1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,120 People often remember their history lessons 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,040 as full of dates and battles, 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,760 kings and queens, facts and figures. 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:18,040 The story of the past is open to interpretation and much of British 5 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:23,840 history is a carefully edited and even deceitful version of events. 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,720 You might think that history is just a record of what happened. 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,600 Actually, it's not like that at all. 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,480 As soon as you do a little digging you discover that it's more like a 9 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:40,080 tapestry of different stories woven together by whoever was in power 10 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,440 at the time. 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:42,680 In this series, 12 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,800 I'm going to debunk some of the biggest fibs in British history. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,240 In the 15th century, 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,000 the story of the Wars of the Roses was invented by the Tudors 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:53,920 to justify their power, 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,840 and then immortalised by the greatest storyteller of them all, 17 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,320 William Shakespeare. 18 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:01,480 Now is the winter of our discontent. 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:04,640 In the 17th century, 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,680 politicians and artists helped turn a foreign invasion 21 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,000 into the triumphal tale of Britain's Glorious Revolution. 22 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,120 Hello. Hoo-hoo! 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,600 And in this programme, 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,040 I'll discover how in the 19th century a British government coup 25 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:27,920 in India created the British Raj and was heralded by the Victorians 26 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,360 as the civilising triumph of the Empire. 27 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,320 In 1877, 28 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:40,400 Queen Victoria got a promotion when she was made Empress of India. 29 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,840 She was now up there with emperors like Alexander the Great 30 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,400 or the Caesars, the most powerful potentates in history. 31 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,240 But Victoria's promotion wasn't just an expression of Britain's 32 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,040 military might. With Victoria as its motherly figurehead, 33 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,400 Britain was cooking up a new imperial vision. 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,040 Tyranny and exploitation were things of the past. 35 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,760 This would now be a caring empire, 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:14,120 driven by core Victorian values of honour, respect and justice, 37 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,120 or so the story goes. 38 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,760 With history the line between fact and fiction often gets blurred. 39 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,960 20 years after Victoria became Empress of India, 40 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,520 Britain staged an incredible spectacle. 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,240 On the 22nd of June 1897, the nation celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,960 Victoria was now the longest-serving monarch in British history. 43 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,920 300,000 people had lined the streets to watch the Queen making 44 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,480 her procession from Buckingham Palace all the way 45 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,280 up here to St Paul's Cathedral. 46 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,120 Every minute of the day was very tightly timetabled. 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,320 You could read in the newspapers exactly where she was supposed to be 48 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,360 and when. She was supposed to get here at midday. 49 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,680 Now, all these people had turned out because this was a rare chance 50 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,680 to see the little old lady who'd led the nation 51 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,920 for 60 years of unprecedented peace and prosperity. 52 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,160 But, perhaps even more importantly, 53 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,520 this was a chance to celebrate the best thing that had ever happened 54 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,920 to Britain - its Empire. 55 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,000 Since Victoria's reign began in 1837, 56 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,720 the British Empire had grown to become the largest and most powerful 57 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:42,040 empire in the world. 58 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:50,360 In 1897, Victoria ruled over 370 million subjects across the globe. 59 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,440 And the jewel in the Empire's crown was India. 60 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,440 Now, obviously, India brought prestige and 61 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,120 wealth to the British Empire 62 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,920 but it did something else very important as well. 63 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,680 It gave the British the opportunity to show other nations 64 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:07,560 how imperialism should be done. 65 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,240 Victoria's jubilee was a great excuse 66 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,160 for a national slap on the back to celebrate Britain's imperial ideals 67 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,160 of fair play, justice and honour. 68 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,040 Little mention that the British were invaders in foreign lands, 69 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,240 that India had been won by fighting bloody battles 70 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,040 against Indian resistance. 71 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:36,680 This history of Victoria's reign was published in jubilee year 1897 72 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,880 and the writer brings the story of Empire right up into the present. 73 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,480 He claims that all the Indian people in London for the jubilee 74 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,480 celebrations were delighted to be here and what's more, 75 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,280 they represented other happy Indians back at home. 76 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:54,360 "One felt," he writes, 77 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,560 "that each of them represented thousands more who were ready in the 78 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:03,400 "hour of peril to draw the sword for the motherland and its Queen." 79 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:10,280 He says that the Jubilee marks the high point of the imperial idea. 80 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:13,560 Now, you might be thinking, "What a lot of nonsense." 81 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,640 But this vision of India as the jewel in the crown 82 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,000 of a benevolent empire was fervently believed by most Victorians. 83 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,640 It had been carefully crafted since 1858 when the government had taken 84 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,080 formal control of India. 85 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,120 Queen Victoria herself had issued 86 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,920 the new regime's imperial mission statement. 87 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,400 "We British will now wholeheartedly respect our Indian subjects. 88 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,800 "India will share all the benefits 89 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,880 "that have made our tiny island nation great." 90 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:52,000 A history of aggressive conquest and exploitation was being moulded 91 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,040 into an uplifting story to justify the Empire. 92 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,760 It began here in Kolkata, where the British had made their Indian base 93 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,360 in the late 18th century. 94 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,200 Looking at a map of India, you might think that Kolkata, 95 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,360 or Calcutta as it used to be known, 96 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,360 is a bit of a funny place to choose for an imperial capital. 97 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,800 It isn't bang in the middle like the really ancient city of Delhi - 98 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,520 that was a much better place for dominating the subcontinent. 99 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,280 But when the British first set up shop in the 18th century, 100 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:28,360 they weren't intending to dominate the subcontinent at all. 101 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,800 They'd come here to get rich through trade and, for that, 102 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:34,880 Calcutta suited them perfectly. 103 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:46,440 Calcutta's Hooghly River flows out into the Bay of Bengal and into 104 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,360 convenient sea routes to take goods back to Britain. 105 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,600 But the first Britons to exploit India's riches here weren't members 106 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,560 of the establishment - they were buccaneering, 107 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:59,840 money-making entrepreneurs. 108 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,480 They where employees of a vast multinational corporation, 109 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,440 the British East India Company. 110 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:18,200 The East India Company merchants first came to India in 1615 111 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,440 during the reign of Elizabeth I. 112 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,520 Haggling with the local elite, 113 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,880 these wheeler-dealers gained a foothold in Calcutta 114 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,280 and began to dominate trade in the region. 115 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,920 This private company had no imperial ambitions and certainly 116 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,200 no civilising mission. 117 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,840 For them, India was simply a cash cow to be plundered. 118 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,240 Relying on trade deals with the local rulers, 119 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,240 the company men now set about exploiting all the riches that India 120 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,920 had to offer - from silks to cotton to tea to spices. 121 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,520 This band of merchant adventurers stopped at nothing in their pursuit 122 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:05,280 of wealth. 123 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,000 Playing by their own rules, they reneged on trade deals, 124 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,560 they refused to pay tribute to local rulers, 125 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,600 and, when they didn't get their way, resorted to violence. 126 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,640 With their sharp trading practices, 127 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,600 today these men seem little more than pirates. 128 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,080 But the company didn't describe themselves as a bunch 129 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,480 of bloodthirsty and avaricious merchants. 130 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,480 No, these men were British and honourable to the core. 131 00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:41,080 The company's official title made this explicit. 132 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,920 They called themselves the Honourable East India Company. 133 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,160 And they went to great lengths to engineer a facade 134 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,920 of British respectability. 135 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,200 And they built monuments like this - 136 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,280 an almost exact replica of the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields 137 00:08:58,280 --> 00:08:59,680 in Trafalgar Square. 138 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,440 In fact, St John's Church also housed the East India Company's 139 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,440 first council chambers where these Anglo-Indian merchants could discuss 140 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,000 their real interests - making money. 141 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,640 And they were quite successful. 142 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,440 By the late 18th-century they were like independent rulers 143 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,360 of large parts of India, 144 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,600 with their own private army of Indian foot soldiers or sepoys. 145 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,320 As the company grew in power, 146 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,680 it still had its pretensions to that word, "honourable". 147 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:35,000 But a rather different insight can be found inside St John's - 148 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,960 a picture by Johann Zoffany, the company's go-to portrait painter. 149 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,240 - So, Jayanta, we're standing in a Christian church. - Yes. 150 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,960 We're looking at a painting of the Last Supper. 151 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,960 That's not such a surprising thing to find. 152 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:52,560 No, it's not, except that Jesus and all the others present here 153 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,480 are actually members of the fashionable Anglo-Indian society 154 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:57,240 in Calcutta in the late 18th century. 155 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,560 So real people sat to have their pictures painted? 156 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:05,040 Yes, Jesus in the middle is a Greek bishop named Father Parthenio. 157 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:06,480 To his left, 158 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,560 the lady figure is actually the police sergeant of Calcutta 159 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:13,560 in the late 18th century, named WC Blacquiere, 160 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:17,360 who was a transvestite and who was very famous for stalking 161 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,120 and rounding up criminals while dressed as a woman. 162 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,120 Hang on, you can't just say that. 163 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,600 Are you saying that St John is a transvestite policeman? 164 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,240 Here it is, that's Zoffany's funny take on this. 165 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,120 Slightly subversive. 166 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:32,640 OK, and who else? 167 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,000 This bearded guy sitting on the right foreground with this dagger 168 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,800 showing up on his waist, he's a Judas here, 169 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,360 he's actually an auctioneer named William Tulloh. 170 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:43,920 He looks pretty unhappy. 171 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,240 He looks pretty pissed, playing Judas here. 172 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,600 All the others, they're all company men, powerful and influential. 173 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,120 Isn't this bordering on sacrilege though? 174 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,480 You've got to be pretty arrogant to depict yourself as an apostle? 175 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,640 I guess you can say that but that arrogance comes from 176 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,200 the actual power wielded by these people because they're not only 177 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,400 making money doing commerce but they are also ruling the roost 178 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,440 in politics and administration. 179 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,120 They called themselves the Honourable East India Company. 180 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,440 - Yes. - They weren't honourable from our point of view today at all. 181 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:18,600 How do you explain that? 182 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,560 Well, it's part of this self image which the British created for 183 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:27,040 themselves in order to feel good about their enterprise, 184 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,360 which was really about commerce and moneymaking. 185 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,160 And they were actually portrayed by fairly influential intellectuals 186 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,200 at that time as honourable, like David Hume, 187 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,440 whose volumes on the history of England portrays these people 188 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:43,080 as very honourable, holding up the British values. 189 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,800 Hume actually says somewhere in those volumes that the reason 190 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,600 why they could transform themselves so quickly from a trading enterprise 191 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:52,880 into such a powerful political entity 192 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,880 was the strength of their character. 193 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,280 Endorsed by the likes of David Hume, 194 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,360 the company men ruled India with little accountability. 195 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,800 And the British government was happy as long as the money kept rolling in 196 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,120 because the British East India Company profits enriched 197 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:17,120 the British economy by £67 billion a year in today's money. 198 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,680 But not everyone was impressed. 199 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:24,840 In 1756, the local ruler of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, 200 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,400 led an uprising against the East India Company. 201 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,000 He captured Calcutta and locked a group of company men 202 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,640 in a tiny prison called the Black Hole. 203 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,000 Many died of suffocation. 204 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,240 The British government would join the company to take terrible revenge 205 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,760 but only after presenting this event as a savage assault on Britain. 206 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,000 The Black Hole of Calcutta was about to enter the history books. 207 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,960 To the memory of the 123 persons who perished 208 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,840 in the Black Hole prison. 209 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,520 Now, British people will have heard of the Black Hole of Calcutta, 210 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,200 but what really was it? 211 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,960 Now, the only account of a survivor, or first-hand account of that 212 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,120 is from a British general called John Holwell who was in that room. 213 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,040 What sort of detail does he give us in his account? 214 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,240 John Holwell is fairly graphic in his details. 215 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,000 I have an extract here from the Chambers's Edinburgh Journal. 216 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,160 This is Holwell's quote. 217 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,880 "The first effect of their confinement was a continued sweat, 218 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,640 "which soon produced intolerable thirst, 219 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,840 "succeeded by excruciating pains in the chest 220 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,240 "with difficulty of breathing, little short of suffocation." 221 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,760 So this is a very graphic, horrific, dark story that he's telling. 222 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,000 True, this is very horrific. 223 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,200 But what we know is that, at that time, 224 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,000 it suited the British narrative, 225 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,680 so they could not just come about and slaughter the natives, 226 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:57,720 but their retribution, as ruthless and brutal as it was, 227 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,080 had to be justified by some pre-existing 228 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,000 Indian savagery or barbarism. 229 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,880 It was more than two centuries later in the 1960s that Indian historians 230 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,560 began to question Holwell's account for the first time. 231 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:16,520 And the first one who did that very significantly was a historian named 232 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:21,040 RC Majumdar who wrote a book in 1962 where he raised two questions. 233 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:26,680 One is that if it was so dark and so cramped in that little black hole, 234 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:31,360 then how could Holwell write such a graphic description with such 235 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,280 excruciating and horrific details. 236 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,120 The other question was that if the room was so small then there was 237 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:44,000 no way you could cram together 146 people in there. 238 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,360 Even if Holwell were true about people dying of suffocation, 239 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:53,080 it couldn't have been more than 60 or 70 people, not more. 240 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,840 We don't know. Majumdar was a nationalist historian, 241 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,240 so his account was also very subjective. 242 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,640 Was he trying to make the British look really bad? 243 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,800 - Like liars? - Yes. Yes. - Massagers of the truth? 244 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,480 But we don't know the real truth that happened. 245 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,680 At the time, the facts, what really happened in the Black Hole, 246 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,360 didn't matter to the company or the British Government. 247 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,520 They simply wanted to regain control, 248 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,480 so a horror story was very useful in whipping up 249 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:25,520 public support back home. 250 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,600 And when the East India Company under General Robert Clive 251 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,520 took their revenge, Clive's troops were reinforced by the might 252 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,440 of the British Army at Government expense. 253 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,680 Clive was victorious - he was given a peerage 254 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,680 and immortalised in the colonial narrative. 255 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:43,920 He was now Clive of India. 256 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,880 But British faith in the East India Company had been shaken. 257 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:55,320 The problem was that the company had stopped making a profit. 258 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,760 Re-establishing control of Calcutta 259 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,200 and Clive's other military manoeuvrings 260 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,040 had cost an awful lot of money. 261 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,960 The company had had to borrow money from the Government, a lot of it. 262 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,520 People at home were beginning to ask, was it worth it? 263 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,840 The company's honourable status was in doubt. 264 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,560 While it was being bankrolled millions by the Government, 265 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,120 company men like Clive were getting rich 266 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,560 and throwing their money around. 267 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,480 For many they were no longer seen as the best of British but more like 268 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,080 oriental tyrants - corrupt and abusing their power. 269 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:57,320 Clive had amassed a personal fortune of £4 million in today's money. 270 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,680 This immediately made him one of the richest men in the country. 271 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,320 But he wasn't alone - there were other ex-East India Company men 272 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:09,080 coming back to Britain with these huge piles of cash 273 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:13,880 and they were ready to splash it about on buying property and power. 274 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,360 This is Sezincote in Gloucestershire, 275 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:26,680 purchased in 1795 by a company man, Colonel John Cockerell. 276 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,400 After his death it was then embellished with this extravagant 277 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:36,080 Indian facade by his brothers, also company men, Charles and Samuel. 278 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:41,360 The Cockerell family created a fantasy mini version of India 279 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:43,680 here in the middle of the Cotswolds. 280 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,720 From the inside the house seems like a fairly standard Palladian villa. 281 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,920 But on the outside it's been given this fantastical Mughal coating. 282 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,240 There are Muslim architectural features, 283 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,480 like the green dome on the top and the minarets, 284 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,000 and these very distinctive deeply overhanging eaves. 285 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,360 But then again there are also Hindu features in the architecture such as 286 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:12,080 the octagonal columns each side of the door and, at the top 287 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,600 of the columns, a little decoration of a lotus flower. 288 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,240 But then again on top of that, 289 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,960 there are the architectural jokes in the corners above the arch up there. 290 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,160 Well, we've got some Union Jacks. 291 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:32,520 With its mashed up Muslim and Hindu features, 292 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,360 a visitor from Georgian India would have thought there was something 293 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,240 a bit odd about this place. 294 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,480 But imagine what the Gloucestershire neighbours must have thought. 295 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,320 To them, it must have looked totally alien. 296 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,920 Like many company men, the Cockerells had come back 297 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,600 with delusions of grandeur to match their wallets. 298 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,680 But to the old establishment, 299 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,000 these men were now seen as corrupt upstarts with ideas 300 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,080 above their station. 301 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,480 And in the popular press they were satirised by cartoonists 302 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,520 like James Gillray and labelled as nabobs, 303 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,640 a perversion of the title nawab, an Indian ruler. 304 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,840 Andrea, what was the problem with these East India men 305 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,680 coming back to Britain? Why were they so disliked? 306 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,760 Well, part of it was a little bit of wealth envy. 307 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,840 They were coming back with massive fortunes, 308 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:26,040 buying their way into local society, throwing their money around, 309 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,000 but it went a lot deeper than that. 310 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,840 The main concern, really, was how they had got their money. 311 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,120 So if we look at this cartoon, for example, 312 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:37,600 it shows a sort of typical nabob being carried through a sea 313 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,800 of dead Indian bodies, clutching onto his moneybags. 314 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,080 He's got £4 million in each hand. 315 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,360 He is weighed down by his riches. 316 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,040 - Yes, absolutely. - And although he's got dying, 317 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:49,840 drowning Indian people in the water, 318 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,480 he's really bothered about not getting his slippers wet, isn't he? 319 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,800 This was the concern that these nabobs were coming back 320 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,600 having spent their time in India simply concerned with profit, 321 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,880 so they're concerned that this money must be being acquired through sharp 322 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,000 trading practices, through corruption, blackmail, speculation, 323 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,760 profiteering, all of these kinds of dark arts that are seen to be closer 324 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,400 to robbery than to fair trade. 325 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,320 How did the political establishment fight back against this? 326 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,000 Well, the main way they fought back was by impeaching 327 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,400 the Governor-General, Warren Hastings. 328 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,400 We can see here, this is a very famous political cartoon of the time 329 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,520 which shows the political adversaries Edmund Burke 330 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:30,840 and Charles James Fox 331 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,640 uniting to try and take down Warren Hastings. 332 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:34,920 This is Warren Hastings, 333 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:41,200 a western ruler of Bengal wearing Indian turban, clothing. 334 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,160 He's got his little slippers on again, 335 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,040 and he is riding upon a strange creature. 336 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,320 I believe it's a camel. 337 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:50,960 Doesn't look much like a camel. 338 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:52,720 A slightly stylised camel. 339 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,080 He is representing the 340 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,520 East India Company at this point, is he? 341 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,120 Yes, effectively. 342 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:01,800 The bigger concerns here are not so much about Hastings as a person 343 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,200 but about what the East India Company is doing, 344 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,520 how governance is being carried out in India. But of course all of that 345 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,520 is a little bit dry for capturing 346 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,000 public opinion and public enthusiasm. 347 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,360 And Burke realises that to have this debate he needs to go for a target 348 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,200 and that target is Warren Hastings. 349 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:20,640 By company standards, 350 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,240 Hastings wasn't the shadiest character by any means, 351 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,760 but he was high profile, the perfect scapegoat for the Government. 352 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,920 He was charged with tyranny, robbery, corruption and blackmail. 353 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,400 The trial dragged on for seven years. 354 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,240 In the end it was impossible to make all the charges stick 355 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,440 to one individual. Hastings was acquitted. 356 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,760 But the show trial had worked. 357 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,480 The East India Company had been discredited. 358 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:54,280 The government was waking up to the dire situation in India. 359 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,720 In future, company men would be kept in check. 360 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,200 In 1784, the Government passed an act. 361 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,320 It's full title makes it pretty clear what it was all about. 362 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,160 It was an act for the better regulation of the affairs 363 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,280 of the East India Company. 364 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,560 The cosy relationship between the company 365 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,080 and the British establishment was on the turn. 366 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:25,040 The merry band of merchants were now depicted as rather too merry. 367 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,400 Drunkards who'd succumbed to the vices of the Orient and grown 368 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,760 too close to the locals and their culture. 369 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,800 Take, for example, the rather fabulously-named 370 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,360 James Achilles Kirkpatrick. 371 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,680 This is his memorial in St John's Church. 372 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:46,640 He was a Lieutenant Colonel for the company and he had a Muslim wife 373 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,400 and Muslim children. 374 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,000 There was a boy, Ghulam Ali, and a girl, Noor-un-Nissa. 375 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,000 He was obviously perfectly happy with the situation. 376 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,000 But not everybody was. 377 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,280 Shortly before Kirkpatrick's death, 378 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,520 his children came to live in England. 379 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,240 And there they were given new names for their new life. 380 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,400 Here's the record of their baptism. 381 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,760 Ghulam Ali became William George 382 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,320 and Noor-un-Nissa became Catherine Aurora. 383 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,800 Must have been confusing for the poor kids. 384 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:24,000 As the enforced conversion of his children from Islam to Christianity 385 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,560 reveals, some company men like Kirkpatrick 386 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,120 had more enlightened views about race and religion than 387 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:35,240 the British establishment. At the end of the 18th century, 388 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:39,560 the Government began to think that the company was growing degenerate, 389 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,480 corrupted by the influence of native religions. 390 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,680 The most dangerous of all - Hinduism. 391 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:53,360 Hindus made up 90% of the 250 million-strong Indian population. 392 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,800 The British called the country India but its ancient native name 393 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,120 was Hindustan. 394 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:01,840 Land of the Hindus. 395 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,360 Ever since the British had arrived in India they'd struggled 396 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:13,840 to understand Hinduism with its, to them, exotic gods and goddesses, 397 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,120 more than a million of them, and its confusing caste system. 398 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:22,280 But at least the earlier visitors in the 18th century had had a go 399 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:27,440 at appreciating it. For example, the Scottish historian William Robertson 400 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:32,560 thought that Hinduism expressed the sophistication of Indian culture. 401 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,960 He wrote that the Indian people had made more progress towards 402 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,360 civilisation than any other people. 403 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:45,160 Robertson's opinions reflected a certain 18th-century view 404 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:50,280 of India's culture as exotic, fascinating, even praiseworthy. 405 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:56,760 By the 19th century, though, many British people reviled Hinduism. 406 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,440 The ancient custom of sati, for example, 407 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:04,200 of burning a man's widow after his death seemed shocking. 408 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,160 It had been East India Company policy not to rock the boat, 409 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,160 not to interfere with native beliefs. 410 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:16,000 But now the British establishment was taking a very different view. 411 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,240 Historians were now totally disrespectful of Indian culture. 412 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,280 In fact, they were horrified by it. 413 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,680 For example, James Mill wrote a wildly successful history of India 414 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,600 and he doesn't have a good word to say about Hindus. 415 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:36,320 He thinks they're full of antisocial passions and malignity, 416 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,840 but at the same time, they're cowards. 417 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,600 "This people run from danger with more trepidation and eagerness 418 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:48,360 "than has been ever witnessed in any other part of the globe." 419 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:52,120 The funny thing was that James Mill had never been to India. 420 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,360 He probably hadn't even met a Hindu. 421 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:59,360 And then we have the evangelical historian Charles Grant. 422 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:03,280 He too thinks that the natives are extremely depraved 423 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,320 but Mr Grant has a solution. 424 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,160 He thinks it's the introduction of our light and knowledge 425 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:10,680 among that benighted people, 426 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:15,280 especially the pure, salutary, wise principles of our religion. 427 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:22,600 Grant's history became a Bible for missionaries and James Mill's, 428 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,840 well, that became the standard textbook 429 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,920 for any young company official going out to India. 430 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:31,960 In fact, Mill was even employed back in Britain to oversee the education 431 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:33,320 of new recruits. 432 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,200 The anti-Hindu propaganda in these history books helped justify 433 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,520 the Government's assault on the East India Company. 434 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:48,560 It opened the way for more direct meddling in the affairs of India. 435 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,240 The British Government claims that they were protecting company men 436 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,120 from further pollution by immoral practices. 437 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,160 And in 1811, when the Government gave missionaries the licence 438 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,400 to preach in India, 439 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,320 they thought the natives would be grateful for their conversion 440 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:05,480 to Christianity. 441 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,760 But in 1857 that comforting fiction went up in flames. 442 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,520 In March of that year, 443 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,320 resistance to the British erupted amongst the Indian soldiers. 444 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,000 Over the next 15 months, 445 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,960 bitter fighting broke out with heavy military and civilian casualties 446 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,000 on both sides. India became a bloodbath. 447 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,280 The East India Company's hold on the country was falling apart. 448 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:39,240 This is the Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle. 449 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,960 It was a state-of-the-art weapon. 450 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:46,000 It had performed very well for the British Army in the Crimean War, 451 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,400 so when the East India Company's army needed new guns in 1856, 452 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,480 this is the model they chose. 453 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,560 Unfortunately, they were shooting themselves in the foot. 454 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,640 The problem was the cartridges. 455 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,200 They were lubricated with tallow, 456 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,160 that's animal fat, either pork or beef. 457 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,240 To load the gun you have to bite the end off the cartridge like this. 458 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,560 And out comes the powder. 459 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,920 Now, that's not very nice for anybody to have to do 460 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,760 and the majority of the soldiers in the East India Company army 461 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,840 were either Hindus or Muslims. 462 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:30,680 To them it was sacrilegious because for Hindus the cow is a holy animal 463 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,960 and Muslims are forbidden to eat pork. 464 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,040 As wave after wave of rebellion spread across the subcontinent, 465 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:42,440 the cartridges became a rallying point for Indian resistance to the 466 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,400 British and their disregard for Indian religions and culture. 467 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,040 For the Indian soldiers, 468 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,000 this business of the cartridges was important because it was tangible, 469 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,920 it focused their grievances. 470 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,640 For the British though, it was used to bolster the fiction 471 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,240 that this was a purely military matter. 472 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:09,280 It wasn't part of wider discontent, this was simply an Indian mutiny. 473 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,400 By describing the uprising as a mutiny, a military matter, 474 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,040 the British were trying to control the story. 475 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,440 Like the Black Hole incident 100 years before, 476 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:30,360 the situation seemed to call for swift, sharp retribution. 477 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,640 If this was painted as soldiers disobeying orders, 478 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,440 or a military mutiny, then a brutal response was justified. 479 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:50,080 This is Barrackpore, just outside modern Kolkata 480 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,280 In Hindi, Barrackpore means the City of Barracks 481 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:59,160 and in 1857 this was the site of an East India Company army base. 482 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,400 The Indian uprising began here, 483 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,400 as did the British decision to call it a mutiny. 484 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,320 I'm going to see the statue of an Indian soldier who is said to have 485 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,840 started the rebellion, Mangal Pandey. 486 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,200 It was 29th of March 1857. 487 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:24,760 He came out of his barracks with his red coat, the hat, 488 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:30,600 but significantly not the pantaloon but the traditional Indian dhoti. 489 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,720 So the top half was British and the bottom half was Indian? 490 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,680 That might be indicative of something, you know. 491 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,360 - Something is going on. - That I'm going to revolt against the British. 492 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:43,040 - And what happened? - Then one of the British officers came forward 493 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,720 but Mangal Pandey shot him but he missed. 494 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:53,800 A second British officer came and he ordered sepoys to come out to help 495 00:30:53,800 --> 00:31:00,280 them but most of the Indian sepoys, they didn't come out to help him. 496 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,120 Nobody came, the other sepoys didn't come. 497 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,880 No, they didn't come. Then the third officer, 498 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,480 who was the commanding officer, 499 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:13,080 he came and he called the sepoys to come out or he will shoot them. 500 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:17,520 Then the sepoys came but when Mangal Pandey saw that 501 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,720 then he shot himself. 502 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:25,600 He was injured seriously and he was arrested and after that 503 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,400 he was hanged under this banyan tree. 504 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,000 It sounds to me like this really was, technically, a mutiny. 505 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,880 He broke the rules of being a soldier. 506 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,120 Yeah, in the British eyes of course he did, 507 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,680 but from the Indian point of view this was a just thing, 508 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,760 it is the result of the colonial exploitation 509 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:44,760 of India by the British. 510 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,600 And when did Indian historians themselves start to come out 511 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,520 with their own version of what happened? 512 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:56,320 It was a person called VD Savarkar who wrote a book 513 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,480 in the early 20th century and the name of the book is 514 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,040 First War of Independence. 515 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,160 Now here also it was not Indian mutiny or Indian revolt - 516 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,120 Indian war of independence. 517 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,000 Still now, in school books and textbooks in the colleges, 518 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,880 Mangal Pandey is regarded as the first martyr 519 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,440 of the Indian independence movement. 520 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,680 Do you think that this whole event, call it a mutiny, a war, 521 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,360 whatever you like, it's a really fascinating case study 522 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:26,800 - for historians, isn't it? - Sure, it is. It is. 523 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,880 You have to see the whole thing in the perspective of the time. 524 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:36,920 Visiting Barrackpore today with the crumbling ruins of the military 525 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,560 barracks around the cherished memorial to Mangal Pandey, 526 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,960 history is on the side of the sepoys. 527 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:49,080 But in 1857 it was a very different story. 528 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,840 Back then, today's heroic freedom fighter was portrayed by the British 529 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:58,880 establishment as a drug-crazed villain disobeying orders, 530 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,000 the ringleader of a mutiny. 531 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,280 As the resistance quickly spread across the country, 532 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:10,840 "Remember Mangal Pandey," became the Indian resistance cry. 533 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,840 And for the British, Pandey became a byword for mutineer. 534 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,320 The killing on both sides was ferocious. 535 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:25,640 For the British, the crisis point came in June 1857 when Indian rebels 536 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,920 at Cawnpore killed over 200 British women and children. 537 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,760 They then dumped their bodies in a well. 538 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,040 Once again the British began whipping up a frenzy for vengeance. 539 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:43,560 The scene at the Cawnpore slaughter was deliberately left untouched 540 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,680 to provoke the bloodlust of the relief forces. 541 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:52,800 For instance, we have this shoe that survives and it was found 542 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,840 near the well at Cawnpore. 543 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:59,480 So the story goes that this little shoe fell off the foot of a dead 544 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,640 little boy as his body was being thrown down the well for disposal. 545 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,960 - That's right. - Do you see this as a sort of prop for telling 546 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,880 a particular story about what happened on that day then? 547 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,560 I'd certainly think so. I think if this was a soldier's boot 548 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,960 it wouldn't have had the same impact. It's a child's shoe. 549 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,280 It's a really powerful thing to see, isn't it? 550 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:23,480 It's emotive, it's telling you they're not just attacking our men, 551 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:25,320 they're attacking our women and our children. 552 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,800 It goes further with another object that is linked to the same incident. 553 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,360 A lock of hair that is in our collection. 554 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,200 Have a quick read of the caption. 555 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,640 The little note says, "Hair of the murdered women and children, 556 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:41,360 "over 200 of them." 557 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:45,400 But another account tells us of the Highlanders that arrived at the well 558 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:50,040 of Cawnpore and vowed to themselves that for every strand of hair 559 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,640 that we find, a mutineer shall die. 560 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:54,880 - Oh, my goodness. - The message was revenge. 561 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,480 Justification for revenge. 562 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:02,080 The message was received loud and clear and the British retribution 563 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:06,800 was merciless. To show people at home that vengeance had been done, 564 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,640 it was then graphically recorded. 565 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,840 This watercolour is a depiction of mutineers being blown away. 566 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,760 They're tied to the mouths of cannons and then blown to pieces. 567 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,400 So the cannonball is about to come out through the middle of him? 568 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,720 Quite gruesome. You see typically reports saying the head goes up, 569 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:28,000 the arms go to the side and the legs fall. 570 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,760 Why were they killed in such an inhumane manner? 571 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:36,200 It was something used by the Mughals in the 1600s which was really aimed 572 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:40,240 at punishing Hindu people so that they wouldn't have a body in their 573 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:44,600 afterlife and therefore couldn't go through the reincarnation cycle 574 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:46,160 that they believed in. 575 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:50,080 So the scattering of the physical remains of the person, 576 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,440 this ensured a kind of double death in this life and for all 577 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,560 - future lives to come. - Certainly so. 578 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,480 That's one of the reasons why this is probably painted and it was a way 579 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,040 of stamping authority and showing victory. 580 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:08,160 By the time the British finally crushed the rebellion in July 1859, 581 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,920 conservative estimates say that 11,000 British 582 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,440 and over 100,000 Indians had died. 583 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,120 The British were victorious but India was in turmoil. 584 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,240 Since the unrest had started, 585 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:25,720 the Government had begun to realise that India couldn't be held 586 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:27,680 by brute force alone. 587 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,920 Britain needed to start winning over Indian hearts and minds. 588 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,480 The Government decided to begin a new chapter 589 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,800 for British rule in India. 590 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,440 In 1858, the East India Company were told... 591 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:44,760 MUSIC: Dance Of The Knights by Sergei Prokofiev 592 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,320 You're fired. 593 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,080 Now when the Government had intervened previously 594 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,320 in the business of the East India Company, 595 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,080 it had been with the aim of moderating its affairs, 596 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,840 sometimes there'd been a bit of a slap on the wrist but this time it 597 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:03,880 was different. This was a full-on, asset-stripping annihilation 598 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,560 of the East India Company. 599 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,960 It was immediately stripped of all power. 600 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,600 The company's top dog, the Governor-General, 601 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,760 was evicted from his palatial residence and sent home 602 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,720 to be replaced by a new Government representative, the Viceroy. 603 00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:24,440 The new age of the Raj was dawning. 604 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:28,120 The Government now had to prove that the regime in India really had 605 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:34,000 changed and was already weaving an imperial narrative to do just that. 606 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,440 To avoid accusations of corruption or self-interest, 607 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,760 power wasn't transferred directly to Parliament. 608 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:47,560 Instead, it was vested in the person of Queen Victoria herself. 609 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,640 Victoria eagerly got in on the act. 610 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,920 She made a public proclamation to the world that the new regime 611 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,280 had swept away all the bad practices of the old East India Company. 612 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:06,600 "We will respect the rights, dignity and honour of the native princes. 613 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,440 "Everyone of any religious faith shall alike enjoy 614 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,280 "the equal and impartial protection of law. 615 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:18,240 "We will respect land inherited from ancestors. 616 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:23,160 "Our earnest desire is to stimulate the peaceful industry of India, 617 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,840 "to promote public works and improvements. 618 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,800 "Their prosperity will be our strength." 619 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:35,000 Victoria's proclamation was a masterstroke. 620 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,400 It transformed a government coup into a moral mission 621 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,480 to improve the lives of all Indians. 622 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,440 The new declaration distanced the British establishment from any 623 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,400 involvement in the East India Company's atrocities. 624 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:58,320 Britain's image as a plundering nation was now being repackaged 625 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,280 for both Indian audiences and those back home. 626 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:04,800 In this 18th-century image, 627 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,520 Britannia is taking things from the Empire. 628 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,760 She's saying, "Mmm, jewels. I want them." 629 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,680 And even her lion is looking greedily at the ropes of pearls. 630 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,640 But in the 19th-century image, 631 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,880 the relationship is the other way around. 632 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,040 In this picture, Victoria is giving something 633 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,760 to her grateful imperial subject. 634 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:29,040 Look, this lucky fellow is about to get a present and this, 635 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,120 as the title of the painting puts it, 636 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:35,000 is the secret of England's greatness. 637 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,480 Britain's new imperial mission statement was clear. 638 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,640 The Empire would take responsibility for the welfare 639 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,880 of its Indian subjects. They would no longer be subjugated 640 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,320 and exploited, but respected and rewarded. 641 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:50,840 That would smooth things over. 642 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:56,280 In 1861, a new knightly order was created - 643 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,520 the Order of the Star of India. 644 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,760 When the Indian princes were made Knights Commander of this order, 645 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,520 they were supposed to feel like 646 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:06,960 they'd joined the British establishment - 647 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,280 a bit like school prefects getting given a badge. 648 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:14,600 But they were also given at this point a medal showing the head 649 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,680 of Queen Victoria. Now, hang on. 650 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,000 Human representations can be offensive to Muslims, 651 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:22,920 as many of the princes were. 652 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,640 Once again, the British were merrily misunderstanding 653 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:28,800 their Indian subjects. 654 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,200 In reality, the replacement of East India Company rule 655 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:35,920 with a British Raj offered only a veneer of change. 656 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,880 Beneath the surface, the British Government 657 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:41,760 was continuing to exploit India's riches. 658 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,760 But this message, that the Empire was now all about civilisation, 659 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,120 was very powerful. 660 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:54,160 And in 1868, this imperial manifesto gained another powerful champion - 661 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,360 the new Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. 662 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,920 He coined the phrase, "The jewel in the crown," 663 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:05,880 to emphasise his view of India's importance for the Empire. 664 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,520 Disraeli was highly ambitious. 665 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:13,000 Partly for himself, yes, but also for Britain and for the Empire. 666 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,160 He thought that Britain shouldn't just maintain its Empire, 667 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:17,800 it should expand. 668 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,080 And that for this purpose, a figurehead like an empress 669 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,000 would be awfully useful. 670 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:28,320 In 1876, Disraeli engineered the Royal Titles Act, 671 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,400 giving his imperial jewel some extra sparkle. 672 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,240 Queen Victoria would become the Empress of India. 673 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:42,120 This was a very clever move on Disraeli's part. 674 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:47,480 Ever since Albert had died in 1861, Victoria had been in mourning. 675 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:51,440 She had rather withdrawn from the world and her people thought 676 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,200 that she had forgotten about them, 677 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,680 almost that she had been shirking her responsibilities. 678 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:00,760 But now she was back in the limelight. 679 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:06,440 The imperial narrative now had a powerful yet maternal leading lady. 680 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,280 Disraeli enjoyed his own promotion too, 681 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,080 as the delighted Victoria made him an earl. 682 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:17,320 But Victoria's elevation didn't have unanimous approval. 683 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:22,200 Many thought the title of empress stank of autocratic rule. 684 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,240 It was against the principles of constitutional monarchy. 685 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:30,600 And besides, what would the Indian population think? 686 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,360 Disraeli and his supporters needed to spin a story to prove that 687 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:40,400 Victoria's promotion was best for Britain, best for India, 688 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,920 best for the Empire. 689 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:46,560 What was needed was a party, and that's exactly what they got. 690 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,440 Lord Lytton, who was Queen Victoria's newly-promoted 691 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:57,200 representative in India, expressed the opinion that Indians 692 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,680 would go mad for a bit of bunting. 693 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:04,200 There were immense cultural differences, 694 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:09,560 but both Indians and the British revelled in pageantry and spectacle. 695 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:14,200 Celebrations were to be held across India and there would be one 696 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,840 show-stopping event. 697 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:21,120 It was decided that the celebrations weren't to be in Calcutta, but here, 698 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:24,840 in Delhi. Because this wasn't just a party, 699 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:28,520 this was a cleverly crafted statement of propaganda. 700 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,120 The choice of Delhi was highly symbolic. 701 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:38,000 For centuries, Delhi had been the capital of the great ruling 702 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:39,360 Indian dynasty, the Mughals. 703 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:44,960 It was still full of magnificent buildings signifying their power. 704 00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:50,760 By situating themselves amidst all this grandeur, 705 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:54,360 the British were claiming that they were the natural successors 706 00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:55,720 to a mighty empire. 707 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,840 Delhi had also played a central role in the so-called mutiny. 708 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:09,280 The rebels had made their stand alongside the last Mughal emperor, 709 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,480 here in his Red Fort. 710 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:18,800 By holding the celebrations in Delhi, 711 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:23,400 the British were reminding the Indians of their dominance. 712 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:26,520 The British couldn't deny that they were foreign interlopers, 713 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,360 but they now hammered home the message that they were a benign 714 00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:31,800 force for good. 715 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:35,880 To appeal to the Indians, the entire event took the form of a durbar, 716 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:40,840 a tradition where Mughal emperors held court with their subjects. 717 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:45,440 These formal ceremonies were accompanied by lavish festivities 718 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:47,800 with vibrant musical processions 719 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:52,440 leading to the final audience with the emperor at his fort. 720 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:57,560 In 1877, the British created their own durbar spectacular 721 00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:02,800 with an extraordinary mishmash of Indian and British pageantry. 722 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:06,760 When the durbar of 1877 happens, 723 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:10,240 the idea of a durbar is retained but it is given a spin. 724 00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:14,840 I'm saying that the durbar of 1877 reminds me a little 725 00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:18,680 of the chicken tikka masala, which incidentally I ate 726 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,160 - for the first time when I went to England. - Really? 727 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:23,680 It is not something that featured in Indian menus 728 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:29,040 until quite recently. So the idea of chicken tikka masala is an invention 729 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:33,440 based on three staples taken from an Indian diet 730 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,280 but turned and transformed into a completely unrecognisable dish. 731 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,440 How did the British go about reinventing this tradition? 732 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:46,520 For example, the shehnai players that would have traditionally 733 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,080 accompanied a royal procession in Mughal India were replaced 734 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,000 by a fanfare of Wagner 735 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:57,240 and I would imagine that the 88,000 people who had gathered to watch 736 00:45:57,240 --> 00:46:01,400 the spectacle and the 63 maharajas who had come from different parts 737 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:03,560 of the country to be a part of the durbar 738 00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:05,720 had possibly never heard Wagner play. 739 00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:07,800 Lots of things were invented. 740 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,560 For example, look at these. 741 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:13,600 Many of the rulers did not really have their own heraldry, 742 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:15,040 their own insignia. 743 00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:18,520 This is completely a figment of somebody's imagination. 744 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:23,880 So this is a brand-new coat of arms, invented for the ruler of Hyderabad? 745 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:27,240 - Completely. - He's lucky, he's got a lovely little tiger. 746 00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:30,760 He does indeed. These seem to me very Anglo-Saxon images. 747 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:34,080 Because the tradition of heraldry, that is a western European thing. 748 00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:35,640 What have the other ones got, then? 749 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,240 This is Jodhpur. 750 00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:40,640 He has been given some pigeons. 751 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:42,320 These are falcons. 752 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:44,360 Falcons, yes. 753 00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:48,040 And what looks like a tiger but I am not sure what that is. 754 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:50,040 This is again an invented tradition. 755 00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:52,680 These are things that were invented for the occasion. 756 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:58,880 In 1877, with Wagner trumpeting out over the spectacle, 757 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:03,080 the durbar was a resounding success story. 758 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:07,920 It was spun so cleverly that few commented on its vast costs 759 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,680 at a time when famine was ravaging India. 760 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:16,160 The money could have been spent on saving the five and a half million 761 00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:18,480 Indians who died from starvation. 762 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:23,760 But, no, this was the climax to the positive story that the Raj 763 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:25,840 was a wonderful new age of Empire. 764 00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:35,080 At the finale, a proclamation was read out. 765 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,040 It was from the Queen. 766 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:38,760 "We trust," it began... 767 00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:40,520 She is using the royal we. 768 00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:44,040 "..that the present occasion may tend to unite in bonds 769 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,040 "of close affection, ourselves and our subjects. 770 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:49,920 "That from the highest to the humblest, 771 00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:54,600 "all may feel that under our rule the great principles of liberty, 772 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:58,480 "equity and justice are secured to them. 773 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:01,760 "This is the object of our Empire." 774 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:10,640 Every action was now heralded as part of the civilising narrative. 775 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,960 Train stations and railways would modernise this ancient, 776 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,240 disconnected territory as never before. 777 00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:22,160 And new educational institutions would offer every Indian subject 778 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:24,760 the chance to improve his or her lot. 779 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:36,160 Educating the natives was a key part of the mission of Empire, 780 00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,040 at least according to Thomas Babington Macaulay, 781 00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:41,400 politician and historian. 782 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:46,400 Macaulay thought Indian schoolboys ought to study British history 783 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:50,920 because that would show them how a society could and should develop. 784 00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:55,280 Britain showcased the triumphant march of progress. 785 00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:01,680 Macaulay first expressed his educational policies in the 1830s. 786 00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,320 He thought that with a good dose of education, 787 00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,760 Indians could not only better themselves, 788 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,880 but help the British run the country. 789 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:14,320 Of course, they'd have to get the right sort of education - 790 00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:16,400 not Indian, but British. 791 00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:23,840 Macaulay thought that there was less valuable historical information 792 00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,840 to be collected from all the books ever written in Sanskrit 793 00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:32,080 than you would find in an English prep school textbook. 794 00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:36,240 Macaulay believed that a native could only be called learned 795 00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:40,240 or honourable if he had learnt his Milton, his Locke, 796 00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:41,960 and his Isaac Newton. 797 00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:46,800 Giving Indians British educational opportunities became 798 00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:49,840 a key enterprise under crown rule. 799 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:52,720 It was central to the repackaging of the Empire. 800 00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:55,480 But for the people of India, 801 00:49:55,480 --> 00:50:00,400 the new educational policy exposed the civilising claims of the British 802 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:01,720 to be something of a sham. 803 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,200 The Indians, the educated Indians, 804 00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:12,120 they had started realising that they had been sort of tricked 805 00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:17,680 by the British imperialists because while the Queen, 806 00:50:17,680 --> 00:50:21,200 the proclamation of the Queen, had spoken of equality, 807 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:24,960 there remained a lot of discrimination between the British 808 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:29,320 and the Indians, insofar as jobs were concerned. 809 00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:32,440 What sort of jobs where these educated Indians hoping to get? 810 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:36,760 They wanted to hold important posts in the civil services. 811 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:41,040 Moreover, they wanted to hold important positions 812 00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:42,520 in the realm of law. 813 00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,680 But here there was a bar. 814 00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:50,600 Indian judges, they were never allowed to try a European offender. 815 00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:55,600 The European offender was exclusively tried by a British judge 816 00:50:55,600 --> 00:50:57,120 or a European judge. 817 00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:00,720 So we have the rhetoric of Empire - very clear. 818 00:51:00,720 --> 00:51:02,560 But the reality is quite different. 819 00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:04,000 It was definitely different. 820 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:08,680 There was a glass ceiling and beyond that limit the Indians 821 00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:10,520 could not cross over. 822 00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:14,800 In 1883, there was a move to smooth over the cracks. 823 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:18,280 CP Ilbert, a member of the Calcutta Law Council, 824 00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:22,560 put forward a motion to give Indian judges the right to try 825 00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:27,400 British individuals. But that didn't go down very well either. 826 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:32,600 It disturbed the Anglo-Indian community because they shuddered 827 00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:37,880 at the very thought of their trial under an Indian, a brown judge. 828 00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:43,520 So there was a white mutiny against the Ilbert bill 829 00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:45,960 and ultimately the bill was defeated. 830 00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:49,280 Would you say that the Ilbert bill then was the last straw 831 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:52,000 for educated Indians? They got fed up with the Empire. 832 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:55,360 Yes. That was the last straw on the camel's back. 833 00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:58,480 For many newly educated Indians, 834 00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:02,480 the rejection of the Ilbert bill was evidence that Victoria's 835 00:52:02,480 --> 00:52:06,240 proclamation was little more than a pack of lies. 836 00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:10,040 The imperial mission was having a rough ride in India. 837 00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:13,440 But one person remained true to the new story 838 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:15,440 of a benign British Empire. 839 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:27,600 Yes, the Empress of India was very partial to a chicken tikka. 840 00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:38,160 Victoria may never have visited the jewel in her crown, 841 00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:43,200 but she did create a tiny slice of India on the Isle of Wight. 842 00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:45,960 At her holiday home at Osborne House, 843 00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:49,840 she created a special Indian room, the Durbar Room. 844 00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:53,560 It was put together by Indian craftsmen under the supervision 845 00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:56,600 of Rudyard Kipling's grandfather. 846 00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:59,880 Victoria couldn't go to her durbar, but with her new room, 847 00:52:59,880 --> 00:53:02,320 the durbar had come to her. 848 00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:05,920 And she was far better informed about India than most 849 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:07,400 of her British subjects. 850 00:53:08,840 --> 00:53:10,440 In the late 19th-century, 851 00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:14,440 most Britons had never met anybody from the subcontinent. 852 00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:18,040 But a growing number of Indians were now making Britain their home. 853 00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:20,360 In 1889, 854 00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:24,480 Britain's first purpose-built mosque was constructed to cater for this 855 00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:27,560 growing Indian population in Woking. 856 00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:32,720 And it is here that I am meeting Shrabani Basu, who has researched 857 00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:37,120 the life of a man who fired up Victoria's passion for India - 858 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:38,560 Abdul Karim. 859 00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:44,080 Here we have got Abdul Karim looking terribly grand. 860 00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:46,440 What are all these medals that he is wearing here? 861 00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:49,840 Well, she gave him land and titles. He had every title. 862 00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:52,120 Just stopped short of a knighthood, actually. 863 00:53:52,120 --> 00:53:55,480 He is quite the aristocrat in his sort of study. 864 00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:59,040 At ease, looking extremely distinguished, if I might say. 865 00:53:59,040 --> 00:54:01,200 And there is a photo of Queen Victoria there. 866 00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:03,600 And a photo of the Queen on the table there. 867 00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:07,760 Is he just a sort of token gesture to bolster the idea that she is this 868 00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:10,240 benign Empress of India? 869 00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:11,880 It started like that. 870 00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:14,880 He was sent to her as a jubilee present, as a servant, 871 00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:19,200 to stand behind her at table, just look grand and wait on her. 872 00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:21,120 But this relationship developed. 873 00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:25,600 Within a year, he has become her private teacher, her munshi. 874 00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:29,720 For 13 years, he taught her Urdu, and by the end of her life, 875 00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:31,600 she could read and write Urdu. 876 00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:32,800 She loved showing off. 877 00:54:32,800 --> 00:54:37,200 She would invite royalty from India and say a few lines in Urdu. 878 00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:39,560 Is this her own private journal? 879 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,200 This is actually her last entry in her journal. 880 00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:45,640 It is quite moving because it is written two months before her death. 881 00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:49,160 November 7th, 1900, Windsor Castle. 882 00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:51,120 And she writes about the weather, 883 00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:52,840 that she has just got back from Balmoral. 884 00:54:52,840 --> 00:54:55,720 They weren't exactly talking about high politics. 885 00:54:55,720 --> 00:54:57,720 Sounds more domestic. 886 00:54:57,720 --> 00:54:59,960 It is. The journals show a domestic side, 887 00:54:59,960 --> 00:55:04,120 but we know that she took a keen interest in Indian politics 888 00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:06,920 and this is coming from Abdul because of the letters she writes 889 00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:10,720 to the Viceroy in which she asks detailed questions about riots, 890 00:55:10,720 --> 00:55:15,120 tension between Hindus and Muslims, and she even offers some solutions. 891 00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:18,760 She says, "The Hindus have so many festivals. Why can't they just 892 00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:22,200 "postpone one of their festivals so they don't clash during Muharram?" 893 00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:25,160 And the poor Viceroy, Lord Lansdowne, he writes back, 894 00:55:25,160 --> 00:55:27,840 "Postponing a Hindu festival would be like changing 895 00:55:27,840 --> 00:55:29,120 "the day for Christmas." 896 00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:32,680 So she is a little bit naive, but she is trying very hard. 897 00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:37,360 Victoria was taking her symbolic empress role rather too literally. 898 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:40,440 And the British establishment were not amused. 899 00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:46,000 The doctor, he actually writes that this is all munshi-mania 900 00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:50,040 and it reaches the stage where they actually want to label 901 00:55:50,040 --> 00:55:53,640 the Queen insane and they say, "If you do not stop now 902 00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:57,120 "because of the munshi, we will say you are insane." 903 00:55:57,120 --> 00:56:00,400 And she gives them an earful. 904 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:04,600 Victoria's munshi-mania reached its peak in 1897, 905 00:56:04,600 --> 00:56:07,000 the year of her Diamond Jubilee. 906 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:11,600 On the day of the celebrations, Abdul Karim was her honoured guest. 907 00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:16,240 For his dismayed detractors, this was the year of the munshi. 908 00:56:16,240 --> 00:56:19,320 But things would very shortly change. 909 00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:26,480 In 1901, Victoria, Empress of India, died, after 63 years on the throne 910 00:56:26,480 --> 00:56:28,400 at the age of 81. 911 00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,680 While the nation mourned her passing, 912 00:56:30,680 --> 00:56:34,800 in recognition that she had nurtured the Empire towards unprecedented 913 00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:39,160 greatness, her beloved Abdul Karim was finally put in his place 914 00:56:39,160 --> 00:56:40,760 by the establishment - 915 00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:44,640 sent back to India, stripped of his honours and gifts. 916 00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:52,280 As Britain entered the 20th century, the Empire was strong. 917 00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:55,600 But the imperial narrative was wearing thin. 918 00:56:55,600 --> 00:56:58,680 Indian resistance to British power was growing, 919 00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:01,080 and even some Britons began to question 920 00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:02,800 the recent history of the Raj. 921 00:57:04,080 --> 00:57:08,000 One historian, who'd formerly been an ardent imperialist, 922 00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:09,320 had this to say. 923 00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:14,600 He said that the Empire treated its subject races with a curious mixture 924 00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:16,600 of good and evil. 925 00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:23,880 The stories of the Black Hole of Calcutta and the Indian mutiny 926 00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:25,880 were being rewritten. 927 00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:29,480 The villains of the Raj were turning into heroes 928 00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:31,800 of a growing nationalist movement. 929 00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:36,560 When the British gave up control of the Indian subcontinent 930 00:57:36,560 --> 00:57:41,880 on August 15th, 1947, Britain lost 80% of its subjects - 931 00:57:41,880 --> 00:57:44,960 nearly 390 million people. 932 00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:48,600 It's jewel in the crown had gone forever, 933 00:57:48,600 --> 00:57:52,560 and as the new Indian flag was raised at the Red Fort in Delhi, 934 00:57:52,560 --> 00:57:56,280 India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, 935 00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,880 spoke of India's tryst with destiny. 936 00:58:00,040 --> 00:58:02,960 "History begins anew for us. 937 00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:07,760 "The history which we shall live and act and others will write about." 938 00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:14,120 A richly embroidered chapter in British history was at an end. 939 00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:18,160 In this series, 940 00:58:18,160 --> 00:58:22,120 I've tried to tell you how stories from history change according 941 00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:23,720 to who is telling them. 942 00:58:23,720 --> 00:58:27,200 But don't think that I've given you the definitive version, 943 00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:31,040 because I promise you that in years to come, a different historian 944 00:58:31,040 --> 00:58:33,200 will be telling you a different tale.