43
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.
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.
Posted October 29 2022
45
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?
Posted February 5 2018
46
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.
Posted February 28 2018
47
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.
Posted August 8 2019
48
Vijay Singh, Raja of Jodhpur, was left to fend for himself after his army deserted him.
… The Kingdom of Marwar in Jodhpur (now in Rajasthan, northwest India) was noted for insubordination towards the fading Mughal Emperors …
The Kingdom of Marwar in Jodhpur (now in Rajasthan, northwest India) was noted for insubordination towards the fading Mughal Emperors, but in the 1750s it fell under the control of the Maratha to the south, paying a high price for their help in resolving a tangled dispute over the crown.
Posted October 31 2018