A Posh Indian School, the End of the East India Company and a Train Journey to Agra
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| India |
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| Uttar Pradesh |
I heard the unmistakable sound of a mosquito during the
night. It was zizzing right beside my ear, as they always do, and I made a grab
for it, as I always do. I have yet to catch one.
And if that does not make the school unique, having their founder's grave in the crypt below the chapel, surely does. Claude Martin shares this quiet spot with a small flock of bats.
In the morning I was smearing anti-histamine cream on a couple
of bites when Lynne drew the curtains. Monkeys were swinging in the tree
outside and chasing each other over the building opposite; it is worth the odd
itch to start a morning like that.
When Sanjay arrived we headed south to Constantia, once the
country pile of Claude Martin and now the home of La Martinière College.
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| La Martinière College |
Martin was a complex man. He never returned to France,
though he kept his French citizenship all his life, and he never married though
he had long term relationships with several mistresses. His only child, a
daughter, died in infancy and is buried in an ornate tomb inside the
entrance to La Martinière College. Wikipedia claims the tomb is of his
favourite mistress, Boulone, a woman thirty years his junior whom he allegedly bought
when she was nine years old. Boulone died forty years after Martin, so it is
unlikely the tomb was built for her, but maybe she lies there with her daughter.
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| The tomb of Claude Martin's daughter, La Martinière College, Lucknow |
Martin was a soldier, administrator, art collector and
philanthropist. In his will, he divided his fortune between the poor and the
foundation of schools in Lucknow, Calcutta and his home town of Lyons. Legal
wrangling meant La Martinière Boys’ School in Lucknow did not open until 1845,
45 years after Martin’s death, and the girls’ school 24 years later. He made no
stipulation concerning the race of the students, but in the 1850s the 150 boys
were all European or Eurasian. Today there are over 4000 students, including some
boarders, overwhelmingly the sons of the wealthier citizens of the Lucknow
area. The school has carefully
maintained the ethos of an English public school and boasts many illustrious
old boys including politicians, Bollywood stars and industrialists.
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| Constantia, La Martinière College, Lucknow |
We arrived just before break and from the reaction of the pupils – or
lack of it - they are used to strange foreigners wandering round their school. All
smartly dressed in blazers, white shirts and ties they largely ignored us,
though one boy approached carrying a large bag of sweets, said it was his
birthday and offered us a chocolate éclair – the school is obviously doing
something right.
La Martinière College is expensive by Indian standards but
the single classroom we looked into - which may not be typical - was basic; bench seats, old wooden desks, no
air-conditioning and chalk and blackboard the only equipment on view.
The library, too looked small for a school of its size and standing.
We met the librarian who was keen to raise money for improvements and we bought
two coffee mugs bearing the school crest.
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| The Chapel, La Martinière College, Lucknow |
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| Roll of Honour of the staff and students at La Martinière College who defended the British Residency, Lucknow 1857 |
And if that does not make the school unique, having their founder's grave in the crypt below the chapel, surely does. Claude Martin shares this quiet spot with a small flock of bats.
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| The tomb of Claude Martin La Martinière College, Lucknow |
Constantia is now within the city boundary but was built as
a country house and a landmark was constructed to help visitors find it. We
have become so used to the metaphorical use of ‘landmark’ that we (by which I
mean I) have almost forgotten that it has a literal meaning.
Dilkusha Gardens are two hundred metres from the school and it
was here that the Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh wound up the British
by exercising his troops. In 1847 he had ascended the throne of a very different Awadh from the one Claude Martin had known. A treaty of 1801 had
given the British East India Company half the kingdom in return for military
assistance. As part of the treaty the Nawab had accepted that his government
must be reformed for the benefit of the people. Wajid Ali Shah assumed power
with an ultimatum on this issue already hanging over his head.
Back in town we visited the British Residency, the focal
point of the events of 1857 – known, in my schooldays, as the 'Indian Mutiny'.
This term is rarely used today, partly because of its colonialist overtones and
partly because it was much more than a mutiny. The Indian government prefers
'First Indian War of Independence' but the ‘first’ upsets many in Kerala and
Punjab who would make that claim for earlier risings in their states. Sanjay
further pointed out that the events were confined to the Gangetic plain of
northern India, that there was as yet no all-India consciousness and the word
'independence' had little meaning to the common people. I will use 'Indian
Rebellion' which is, I hope, politically neutral.
The rebellion did, however, start with a mutiny among Indian soldiers in the army of the East India Company. When I was twelve we were told the cause was the introduction of new greased cartridges that needed to have the top bitten off before insertion into a musket. The truth is, as always, more complex; the rebellion resulted from a build-up of resentment over time not a single issue. The cartridges, though, provided the spark, and it is a measure of how bad things were that Hindu soldiers believed the cartridges were greased with beef fat, and Muslim soldiers believed it was pork fat.
He was taken to the house of Dr Fayrer, the residency surgeon and died two days later. He appointed Major Banks as the Civil Commissioner but he was killed within a week by a sniper and Colonel John Inglis, the military commander, took overall control.
The loyal Indian soldiers held the Baillie Guard Post where
there is now a memorial to them.
We returned to our hotel via a long detour to see the 43ha Ambedkar Memorial Park. Largely constructed of red Rajasthan sandstone, the park is dedicated to the memory of Dr B R Ambedkar, the father of the Indian constitution, though it is actually a vanity project of Mayawati Kumari, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, on and off, between 1995 and 2012. She spent 7 billion rupees on a project that has been described as ‘world class’ by some and ‘politicised stone work’ by others. Sanjay was ambivalent and we could not judge if it works as a park as it was not open at the time – but it certainly looked odd.
After showing us the dubious wonders of the park Sanjay had
finished for the day.
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| Landmark, La Martinière College, Lucknow |
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| The remains of Wajid Ali Shah's military buildings, Dilkusha, Lucknow |
The new Nawab liked to rattle his sabre but was more
interested in dance, music and courtesans than in politics. The British lost
patience with Wajid Ali Khan in 1856 and assumed direct rule of Awadh. The
ex-Nawab spent the rest of his life in exile devoting himself to the arts.
His parade ground is now a garden dotted with the remains of his military buildings. The largest ruin, though, is of the Dilkusha Kothi. Built in 1800, it is a country house designed by the British Resident, Major Gore Ouseley, in the English baroque style and intended as a hunting lodge and summer residence for the Nawabs. Like nearby Constantia, it was shelled in the rebellion of 1857, but unlike Constantia, it was never restored and for many years was left to rot.
His parade ground is now a garden dotted with the remains of his military buildings. The largest ruin, though, is of the Dilkusha Kothi. Built in 1800, it is a country house designed by the British Resident, Major Gore Ouseley, in the English baroque style and intended as a hunting lodge and summer residence for the Nawabs. Like nearby Constantia, it was shelled in the rebellion of 1857, but unlike Constantia, it was never restored and for many years was left to rot.
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| Dilkisha Kothi, Lucknow The design is reputedly based on Seaton Delavel Hall, Northumberland |
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| The Gates to the former British Residency, Lucknow |
The rebellion did, however, start with a mutiny among Indian soldiers in the army of the East India Company. When I was twelve we were told the cause was the introduction of new greased cartridges that needed to have the top bitten off before insertion into a musket. The truth is, as always, more complex; the rebellion resulted from a build-up of resentment over time not a single issue. The cartridges, though, provided the spark, and it is a measure of how bad things were that Hindu soldiers believed the cartridges were greased with beef fat, and Muslim soldiers believed it was pork fat.
After the initial mutiny, there were risings all along the
Ganges from Calcutta to Delhi, including in Awadh, which was fertile ground
after the recent removal of the Nawab.
The first British Commissioner in Awadh – as opposed to ‘Resident’
– was the tactless and inept Coverley Jackson. Six weeks before the rebellion
broke out he was replaced by Sir Henry Lawrence who attempted to calm the
situation while preparing the British Residency for the possibility of a siege.
That possibility became reality on the 30th of June 1857.
The Residency building was the centre of a complex covering some 13ha, but at
the start they also tried to defend some detached outbuildings amounting in total
to some 24ha. Inside were 855 British officers and men, 712 Indian soldiers who
had remained loyal to the company, 153 civilian volunteers and 1280 non-combatants,
mainly women and children. Outside were 8000 Indian soldiers and the retainers
of several local landowners.
The Residency Annex looks relatively unscathed and now
houses the 1857 Memorial Museum which among other exhibits has a model of the
complex as it was at the time and a diorama of the siege.
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| The Residency Annex, Lucknow |
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| The former British Residency, Lucknow |
He was taken to the house of Dr Fayrer, the residency surgeon and died two days later. He appointed Major Banks as the Civil Commissioner but he was killed within a week by a sniper and Colonel John Inglis, the military commander, took overall control.
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| The remains of Dr Fayrer's house, Lucknow |
The attackers attempted to storm the residency and to gain
entry by mining but the defenders held out. Surrender was unthinkable; a
similar but much briefer siege in Cawnpore in June ended in surrender and a
promise of safe passage. The promise was not kept and women and children were
massacred along with the defenders.
By late September only 300 British soldiers, 300 Indian
soldiers and 550 non-combatants remained. The 25th of September saw the arrival of a
relieving force led by Sir Henry Havelock. Unfortunately he lost a
significant number of men fighting his way in and they were not strong
enough to get everybody out. The siege continued.
The treasury building, which had only been completed in 1851
became an ordnance factory; predictably, little remains.
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| The Treasury, former British Residency, Lucknow |
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| Memorial to the Indian soldiers who remained loyal to the British former British Residency, Lucknow |
St Mary’s church was razed,.....
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| The remains of St Mary's Church former British Residency, Lucknow |
....but many of the defenders were
buried in the churchyard,.....
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| St Mary's churchyard and memorial former British Residency, Lucknow |
...including Sir Henry Lawrence with his rather double
edged epitaph.
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| The grave of Sir Henry Lawrence who 'tried to do his duty', former British Residency, Lucknow |
With the rebellion beginning to falter, the siege was eventually
lifted on the 18th of November and the Residency was abandoned.
The aftermath of the rebellion was brutal. The British ‘army
of retribution’ stamped out the insurrection, but it did nothing to address the
original causes. The Rebellion brought about the end of the Mughal Empire, but
it also finished off the East India Company, which was dissolved in 1858 transferring
its ruling powers to the crown. Queen Victoria became Empress of India and so began
the British Raj.
These events are important to Indians because although they started
the Raj, they also contained the seeds of its destruction. My précis of the
events has been entirely from the British point of view because, ironically, that
is the only information that is available – even in Lucknow today.
We returned to our hotel via a long detour to see the 43ha Ambedkar Memorial Park. Largely constructed of red Rajasthan sandstone, the park is dedicated to the memory of Dr B R Ambedkar, the father of the Indian constitution, though it is actually a vanity project of Mayawati Kumari, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, on and off, between 1995 and 2012. She spent 7 billion rupees on a project that has been described as ‘world class’ by some and ‘politicised stone work’ by others. Sanjay was ambivalent and we could not judge if it works as a park as it was not open at the time – but it certainly looked odd.
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| Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Park, Lucknow |
We lunched, again at Coffee Day, and spent the afternoon
shopping; the RE department at our former place of employment had requested a
Hindu god or two - there are several thousand to choose from - and we are always
on the lookout for spices which are a touch fresher than at home, and a touch
cheaper, too.
Much of the next morning passed in similar style though many
shops were closed - everybody we spoke to denied it was a holiday. We found
a Sikh-run bakery that was open and bought supplies for our train trip and then tried to
photograph a cow walking the wrong way up the outside lane of a city centre
street, but with limited success. The picture below, in which the cow is (just) visible among the traffic, is a reminder that nine of the world’s ten
most polluted cities* are not in China as I would have expected but on the Indian subcontinent. Delhi has the world’s worst air quality, while Lucknow ranks tenth. It was time to cough and move on.
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| Cow and traffic, Lucknow |
We reached the station in plenty of time for our train and
found our way to the appropriate coach which was classified as 'second class
air conditioned' though it only had ceiling fans. It looked tatty but the seats
were comfortable enough and we left on time for our scheduled seven hour
journey to Agra.
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| Lucknow North East Railway Station |
We pottered along pleasantly and after four hours we were
only twenty minutes behind schedule. Then we had a long stop at a red signal.
We fell into conversation with Sashi, the guide of a small Turkish
group in the same carriage. 'Maybe we have spoken before,’ he said, telling us that
he used to work for Barclays call centre. He had given it up to be a tour guide
which was, he said, better paid though the hours were irregular. It was his
wedding anniversary and he would rather have been at home than accompanying tourists to
Agra. When he eventually arrived back in Delhi, he was going straight out
again with a party of 32 British tourists.
As the sun set, our progress involved stopping, re-starting, crawling
through the gloom and stopping again in an irregular cycle. IST officially stands for Indian Standard Time, Sashi informed
us, but on the railways it is Indian Stretchable Time, and our only option was
to be patient.
We sat for an hour at a dark and deserted station. On the
side of the embankment someone had painted in English in large red letters the
word 'ABANDONED'. I understood how the
station felt.
Eventually we moved on, finishing the journey with an hour
at barely more than walking pace. Sashi offered his assistance if there was no
one at the station to meet us, but we had every faith in whoever had been deputed
to be there.
We arrived not at 8.30 as scheduled but at 11.30, but
Solanky was there with a driver waiting to transfer us to our hotel. Well done them.
* Pollution measured in terms of particulates in the atmosphere
* Pollution measured in terms of particulates in the atmosphere
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh
Part 1 Delhi (1) Mainly Old Delhi but some New Delhi too
Part 3 To Mughal Serai and Sarnath
Part 4 Varanasi
Part 5 Allahabad and the Kumbh Mela
Part 6 Allahabad (2) A Bit of Foot-slogging
Part 7 Lucknow (1) City of Nawabs
Part 6 Allahabad (2) A Bit of Foot-slogging
Part 7 Lucknow (1) City of Nawabs
