Hindu texts and traditions historically prohibited overseas travel
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Historical sources and scholarly literature confirm that Brahmanic texts and traditions contained prohibitions and warnings against sea crossings and transoceanic travel, particularly for upper-caste Hindus.
This article examines the reconstruction and deconstruction of the concept of काला पानी or kālā pānā, meaning the ‘black waters’, which all Indians must cross when migrating overseas. From its origin as a Brahmanic text warning about the dangers of oceanic voyages, through its dissemination as a more generalised stricture against emigration and its use and abuse as a British colonial construction, to its recasting as a historical trope and a literary device, the ever-changing influence and meaning of kala pani is interrogated and assessed. Contextualising the kala pani trope against the setting of sepoy, convict and indentureship voyages, this study also evaluates its historical validity and importance in colonial and nationalist realities. Finally, the symbolic value of the kala pani and its reworking as a literary device are explored.
... overseas travel for high-caste Hindus. The first explicit ban against travel by sea was articulated in the 500–300 ... Hindu texts reiterate the ban on transoceanic travel but limit this to Brahmins of the 'twice-born' caste ...
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