Pulled rickshaw

Rickshaws (or rickshas) are a mode of human-powered transport: a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two persons. The word rickshaw came from Asia where they were mainly used. However, in more recent times rickshaws have been outlawed in many countries in Asia. Many Western cities like New York City have adopted bicycle rickshaws but with different names like pedal-cabs. The term "rickshaw" is today commonly used for those vehicles as well, but this article deals exclusively with runner-pulled rickshaws.

The word "rickshaw" originates from the Japanese word jinrikisha (人力車, 人 jin = human, 力 riki = strength, 車 sha = vehicle), which literally means "human-powered vehicle."

History

The 1707 painting "Les deux carrosses" by Claude Gillot shows two rickshaw-like carts in a comical scene. These carts, known as vinaigrettes because of their resemblance to the wheel barrows of vinegar makers, were used in the streets of Paris in the 17th and 18th century. (Fresnault-Deruelle, 2005)

Rickshaws first appeared in Japan around 1868, with the beginning of the Meiji period. They soon became a popular mode of transportation, since they were faster than the previously used palanquins (and human labor was considerably cheaper than using horses).

The identity of the inventor (if there was one) remains uncertain. Some sources give the American blacksmith Albert Tolman, who is said to have invented the rickshaw around 1848 in Worcester, Massachusetts for a missionary; others claim that Jonathan Scobie (or W. Goble), an American missionary to Japan, invented rickshaws around 1869 to transport his invalid wife through the streets of Yokohama. Still others say the rickshaw was designed by an American Baptist minister in 1888. Japanese sources often credit Izumi Yosuke, Suzuki Tokujiro, and Takayama Kosuke, who are said to have invented rickshaws in 1868, inspired by the horse carriages that had been introduced to the steets of Tokyo shortly before. Starting in 1870, the Tokyo government issued a permission to build and sell rickshaws to these three men; the seal of one of these inventors was also required on every license to operate a rickshaw.

By 1872, some 40,000 rickshaws were operating in Tokyo; they soon became the chief form of public transportation in Japan. (Powerhouse Museum, 2005; The Jinrikisha story, 1996)

Around 1880, rickshaws appeared in India, first in Simla and then, 20 years later, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Here they were initially used by Chinese traders to transport goods; in 1914 the Chinese applied for permission to use rickshaws to transport passengers. Soon after, rickshaws appeared in many big cities in Southeast Asia; pulling a rickshaw was often the first job for peasants migrating to these cities.

In China, rickshaws were banned after the Communist takeover in 1949. (WebIndia, 2005)

Also see The Dosa Boys, http://dosaboys.blogspot.com/

United Kingdom

Pedicab rickshaws have been operating on the streets of Soho. There are reports of 600 operating in and around the environs of West London.

Republic of Ireland

Dublin first saw the humble rickshaw on its streets in 1996, a rickshaw company based in Canada set up a fleet of 20 rickshaws, building them from tubular steel, Dublin people used to call them the becks rickshaws on account of there advertising, however this company was actually called the original rickshaw company. The people of Dublin both locals and tourists alike were supprised at first to see such an oriental consept in Ireland, people began to use the rickshaws for getting about from pubs to pubs to clubs or a quick ride around Templebar later that year 12 pedicab rickshaws were imorted by a wine club owner called B. McDonald who started Pedicabs Ireland. A year later J. Ralf & J. Utah former Pedicab Ireland riders set up a small fleet of hand pulled rickshaws called the Silver Rickshaw company. The last hand pulled rickshaw Company was to be formed by ex Pedicab Ireland Manager B.Wheeler. This was in the summer of 2001 called simply The Rickshaw Co. The company quickly grew with 6 pedicabs added to its fleet of newly built 12 new concept hand pulled rickshaws . The attacks on America on 9/11/01 dammaged the new indusrty and many of the companys above are no longer opperating with exception of the Silver Rickshaws.

United States

In many major cities, because yellow cabs licenses medallions are artificially capped, bicycle rickshaws have been used for about a decade.

Kolkata

As of 2005, the last sizeable fleet of true rickshaws can be found in Kolkata (Calcutta), where the rickshaw puller union resisted prohibition.

Several major streets have been closed to rickshaw traffic since 1972, and in 1982 the city seized over 12,000 rickshaws and destroyed them. In 1992, it was estimated that over 30,000 rickshaws were operating in the city, all but 6,000 of them illegally, lacking a license (no new licenses have been issued since 1945). The large majority of rickshaw pullers rent their rickshaws for a few dollars per shift. They live cheaply in hostels, trying to save money to send home. (Eide, 1993)

In August 2005, the Communist government of West Bengal announced plans to completely ban rickshaws, resulting in protests and strikes of the pullers. (WebIndia, 2005)

They have finally officially been banned in November 2006 by an ordnance of West Bengal government along with so far pending government promises of rehabitating the poor rickshaw pullers.

Matheran

Matheran, India is a tourist hill station near Mumbai. It is an eco-sensitive zone where motor vehicles are banned so man-pulled rickshaws are still one of the major forms of transport there.

Bangladesh

Rickshaws are also available all over the Bangladesh. It is a very popular ride here. This ride is usually used for short distance journey. Rickshaw puller is known as "rickshawala" in Bangla/Bengali.

Pakistan

Cycle rickshaws and jin ricksaws have officially been outlawed in Pakistan since the late 50s/early 60s. The country remains home to a large number of auto-rickshaws.

Hong Kong

Rickshaws were first imported from Japan to Hong Kong in 1874. They were a popular form of transport for many years, peaking at more than 3,000 in the 1920s. However, their popularity waned after World War II. No new licenses for rickshaws have been issued since 1975, and only a few old men--about 15 as of 1999, and only four as of 2002--still ply their trade, mainly by posing for pictures.[1]

South Africa

South Africa is unique in that it is the only African nation to have their own indigenous Rickshaw pullers of non-Asian extraction. The many registered Zulu rickshaw pullers, with their gigantic hats and colourful clothing, are a major tourist attraction in the city of Durban.

Tourist attractions

Rickshaws are a tourist attraction in the Asakusa region of Tokyo; in the main temple area of Kyoto; at Star Ferry pier at Edinburgh Place; on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong; on Cijin Island in Kaohsiung; in areas of London's Chinatown, and in downtown Toronto. In all of these places, they are mainly for tourists.

Books, films, TV

An early Rudyard Kipling story has the title The Phantom Rickshaw (1885). In it a young Englishman has a romance aboard a ship bound for India. There he marries another woman and his original love dies of a broken heart. After that, on excursions around the city of Simla, he frequently sees the ghost of the deceased driving around in her yellow-panelled rickshaw, though nobody else seems to notice the phenomenon.

The 1936 novel Luotuo Xiangzi by Lao She describes the life of a rickshaw runner in Beijing in the 1920s. The English version Rickshaw Boy became a U.S. bestseller in 1945; it was an unauthorized translation that added a happy ending to the story. In 1982, the original version was made into a film of the same title.

The 1953 Bollywood film Do Bigha Zameen, directed by Bimal Roy, describes the fate of an impoverished farmer who becomes a rickshaw puller in Kolkata.

In the 1992 film City of Joy (whose title refers to Kolkata), Om Puri plays a rickshaw puller, revealing the economic and emotional hardship that these underpaid workers face on a day-to-day basis.

In the episode The Bookstore of the American sitcom Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman import rickshaws to New York City, for the purpose of running a business. They intend to employ members of the city's homeless population; however, one steals their rickshaw. The two recover the rickshaw, and Newman forces Kramer to transport him uphill, a voyage Kramer is unable to make.

In Pearl S. Buck's 1931 novel The Good Earth, hero Wang Lung leaves his land to travel southward during a drought. He ends up in the city of Kiangsu, where he becomes a rickshaw puller in order to support his family.

In 2006 Documentary film Men of burden Pedeling towards a Horizon Set in the city of Pondicherry, a Union Territory in South East India, the Documentary film uncovers the story of disappearing Cycle rickshaw drivers living in abject poverty

References

Powerhouse Museum Sydney, Description of object H626, Japanese rickshaw. Accessed September 20, 2005. Contains information about the history of rickshaws.
The Jinrikisha story, The East, November-December 1996. History of the rickshaw in Japan.
Pierre Fresnault-Deruelle, Préséances. Information on Les Deux Carrosses and vinaigrettes (French)
Elisabeth Eide, The coolies of Calcutta - Indian rickshaw drivers, World Press Review, Jan 1993. Describes situation of rickshaw drivers in Calcutta.

External links

International Rickshawforum
Rickshaw! A blog collecting the inscriptions on the back of rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws
Rickshaw Traffic - video blog from Comilla, Bangladesh
Rickshaw : dekh magar pyar se A blog entry glancing past, present and future of rickshaw