2015/10/01 by Elizabeth Kolsky · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Mathematics · #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #Asian Studies and History #Fanaticism #Frontier #State (computer science) #Law #Colonial rule #Colonialism #Political science #Rule of law #Criminology #Sociology #Mathematics #Politics
paper · doi:10.1093/ahr/120.4.1218
openalex publication_date 2015/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Elizabeth Kolsky is Associate Professor of History and the Director of Asian Studies at Villanova University, where she has taught since 2004. She is the author of Colonial Justice in British India (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and co-editor with Sameetah Agha of Fringes of Empire: People, Places, and Spaces in Colonial India (Oxford University Press, 2009). Her research and teaching are in the fields of modern South Asian history, history of the British Empire, colonial and postcolonial studies, and gender. On February 28, 1866, the wife of Lieutenant Ashton Brandreth set out from her house in the frontier city of Kohat mounted on a jampan (a type of sedan chair) that was carried by her four Hindu servants. Suddenly, a man approached and fired a double-barreled pistol at such close range that Mrs. Brandreth's hair and eyelashes were singed. The bullet passed across her collarbone and through the front of her neck, sparing her serious injury. The servants quickly put down the jampan, surrounded the man, and seized his weapon. Mrs. Brandreth's assailant immediately confessed that he had “formed the idea of committing the murder only at the moment that he saw the jampan pass; that his intention was to kill some European Officer and he was not aware that its occupant was a lady.” The man—a Muslim named Summad from the Jawaki Afridi tribe—was brought before Captain G. Shortt, the local magistrate, and tried on the spot. According to Shortt, Summad stated that he “came straight to Kohat in order to kill an European; that he formed the design thinking it a meritorious action, having heard that it was a meritorious action from some Moollahs of Teerah some years ago, and he thought that he should achieve a name for himself by doing it.” In the terse trial record, Shortt observed that “[t]he prisoner did not appear in any way excited by drugs, or any particular enthusiasm, and during his examination appeared perfectly collected.”1 Three days later, Peshawar Division Commissioner J. R. Becher reviewed the trial proceedings and convicted Summad of attempted murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. In his judgment, Becher remarked: “The fierce fanaticism directed against the lives of the ruling race of India is a special danger of this frontier, and one which requires to be taken into account in determining punishment.” Becher sentenced Summad to death and authorized his “immediate execution.” In doing so, Becher exceeded both the maximum legal punishment for the crime of attempted murder and his judicial authority by failing to request confirmation for the death sentence from the Punjab Chief Court. Becher was fully cognizant of his legal transgressions, and he defended his excess by reasoning that the “special danger” necessitated special measures: “Under any circumstances, committed against any person and in any part of India, the crime which is established against the accused is liable to the punishment of transportation for life. In this instance the crime has been committed by an Afridi, a member of one of the many rude and independent races which surround the immediately adjoining district. In the space of a little more than a year this is the third attack on the life of an European by men of foreign territory, and in my judgment it is necessary to adopt more than ordinary measures to prevent an evil so great and so fraught with political consequences.”2 Shortly after the execution, the Afridis sent a delegation to Kohat to express indignation at Summad's hanging. They claimed he was “out of his mind” and were eager to recover the body and prepare it for proper burial.3 The trial record made its way up the administrative chain. Ultimately, the Government of India condoned Commissioner Becher's actions, thereby raising some fundamental questions about the relationship between law, violence, and practices of empire.4 When, why, and with what consequences did “more than ordinary measures” become a legal norm? What cultural logics about space, race, and religion informed and legitimized the normalization of extreme methods of criminal punishment in the colonies? When was colonial violence legitimate, or not, and under what circumstances did extra-legal colonial violence give way to the formation of exceptions within the law? Colonialism involved the use of physical force and coercion of various kinds both in ordinary everyday life and during extraordinary moments of war and The that the of colonial violence across and this particular of colonial against its of and of that of and The of Summad a and the of his a the relationship between and in India and to of fanaticism in the The of colonial involved about the and of legal in The India frontier in The Punjab Government the a was Punjab was a where the local colonial man on the and did not in were by the Government of In the the Government of India the of the Indian law, a of the were of criminal Indian Penal passed in and criminal of passed in Shortly after and in to the attack on Mrs. the Punjab the Government of India that special is to of such more and with than is authorized by the and “The the third within a of a little more than one year by from the the attack having been made in the was a member of the race in to such the one ordinary or at a political that of the “The Indian of India, to front by J. G. had been or by on was the of that on on the frontier necessitated an to the a of the Government of India passed for the of in of the The to or attempted to murder servants of the and that of the not to The of Punjab any under his to the local had with against by and was by Becher in Summad's The was in part to give legal The a legal of in were of many of the and for in the the to legal the to a sentence by a the to a and of be in for any of the ordinary of were by or of with legal in proceedings in which were made and The authority to or not at his immediately a death sentence confirmation from a and order the of the body and of the he saw The of of the of in the was to Colonial the frontier in to the of India and the a The and that colonial and on the frontier on the that circumstances was on the that and of were to the of a In to the the colonial passed the Punjab in a and of that the legal for with the in The modern and administrative that in the were from of at The of colonial political and modern British in the and across the space of a in the member of the India a to which history a The be the of during the that the of to of a is that which the body for which it is the British to give to a to give a and that the Government of India and a of on the history of political thought and in his for the India the of that was for some were not for are of in which a is in the of for the in what is to of a The and of the was to up the of and to The of colonial an for the of colonial violence, for a had a to his the had an to so from to more with “more than Colonial on frontier what in been The that the frontier were more more more more the of methods that the of Punjab had to be taught what Colonial violence on the frontier both a and a a it the way for colonial and a British that violence was the only the and on the frontier The way in which colonial with on the frontier a and particular that was by and The and criminal and authorized by the and after such practices were in a legal of that in with the colonial of The frontier, in the of a where the colonial his life in his for the of the or the more of the The by and on across the of extreme of In the and the British sent and to the of the the the and and be to that the British war on frontier from in in In that colonial with The frontier and the men it by colonial to the of British and the of In the years of British on the frontier, were more than in which were were and were to the by colonial The were for the of a and a in which had before and They were to be and of force that colonial and an of the of Colonial on the frontier local of violence and coercion to express local to by from and and of and to a to an criminal or force a In the was the political from British its an the the of and in from the (a of and in by The between the and the had a On the one a was an where a and had been and where were The frontier had it the of and the of British colonial from the of legal is a in European thought of the with the In the European colonial were and by with violence, a and of to of frontier and the were in colonial of a and a in space and in British in and in and on a the and of the Colonial that the and in were to physical and to cultural to to the of is a in colonial about to the the British to the of to with local an of the of and In claimed that was by a that up the of and the of of colonial that not only to and relationship to the colonial and of India, to by J. G. of the the of the of with the of the Indian and with about colonial about into give one in a the life of Afridi, a a British wife and his in is by the of the or to which he and by the of of the is with that he is by his of his and had both the and he not only the British to his the of a the to any man to his from the for the to The that a in his of a by the authority of an in by a British to the and of colonial The of colonial about the frontier was by the political of British in to a request from the Punjab for an account that to with of the Punjab a of the frontier The by the administrative man on the and by the man on the and a of about the frontier and a colonial by more than only did colonial an British in the in the on political and In an this of the frontier a space by a fierce and in has in foreign and in the and The idea of the the for the and of an extraordinary legal on across and the of which was in the to on in a to the that the of and colonial to against lives of the ruling for the of and by British in in one part of the the of with in The British to on the frontier in to and in the in India, and In 1866, member was to a to with was the of and both that an from India for the on the The that the for the was the which to in the of the committed against to its had about to in of the that it was necessary the with the and of and to in its and the authority of that force was necessary to with and The passed by the Government of India in the authority to the of the moment to or When the was an the to its in of the that a are not to be men at They are to be down down not or are not perfectly in are to the lives of to a the of and that the of in colonial In for the of the of and criminal from the of law, which for for and for Indian and so in to and Colonial the space of legal practices where Indian was The history of the the and that criminal to in colonial India, were by British to a from In such colonial were not of cultural and to criminal the colonial with and not under the On the frontier, local the of the a to the colonial of In the of the in Punjab that to the of the which he the of and of of The of the was from a South Indian The of its was by in the On after a between the and the a in and in British When about the and of of was with criminal of the to his in the of an were by his of They for and for and for The the legal for colonial the of in the When the Punjab was in the Indian some the for special frontier and the of extra-legal by for to the authority of man on the and the of the Commissioner was to under the and not up with a which on his to what to colonial the into one member in to the of Mrs. Brandreth's Officer in a legal and of of murder be of any under the Penal to he remarked: a Officer were a man, he be by the of a such the of is at In the of the colonial to kill on frontier the of The was an that the of the was extraordinary in of its and in the on the to the the did not appear in the In the was from the of to a of crime under the name of a is so to and this of which to put it and the of special The of the the from the which and has been to to war against The and are in on war and are in an to Muslim in the of the the of British to Muslim that were had a to In his Lieutenant of the men with are to be in fierce to death in the of at and at the of some are in a war against is a man to war and the of was to a of in a to that it the that the to the on the use of the the was the and the to be by colonial the Government of India its use in only the or and were The of the and are for the of a local of within a that of and The of fanaticism in colonial India is to a of in and of In the and British about of across the in India and They an of were to to the to against was by the formation of a in to frontier observed in has been a of fanaticism in India, by against and Hindu of the of the of about Muslim fanaticism to about the of British and the danger by the history of on frontier its the Indian of was a moment in British of and to Muslim fanaticism on the the the of were by an and to British did not political on the frontier a particular for the were by colonial local did not any to the of British colonial about a Muslim the of the frontier the was from the in it was into the frontier in the practices and that had been on an an be made that the of the of colonial violence and made more extreme of it on the frontier and The colonial of Muslim fanaticism in India was to British to political in In a of of passed the and which and in The of and the of on the frontier to the In the colonial in India the to of In his The a Muslim and a a of one the should under special is a is a and a is an in an the some colonial had that a out across the British Empire, from to Colonial in India were about up with and the about in in the year the was The made by colonial between in and Muslim in India a that did not fanaticism with and Muslim in the British the British fanaticism a of that had to be out and it was in in a a she against a and and my what are to with my and with the in and to the of of to on frontier and in the “The or The 1866, the and of in the of the political and to the British colonial order were in not only to such and to and Colonial in India, frontier fanaticism in India, in the British and in British of to and the “special to “The and the are both the of and the at the British frontier fanaticism a carried by the of and one a was to prevent a the a legal with to the of the a in the What was the punishment that a frontier be to In a at the in to of and so in the of to put a to from In it under the law, to before for to and in the before that the for a and give the criminal a were more not a a that British not so Peshawar one and on the person is an to the The is more than the of hanging. only and more so it Colonial and the frontier of a race and its and a to the of not a The of British to the that death by had for to to that into the only for such a and was the that be In a the and of this frontier what has a to and it is the only to When be were for that be and were The was taken out of later, was in his by a man named was and for the crime under the of the The punishment of was in India by the which colonial to the of by the or in In to the and the of British in had such with a or by of by the Government of India about the and of the the of in On the frontier, the of what to with a body after was in the for the of an to be within the of the the the local or authority to and of the body of the The local was that the was the use at the of colonial in the and the of British in did colonial this particular is that the of a colonial of “The and of the body is the only which has the or under circumstances, The of the which only be by the of a only be by the of for the the of the of the of the the of the a that a The of the had a of the of The on colonial of about the colonial The of an of colonial be to colonial British a before and this to a local thought that a person body was after death be a in the of the was the of against the Colonial that the of the body prevent the of was be to the and the to the of a of British in India the of Muslim methods of such at in part it the Muslim body a on the use of colonial the and of during the of colonial were aware of the of a Muslim a Hindu and this to the of The the colonial legal to kill by a of with an for a person a the of the legal to the of the were tried legal in questions about what a was or the particular person on trial the which was in the The of a the of any into an or and the way the of is in The history of the the force of colonial The was more than a or a a person a colonial an accused person from the of ordinary into a of extraordinary where the violence of the a were did murder British men and on the such did not in and what about is through which to more about what did than what The that a of to kill for were in saw way out the death that was to the murder of a member of the ruling were of be taken with a of colonial about the and to had the of for at the of and the it the Government of India passed the not only were the of by the so were the did not to trial the record before than the record of after In the frontier in an to for with the Brandreth in in of special an to the and of On in Peshawar to the of was years and had in the Indian for more than days later, he was through the of the he was approached by a man named and in the with a and to was carried to the Peshawar was brought with from The observed in his that was and the questions of he had the he only When taken to the more be from than a on the religion of the a for an that and was within the of the local a of and was in the where his crime was in the the of a he was by to be a of the city of had been a in Peshawar for the a man and had a of The of to in was a a man with and to the European and his for was of a an of later, a British was in In the of Lieutenant a was out for a on his in the a man named approached and a to When the and the with a his to the at the into his of the out and seized he attempted to for was carried to the where he within a the of the of straight to According to was of the confessed to the murder in any or of stated in his that he was a had to days the express of a a in the to be of so any be to be to his in a close to the of the that of his and his death at the was that the in and a punishment that had been out to Muslim during the of The of exceeded the of judicial Becher did in Summad's the from his my having so with and with that of the was taken and by his is an was a of a was at through a of that involved in of what colonial about frontier and to of is a for murder his with an account of his been a for the years or about the Punjab a and to with the been down in the Punjab and on my to to and and to to and only or days and my by the of The that was a of of the of a by the British the had on the frontier in and with the the Peshawar he a against in the British the frontier, his to where against British In under the of the in had When in his the British the of the was of the in India by the the of British about between the and colonial about an on the In colonial were to to the and up to the of years later, the Punjab a force of to to from the frontier be a of so are to in the The Government of India to a to of the of the of the were at and the of the colonial that were were British the When in in he had this of colonial the of and to which he its and this is he and kill a where a force was up in When he Lieutenant he and this a had his for a for the had committed a crime of his by the been perfectly aware that the of fanaticism be to The of a the physical of of On one after a in from the of the later, of a the and through to the are to be down and are to down and are a to the Muslim and and The to the was of the the of Justice and the on that the had the for and with to the of the The were not to committed war to and judgment, and of and for local and They cultural and administrative action for that not a to the that the cultural the to the and the in the by the that the what were was a in to the on that a had to out the of the of British of the frontier to the for war in the the use of cultural a of war has a and history in this particular part of the British frontier a with to kill men and The of fanaticism and an informed of a space by an and the for a special where ordinary and were by and methods of criminal and extraordinary a between a where be and an where an were to an Colonial both of and of to what to be a and in a of “The frontier is a one frontier at the of the of it is to the from the The this be in this in the of to the and a for frontier to by ordinary and In a was sent to India to in to from the Indian The that had to and to the frontier “The of a man to a be he lives in a the legal of on the frontier the of British and The practices at this particular of the the violence that and colonial They a of what or to and by use of legal it be to the of a legal of on frontier to the that been with for extreme violence, the history of the is not a about colonial The that brought extra-legal into the of was by one of a in the of the Indian and the of the of this Government for and and of the of the Indian Government to legal order on its under the about the type of legal order on the frontier was by the of and by colonial about the of its space, and The frontier had to be not and this brought the to a where violence appeared and necessary to the a in which the to kill was by the of a the The history of the the that was by colonial the In the of the frontier was a to and an The that this violence was Indian were part and of a that to the by any that and murder and attempted murder the for colonial to the where the the The legal history of frontier has for the colonial of and the legal of the a The British was by a and an that colonial be in a of In the the of formed part of the of and in the across the colonial with various kinds of and of that and In British India, where the between and legal was the in a way that was not for of in were of legal and The Indian in of India had legal than the in India The on frontier were what to be the saw and against its and established legal to of the British Studies the of the and the for and