Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company

In the early 20th century, the British India Steam Navigation Company (BISNC) had a monopoly over trade in the Indian Ocean region. The merchants of Tuticorin, a port city in South India, decided to break the monopoly. They hired a ship from the Shawline Steam Company to run between Tuticorin and Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. After the intervention of the British Raj, the hired company withdrew the lending.[3]

During this time, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, a pleader from Tuticorin who was involved in the Swadeshi movement, which argued for self-reliance, started a navigation company as an act of political and financial opposition to the British.[3]

Pillai registered the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company on 16 October 1906 with a capital of ₹10 lakh (worth ₹2,000 crore in 2019 prices) from the issue of 40,000 shares.[3] Pillai formed the company not for profit but for ideals of nationalism. Any individuals in Asia were eligible to hold the shares.[3] Pandithurai Thevar, the zamindar of Palavanatham, bought ₹2 lakh (equivalent to ₹6.6 crore or US$830,000 in 2023) of shares by selling Pambur, a village in his zamin;[4] Thevar became the president and Pillai became the assistant secretary.[3] The objective of the company was to run a ship between Tuticorin and Colombo and also to train Asians in navigation and ship building.[3] Pillai toured throughout India to raise money for the company,[5] while poet Subramanya Bharathi wrote essays about its importance.[6] The first ship, the SS Galia, was purchased from France[5] with the help of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghose[7] and arrived in Tuticorin in 1907. The ship travelled between Tuticorin and Colombo and could carry 1300 passengers and 40,000 bags of cargo.[8] The ship bore a flag with the slogan "Vande mataram".[8] It would later be joined by another French ship, the SS Lavo.[5]

A trade war broke out between the SSNC and BISNC; when the BISNC reduced the fare to one rupee, Pillai reduced the fare to 50 paisa. The BISNC then gave free umbrellas to passengers.[9] Due to nationalist sentiment, the SSNC received support from traders and passengers even when the BISNC offered free service.[5] The BISNC, with the help of the British Raj, suppressed the activities of the SSNC by denying it the place and time schedule in the port[10] and delaying the medical and customs clearance of SSNC passengers.[8] In 1908, Pillai was part of a group that planned to celebrate the release of independence advocate Bipin Chandra Pal from prison as Swarajya (self-rule) day.[11] In response, on 12 March 1908, the British arrested Subramania Siva and Pillai on charges of sedition for organising meetings against the government.[12] Pillai was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment (40 years).[13] During his jail term, the British Raj further suppressed the activities of the company, and shareholders withdrew following harassment from the authorities.[3] The SSNC liquidated in 1911, and one of the ships was sold to its rival British company.[13]

On 17 June 1911, the collector of Tinnevely District, Robert Ashe, was shot dead at Maniyachchi Junction railway station by Vanchinathan, a member of a secret society.[11] During the trial, it was revealed that Vanchinathan considered Ashe to be responsible for the suppression of the SSNC.[11]

In Tamil Nadu, Pillai is remembered as Kapallotiyya Tamilan (the Tamilan who sailed ships).[14] The Government of India changed the name of the Tuticorin Port Trust to the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust to honour Pillai's contribution towards the Indian independence movement.[15]