The Indian Franchise in Kenya

[karl2025]

In the 1920's there was a huge debate around the issue of Indians in Kenya. There were around 25,000 Indians in the colony, greatly outnumbering the white settlers (about 12,000), but they were politically marginalized. But in 1921 there was an Imperial conference that said that Indians were an equal partner in the empire and Indians should be treated the same as Britons. This meant (In theory):

1. Indians would be allowed to vote in Kenyan elections.
2. Desegregation of towns.
3. Indians could purchase land in the Highlands region of Kenya.
4. Unlimited Indian immigration to Kenya.

For various reasons only the 2nd point was allowed and the 3rd was dropped as a demand by Indian immigrants. Indians were offered the option to elect 4 out of 11 colonial legislators, but refused on the grounds that they wanted the full equality that they were guaranteed by the Imperial conference.

So the question I have is, what if the Indians got the full Franchise? What if immigration restrictions were lifted (by 1950 the population was over 100,000 with 50% immigrants even with the restrictions)? IOTL, the disenfranchisement was one of the reasons Kenya never moved up to Dominion status, could it with the barrier removed? What would happen after Indian independence?

 

[karl2025]

No interest?

 

[BlondieBC]

You can't change this one item in isolation. If in 1920, the British Empire decided to treat Indians as equals to Englishmen, everything changes. For example, I guess the Indians in England can vote for the House of Commons? Unlimited immigration to England?

And what is the POD? When you chose a POD, you will get massive, immediate butterflies.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

It's funny, I actually see this as the potential offshoot of Britain getting a united East Africa at the 1884 Berlin Conference -- of course, that may be a much earlier PoD than what you're looking for...

 

[Basilisk]

What could possibly bring Indians to Kenya, especially after the empire falls and the economical prospects are further expelled.

 

[Julius Vogel]

What could possibly bring Indians to Kenya, especially after the empire falls and the economical prospects are further expelled.

Plenty? The decision to immigrate is a pretty complicated one and people do so for all sorts of reasons, good or bad. The world is full of immigrants who have ended up in rather odd places!

India, pre and post Empire is a pretty frantic place by all accounts and I think it quite reasonable that many people would immigrate to E Africa, even where the latter is not doing that well economically, because it may still be a better option than their current personal circumstance. The latter may not be a purely economic decision, it could be that their local area is dull or boring, or their professional ambitions cannot be realised where they live (lack of land, market too competitive, route to senority too slow etc).

 

[karl2025]

You can't change this one item in isolation. If in 1920, the British Empire decided to treat Indians as equals to Englishmen, everything changes. For example, I guess the Indians in England can vote for the House of Commons? Unlimited immigration to England?

And what is the POD? When you chose a POD, you will get massive, immediate butterflies.

The POD that I'm using is basically that the decision of the 1921 Imperial Conference is upheld in practice. This basically means that Indians already within the borders of a dominion/colony/whatever would have the franchise. According to this decision, each state could decide their own immigration policy (So no ten million Indians moving to England) but Kenya would have a majority of Indian voters, and I think I can safely presume that this would lead to the elimination of the immigration restrictions to Kenya.

What could possibly bring Indians to Kenya, especially after the empire falls and the economical prospects are further expelled.

The lack of a caste structure for one. Indians in Kenya were also generally well off with a large majority of them being considered middle class with a nearly insignificant number being considered lower class.

 

[BlondieBC]

The POD that I'm using is basically that the decision of the 1921 Imperial Conference is upheld in practice. This basically means that Indians already within the borders of a dominion/colony/whatever would have the franchise. According to this decision, each state could decide their own immigration policy (So no ten million Indians moving to England) but Kenya would have a majority of Indian voters, and I think I can safely presume that this would lead to the elimination of the immigration restrictions to Kenya.

By the 1920's Dominions were effectively independent but allied countries, so the more interesting effect of your POD is an independent India. Now for Kenya, I can see the vote you are proposing, but all the black colonies will also be demanding Dominion status. I think in this case you either get Dominion status for British East Africa or civil war in the area. Mass immigration to East Africa triggers fears in South Africa, when probably leaves the Commonwealth. Without the "Jewel of the Empire", does the Empire even make sense to England.

The POD will have many, and hard to predict consequences. A simple one will be India will keep a much larger standing army, so if India see value in its alliance with England, England will never again find itself short of land forces. The down side is that whenever England wants to fight a war, India has a veto, so if something like a Munich conference is held, an Indian leader will attend. But the other side of the coin is that English leadership might piss off the Indian leadership, and have a much smaller land army. But yes, if you are writing a TL, you could have all or large regions of British East Africa be an Indian settler colony.

 

[Alratan]

I honestly don't think that the South Africans would care enough to leave, given the Portuguese colonies in between. They wouldn't be happy about it, I agree, but at this point South Africa is much more concerned with labour relations and the relative proportions of black and white miners, rather than the state of the Indian minority.

 

[Simreeve]

For example, I guess the Indians in England can vote for the House of Commons? Unlimited immigration to England?

If you check, I think you'll find that legally -- perhaps in part because there wasn't the same percieved "risk" of Indian mass immigration into Britain as there was into Kenya -- that was the case.

 

[Alratan]

If you check, I think you'll find that legally -- perhaps in part because there wasn't the same percieved "risk" of Indian mass immigration into Britain as there was into Kenya -- that was the case.

Not just legally. Indian immigrants voted and were even elected to the House of Commons. The first Indian MP was elected in 1892.

 

[karl2025]

I honestly don't think that the South Africans would care enough to leave, given the Portuguese colonies in between. They wouldn't be happy about it, I agree, but at this point South Africa is much more concerned with labour relations and the relative proportions of black and white miners, rather than the state of the Indian minority.

South Africa was the only dominion to vote against the 1921 Conference resolution, precisely because they thought it would have future implications towards blacks.

 

[Simreeve]

Not just legally. Indian immigrants voted and were even elected to the House of Commons. The first Indian MP was elected in 1892.

Yes, I remembered reading before that there was one quite early on, that's one of the reasons why I made my previous comment.
Details.

 

[Some Bloke]

One big question that I'm surprised hasn't been raised yet is how this may affect India itself.

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

If the Indians in East Africa have the same rights as the British colonists (which they should have had from the start) then East Africa will soon be not so much part of the British Empire as part of an Indian Empire as more and more colonists from the sub continant arrive. As it is the Indian colonists soon became the solid middle class of East Africa, and relitively wealthy which is one of the reasons they were expelled. It would be interesting to consider what the presance of a large, prosperous and politically active Asian community would have on the decolonisation of the 50s and 60s, especially if the population is near to or greater than the native populations.

 

[Tyg]

What might the impact be of this on other colonies, like Malaya and Singapore?

If there was open Indian migration to Kenya or elsewhere, what kind of numbers would we be looking at?

 

[karl2025]

What might the impact be of this on other colonies, like Malaya and Singapore?

If there was open Indian migration to Kenya or elsewhere, what kind of numbers would we be looking at?

As for numbers even with the immigration restrictions there were 100,000 Indians in Kenya and 50,000 of them were born outside of Kenya. By independence in '62 the population was 180,000, but immigration had dropped off because of harassment by the local black population and there was a reversal of immigration trends with Indians fleeing the country. If Indians had proportional representation in government (a majority, since blacks would be discounted) you'd probably see an increase in numbers, but also an increase in hostility. An apartheid-like situation isn't unreasonable.