Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/14/stories/2006121416540200.htm Majestic sentinels of the Raj lose character by Dennis Marcus Mathew Boisterous wedding parties, automobile workshops have taken over the bungalows of the British period HYDERABAD: Numbers like 208, 152 or 221 on registers of the Secunderabad Cantonment previously indicated majestic bungalows built during the British Raj. Now, boisterous wedding parties, automobile workshops and glitzy showrooms have taken over the stately premises of these bungalows. A majority of the 120-odd Old Grant Bungalows (OGB) built on land assigned to the British Army by the Government of India with restrictions on the use of the land in the early 19th century have either been sold, sublet or are being used for commercial purposes without permission of the Defence Estates authorities. Function halls According to Defence sources, most of these have been turned into commercial enterprises like function halls, including Le Palais Royal (Bungalow No.150), Classic Gardens (B.No.152), Imperial and Jewel Gardens (B.No.208), Tivoli Gardens (B.No.221) and Mallareddy Function Hall (B.No.173). Bantia Gardens has a showroom, workshop and a function hall in place of Bungalow No.207. The Agrasen Bhavan function hall (B.No.149), Pearl Palace (B.No.151/A), Dreamland Garden (B.No.221/B) and a petrol bunk on B.No.179 too are "illegal occupants". Geetanjali School near Sappers Lines, an apartment complex in Mudfort and a few dhabas near Bowenpally have been built on OGB premises. A Central Minister, a prominent club in Secunderabad and several bigwigs of the city are allegedly among illegal owners of OGBs. Though the Defence Estate Office here served show-cause notices to nearly 80 per cent of the illegal owners and occupants, little has changed. OGBs were built on land given to the British by the Nizam with approval of the Indian Government to construct residences for Army officers. Some lands were granted to private parties for the construction. Government retained the title over the land, with builders having occupancy right only over the structure. They were not to sell or sublease it. G.O. details "The general order issued by the Governor General-in-Council No. 179, dated September 12, 1836, clearly states that Government reserves the right to resume the Defence property at any time on giving one month's notice, paying value of the building. Section 6 (2) of the order states that the land belongs to the Government and cannot be sold or used for purposes other than residential," a Defence official says. ============= ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Snipped from ''Hyderabad map circa 1772: Blends into sands of time'' Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2006/02/25/stories/2006022502110100.htm Secunderabad DoB: June 2, 1807 Hyderabad was born in 1000 h (1591) this much is certain. But when was its twin Secunderabad born? While its origin can be traced to Colonel Lang's tented city in 1806 between the Lashkar (near Mahankali Temple) and Lancers (near Sangeet theatre) it already had rows of tents of British troops after the Subsidiary Alliance Treaty forced Sikandar Jah to disband his French legion on October 20, 1798. Scottish historian Mountstuart Elphinstone records the sight of the tented city seen from Banjara Hills in 1804. Conservation architect Vasanta Shobha Turaga traces it to Nizam's firmannaming the settlement Secunderabad. The firman is dated 25th Rabi-ul- Awwal, 1222 AH, which according to the Gregorian calendar would have been June 2, 1807. [snip] ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Snipped from - http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2008/01/21/stories/2008012150360500.htm Monday, Jan 21, 2008 The Leyden Collection I'd never really thought about it before, till reader E.V. Rao wondered the other day about the three best-known collections in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library tended by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology in the University of Madras's campus. "The Mackenzie, Brown and Leyden Collections are always mentioned," he writes, "but whereas the first two names are generally recalled, who or what was Leyden? Does it have anything to do with the Dutch city/ university of the same name?" I quickly discovered that the Dutch city and 450-year-old university were spelt 'Leiden', but it took a while longer to discover the reference was to a Dr. John Leyden, the son of a shepherd, whose laird helped the boy become another of those Edinburgh University qualified doctors who on arrival in Madras in the 19th Century were also appointed as Naturalists. But this Leyden had much more to his c.v. He arrived in Madras in 1803 as a 28-year-old who had also been ordained by the Church, had worked with Sir Walter Scott on his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, was a poet and linguist, and came with a commitment not to make a fortune here but to study the languages of Asia. [snip] ====== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Friday , March 28 , 2008 A NEW EDIFICE http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080328/jsp/opinion/story_9059489.jsp APPROPRIATION AND INVENTION OF TRADITION: THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND HINDU LAW IN EARLY COLONIAL BENGAL Author - Nandini Bhattacharyya-Panda, Oxford, Rs 645 Reviewd by - RUDRANGSHU MUKHERJEE Is there something called Hindu law? This scholarly book's emphatic answer to the question would be in the negative. Nandini Bhattacharyya -Panda argues rather convincingly that what is known as Hindu law in common parlance and in Indian jurisprudence is a late eighteenth century construction by British administrators based on a very selective and deliberately lop-sided reading of the Dharmasastras [scriptural code]. Her points of departure are two. First, the literature of the Dharmasastras, as indeed the name suggests, was not, and was not intended to be a manual for law in the way British officials of the eighteenth understood the term 'law'. The literature embodied certain moral guidelines, normative codes of conduct and social philosophies. These never had the status of codified laws. Second, given that in the late eighteenth century the British had come to acquire with full sovereign right large tracts of territory in Bengal, they needed, for the purposes of ruling, the existing laws relating to property and inheritance. Such a body of knowledge was not readily available. So the British, for their own imperial interests, created it. They "transformed the prescriptive, normative, and moralistic rules embodied in the Dharmasastras into legal rules to be directly administered in court'." The British thus invented a tradition. Bhattacharyya-Panda argues her case through an archive that has never been tapped before, even though scholars knew of its existence. This archive consists of the Sanskrit texts the British used (with the help of Brahmin pundits) to arrive at what they called Hindu law. It is rare to find a historian of modern India equipped to read and use Sanskrit material. The author of this book is that rare scholar, and she should be congratulated for having opened up a new line of enquiry in the field of modern Indian history. What the British produced was the first digest of "Hindu law'' in Sanskrit, the Vivadarnavasetu, and its English rendering (by N.B. Halhed), The Code of Gentoo Laws. The initiative to produce this was taken in 1772 by Warren Hastings soon after he was appointed Governor-General. He appointed a team of 11 pundits to prepare the compendium. A second initiative was taken by William Jones. This was the compilation called Vivadabhangarnava. Jones began the translation of this text; he died before he could finish the work and it was completed by H.T. Colebrooke and published as A Digest of Hindoo Laws in 1801. Hastings, Jones and the Britons involved in the project of producing a body of Hindu law ignored the fundamental point that "the primary concern of the Dharmasastras was the community and the individual and not the state.'' The Brahmin pundits involved in the project were unaware that one of its purposes was the undermining of the authority and influence of Brahmin pundits in society. They may have often not understood the questions posed to them by their white masters. This is by no means an easy book to read. The subject matter is complex and the argument is based on a very close reading of arcane texts. Bhattacharyya-Panda in many ways does an admirable job in a difficult scholarly terrain. Her book shows that the British conquered India in many ways, by the sword and also through knowledge. To build an empire, it was necessary to plunder and to build an edifice that was new but had the acquiescence of the subject people. =========================== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Joyce, The issue of permitting cow slaughter in India is difficult to neatly compartmentalize. There is some scholarly opinion in support of the view that the ancient Aryans, when they came into India as conquering tribes of pastoral people, did eat the cow, as cattle-rearing was, for them, an economic activity. For the same reasons, modern Hindu leaders on the right like the late V.D.Savarkar, advocated that Hindus should forget their aversion to cow slaughter and, taking a more rational approach, treat the cow as an economic animal. Yet the fact remains that in almost all their history, Hindus have eschewed eating beef. Indeed, Hindus belonging to the higher levels of the Society, eschewed eating any meat, probably following teachings of non-violence and tolerance by teachers like Gautama Buddha and Mahavira, both of the 5th century BC. (Gautama Buddha died, the story goes, because he had eaten bad pork.) Sensitive to this, the Mughal emperors restricted -and sometimes banned as with Akbar in 1586- cow slaughter. One of the titles of the Maratha hero Shivaji, the founder of the his dynasty that later morphed into the powerful Maratha confederacy, was 'Go-Brahmana-Pratipalaka'- the Protector of the Cow and the Brahmin. These constraints against cow slaughter became somewhat loosened with the advent of the British but the majority of the Hindu population was never happy with it. Several movements arose in different parts of India to 'protect' the cow. Such movements, and others like the anti-alcohol movement, and (indeed) anti-tea movement were manifestations of the ire of the local population against the 'new' ways of life being introduced by the alien rulers and were thus different fronts of the Freedom Struggle. (One of my uncles, who, as a young man, had participated in picketing alcohol-vending establishments, was beaten senseless by the tommies sent to break up the agitation.) In today's India cow slaughter is officially banned in all states except West Bengal and Kerala, where offshoots of the Communist Party have been in power for almost 40 years. A demand is always in the air to make this ban applicable to the whole of India. One of the recommendations of the National Commission on Cattle (under the chairmanship of Justice Lodha of the Supreme Court) in 2002 was to prohibit cow slaughter by law throughout the country. The Indian Constitution lists cow slaughter ban under the Directive Principles of State Policy, with Article 48 providing that the State "shall endeavour to... take steps for... prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle". While slaughtering cows may not be prohibited in some parts India, and eating beef so slaughtered may not be illegal in other parts of India, it would be wise for a beef-eater not to advertise that fact too much. For example, while a person may eat beef in the privacy of his house, he will generally not to serve beef if he invites friends to his house for dinner. As far as I know, beef is not available for open sale in most of India. That is why, in my last posting, I said that those who eat beef in India have to be secretive about it. This conventional cow-revering attitude often becomes a luxury for the poor farmer. Is it well-known that there is a thriving market for exporting cows to Kerala and West Bengal for slaughter. More that beef-eaters, the powerful lobby of leather-goods manufacturers support this illegal traffic. There are several rational arguments in favor of treating the whole issue as an economic and ecological rather than as a sentimental issue. But rationality and hard electoral politics rarely coexist. If they did, George W. should never have got his second term! Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, March 27, 2008.

G'day folks, A new member looking for answers.... Begin forwarded message: From: "Collin" <collin@adam.com.au> Date: 27 March 2008 1:17:43 AM To: <INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-admin@rootsweb.com> Subject: Hipkin Hello, my name is Colin Renshaw and I am trying to find information on my maternal Great Grandfather and hid family. His name was Dennis Frank Hipkin and he served in the British Army in India around 1936 I think they lived in Nasirabad (not sure). His wife's name was Grace Iris Noreen Hipkin and she was an English teacher and I am told she tutored the Maharaja's children in English. Dennis was a sergeant I think. They had two daughters Pamela and Yvonne. Any information you could provide would be a step in the right direction. Thank you for your time Regards Colin Renshaw

The Story of Electricity in the City of Calcutta First demonstration of lighting The first demonstration of electric light in Calcutta was conducted on 24 July, 1879 by P W Fleury & Co. This was followed by another demonstration by Dey Sil & Co. On 30 June, 1881, 36 electric lights lit up the Mackinnon & Mackenzie Company's Garden Reach Cotton Mills. [snip] http://www.cesc.co.in/aboutus/history/main.php ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Mar 27, 2008 http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEH20080326042145&Page=H&Title=Top+Stories&Topic=0 Fewer Malyalees, Tamils now in Kolkata Wednesday March 26 2008 PTI KOLKATA: This is not the exodus Raj Thackeray's followers are aiming to achieve in Mumbai but a Kolkata historian says not only the Greeks, Armenians and Jews who built many architectural marvels in Kolkata have left the city, even Tamils and Malayalees and Oriyas are heading back to their home states. "Greeks have totally disappeared from the city. Only 25 Jews now live here. The number of Armenians has dwindled to 600 only. Earlier, they lived in hundreds and thousands here," says P T Nair, also known as the "moving encyclopedia of Kolkata". Their properties were sold out and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took over the places of worship. "For example, the city's oldest standing church built in 1724 by Armenians is located on Brabourne road which leads into the city from Howrah station," says Nair who has written 42 books on Kolkata. A survey on dwindling communities in the city, shows the present state of these people coming from outside India during the British period. Nair also called Kolkata's "barefoot historian" has written 42 books on various aspects of the city - social, religious, economical, political, sociological, city roads etc. Of his books, "History of Calcutta" is a masterpiece of research works on the city. Greeks were the first to leave en masse. They were mostly concentrated around Greek church in Kalighat. "After their flight from the city, ASI looks after the Greek church and other properties of the community have been donated to the government, the chronicler of Kolkata," Nair told PTI. According to him, the flight of these communities whom the British patronised at the time of reinforcing their rule began to leave after independence. Several of these communities who are still living in the city have mingled with the mainstream, he says. Only a little more than two dozens of Jews like the famous baker "Nahoum" are left in the city. "Several wealthy Jews of the hundreds who lived in the city went to Switzerland. Many set out for Israel after 1950s. These communities were mostly limbs of the British empire and began to leave India as the British departed," Nair says. Armenians, who left Kolkata either settled in other parts of the country or went outside India. Bulk of the residual community still lives in park circus or areas near park street. Jews built the edifices like Esplanade mansion, Chowringhee mansion and a synagogue close to writers' buildings. Armenians too built churches and beautiful buildings that housed the offices of British India. These are all heritage structures taken up for preservation. Another community that contributed greatly during the upcoming years in the city is Parsis. "They would run small factories or trade. But as the industrial scenario worsened, they set sail towards Mumbai. Now, only a few hundred of them are left in the city," Nair says. Nair, a Malayalee, too came to the city in 1955 to work in a private company. In 1980, he quit his job to devote time to research Kolkata. Even at his old age, he goes to National library everyday to conduct studies on the city. Apart from the Jews, Greeks and Armenians, Kolkata was a melting pot of other Indian communities too. "Now Oriyas stay back in Orissa for economic development there and South Indians like Tamils, Malayalees who would make a living as typists in the offices here have also left," says Nair. The researcher of Kolkata feels, despite the prospect of economy looking up in Bengal with setting up of it and it-enabled service companies, a few outsiders come here as these industries are not labour-intensive. "Outsiders who come now do not intend to settle here," he says. =========================== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Arvind It is not correct when you say eating beef is almost unknown in India. I remember the Butchers in the Market would openly sell beef and mutton, while pork was sold by separate butchers. In Calcutta there was also a municipal or Government slaughter house for Cows. Most Hindus would not eat beef but there were many people of other religions including Muslims and Christians in Calcutta who would eat beef and, as far as I can remember, selling Beef was not forbidden and there was nothing secretive about selling Beef. Joyce -----Original Message----- ] On Behalf Of Arvind Kolhatkar Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:09 PM To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Tales from the Raj As you know, eating beef is almost unknown in India. Those who do so have to be secretive about it as most Indians are very sensitive on this issue. Even Indians living in other countries normally avoid eating beef. Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, March 25, 2008. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message __________ NOD32 2971 (20080325) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com

Hi, I am Shirley Abraham, an independent documentary film maker based in Mumbai, India. This is for a documentary where I am exploring the tradition of maintaining Hindu ancestral records at some sites in India, and am looking for a character whose journey I am looking to follow. My research is to look for somebody with a 'mixed' background- preferably a Britisher with some Indian connect, as this will lend a certain sense of historical significance to his/her search. Through this list, I wish to find somebody who is already looking for his roots in India, or just somebody who might be interested in pursuing his unique ancestory, with a Hindu background. I have met various similar people, but somehow their stories havent been able to lend me the strong cross cultural-historical connect that I am keen to explore through the film. Looking forward to hearing from you. Warm Regards, Shirley Abraham.

'TEA CULTIVATION IN BRITISH INDIA' Eight scenes on one sheet. By Anonymous artist >From Illustrated London News 1876 31 x 23 cm. Recent hand colouring. £75 http://www.garwood-voigt.com/prints.htm Image available at http://www.garwood-voigt.com/H20816TeaBritishIndia.jpg ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day folks, On 26/03/2008, at 9:19 PM, MunroZoo wrote: > I know Calcutta was full of American soldiers. La Martiniere for Boys was taken over by the Americans as a hospital. They installed a lift in the building which was still there when I attended LMC in 1947 - 1949. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

G'day Sally, On 26/03/2008, at 9:00 PM, karoo wrote: > The one at Deolali was well equipped and run by Americans. As I understand it, after the war finished, UK military personel were posted to Deolali from all over the theatre. It took forever for some of the men to get repatriated to Blighty. So much so that some of developed mental conditions. This was known throughout the RAF as the "Doolali Tap" The term was still in use to describe anyone who appeared a tad mad when I served in the RAF 1955 - 1967. Enter "deolali tap" into Google and find out more. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Dear netters, There was a 'Rest-Camp' for the US forces in Karachi during World War II just behind the old Race course. Also the newly built Karachi Port Trust building was taken over and converted into a hospital for the US forces. Many of whom were airmen posted at the Mauripur Drigh Road Airbases. The Karachi Goan Association's bar and dance hall, too, were handed over to the US forces for their use and it remained closed for the local Goan community. Michael Ali Karachi, Pakistan

Esther - When our family were being demobbed in 1947, we passed through various camps. The one at Deolali was well equipped and run by Americans. They were not at Connaught camp at Delhi and again, not at Colaba - last camp before embarkation. They passed through the Red Road Camp at the end of the maidan in Calcutta where my grandfather was stationed Fort William/Movement Control. I remember seeing Tommies and troops from the Cameroons (I believe) all going over 'the hump' into Burma? Corrections welcome. Sally Stewart. Sally

I wondered if anyone has heard from Melville Combes. I was in correspondence with him some months ago and had sent him some information regarding my ancestors who were born in India. I also sent him so photos, per his request. Since then, I haven't heard a word from him. Thank you Adele McLennan Canada

Two nice and richly illustrated stories from Karachi's British past. (There is also another story but it goes back to the ancient times.) 1 Karachi before 1900 2 The History of PAF Base Faisal, Karachi (and 3 - which is at the top of the page - Chaukhandi Tombs is One of the Largest and Best-Preserved Necropolises in the world.) http://www.alivepakistan.com/category/history/ ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

I know Calcutta was full of American soldiers. We had their car depot in the front of our house on one side and on the other wide was a PX and the Hindusthan building was occupied by the U.S. Army. it was the military business centre and contained a post office, radio station, officers mess and living quarters, signal offices etc. The Americans also took over the Calcutta Boys School in Dum Dum and the Karnani Estates was converted into hotel for them. The streets were full of GIs. Look at the following link of photographs taken by the GI's in Calcutta in 1945 http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/ Enjoy the photographs Joyce Munro On Behalf Of Peter Bailey Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 10:00 AM To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] American army bases in India during theBritishraj Esther wrote: > Does anyone have information on the American army bases in India working > for > the British Military during the British Raj? Were there American army > based

Does anyone have information on the American army bases in India working for the British Military during the British Raj? Were there American army based in Allahabad, Chunar and Dum Dum in Calcutta. Were there more of them in India during the British raj all working for and with the Brtish Military. Thankyou Esther

John, I checked on the 'Deolali Tap' in Google and came up with these tidbits. The phrase, which describes a kind of fever or madness, believed to be caused by heat exhaustion, is much older than the WWII. The site http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/161900.html traces it back to 1925 and says: <The term is British Army slang, from the Deolali sanatorium, Marashtra, India and is first cited in Fraser & Gibbons', Soldier & Sailor Words, 1925:"Deolali tap (otherwise doolally tap), mad, off one's head. Old Army." The phrase is quite archaic now, even in its 'go Dolally' form. The tap is now rarely heard, but hasn't quite died out of everyday use. Francis Marion Crawford, in his Mr. Isaacs, 1882, makes the meaning of the word clear: "Unless I feared the tap, the bad kind of fever which infects all the country at the base of the hills."> Nigel Viney's Dictionary of Toponyms (snippet at http://tinyurl.com/24q5su) even traces it back to the 19th century. The word 'tap' also appears to be of Indian origin. In the above citation it is explained as 'a fever...at the base of the hills'. The Terai region below the Himalayan Foothills was feared by the British for its hot and humid climate and perennial and endemic Malaria. The citation seems to be referring to that fever. Fever is 'tap' (more phonetically 'taap') in most Indian languages and is a very common word for fever, high temperature or strong sunshine. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (snippet at http://tinyurl.com/2b9fxq) too says so. The phrase is still used by some, as the following extract from The Telegraph of May 23, 2007 shows: http://tinyurl.com/2xf2ko . The Times too has referred to it in 2002: please see http://tinyurl.com/27rwn4. A book about the football club Leeds United and its fans, published in 2005, has the title 'Doolally'! (http://tinyurl.com/35bblc) Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, March 26, 2008.