The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History

by Sanjeev Sanyal

Nonetheless, while researching this book, I was surprised to come across the following line in Rhodes’ final will and testament: ‘No student shall be qualified or disqualified for election to a Scholarship on account of his race or religious opinions.’25 This is a remarkably liberal statement given the context of the times and Rhodes’ reputation as a racist. Perhaps like Ashoka he wanted future generations to think well of him. Or perhaps he had more shades of grey than I had imagined. The first black Rhodes Scholar was elected as early as 1907 and this elicited such a backlash in the United States that American selection committees did not award the scholarship to another black student till 1963. The Rhodes Trust to its credit, however, persisted with its open policy in other parts of the world and non-whites continued to be elected (Queensland 1908, Jamaica 1910 and so on).