Scenes of British India (2 Viewers)

[ROAN]

“I craved for the past, resented the present, and dreaded the future”

-Wilfred Thesiger, KBE, DSO
from Arabian Sands

The photos below are of the Park Street Cemetery and the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta.

The Park Street Cemetery is the most famous of the old European cemeteries in India. It’s filled with graves of the nabobs, soldiers, wives, children of early Calcutta-
many of whom died within “two monsoons” of arriving or being born in India.

The Victoria Memorial, to the great queen, was built on the site of the old race course on the huge maidan that faces Chowringee Rd., the main shopping avenue of British Calcutta. The memorial is made almost entirely of white marble. To the northwest of the memorial is the site of the second Fort William; the first Fort William(of “Black Hole” fame) was situated further north where Calcutta’s main Post Office now stands.

See a 1893 Murray map of Calcutta here


For some great photos of Calcutta taken by the U.S. military, circa 1947, go here

 

[ROAN]

Re: Scenes of British India: Cawnpore

Cawnpore(Kanpur)like Calcutta was just a village before the British turned it into a prosperous commercial(mainly textiles) city.

The red sandstone church(All Soul’s) was built on the site of Wheeler’s entrenchment as a memorial to those who died during its defense against the mutineers and Nana Sahib’s forces. Inside, the walls are covered with memorials dedicated to the fallen.

The stone pillar marks one of the entrenchment’s corner boundaries.

The marble angel once covered the well where the bodies of the women and children were thrown down after being butchered in the Bibighar by the Nana Sahib’s men. After Independence the memorial was moved from its original location in a downtown park(the site of the Bibighar) to behind the church.

See Murray map here of Cawnpore, circa 1893(the Memorial Church is just to the right of the T in Cantonment)

 

[ROAN]

Re: Scenes of British India:Benares

This church, situated in the middle of Benares cantonment, like most cantonment churches in India is slowly disintegrating. Inside there’s a wall plaque commemorating a Sunday service attended by Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip in the early 50s.

 

[ROAN]

Re: Scenes of British India:Agra

Photo of another cantonment church-this one in Agra. There’s a good chance that Frank Richards, Royal Welch Fusiliers & author of Old Soldier Sahib, attended services here. Looking at the map from the link below, his barracks might have been situated near the southwest corner of the yellow cantonment border.

The other photo is of Agra’s famous Mughal Fort. Agra’s European community took refuge behind here during the Mutiny. Also, the Fort figures prominently in Conan Doyle’s “The Sign of the Four”.

Map of Agra & British cantonment here

 

[ROAN]

Re: Scenes of British Indiaelhi

Inside the Red Fort, not too far from the Kashmiri Gate, is the palace where the Mughal emperors lived until 1857(the Fort sometimes can be seen in the background of Durbar procession photos).

It was an incredibly opulent palace-with marble walls encrusted with semi-precious jewels(which the British soldiers pried out w/their bayonets), running hot & cold water, fountains, gardens, etc. On the cornice of the main audience chamber(where the Peacock Throne once stood until the Persians carted it away) is the following inscription written in gold Persian script(translation):

If there be a Paradise upon earth.
It is this. It is this. It is this.

First photo: The Kashmiri Gate

2nd photo: Old Magazine gate, Lothian Rd.

3rd photo: grave of Brig. Gen. John Nicholson

Murray map of Dehli, circa 1893 here

Most of the European cemeteries in India, including the one that Nicholson is buried in are in worse shape than the churches. Many are inhabited by squatters, used as latrines, or are being reclaimed by India’s urban sprawl.

I wrote about all this in an article “Visiting India’s Land of Regrets” here(note: you’ll need to increase your browser’s font size to read it). Also on this page there’s links to organizations like BACSA who are dedicated to preserving these old cemeteries.

Finally, two good sources for photos of 19th-early 20th century British India:


http://www.harappa.com/photo3/index.html

The Gertrude Bell Project:

http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/

See the following albums:

Album RTW Vol. 1 & 2-India, Pakistan 1902-3

 

[Louis Badolato]

Amazing photographs. Thank you very much. It is wonderful to see the places about which I have so often read.

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi Roan

Those were wonderful photos. I havent been over to India yet. Maybe some day. When did you go?

All the best

Dave

 

[kilted vampire]

Great pictures for architectural ideas to be included in a future dio. Thank you! What time of the year did you go? What were your impressions of the places you saw?

 

[ROAN]

Great pictures for architectural ideas to be included in a future dio. Thank you! What time of the year did you go? What were your impressions of the places you saw?

So many impressions-but to sum up India can be both wondrous-the history, culture, sights etc.- and totally exasperating!

 

[ROAN]

Hi Roan

Those were wonderful photos. I havent been over to India yet. Maybe some day. When did you go?

All the best

Dave

Hi Dave,

The Delhi, Agra photos were taken in ‘96. The others were taken in the late 80s.

Best,

Geoff

 

[kilted vampire]

Exasperating? How so Roan?

 

[ROAN]

Exasperating? How so Roan?

The heat, dust, pollution that makes your eyes water, the high decibel noise, the constant stream of beggars & touts, the red tape(this phrase was actually coined from the way the Indian Gov. bureaucracy(circa 1890s)would tie stacks of forms, papers together with red tape!), etc. But there must be something about the country because I keep coming back for more-four times so far.

Best,

Geoff

 

[kilted vampire]

A tout in Ireland is an informer. I take it that it does not have the same meaning in India? Four more times? It is a big country.... Do you take the trains?

 

[ROAN]

A tout in Ireland is an informer. I take it that it does not have the same meaning in India? Four more times? It is a big country.... Do you take the trains?

I meant tout in its common American English definition. Yes, I did take the trains.

While I appreciate the polite interest in my travels and enjoy talking about my favorite subject-Yours Truly- what I was really hoping for when I posted this thread was a discussion generated by some of the topics in my posts or the links I’ve suggested, i.e.:

The Indian Mutiny
Siege of Delhi
Brig. Gen. John Nicholson(the NW Frontier, Guides Corps, Peshawar, Pathans, Delhi Siege Train)
Cawnpore
Indian Army
British Army in India
Dehli Durbars
Old cemeteries, churches, cantonments in India
The transitory nature of empires or life
Gertrude Bell(or her friends, contemporaries, fellow explorers: Richard F. Burton, T.E. Lawrence, *St. John Philby(father of H.A.R. “Kim” Philby), Wilfred Thesiger, or British occupation of Iraq)
19th or early 20th century photographs of India or photographers



* St. John Philby’s last words: “God, I’m bored”.

Best,

Geoff

 

[Louis Badolato]

Okay Geoff,

I'll get the ball rolling. One of my all time favorite subjects to read about in both fiction and non-fiction is the British Raj in India, particularly the military presence, from the early wars of conquest (Charles Napier's mythical one word telegram upon his conquest of the Scinde - "Peccavi" [latin for "I have sinned"; Hugh Gough's famous statement at the Battle of Chillianwallah during the Second Sikh War when informed he was out of artillery ammunition "Thank God, now we can be at them with the bayonet") to the Northwest Frontier (General Elphinstone's disasterous retreat from Kabul during the first Afghan War, "Little Bob's Robert's famous march from Kabul to Kandahar, the Siege of Chitral), but clearly the most brutal (on both sides) and fascinating military occurrence in the history of the Raj was the Sepoy Mutiny. From the moment Sowar Pandie took down his English officer (thus giving the mutineers their slang nickname "Pandies") through the various massacres of women and children, to Sir Colin Campbell's relief column, this is an absolutely riviting period in history. The characters involved, from Campbell and Nicolson through the Ranni of Jansi, have become legends. The images of the dozens of women and children massacred and thrown down that infamous well, and of the vengeful British troops forcing captured Pandies to lick a square foot of blood from the floor around the well before blowing them from guns or other means of execution, run rampant in my imagination, making my blood run cold. The King of Nepal sending thousands of Gurkhas to assist the British Forces (so recently his enemies) in putting down the mutiny. British forces being redirected from around the Empire to put down the mutiny and rescue the besieged civilians. The Indians frustrated by a century of British Dominian finally rising up against their conquerors. I could discuss this subject for days.

 

[ROAN]

Louis,

Re: “Charles Napier's mythical one word telegram upon his conquest of the Scinde - "Peccavi" [latin for "I have sinned"

Or how about Campbell’s alleged message “I’m in luck now” after he lifted the siege?(wrote a Military History magazine article about the Siege & Relief here)


Have you read John Masters' books about India? His Bugles and a Tiger is fantastic and his novels are also very good-they take place starting in the early 19th century and end with Bhowani Junction toward Independence.

Anyway, thanks for the post-hopefull it will start off some interesting discussions.

Best,

Geoff

 

[Louis Badolato]

Louis,

Re: “Charles Napier's mythical one word telegram upon his conquest of the Scinde - "Peccavi" [latin for "I have sinned"

Or how about Campbell’s alleged message “I’m in luck now” after he lifted the siege?(wrote a Military History magazine article about the Siege & Relief here)


Have you read John Masters' books about India? His Bugles and a Tiger is fantastic and his novels are also very good-they take place starting in the early 19th century and end with Bhowani Junction toward Independence.

Anyway, thanks for the post-hopefull it will start off some interesting discussions.

Best,

Geoff

The latin for "I am in Luck Now", coined by one of his officers for Sir Colin Campbell is "Nunc Fortunatus Sum".

I will never forget reading an account of the torture and murder of the women and children at that infamous well in Cawnpore. There is an account of a small child hung alive by his neck from a hook while he slowly died. Had I been with the 93rd under Campbell I am certain I would have committed unspeakable acts of revenge on the pandies as well, no matter how just their underlying cause may have been.

I will certainly try to chase down John Master's books about India. Allow me to mention a few novels about the Raj I have enjoyed:

Flashman, Flashman and the Mountain of Light, and Flashman in the Great Game, by George MacDonald Fraser (my favorite author);

Anything by Rudyard Kipling (my second favorite author), especially Plain Tails from the Hills, Kim, the Jungle Books and Soldiers Three;

The Saber's Edge by Allan Mallinson (A real Cavalry Officer, who also wrote some cool Napoleonic era cavalry movels);

and of course, The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye, perhaps the best fictional account of the Raj ever written.

regards,

Louis

 

[ROAN]

The latin for "I am in Luck Now", coined by one of his officers for Sir Colin Campbell is "Nunc Fortunatus Sum".

I will never forget reading an account of the torture and murder of the women and children at that infamous well in Cawnpore. There is an account of a small child hung alive by his neck from a hook while he slowly died. Had I been with the 93rd under Campbell I am certain I would have committed unspeakable acts of revenge on the pandies as well, no matter how just their underlying cause may have been.

I will certainly try to chase down John Master's books about India. Allow me to mention a few novels about the Raj I have enjoyed:

Flashman, Flashman and the Mountain of Light, and Flashman in the Great Game, by George MacDonald Fraser (my favorite author);

Anything by Rudyard Kipling (my second favorite author), especially Plain Tails from the Hills, Kim, the Jungle Books and Soldiers Three;

The Saber's Edge by Allan Mallinson (A real Cavalry Officer, who also wrote some cool Napoleonic era cavalry movels);

and of course, The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye, perhaps the best fictional account of the Raj ever written.

regards,

Louis

Louis,

I just happened to be re-reading Flashman and the Mountain of Light! My favorite is the first Flashman and Flashman & the Great Game. I haven’t read the Mallinson book so will be on the lookout for it-thanks. I’ve read the Mollie Kaye book as well as “Shadow of the Moon” which is about 1857. She’s also written a two nonfiction books about her life-one is about her early days in India-The Sun in the Morning-which is full of wonderful descriptions of old Dehli-a vanished world(esp. compared to what it’s like now!).

The Siege of Krishnapur is another very good novel about the Mutiny(by J.G. Farrell).

Best,

Geoff

 

[ROAN]

Louis,

I just happened to be re-reading Flashman and the Mountain of Light! My favorite is the first Flashman and Flashman & the Great Game. I haven’t read the Mallinson book so will be on the lookout for it-thanks. I’ve read the Mollie Kaye book as well as “Shadow of the Moon” which is about 1857. She’s also written a two nonfiction books about her life-one is about her early days in India-The Sun in the Morning-which is full of wonderful descriptions of old Dehli-a vanished world(esp. compared to what it’s like now!).

The Siege of Krishnapur is another very good novel about the Mutiny(by J.G. Farrell).

Best,

Geoff

Forgot to mention another book about the Mutiny-“Our Bones Are Scattered”-the definitive account of Cawnpore. This is historical writing at its best and well balanced too(written by Andrew Ward).

 

[Louis Badolato]

Wow Geoff! I have got a lot of books to buy. Thanks for the information. These all seem right up my alley.