Resistance of Transporters and Insufficiency of the Indian Navy’s Suppression Prior to 1860

Abstract

This chapter traces the progress of legal restrictions on slave trafficking in the western Indian Ocean and the suppression campaign of the Indian Navy. The campaign did not succeed, especially compared with the that of the Royal Navy, which began in 1860. The chapter analyses the background to the Indian Navy’s disappointing result. It was caused partly by the Indian Navy itself—they were overburdened with other missions while the campaign’s troublesome regulations did not help. Furthermore, slave transporters applied various methods of resistance to official efforts at suppression.