Trivia 101: Dubashes -Dubashes is a word coined from two Hindi words, dho- two + bash- languages. It literally means a man of two languages. During the days of the East India company it was popularly used to describe the Indians who acted as translators for the trader & locals1/8

As the power and influence of the colonizers grew the importance of Dubashes in madras presidency society grew. They became middlemen between the locals and the foreigners. They used their position to swindle money from both traders and local merchants. 2/8

For instance, they fixed low prices for the Indian goods with the natives by stating that the European traders would not pay more and fixed high prices for the same telling the European traders that the natives never lowered their prices. The difference was pocketed by the dubash

Over the years the English started to rely more and more on the Dubashes for their governance. They were tasked with dealing with the grievances of the locals and became the only avenue through which the locals could reach their ruler's ear. 4/8

The dubashes of madras using their position of power became notorious for their corruption and lies. This practice created a taboo on the word Dubash which slowly evolved to "Dubakoor" a Tamil colloquial word still in use today which is used to refer to someone who lies 5/8

Most of the dubashes of madras were revered man in the city. Several roads in the city are named after them today. Avadhanam Paupiah (now Pappa) Road in the Choolai in Chennai is named after the most famous dubash who was close to the holland brothers, former governors of madras.

The holland brothers were notoriously corrupt and with the help of paupiah they removed Haliburton , an officer of revenue who was looking to into their deeds. The brothers Hollond met their downfall owing to their inaction when Tipu Sultan invaded Travancore in 1789. 7/8

After their removal, Haliburton lobbied the company to look into the corrupt activities of Paupiah. He was found guilty along with his brothers was imprisoned and fined. He was so famous that he was depicted as a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel The surgeon's daughter. 8/8