The Criminal Tribes Act, Stuartpuram and the Salvation Army Settlements
Stuartpuram, in Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh, was set up in 1913 as a settlement for communities the British had declared "criminal tribes." Under the Criminal Tribes Act, first passed in 1871, whole communities including the Yerukula and Korava were labelled hereditary criminals, registered with the police and confined without any conviction. Many settlements in the Madras Presidency were run by the Salvation Army.
This documentary tells how the Yerukulas were settled and controlled, how Yerukula women led a revolt at Stuartpuram in 1938, and how the stigma survived independence: the Act was repealed in 1949, but the Habitual Offenders Act of 1952 took its place.
Chapters
00:00 What was the Criminal Tribes Act?
00:39 The hunt: how tribes were declared criminal
06:20 Forced labour in the Salvation Army settlements
08:46 The escape
10:18 Stuartpuram today
Read the full essay
The Criminal Tribes Act and the Yerukulas, with full sources.
