt, “The Kojahs.”

34. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Hobart to IG Police, NWP, 21 June 1876.

35. BL/IOR/V/8/42: Act XXVII of 1871.

36. Freitag, “Crime,” 230–1.

37. BL/IOR/P/438/61: Drummond, “General Remarks,” no date; BL/IOR/P/438/61: Simson to IG Police, NWP, 9 June 1865; BL/IOR/P/92: Elliot, “Abstract,” 21 April 1871; BL/IOR/P/438/61: Dodd to SIs Police, NWP, 30 June 1865; BL/IOR/P/438/62: Hume in Simson, “Replies,” 20 April 1866; and BL/IOR/P/96: Tyrwhitt to Sec, NWP, 26 June 1874.

38. UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Webster to Comm Meerut, 7 May 1873; UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Willock to Comm Meerut, 9 January 1873; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Saunders to Comm Benares, 30 October 1872; and UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Mag Meerut to Comm Meerut, 29 November 1872.

39. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Robertson to Comm Benares, 3 November 1872; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Lumsden to Comm Benares, 4 October 1872; and UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Annesley to Mag Benares, 12 April 1873.

40. UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Lind to Sec to Govt, NWP, 31 January 1873; UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Short to Mag Muzaffarnagar, 30 October 1872; UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Palmer to SI Police, Muzaffarnagar, 6 January 1873; UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Jenkinson to Comm Meerut, 5 December 1872; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Alone to Mag Azamgarh, 9 October 1872; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Wigram to Comm Benares, 21 September 1872; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Alone to Mag Azamgarh, 6 May 1873; and UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Elliot to Off Comm Benares, 19 May 1873; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Waddington to IG Police, NWP, 15 February 1873.

41. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Charmichael to Mag Ghazipur, 23 February 1875.

42. UPSA/A/COM/B29/SN8: Sec, NWP, to Comm Allahabad and others, 19 March 1873.

43. BL/IOR/V/22/659: Govt vs. Ali Buksh, 6 November 1852; BL/IOR/P/438/61: Probyn to Sessions Judge Shahjahanpur, 12 December 1864; BL/IOR/P/438/62: Simson to Sec, NWP, 20 April 1866; BL/IOR/P/147: Griffin to Sec, GoI, 25 February 1870; and BL/IOR/P/438/61: Drummond, “General remarks,” no date.

44. Rachel Tolen notes that the “inward quality” of criminality was defined by certain physical “tokens.” Tolen, “Colonizing,” 111.

45. BL/IOR/P/97: Hobart to IG Police, NWP, 4 May 1875; BL/IOR/P/839: Hobart to IG Police, NWP, 28 June 1876; BL/IOR/P/840: Hobart to IG Police, NWP&O, 11 September 1877; BL/IOR/P/1138: Tyrwhitt to Sec, NWP&O, 28 May 1878.

46. BL/IOR/P/96: Tyrwhitt to Sec, NWP, 26 June 1874.

47. BL/IOR/P/96: Elliot to IG Police, NWP, 21 July 1874.

48. BL/IOR/P/97: Hobart to IG Police, NWP, 4 May 1875; BL/IOR/P/1816: Smith to IG Police, NWP, 15 May 1882; and BL/IOR/P/2002: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 4 Jun 1883.

49. BL/IOR/P/1614: Smith to PA to IG Police, NWP&O, 6 July 1881.

50. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Young to PA to IG Police, NWP, 20 January 1875; UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Carmichael to Mag Ghazipur, 23 February 1875.

51. For example, UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Office of Benares Comm, “Abstract,” 23 November 1875.

52. McLaren, Impotence, 112; 114–15; 124–5.

53. Ibid., 117–18.

54. Shortt, “Medical Topography,” 177; NAI/FD/PC 24/11/1849 164–5: Sleeman to Sec to GoI, 30 October 1849.

55. Androgynes were also associated with impotence in Sanskrit mythology. O”Flaherty, Women, 309, 313.

56. Zwilling and Sweet, “First Medicalization,” 593–4, 599–600; 602–3; 595, 597. See also, Zwilling and Sweet, “ “Like a City Ablaze”,” 333–6.

57. Shortt, “The Kojahs,” 406; Enthoven, Tribes and Castes, 227.

58. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882; BL/IOR/P/2002: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 4 June 1883.

59. Reddy, With Respect, 91–2, 96–8.

60. BL/IOR/P/840: Hobart to IG Police, NWP&O, 11 September 1877; BL/IOR/P/2002: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 4 June 1883; BL/IOR/P/1281: Tyrwhitt to Sec, NWP&O, 5 July 1879; BL/IOR/P/1467: Webster to Sec, NWP&O, 31 May 1880; and UPSA/A/COA/B18/SN5: Holderness to IG Police, NWP&O, 7 August 1896.

61. BL: IOR/P/97 Colvin to IG Police, NWP, 12 August 1875; BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882. On sakhi also see, Goldman, “Transsexualism,” 388–90.

62. BL/IOR/P/438/61: Drummond to Nizamut Adawlut Court, NWP, 24 February 1865.

63. BL/IOR/P/438/61: Dodd to SIs Police, NWP, 30 June 1865; BL/IOR/P/438/61 Drummond to Sec, NWP, 9 August 1865.

64. BL/IOR/P/92: Elliot to Sec, GoI, 21 April 1871.

65. BL/IOR/P/97: Colvin to IG Police, NWP, 12 August 1875.

66. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Hobart to IG Police, NWP, 21 June 1876.

67. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Robertson to IG Police, NWP&O, 17 July 1877.

68. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

69. BL/IOR/P/1816: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 15 May 1882.

70. BL/IOR/P/2002: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 4 June 1883.

71. BL/IOR/P/2208: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 26 June 1884.

72. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

73. BL/IOR/V/8/42: Act XXVII of 1871.

74. On medical officials in jails, see Arnold, Colonizing the Body, 98–115.

75. Kolsky, “The Body,” 296, 319–38.

76. Mathew, “Case of Imperforate Anus,” 141; Lucas, “Remarks on Imperforate Anus,” 158; Indian Lancet, “Seminal Emissions,” 86; Indian Lancet, “Therapy of Male Impotence,” 142; and Indian Lancet, “Sexual Debility,” 600.

77. Moriarty, “Calculus,” 335; Murray, “A Case,” 207. Sodomites were also treated as medically “interesting” and “remarkable.” Crombie, “A Remarkable Case,” 104.

78. Bhaskaran, “Politics of Penetration,” 20–2; Narrain, “Policing of Homosexuality,” 51, 57–9.

79. Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, 359.

80. Ebden, “A Few Notes,” 520.

81. Ibid., 520–5.

82. Kolsky, “The Body,” 328–30.

83. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Annesley to Mag Benares, 12 April 1873. See also, Reddy, With Respect, 94, 124; Nanda, Neither Men, Chapter 3.

84. Ebden, “A Few Notes,” 521, 523–4.

85. Italics in original. Chevers, Medical Jurisprudence, 499.

86. Ibid., 707.

87. BL/IOR/P/92: Mag Muttra to Comm Agra, 26 January 1871. See also, BL/IOR/P/92: Lind to Off Sec, NWP, 6 March 1871; USPA/A/COM/B9/SN2: Forbes, “Register of Eunuchs,” 5 December 1865.

88. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Robertson to Comm Benares, 28 March 1873. See also, UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Robertson to Off Comm Benares, 9 June 1873.

89. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Elliot to Comm Benares, 20 June 1873.

90. UPSA/A/COV/B119/SN12: Robertson to Off Comm Benares, 1 July 1873.

91. BL/IOR/P/2208: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 26 June 1884.

92. UPSA/A/COA/B18/SN5: Berril to IG Police, NWP&O, 1 May 1896.

93. Arnold, Colonizing the Body, 53–4.

94. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

95. BL/IOR/P/92: Mag Muttra to Comm Agra, 26 January 1871. This particular phrase was used in relation to examination of Khyratee”s anus for signs of sodomy, but highlights the mode of observation.

96. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

97. BL/IOR/P/1816: Smith to IG Police, NWP&O, 15 May 1882.

98. BL/IOR/P/2002: Low, “Report,” 14 September 1882.

99. Sinha, Colonial Masculinity; Gupta, “Feminine.”

100. Raheja, “Caste,” 495, 508–9.

101. BL/IOR/P/1816: Reid to IG Police, NWP&O, 14 August 1882; BL/IOR/P/1138: Tyrwhitt to Sec, NWP&O, 28 May 1878.

102. BL/IOR/P/2208: Webster to Sec, NWP&O, 15 July 1884.

103. Ibid.; BL/IOR/P/1614: Smith to PA to IG Police, NWP&O, 6 July 1881; BL/IOR/P/2208: Connell to IG Police, NWP&O, 23 September 1884.

104. The hijras, however, also kept Muslim holidays and often identified as Muslim.

105. Enthoven, Tribes and Castes, 227.

106. Ibid.

107. On the use of Hindu myths as an “everyday practice,” see Doron, “Ferrying the Gods,” 16–17. On “everyday” resistance and women, see Ghosh, “Introduction.”