India
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘India’
Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay, shared his excitement at the way railways were making Indians more independent.
In a speech at the opening of the Bhor Ghat Incline between Bombay and Madras on April 21st, 1863, Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay, was quick to share with the assembled dignitaries his satisfaction that railways were bringing Indians an awareness of their rights and creating a more open and equal society.
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. 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.
John Buchan was moved by the way the nations of the British Empire volunteered for service in the Great War.
John Buchan, novelist, Governor General of Canada, and leading historian of the Great War, reminds us that the countries of our Commonwealth and Empire played a decisive role in frustrating the ambitions of the German Empire – all without having to be asked.
Arthur Wellesley watches on as one of his soldiers is rescued from a watery grave.
Arthur Wellesley (not yet the Duke of Wellington) spent the years 1797 to 1804 in India, confronting the Maratha Empire that threatened Indian princes and the British alike. Wisely, he learnt to make war as the Maratha did, and acquired a proper respect for the elephant.
The East India Company’s top agent in India was also the man who put Calcutta on the world map.
Calcutta (Kolkata) in West Bengal was the capital of British India from the start of the Raj in 1857 to 1911, when King George V announced a move to Delhi. Calcutta was not the first choice location for British commercial activity in Bengal, but it proved to be the best, and that was to the credit of one man, Job Charnock.
William Cobbett makes a distinction between everyday business and the murky world of Westminster lobbyists and financial speculation.
William Cobbett, MP for Oldham, was sometimes accused of being anti-trade because he criticised the cosy arrangement between Government, big banks and big business. He replied with his customary vigour, distinguishing clearly between two kinds of commerce, the free trade that promotes liberty and the cronyism that endangers it.