13
When Lord Salisbury asked the Russian Minister of the Interior how many agents the Tsar had in India, the reply came as a shock.
… Throughout the nineteenth century, London was afraid that the Russian Empire would invade India through Afghanistan … Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India … Lord Salisbury once remarked to General Ignatieff that, unless rumour lied, Russia had many agents in India … we have literally thousands of most useful agents in India … are headed by your own Viceroy, and they include almost every official in your service and every newspaper writer in India … There is no room for Russian agents in Russian pay in India …
Throughout the nineteenth century, London was afraid that the Russian Empire would invade India through Afghanistan. Russian reassurances fell on deaf ears, leading to war in Afghanistan in 1838-42 and again in 1878-80. Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India, issued a press crackdown, and Russophobia in the home press spiked.
Picture: By E.O.S. and Company of employees of the Times of India, Bombay. Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 18 2018
14
As Viceroy of India, Lord Ripon was rather more popular with the people of India than he was with some of his own civil servants.
… When Lord Ripon took over as Viceroy of India in 1880 … the liberty of the Vernacular Press was restored, and the people of India were taught the lesson that though one administration may err … In the same quiet way, when Sir Richard Garth took leave for three months, a native of India was appointed Chief Justice in his place … That Government is entitled to the gratitude of the people of this country, which for the first time proclaimed to all India that henceforth, there shall be nothing to preclude a native of India from filling the highest office in the gift of his Sovereign …
When Lord Ripon took over as Viceroy of India in 1880, he at once set about including more Indians in Government, and allowing the local press to hold lawmakers to account. Many opposed him and it took a long time for his policy to bear fruit, but Ram Chandra Palit believed that it was Ripon, and not his critics, who was truly British.
Picture: © Sujay25, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted July 1 2018
15
John Bright MP urged a critic of the British Raj to offer India more than fine words.
… In 1883, Major Thomas Evans Bell, a former employee of the East India Company and a severe critic of the British Raj … John Bright Mp (who was not uncritical himself) wrote to remind him that what India needed most from Britain and America was not colonial guilt or blame … they may find a market in India …
In 1883, Major Thomas Evans Bell, a former employee of the East India Company and a severe critic of the British Raj, was preparing for a lecturing tour in the United States. John Bright MP (who was not uncritical himself) wrote to remind him that what India needed most from Britain and America was not colonial guilt or blame, but free trade.
Picture: © Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted July 1 2018
16
Georgian Britain braced for war as relations with France in North America, India and mainland Europe took a turn for the worse.
… The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) reached from French and British colonies in North America and India to states in modern-day Germany … In India …
The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) reached from French and British colonies in North America and India to states in modern-day Germany. It seemed glorious at the time for Britain, but it doubled the national debt, and measures to recover the costs triggered the American War of Independence.
Picture: By Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted March 6 2018
17
Incompetence, arrogance and some mischievous propaganda all conspired to throw India into chaos.
… In 1757, the British East India Company took control of most of India on behalf of the British Government …
In 1757, the British East India Company took control of most of India on behalf of the British Government. The Company employed a large number of Indian-born soldiers in their private army, including Muslims, Sikhs, and in 1857 some of these ‘sepoys’ rose up in rebellion. The reasons were complex, but clearly explained here by two Indian schoolmasters, writing in 1944.
Picture: Photo by the Smithsonian Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted May 11 2023
18
After the East India Company quieted the Maratha Confederacy in 1805, Harsukh Rai looked forward to a new era of good government.
… After the Second Maratha War (1803-1805), the East India Company had complete control over the Maratha Confederacy … Much has since been written in criticism of the English in India …
After the Second Maratha War (1803-1805), the East India Company had complete control over the Maratha Confederacy, an alliance of kingdoms in modern-day Maharashtra. Much has since been written in criticism of the English in India, but little of it cuts to the heart, or (as he might put it) mantles the English cheek with the blush of shame, quite like Harsukh Rai’s guileless optimism.
Picture: 3.0.. Source.
Posted February 5 2022