Punkahs and the Punkahwallas in British India

Before electric fans arrived elsewhere and in India, people used manual hand fans to keep themselves cool during summers. Yet, the British babus could not accept this self-fanning system so instead, they developed the first punkahs or the ceilings fans. However, in the absence of electricity, the task of moving these fans was undertaken by a separate class of servants, known as the punkhawallas.

The early 'punkahs' or manual ceiling fans were introduced during the British period. Image Source: Amusing Planet

We are all used to several things today, things like electricity, refrigerator, and so on. Yet, we do not acknowledge them enough for the vital role they play in our lives. One of these things is the ceiling fan, which remains under-appreciated. The modest ceiling fan at our home keeps spinning, offering respite to people, during the hot summer seasons.

When we picture a ceiling fan, the typical image that comes to our mind is that of a circular base with three extended 'wings' or blades that rotate through electric power. But could you imagine a ceiling fan that is rectangular in shape, made of makeshift materials like a cloth draped over a wooden frame and worked on manually? You would be amazed to find that they indeed existed, not very long ago. 

The earliest punkahs or ceiling fans were designed by the British elites in India to relieve themselves of the unbearable heat of the tropical country.

These punkahs were very similar to the hand fans used by the royals in earlier times except that they are hung from the ceiling to give a more uniform cooling effect across the room.

The class of punkah pullers were quite indispensable to the British, until the electric ceiling fans were introduced in the 20th century. The coming of the electric fans led to the complete removal of the profession of punkahwallas and the beautifully handcrafted punkahs too lost their appeal.

But in the absence of electricity, how were these punkahs managed? Certainly, the elite British folks would not have taken this tiresome task upon themselves!

Instead, they hired a separate class of servants called punkahwallas who operated these manual ceiling fans by means of a rope and a pulley. Every room with these fans, had a servant each, who sat on the other side of the room, and tirelessly pulled at the strings of the fan like a puppeteer, keeping their white masters and mistresses cool and comfortable.

Sounds quite pathetic, doesn't it? But the punkahwallas didn't think so. Although monotonous, the job was easy as it required no hard physical labour. Instead, they could sit at one spot the entire day, moving only their hand in a rhythmic to and fro motion, creating drafts of air for their colonial masters. The British folks used to complain quite often about their laziness.

The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, a book by Flora Annie Steel and Grace Gardener for instance, includes a section about the punkahwallas, talking particularly about their laziness:

"The presence of a punkah rope in a coolie's hand seems positively to have a soporific (inducing drowsiness/sleepiness) effect on him".

Even then, the British could not get rid of this class of servants. However, they were quite particular about who they wanted to recruit as their punkahwallas so the job was actually quite harder to get. Since these servants were within earshot and hence, privy to all the conversations of the British, the latter took extra measures to prevent their private matters from leaking out. For these reasons, they often employed servants who were deaf or at least partially impaired for the role of punkahwallas! In other cases, the ropes were made to pass across the room through a hole on the wall and the punkah pullers sat outside the room operating them.

The early punkahs were operated by a separate class of servants, the punkahwallas. Image Source: Amusing

The early ceiling fans were rectangular in shape and were manually operated. Image Source: Old Pictures