It is well known that the British ended slavery in India. It is generally believed that they abolished slavery and freed all slaves in India by passing Act V of 1843. What is not known is that there were many cases even during the latter half of the 19^th century in which people were living together in a relationship recognized by both sides as of master and slave. By the joint operation of Act V of 1843 and the Indian Penal Code, the British did not free the slaves, but merely deprived slavery of all its legal incidents and placed the slave in a position that he may be free if he chose to exert his will. These legal provisions were made so that slavery in India would wither away in course of time. The model of `gradual emancipation from slavery' was developed by the British in response to the political exigencies they faced in India. This paper explores the evolution of the model in the Bombay Presidency with reference to cases of runaway slaves. It tries to show how the vested interest and political convenience of the British influenced the making of British policy towards slavery in the Bombay Presidency.

A runaway slave is one who escaped his/her master often with the intention of getting rid of his/her bondage. There is abundant literature on runaway slaves in America and Africa. The advertisements for runaway slaves, the underground railroad which was used by them to escape and the separate communities of runaway slaves called maroons form an important part of the historiography of slavery in these countries. In India, however, we come across cases of runaway slaves only on rare occasions. In fact, running away was never a particularly successful form of obtaining freedom from slavery in the 18^th century Maratha kingdom. There were other more successful means. In traditional Maratha society, slaves achieved freedom in three ways: first, by marriage with a free person; second, by giving a surrogate slave in one's place and third, by death. It was difficult to escape bondage by running away. Sometimes the slaves were shackled to prevent them from running away. Runaway slaves, if caught were sent back to their masters. If the owner of a runaway slave could not be determined, the slave became the property of the government and sheltering a runaway slave was a crime punishable by fine. Nevertheless, slaves did runaway in the Maratha kingdom. A few fugitive slaves from the Maratha country ran away to Portuguese Goa and some from Goa came to the Maratha country. However, there is substantial evidence to suggest that most of the slaves in the Maratha kingdom ran away not to escape bondage, but to improve their conditions of enslavement. Slaves ran away from their masters only to take refuge with families of higher status who could not only keep and protect them, but also treat them in a better way.

The East India Company recognized slavery in its territories by passing a law in 1798 that both Hindu and Muslim slaves were to be governed in accordance with the principles of Hindu and Muslim law respectively. Thus, by recognizing that slaves were the property of their masters, the company perpetuated the traditional system. In 1812, the Bengal Government outlawed the import of slaves into Bengal in accordance with the Slave Trade Felony Act (1811) of the British Parliament. It also directed the Bombay Government to overtake a similar regulation which was accordingly done by enacting the Bombay Regulation 1 of 1813. After ratification of the regulation, contentious interpretations regarding the enforcement of rights of the masters over runaway slaves emerged among the judicial and administrative establishment of Bombay. A number of cases about runaway slaves, especially from neighboring princely states, who had taken refuge in British territory were discussed by the officials of the Bombay Presidency.

History and Culture Journal, Humanitarian Interventions, British Policies, East India Company, British administration, Indian Law Commission, Domestic Slaveries, British Territory, British Government, Bombay Presidency, Traditional Systems.