This article first appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Antiques to Vintage Magazine. Written by Elizabeth Cheung and edited by Julie Carter.
Elizabeth Cheung and Billy Robertson from Cache Antiques in Sydney reveal the connection between Earl Selborne and Mahatma Gandhi.
This sublime set of chargers, which sold through Theodore Bruce in May 2024, bear the personal crest of William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne. He served an important role in safeguarding British interests, particularly as High Commissioner of South Africa from 1905 to 1910. While his personal reputation was excellent, several previously unpublished official documents contain fascinating revelations regarding Mahatma Gandhi’s early years in Africa and the perpetrators behind the first attempt on Gandhi’s life; something of which both the British government and Gandhi himself was aware, but kept hidden.
When Lord Selborne arrived in South Africa as High Commissioner, he had the unenviable task of navigating South Africa’s transition from British crown colony to self-government. Despite his high rank and authority in South Africa, Lord Selborne’s hands were tied by Britain’s official policies. Although they deescalated tensions with the Boers, they affected many people’s daily lives, particularly the local Indian population of approximately 62,000.
The transition was largely successful, although several policies excluding Indian immigrants provoked outrage and amidst this period of social unrest, an incident would happen that changed the course of history.
Having arrived in South Africa in 1893, Gandhi experienced many instances of racism as a young man. These profoundly affected how he would stand up not only for his own rights, but for all of India. On June 7, 1893, just two months after his arrival in a railway station named Pietermaritzburg, the young lawyer was evicted from a first-class train compartment for which he had paid. Mohandas Gandhi, as he was then still known, would never forget that night. He later recalled, “Maritzburg being at a high altitude, the cold was extremely bitter. My overcoat was in the luggage, but I did not dare to ask for it lest I should be insulted again, so I sat and shivered. I began to think of my duty. The hardship to which I was subjected was only superficial, only a symptom of the deep disease of colour prejudice.”
The following year he founded the Natal Indian Congress and began the satyagraha movement, which sought to uplift the Indian population and ameliorate their conditions in South Africa. By 1908 the Natal Indian Congress frequently clashed with the establishment, of which Lord Selborne was a leading figure. But the most tumultuous period was yet to come when the Black Act as it was known in Pretoria was announced. It excluded all residents in South Africa who were of Indian descent. The Act was certainly discriminatory, but what incited widespread outrage was the compulsory registering of fingerprints. Even a century ago this would have been considered a violation of one’s rights. Faced with this difficult decision, Gandhi opted for volunteering his fingerprints rather than being dragged to a police station, publicly humiliated and subject to government reprisal. Unfortunately, this act sat uneasy with hardliners whose choices were diametrically opposite to Gandhi’s stance.
Mir Alam was originally a devout follower of Gandhi since the early days of satyagraha, but he was fundamentally against having to register his fingerprints like a criminal. Mir Alam thus fell out with Gandhi, threatening him with death if Gandhi followed through with registering his fingerprints. And on 10 February 1908, he would make the first attempt on Gandhi's life. "I had scarcely finished the last sentence when a heavy cudgel blow descended on my head from behind. I at once fainted with the words 'He Rama' (O God!) on my lips, lay prostrate on the ground and had no notion of what followed. But Mir Alam and his companions gave me more blows and kicks…” (Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa, p. 140).
However, a newly discovered letter by Lord Selborne reveals that while Mir Alam was certainly the main assailant in February 1908, behind the scenes was one Mahomet Shah, whom Lord Selborne describes as a Pathan priest ‘of violent character’. Lord Selborne writes that Shah ‘instigated the serious assault on Mr. M. K. Gandhi in February, 1908, and although Mr. Gandhi declined to prosecute he requested the government to remove Mahomed Shah from the Transvaal, where he was a source of danger to other Indians, and deport him to India.’
Throughout his life Gandhi stated publicly that Mir Alam bore main responsibility for the attack. While Gandhi himself insisted on not pressing charges, Alam was convicted by the South African Government and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. The revelations in this hitherto unpublished official document suggest there had been far more going on behind the scenes. Although Gandhi’s long-standing reputation for compassion was well-deserved, this letter reveals that far from blindly allowing violence as some detractors asserted, Gandhi did take steps to ensure his own safety as well as that of his followers.
Gandhi departed South Africa and returned to India in 1914, bearing the honorific Mahatma, or Great-Souled. Lord Selborne, having completed his task, had returned earlier in 1910 as an elder statesman and one respected by all parties.
Billy Robertson is the proprietor of Sydney business Cache Antiques. He and his social media director and research partner, Elizabeth Cheung, will be researching pieces of scandalous silver for Antiques to Vintage on a regular basis. www.cacheantiques.com.
References:
https://www.mkgandhi.org/gandhiji/38backlash.php
https://inlibris.com/item/bn50006/?srsltid=AfmBOorYIgf3LHT7CogSuwE-
bCsuEAiAI9cIJFak7ALf5pZPGoybINBx
https://www.mkgandhi.org/satyagraha_safrica/22opposition.php
https://www.mkgandhi.org/storyofmylife/41assault.php
https://www.theodorebruceauctions.com.au/auction-lot/six-sterling-silver-
plates-skinner-co-london-1908_8404DF6B9B/
https://www.hcipretoria.gov.in/eoi.php?id=Africa