| BRITISH RULE (1858-1947) | |
 |
After the Rebellion of 1857, the British government assumed direct rule over India, replacing the Company; in 1877, Victoria became "Queen-Empress" as well |
 |
"Viceroys" now ruled India, wielding power on behalf of the sovereign |
 |
The sea traffic between England and India steadily increased, and now there was a (partially) *"overland route"* too |
 |
British colonial life became even more complex over time-- and always full of travel |
 |
All this was made possible, just as in the Company days, by huge staffs of servants |
 |
Simla, a refuge from the heat of the plains, became the summer capital of the Raj, and other "hill stations" developed as well |
 |
Banking and other commercial activities grew steadily more Anglicized |
 |
Old technologies were improved, and new ones introduced, with much fanfare |
 |
No new technology had a larger impact than the railway (1850's onward) |
 |
The postal service was highly organized, well-staffed, and often remarkably efficient |
 |
Police forces, a novelty in England as well, began to be organized; magistrates held court in all sorts of settings |
 |
Indian art, design, culture, and botanical wonders were studied; museums were created |
 |
Famines were all too common in India during the later 1800's; famine-relief efforts, though sometimes heroic, often turned out to be greatly inadequate |
 |
Pomp and circumstance were maintained during imperially-sponsored tours, especially the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1875-76 |
 |
And why not a spot of big-game hunting as well, and an elephant ride? |
 |
By the 1880s, Indian soldiers were serving the Empire not only in India, but abroad as well; they had elaborate uniforms, and regimental traditions to go with them |
 |
In 1911, King George and Queen Mary visited India, and in Delhi they offered a classic Mughal-style "jharoka darshan" ("balcony viewing") along with fine darbar scenes |
|
OF INDIA* |
Bombay's great landmark, the "Gateway of India," was conceived to commemorate this visit |
 |
During World War I Indian troops were in European trenches, fighting together with British troops; World War II was to be a more complex case |
 |
The monument at the site of General Dyer's bloody Jalianwala Bagh massacre of unarmed protesters, Amritsar 1919 |
 |
Also in 1919 the India Gate in New Delhi was first conceived, as a monument to the Indian soldiers who had died in World War I and the Afghan Wars |
 |
The India Gate was part of a new imperial administrative area that came to be known, for its architect, as *"Lutyens' Delhi"* |