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Thomas Pitt’s tenure as Governor of Madras was regarded as a golden age, but what he is remembered for is his diamond.
… The East India Company was founded late in the reign of Elizabeth I (r … By the 1670s, the Company had secured a legal monopoly on English trade in India …
The East India Company was founded late in the reign of Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) to explore the possibilities of overseas trade. By the 1670s, the Company had secured a legal monopoly on English trade in India, but some free spirits chose to go into business for themselves. In 1926, a historian modestly calling himself ‘an Indian Mahomedan’ told us about one of them: Thomas Pitt.
Picture: © Fab5669, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 9 2022
44
An ageing Heron finds himself a little too stiff to fish for himself, so he thinks of a way to get the fish to do it for him.
The Fables of Bidpai are morality tales similar to the animal fables of Aesop, with a touch of the Arabian Nights. They were first published in England in 1570, but originated in India, and spread to the West from an Arabic translation made by Ibn al-Muqaffaʻ (724-?759) of Basra. In this tale, retold for the sake of brevity, a Heron finds that dastardly plans have a way of backfiring.
Picture: © Hefin Owen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted October 29 2022
45
John Wood shares the wonder of the Indian cobra’s hood, in science and in myth.
… In this passage, he takes a look at the hooded cobra, in the light of anatomy and of India’s sacred legends …
By profession, JG Wood was a clergyman, but he had a gift for making science accessible to ordinary people. From the early 1850s, he was in demand as an author and lecturer on natural history both at home and abroad: he delivered the prestigious Lowell Lectures in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883-84. In this passage, he takes a look at the hooded cobra, in the light of anatomy and of India’s sacred legends.
Picture: © Sandeep Nanu, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted January 21
46
A stranger warns the people of Shorapur that they will come to regret their hospitality.
… In 1850, Charles Dickens’s magazine ‘Household Words’ carried this curious tale, written by Colonel Philip Meadows Taylor, who at the time was a correspondent on ‘The Times’ in India … Set in the legendary past, the story concerns the town of Shorapur in India …
In 1850, Charles Dickens’s magazine ‘Household Words’ carried this curious tale, written by Colonel Philip Meadows Taylor, who at the time was a correspondent on ‘The Times’ in India. Set in the legendary past, the story concerns the town of Shorapur in India, which in Dickens’s time was still a semi-independent Kingdom, and a question as simple as it is timeless: Cats, or Dogs?
Picture: By Gottfried Mind (1768-1814), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted February 5 2018
47
Lord Salisbury seeks to calm the Viceroy of India’s nerves in the face of anti-Russian hysteria.
… In 1877, military advisers urged Britain to ready themselves for war against the Russian Empire, citing St Petersburg’s diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, and warning that the Russians ‘could’ invade Turkey or even India … Lord Salisbury, Secretary of State for India …
In 1877, military advisers urged Britain to ready themselves for war against the Russian Empire, citing St Petersburg’s diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, and warning that the Russians ‘could’ invade Turkey or even India. Lord Salisbury, Secretary of State for India, wrote to the Viceroy, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, urging calm.
Picture: © Godot13, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted February 28 2018
48
Peasie wants to visit her lonely father, but she can’t get her sister Beansie to come along with her.
… This story comes from a collection of folktales from the Punjab, as told by Flora Annie Steel (1847-1929) who spent twenty-two years in India …
This story comes from a collection of folktales from the Punjab, as told by Flora Annie Steel (1847-1929) who spent twenty-two years in India. It reminds us that little acts of kindness bring their own rewards, so long as the rewards aren’t the reason that we do them.
Picture: © nishad kaippally, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted August 8 2019