Crime, punishment, and criminalization of early south asians in Northern california
- [1854] A Bengali man had $150 stolen from his trunk. He and two other Bengali friends went to the police to file a complaint, and a warrant was issued. [Daily Alta California, Oct 21 1854, p 6, col 5, "Robbery at the Lagoon"]
- [1854] A lascar (perhaps South Asian?) was working as a cook in San Francisco's Happy Valley neighborhood when he was assaulted by a resident. [Sacramento Daily Union, 17 February 1854, p1, col 7, "More Of It"]
- [1858] A lascar (perhaps South Asian?) was arrested for drunkenness, presumably in San Francisco. The newspaper described his name as "a tangle of unpronounceable syllables." [Daily Alta California, May 4 1858, p 2, col 2, "City Items: An Asiatic Drunkard"]
- [1862] "Oriental" lascars Ramelin and Mahomed forfeited their bail after they failed to appear in court after they were charged with a misdemeanor. The two may have been South Asian. [Daily Alta California, Aug 19 1862, p 1, col 2, "Police Court Proceedings: Penalties"]
- [1862] A lascar named Patkera (perhaps South Asian?) after being "indicted for an assault with a deadly weapon, was convicted of assault and battery." He was subsequently fined $200. [Daily Alta California, Aug 22 1862, p 1, col 7, "Court Proceedings: Court of Sessions"] [Daily Alta California, Aug 27 1862, p 1, col 2, "Court Proceedings: Court of Sessions"]
- [1885] James White, a half-Indian bootblack, was assaulted as he played cards. When he said he'd been cheated, another bootblack hit him on the head with a club. [Daily Alta California, Oct 27 1885, p1, col 4, "Belligerent Bootblack"]
- [1862] Two lascars (perhaps South Asian?) were among a group of men brought in for, presumably, drunkenness. The group of people in police court for drunkenness included "two Russians, two Chinamen, two negroes, one Kanaka, one Lascar, two Mexicans, two crinolines, and a dozen more who pass for white men when sober." [Daily Alta California, Sep 30 1862, p 1, col 3, "Police Court Proceedings: Black Spirits and White; Blue Spirits, Etc."]
- [1886] In San Francisco, eye doctor Mir Shirin arrives from Lahore. Some months thence, "self-styled" eye doctor Mier Khan (Mir Khan), presumably the same man, was arrested and found guilty for practicing medicine without a license.
- [1887-8] Moore, a Parsee Oakland resident accused two white women living in his "bachelor hall" (rooming house?) of stealing money from his pants pocket. They were convicted of petty theft. The women returned to Moore's after their sentence—and, according to the newspaper, one of them was "relieved of an heir" (no idea what this means). Moore was "by profession a horse jockey, by occupation a whitewasher." (SF Chronicle Aug 21, 1887, pg 8 "Sentenced for Vagrancy,"; SF Chronicle, Feb 3, 1888, pg 3, "Oakland Items")
- [1879] A South Asian man named Wassiamull complained to the San Francisco Chronicle that a Muslim man named Abman had been assaulted or robbed "in a disreputable locality," and gave the name of Wassiamull instead of his own. The article is satirical and racist. [San Francisco Chronicle, July 25 1879, p. 3, "A Hindoo's Complaint"]
- [1890] South Asian peddler Mokad Ali was attacked by an African-American woman with a shovel after she refused to pay him $13 for South Asian goods that he had sold her. [SF Call, Aug 9 1890, p4, "Mokad Ali's Woes"]
- [1890] An unnamed Indian man in Benicia died after drinking heavily, two weeks after he had been jailed for ten days for vagrancy. [Sacramento Daily Union, Jan 1 1890, pg 1, col 3, "A Colored Man Dies From Strong Drink"]
- [1891] A South Asian man name John Thomas had £70 stolen at a Chinese laundry in Alameda [SF Chronicle, Apr 22 1893, p3, "Alameda"]
- [1906] Gurdit Singh reported to the police that he was stabbed and robbed of $20 by three other South Asian men at his home at 10 Hannah Street, Oakland.
- [1906] A man, maybe pretending to be a police officer, detained Mahomet Abraham near 9th and Clay in Oakland, and kept him locked up all night in the Denver lodging house on Washington Street. He was released sometime after the "bunko man" realized that Mahomet only had $0.35 on him. Mahomet had formerly been a valet to Lord Kitchener, and now worked for Oakland printer R.S. Kitchener. ["New Bunko Game is Tried on a Hindoo," SF Chronicle, December 28 1907, page 4]
- [1907 ★] "Roor Singh, an East Indian coolie, was killed by the Berkeley local train in Oakland between Park Avenue and Fortieth Street this morning." [SF Call, Jan 24 1907, p4, "Killed by Train"]
- [1907★] Girindra Mukerji, then living at 2209 Union, reported that a man named Singh was robbed, and others raised $225 on his behalf. But Abdulla Khan, the man who was holding the money, escaped to Honolulu, Hawaii with the cash. The Oakland police hoped to bring him back for trial on an embezzlement charge. [SF Call, 20 Oct 1907, pg. 42, col. 1, "Sends to Honolulu for Hindu Embezzler"]
- [1907] A Hindoo man was arrested for "annoying" at least three young women working at the factories at Franklin and Webster in Oakland. He refused to disclose his name to police. [SF Chronicle, Oct 30 1907, page 15, "Hindoo Arrested for Annoying Young Women"]
- [1907-1908] In November 1907, at least 37 South Asian workers in Oakland were scammed by a white employment agent who collected $400 to supposedly take them to a job. A later story announced the arrest of J.W. Wellington and J.F. Tom of the Bay View Employment Agency in Oakland being arrested for taking fees for jobs that did not exist; two Hindoos, John Namia and George Kravis, were first to complain, but Oakland City Hall was soon "overrun" by "beturbaned" East Indians. In March, employment agent C.C. Patterson was charged with embezzlement for promising the workers employment in Honolulu, then disappearing. ("Hindoos Fleeced by an Employment Agent," SF Chronicle, Nov 12, 1907, pg 11; "Agents' Victims Number Scores," SF Chronicle, 20 Nov 1907, pg. 11, col. 3; "Hindoos Charge Agent With Embezzlement," SF Chronicle, Mar 20, 1908, pg 19)
- [1907 ★] White neighbors tried to instigate police action against three households of South Asian workers in West Berkeley. The police initially refused to comply with attempts to push out these workers, declaring that they would "take any necessary steps to prevent any attack upon the foreigners," fearing "open trouble" if the men "persist" in staying in the neighborhood. Just four days later, when one of the South Asian men apparently started a fight in the back yard, the police descended — arresting 14 South Asian men late at night, none of whom were apparently responsible for starting the fight. The arrests took place after White neighbors started demanding that “the coolies and Hindoos be cleared out of West Berkeley." The police arrested fourteen immigrant men—none of whom were responsible for the fight that was used as an excuse for mass arrests. They were eventually released, after they realized, with the help of one "Moolah Singh," that they had failed to arrest the person causing the disturbance. We have a full write-up of the incident on our Secret Desi History blog. [San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 1907, page 13] [San Francisco Chronicle, December 9, 1907, page 4]
- [1907] Abdul Mohammed caught Abdul Gunay after he stole $208 of cash from Mohammed's locker at his home at 7th and Broadway in Oakland. Mohammed caught Gunay, and turned him over to a police officer. [SF Chronicle, Sep 21 1907, "Hindoo Arrests Fellow Countryman for Theft," page 13]
- [1907] An unnamed Hindoo was accused of entering the home of a Richmond woman. Her husband and two other men chased him to the bay shore, where he was badly beaten. He refused to give his name in jail. [San Francisco Examiner, Oct 26 1907, page 4, col. 1, "Hindoo Charged With An Attack on Woman"]
- [1909] Mirza Singh attempted suicide in Alameda. When he was saved, he refused to respond, suggested that he spoke no English, and appeared to indicate that he came to Alameda to look for his mother. By the next day, authorities discovered that the suicide attempt was fake, and he was hoping to get arrested to get food and lodging in prison; he was subsequently deported to Oakland, where "a number of his countrymen are living."
- [1909 ★] Berkeley Southern Pacific railroad worker Dewar Chand accused two South Asian colleagues of assaulting and robbing him of $15.50. After drinking with fellow Indian section hands in a bunk car at 3rd and Grayson, he was reportedly beaten on the head with a rock, robbed, and had his body thrown on the railroad tracks. The police arrested Joe Jawala and Dave Chand, but didn't find the money. A police investigation described the men's bunk car as filthy and unhealthy. But the two men disclaimed any relationship with their accuser, and were released; the DA said, after hearing from several witnesses, there wasn't enough evidence. [Berkeley Daily Gazette, Aug 23 1909, page 1, "Says He Was Beaten and Thrown on Track"]
- [1909] An African-American woman shot a South Asian man in the city of Gridley, but was not convicted, because the shot, fired point blank, was not fatal, and because he "followed" her — it's unclear whether this suggests that he was stalking her, or that he continued to follow her even after she was shot.
- [1909] A 17-year old presumably-Native American woman stole $285 from a South Asian man in Sacramento. She was sentenced to two years at San Quentin.
- [1909] A South Asian wrestler in Loomis was convicted for attempted robbery, and sentenced to 11 years at San Quentin.
- [1910] "Kwpr Singh" or "K.P.R. Singh" was charged with robbery in Placer County in 1908, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He tried to commit suicide by starvation to avoid being forced to cut his hair, but despite support from South Asians in California, British Columbia, and India, became the first South Asian imprisoned at San Quentin in 1910. His head was shaved and he was forced to wear a prisoner's cap; he objected to the food, but started eating after forced to work in the jute mill.
- [1910] Sewa Singh was robbed of several hundred dollars by a group of East Asians when he came to San Francisco to buy supplies for a group of South Asian laborers in King City, Monterey County.
- [1909 ★] Former University of Washington student Satya Deva, who briefly passed through Berkeley, reported to police that he was assaulted by fellow UW grad Tarak Nath Das at Bancroft and Shattuck in Berkeley, and per the paper, was "severely mauled before witnesses were able to interfere." Deva claimed the fight started after he accused Das of securing money under false pretenses from railroad workers employed by Hindoo workers employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in Berkeley. [Berkeley Daily Gazette, September 16 1910 evening, p. 9, "Charges Hindoo with Battery"]
- [1910] A South Asian man in Oroville, presumably Sikh, was beaten by his friends because he became too "Americanized," discarding his turban and eating like locals
- [1913] Said Ali Khan strangled and murdered Rosa Domingo, an 18 year old Portuguese woman he was involved with, then weighted down her body with iron and threw it in the bay; there were 20 stories about the case in the San Francisco Call alone, with Khan described as a mystic and hypnotist, and using "thugee" techniques. Khan was Punjabi, and 27 at the time of his arrest, and had a wife and mother in India. He and Domingo met while working together at the Metropolitan Match Factory in Stege (near Richmond). He would sometimes have Charles E. Riley, Domingo's "former sweetheart," write letters to Domingo on his behalf. Domingo reported that she was afraid Khan would kill her; he described her demands for money and his impatience with her after he asked her to live with him and her presumed refusal. He eventually strangled her with his necktie as she slept, paid Riley $50 to assist in disposing of her body. Khan escaped after the murder, and police searched South Asian communities across the East Bay, San Francisco, and Peninsula, and near Mount Hamilton; Khan's roommate Musa Khan was arrested, but eventually not charged. Said Ali Khan escaped South, and after a 9 day manhunt, was arrested in Calexico, near San Diego. He made a full confession. Despite early threats of lynching, the trial went ahead. He pled guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment at San Quentin.
- [1915] "Babu Bheem Roy" was sentenced to 5 years in prison at San Quentin for incest, after about 35 years living in the U.S. He subsequently applied to the governor for a pardon, saying he was innocent and also citing the fact that he had tuberculosis. This is a long and complicated story. We have a full writeup of Babu Bheem Roy's life and crimes on our Secret Desi History blog.
- [1915 ★] Berkeley police were called in after a dispute between an unnamed "Hindu" and a Black woman "Mrs. E. Endrews," who called the police about a dispute regarding a cleaning bill. The relation between the two is never made clear. Is she the property owner, or maybe a domestic worker? Is he the cleaner? The article is both racist, and vague on the details that interest us (though it may have been more clear to a contemporary reader). ["Colored Lady 'Lows No Man to Annoy Her," Berkeley Daily Gazette, Jan 18 1915, p1, col 6]
- [1917-1927] A number of South Asians appear among the horrific "Sacramento Police Department ethnic groups wanted bulletins" from 1917-1927. This is a scrapbook of "wanted" notices for non-White men sent to the Sacramento, California police department. Many of the men are from across California and as far north as Oregon. Most are not connected to the Bay Area, but one man is from San Jose, and another was briefly sighted in San Francisco.
- [1919-1921] Three South Asian men in Petaluma apparently attempted burglary against another man, Jam Dad, in the wake of an apparent wrestling bet gone bad. Dad went on to murder two of the men, John Gool and Said Achmed.
- [1920] Mahar Singh was convicted of first degree murder for killing "Rhean Singh" in Sacramento in 1919, as well as the murders of Bamman Singh and Brahm Singh. Mahar Singh was a timekeeper, and "when charged with stealing laborer' funds, secured a gun and killed three of his accusers." He eluded arrest for 9 months, as he chased from Martinez to Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and finally back to San Francisco, where he was arrested as he was trying to board a steamer to India. Singh pleaded insanity. He was hanged at San Quentin.
- [1921] Mahoo Ram was convicted for stabbing Vanta Singh during a fight in Sacramento. Singh refused to swear to a complain against his attacker.
- [1921-1927] Gaudet Singh of Imperial Valley shot and killed his wife in El Centro in 1921. While the British consul asked the court to allow extra time to investigate the case, Singh was sentenced to be hanged at San Quentin in 1922. But after the report of an alienist [psychologist], he was pronounced insane, and sent to the Napa State Hospital for the Insane. In 1927, the "Hindu wife slayer" and "maniac Hindu murderer" went "violently insane" two days before he was to be hanged at San Quentin, and escaped with the help of a hospital attendant.
- [1922] Afghan Gul Mohammed was sentenced to death for the murder of Ali Akbar, a rancher in Petaluma. After he was imprisoned at San Quentin, he and his lawyers told the court that while he was a witness, Akbar was murdered by three other South Asians, who had escaped.
- [1924] Student Arjan Singh Brar was murdered by his landlord in Marysville, CA.