ABSTRACT
This chapter examines an eighteenth-century VOC court case revolving around an escaped enslaved man named Barrido, who tried to break into a shop in Malabar. Through the lens of this court case, this chapter reflects on the ‘strategies of difference’ employed by the Dutch East India Company on the Malabar coast in the eighteenth century and what kind of effects this had on people’s daily lives. Barrido is categorized as a slave, a Pulaya (a member of an agrestic slave caste), and a Catholic. Catholics were a privileged group under VOC rule, and could rely on the Company’s protection. Pulayas were enslaved in very large numbers and were exported through a system overseen by the VOC. What did it mean for Barrido to belong to these seemingly paradoxical categories? The VOC seems remarkably untroubled by Barrido’s status as a slave and a Christian, while in another court case, concerning a runaway Christian slave girl Cali, this is a major theme. What explains these different reactions? The chapter will answer these questions by reflecting on the VOC’s relation to Catholics and agrestic slaves. The VOC’s strategy of difference meant that these categories could have a large impact on people’s lives, but they were not fixed, and enslaved people could challenge their categorization in order to improve their position.
