The Politics of Footwear in Imperial India

In 1805, a British official visited the court of the Peshwa in Pune. Writing later, he described his host as "much the handsomest Hindu I have seen," with a perfect "gentlemanlike air."

- Manu S. Pillai

His appearance, James Mackintosh added, "had more elegance than dignity" and didn't quite fit his preconceptions of what a leading prince would look like. The Peshwa was dressed in simple garments, and his "throne," in an equally unassuming durbar hall, was just a sheet of white, with a few pillows thrown over it. But Mackintosh had another specifically interesting comment to make: "no lady's hands, fresh from the toilet and the bath," he wrote, "could be more nicely clean than the Peshwa's uncovered feet." The white man's attention to feet need not surprise us, for this part of the human anatomy played a significant role in colonial politics. Mackintosh himself, as he entered the Peshwa's presence, had had to remove his "splendidly embroidered slippers," and go in with toes (nearly) exposed (he probably kept his stockings on).

Across the centuries of their presence in India, issues around shoes and feet would haunt the British repeatedly. For instance, in 1633 when Ralph Cartwright, an English envoy, sought permission to trade from the Mughal governor of Orissa, the latter "presented his foot to our Merchant to kiss." Twice Cartwright refused to bend, but in the end "was fain to do it." The symbolism is obvious: one party was the superior, the other a supplicant. In Mughal court culture this was not necessarily an insult: as the historian Harbans Mukhia observes, imperial foot-kissing was often a privilege, and most had to make do with touching lips on carpets or the ground instead. It is likely that by offering his foot to Cartwright, the Mughal governor was indicating favor. Yet, the same ritual could also, of course, be deployed to humiliate. In 1520, when the Bijapur sultan sued for peace after losing to Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara, the emperor agreed—provided the sultan kiss his feet. Bijapur declined and the war continued.