The Punkah: A Colonial Device and a Story of Exploitation of poor workers by Europeans in India

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In the scorching heat of Indian summers in the plains, the British elite in colonial India sought the comfort under the slow sway of a ceiling-hung cloth fan known as the punkah. Derived from the Hindustani word pankha, itself from the Sanskrit paksha (meaning "wing"), the punkah became a staple of colonial life and  household name among  the rich by the late 18th century. Initially referring to handheld fans, the term evolved by the early 19th century to describe large, rope-operated fans made of cloth stretched over a wooden or cane frame. These were suspended from ceilings in courtrooms, offices, barracks, churches, and homes, their rhythmic motion dependent on human effort. Their presence made the people comfortable indoors. At one  stage they became inevitable.

Punkawallah, Alamy.com

The operators of these punkahs, known as  punkah-wallahs made the sahibs, women shahibas and others comfortable both day and night to be free from sultry  conditions. The punkah-wallahs - men often drawn from lower castes or marginalized communities, including sweepers and palanquin-bearers were employed to  manually operate the fans for hours, even using their feet while lying on mats in adjoining rooms. Employed mostly between March and October, punkah-wallahs eventually became permanent fixtures of colonial households. As the punkah spread across Southeast Asia and even the American South, their toil remained hidden behind walls or doors, the rope passing through holes to maintain caste segregation and privacy.

Dowsing Punkahwallah, Colonial India
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Life for these servants was harsh in the colonial era because  of poor  pay and lack of needed proper food and rest, with the ends of their hair tied to strings to prevent them from sleeping on the job. Any lapse, even momentary drowsiness, often resulted in severe punishment - sometimes even death. British officers also feared that punkah-wallahs might overhear confidential conversations among them. To avoid leaks, individuals with  poor hearing were sometimes deliberately hired.

Resentment brewed among  the workers who  worked day and night for the English men's comfort andgood  sleep at night. A notable strike by punkah-wallahs in 1898 highlighted their growing frustration and likely accelerated the shift toward mechanization. By the early 20th century, electric ceiling fans rendered the punkah obsolete. Yet remnants of these devices endure — in places like the Agra barracks, the Kanpur Memorial Church, and the Church of St. Francis in Kochi — silent witnesses to a grim chapter of colonial servitude, endurance, and forgotten resistance. The  humble workers Stockley tolerated the over explotation by the colonists. Based on the post: https://www.navrangindia.in/2015/10/punkah-hand-operated-hanging-fan.html

https://scroll.in/article/1028513/amidst-uk-heatwave-a-reminder-of-how-british-colonials-exploited-punkah-walas-in-indias-summers

https://www.deccanherald.com/features/art-and-culture/a-sordid-story-of-exploitation-3615679

https://servantspasts.wordpress.com/2020/08/10/the-punkah-and-its-pullers-a-short-histor