The Anarchy: the relentless rise of the East India Company

The beginnings of the East India Company can be traced back to Elizabethan times in 1599. This was a time of exploration; the quest for new lands and trade routes. Competition for supremacy between European countries, particularly England, France, Spain and the Netherlands was strong.  Initially the British government encouraged companies such as the East India Company to undertake new trading ventures but the government never envisaged that the company's interests would encompass more than trade.

This study by William Dalrymple primarily looks at the rapid growth and power of the company particularly between 1765 and 1803. In 1765 the East India Company defeated the Mughal emperor and then proceeded, using their own army, to aquire additional territory. As the power of the company expanded the British government tried to restrict the power of the company and take control of India as a colony.

Although the East India Company continued to grow during the first part of the nineteenth century it became more closely overseen by the British government. There was a rebellion in the ranks of the East India Company Army in 1857 followed by the Indian Mutiny. This resulted in the end of the role of the East India Company in India though India remained under the control of the British government until gaining independence in 1947.

William Dalrymple provides a detailed study of events during this time and looks at the role of the main players from Britain including Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Charles Cornwallis and Richard Colley Wellesley plus French leaders in India and leaders of a number of Indian states.

I was particularly interested to look at this book as I had family members working in India as merchants, soldiers in the East India Company army then later the British army and the civil service during the nineteenth century. This book will be a useful source for background information when researching this branch of the family tree.

The book has detailed notes, an extensive bibliography and index for further research.

Children of the Raj

Vyvyen Brendon's book, Children of the Raj, investigates the lives of children of British parents serving in the army or working for the East India Company as civil servants or merchants in India. Many children of British families were born in India and through examining primarily correspondence and diaries the author traces the lives of these young people. In many cases young children were sent home to England or Scotland to be looked after by family members and educated in the UK. The problems of separation, loneliness and growing up without immediate family is discussed. Other children remained with their parents and the life of these families is also described. Health concerns, climate, relationships with local people, summers at the hill stations in the highlands to escape the extreme heat are all described. The uprisings that occurred during 1850s provided additional concerns and dangers. In many cases the children of the British in India followed the footsteps of their parents and either stayed or returned to the Indian sub-continent. The book traces stories of these families up until the end of the Raj when India gained independence in 1947.

Having family in India in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries I found that this book provided interesting background information about how families connected with India lived during these years. Some of the families mentioned married members of my extended family which helped make the information even more relevant. There is a detailed notes section at the back of the book as well as bibliography and index. A useful book for those interested in life of the British in India prior to 1947.

The ruling caste: imperial lives in the Victorian Raj

David Gilmour provides a detailed account of the role of the British Civil Service in India during the reign of Queen Victoria. The mutiny in 1857 was a watershed in the British administration in India. Prior to the mutiny the East India Company administered the Indian Civil Service and the men holding positions in India were educated at Haileybury - the East India Company College established in the early 1800s - after being nominated by directors of the Company. A high percentage of men from Scotland served in India at this time. The two year course purported to provide the skills the young men required to work in India however the relevance of many of the subjects and the seriousness that some of the students viewed their studies is debated in the early chapters of the book. After the mutiny the British government took control of the Indian Civil Service with opportunities for positions opened to a wider range of people trained at a variety of institutions and the age of new civil servants raised to early twenties.

The book concentrates on describing what life was like for the British in India in the years after the mutiny until the beginning of the twentieth century. It primarily describes the lives of the British living in India during the reign of Queen Victoria, particularly after 1857 when the management of the Indian Civil Service was taken over by the British government.

The Great Mutiny India 1857

 

Christopher Hibbert in 1978 set out to record the causes, events and consequences of the Great Indian Mutiny in 1857 extending into 1858.

English merchants commenced trading in India in the reign of Elizabeth I and in 1613 the East Indian Company was granted permission to establish a permanent trading station at Bombay. The influence of the company grew as additional trading stations were established. Eventually British soldiers were needed to protect the interests of the East India Company in India. During the 18th century expansion of the company accelerated and alliances and treaties were made with Indian princes who were prepared to surrender some power while those who opposed the British were defeated. In 1773 a Regulating Act was passed in England making the East India Company responsible for governing its territories and by 1784 the East India Company was an agent of the British Government in India. By the 1850s the Company was the British Government's representative in the civil administration of India and was also responsible for the armies in Bengal, Madras and Bombay manned by native soldiers (sepoys) and native cavalrymen (sowars). Regiments of the British Army were also stationed in India. By 1856 the ratio of British soldiers to Indian soldiers was 1 to 6.

Lord Dalhousie became Governor General of India in 1848 and during the eight years of his term he implemented many changes that caused unrest among some of the Indian population, particularly among the ranks of Indian soldiers. Dalhousie implemented changes reforming the ownership of land resulting in a number of people from varying ranks being dispossessed of their land. Resentment that new laws and regulations threatened traditional customs and in some cases religious practices and were implemented from a foreign government began to cause unrest. There were also problems with some of the ammunition provided to the Indian soldiers.

In 1857 sections of the Indian army, in company with disgruntled princes and other leaders, mutinied against the British and any other foreigners in their territory resulting in mass murder of men, women and children. By May there had been murders of Europeans at Meerut and in Delhi. June saw the mutiny and siege at Cawnpore resulting in the massacre of most of the Europeans in the city followed by brutal retaliation inflicted by some of the British soldiers on suspected siege participants when Nana Sahib fled the city. The mutiny and siege at Lucknow also resulted in the loss of many lives. By June 1858 the battles were over and relative calm returned to the areas of India affected by the mutiny. In November 1858 Britain abolished the East India Company and took control of governing India in its own right.

As well as providing detailed and graphic account of the events relating to the mutiny Chrisopher Hibbert vividly describes conditions in India during the 1850s for the Europeans - soldiers, civil servants and their families - and also the Indians involved with the Europeans. As well as a glossary and chronology there are detailed notes, bibliography and index. For those interested in this period of Indian and British history this is a good book to read.

See also John Mackillop and the Great India Mutiny 1857

John Mackillop and the Great Mutiny India 1857

John Mackillop, son of George and Jean Mackillop, was born probably in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1827. George Mackillop was a merchant and he made his money trading in India. Searching newspapers from the 1820s to the 1860s show advertisements for trading firms - Cruttenden, Mackillop & Co; Palmer, Mackillop & Co; Palmer, Mackillop, Dent & Co; Mackillop & Co; Mackillop, Stewart & Co - in which George and / or his brother James were partners. George was also involved in real estate and advertisements can also be found for properties that he sold in Scotland, England and Ireland.

With this background it is not surprising that John became a Civil Servant in India. The 1841 England census shows a John Mackillop, aged 14, attending Bibsworth Manor House School at Finchley, Middlesex. More research is required to check that this is our John Mackillop. However he did attend the East India College (later Haileybury) at Hertford Heath from 1844 to 1846. The college was established in 1806 to provide general and vocational education for youths 16 to 18 years who had been nominated by East India Company Directors.
An article in The Times 2 July 1846 p8 describes a graduation and prize giving ceremony at the college mentioning Mackillop as one of the 'highly distinguished' term three students. After completing his studies John Mackillop served in India and was stationed at Cawnpore where he was killed in the Mutiny of 1857.
The college website carries the following memorial -
John Robert Mackillop. Joint Magistrate of Cawnpore; a brave unselfish man. When the English entered what were called the intrenchments, which were hastily thrown up earthworks, affording little or no shelter to the besieged, Mackillop took it upon himself to draw water for his comrades from a well exposed to the fire of the rebels. He did not long carry on this dangerous duty, but soon fell victim to his unselfish bravery, pierced by the bullets of the enemy. No man yielded his life better than "Jack" Mackillop.

In 1978 Christopher Hibbert, in his book The Great Mutiny India 1857 wrote a history of the mutiny recording not only the events of the uprising but investigating the causes. Chapter 9 deals with the events at the siege of Cawnpore in June. The following paragraph on page 184 describes the events leading to John Mackillop's death . -
There was only one well within the entrenchment, and as it was in an exposed position it was extremely dangerous to draw water there by day. Even at night the creaking of the tackle would usually call forth a storm of musketry. It was not long before the machinery, like the brick framework, was shot away; and thereafter it was necessary to haul the bucket up by hand from a depth of over sixty feet. John Mackillop of the Civil Service, in his own estimation 'not a fighting man', appointed himself 'Captain of the Well'. He survived in office for a week until killed by grape-shot in the groin. Before dying he expressed the wish that a lady to whom he had promised a drink should not be disappointed.

The book includes a number of photographs, a chronology of events, detailed notes and references for each chapter, a bibliography and an index. The two books referred to by Hibbett providing information on the Mackillop incident are Thomson, Captain Mowbray. The Story of Cawnpore (London 1859) and Trevelyan, G O. Cawnpore (London 1865) - the State Library of Victoria has a copy of the second title.

Obviously the death of John Mackillop is a minute event in the overall story of the Indain Mutiny in 1857 but it is an example of the detail provided by the author in unravelling the account of the tragic events that occurred in India during 1857 and 1858.

British newspapers from the second half of 1857 are full of reports of the events occurring in India including news stories, letters from survivors and death notices. The Times 5 October 157 p1 recorded the following death notice -
At Cawnpore, on or about the 25th June, in the 31st year of his age John R. Mackillop Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service, and Joint Magistrate of Cawnpore District, son of George Mackillop, Esq., of Bath, formerly of Calcutta. His death was occasioned by grape shot wound, received when assisting in the heroic defence of General Wheeler's entrenched camp.

Women of the Raj

Margaret McMillan wrote Women of the Raj in 1998 and it was republished in 2005. It tells the story of the life of British women living in India particularly in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The East India Company had established trade with India in the seventeenth century and by the eighteenth century had established posts along the coast of India. The power of the East India Company grew and was supported by contingents of the British army as the importance of the Indian trade route increased. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the East India Company had become the Raj.

Increasingly British women travelled with their husbands when their husbands were posted to India where in India they faced an entirely different lifestyle from their way of life in Britain. The women largely kept to their own community and most tried to replicate the British lifestyle, especially food, clothing furniture, flowers and entertainment in an alien environment. There was a ready supply of cheap labour and the woman was expected to ensure that the household ran smoothly but she was not normally expected to do physical work. Entertainment included visiting other families, parties and sport. In summer, those who could afford to do so, retreated to the hills where the temperatures were cooler. However there were also threats including disease, snakes, heat that sapped energy and rapid dogs. After 1857 there was also the threat of another mutiny.

When children of British families were born in India there were concerns for the health of the children and also for their education. Consequently families in the position to do so sent young children back to England to be cared for by family. Wives faced the choice of abandoning their children or abandoning their husbands.

Women of the Raj provides a number of case studies illustrating the lives of British women in India providing a different perspective of the British in India as well as interesting background information for family history researchers with family in India at the time.