The Hosay Massacre (also called the Jahaji or Muharrum ) of October 30th 1884 is a dark episode in local history. The boisterous commemoration of the martyrdom of Mohammed’s nephews, Hosein and Hassan, came to Trinidad in the 1850’s with the indentured immigrants from India and was first celebrated on Palmiste Estate near San Fernando. A facsimile of the martyrs’ tomb in Kerbala would be assembled of bamboo, tinsel and cloth and the finished Taja would often tower as high as thirty feet. Amidst much drumming and festivity, the gaudy taja would be carried in high procession to the sea or an estate pond and ‘drowned’.
Despite being of Islamic origin, Hosay was celebrated by all on the estate including the negro panboilers and with the exception of the white plantocracy. The 1880’s were a time of unrest. In 1881, a riot erupted at Cedar Hill estate which resulted in the assault of the overseer and requiring the intervention of the police before it was quelled. The growing numbers of Indians in the colony was a source of worry to colonial authorities who feared a mass uprising. The government , through the indomitable Inspector Commandant of Police , Captian Arthur Wybrow Baker , issued an ordinance which would prevent the Hosay processions from the estates from entering the town of San Fernando , which was done so that the tajas may be dumped near King’s Wharf .
On the eve of Hosay, police reinforcements were stationed at the Court House on Harris Promenade while a shipload of Marines, the HMS Dido anchored offshore. It is recorded that some of the Indians on particular estates did not participate in the processions which would approach Royal Road through Mon Repos Estate, and Cipero Cross (Cross Crossing).On October 30th files of armed policemen were stationed at these strategic points to await the eight or ten thousand strong who would defy the Ordinance. It is possible that the Indians did not believe that the police would fire, but upon approaching the barricade at Cipero Cross, Stipendary Magistrate Arthur Child read the riot act and the police fired into the throng. A similar scene occurred almost simultaneously at the junction of Circular Road and Royal Road and when the acris smoke cleared, eleven lay dead and over one hundred were seriously wounded. The tajas were abandoned as carts took the dead to Paradise Cemetery where they were buried in a mass grave upon which the present-day San Fernando Central Market now stands. It is said by some that the hasty internment was done to hide a much greater death toll. This bloody chapter of our history must always stand as a monument to the sovereignty of religious freedoms and the immense sacrifice made by those whose lives were given for this cause.
Each estate has its Taziya, jealously guarded by the labourers who have helped, either by subscription or otherwise, to construct it. All the estates in the same locality join together, and form up in procession, sometimes serious quarrels and fights taking place at this stage of the proceedings. Having paraded for some time, with dancing, cries of ‘Hosein, Hassan,’ etc., they at length repair to the sea, if practicable—if not, to the nearest body of water—and, throwing their Taziyas into it, the ceremony is ended. The Government did not accede to the petition of the Sunnis referred to above, but placed certain restrictions upon the festival.These new regulations being highly unpalatable, and looked upon by the Orientals as an infringement of their privileges, riots ensued, which were promptly suppressed, though unfortunately not without loss of life. For some time the relations between the Indian immigrants and the authorities were of a very strained nature, but happily things have righted themselves, and for the last few years the ‘ Hosein ‘ has passed off in a most orderly manner. It will be seen that this is essentially a Mohammedan festival, that it is confine to a very small section of the faithful, and that the Hindus have nothing in the world to do with it. Nevertheless, either because it affords them an excuse for a holiday, and therefore for unlimited rum-drinking, or perhaps from sheer ignorance, they join in it with as much zest and earnestness as if it bore a religious significance to them.
The Origins of Hosay
Indians and government are on a collision course.
On many estates, tajahs are being constructed in preparation for open defiance of the Ordinance. A week before the festival, a clandestine meeting of ringleaders from seven estates takes place at night in the St. Clement’s churchyard cemetery near Ste. Madeline. Not all of the Naparima estates participated. At Ste. Madeline, managers destroyed tajahs which caused immigrants to take to other nearby estates like Golconda to help in their celebrations. Canaan was one of many estates where the Indians were incensed by Sookoo, the primary ringleader of the Hosay Massacre. Sookoo, a sirdar (headman) at nearby Philippine Estate, rallied people to his intended defiance of the Indian Festivals Ordinance by chanting ‘Galbahoga, galbahoga’…’There will be mutiny’. Tajahs in the Naparimas were taller than those from St. James (the later place of Hosay fame) because electric powerlines would not be installed in San Fernando until 1923.
Other managers were more politic. At Diamond, Paul Vessiny, an old experienced French Creole, took upon his own purse the expense of the tajah and entire Hosay celebration provided that the labourers remain on the estate and not violate the Ordinance.
Still other estates like Palmiste and Wellington, locked their main gates in a vain attempt to prevent outsiders from getting in to incite dissent. An entry strategy into San Fernando is planned. Capt. Baker and 50 armed police are sent by train to San Fernando and are quartered at the Drill Hall in Paradise Pasture. A Royal Navy warship, the H.M.S Dido lands troops as a reinforcement. Additional reserves wait aboard to be signaled by flags if needed which are to be hoisted from the tower of the San Fernando Courthouse and Constabulary on Harris Promenade. Stipendary Magistrate for Victoria County, Arthur Child, is empowered to read the Riot Act if necessary and is instructed to accompany Capt. Baker to the entrance to the town.
Impact: Thursday October 30th 1884
Be the first to comment on "The Hosay or Muharram Massacre of 1884 in Trinidad"