Delhi Durbar
Encyclopedia
The Delhi Durbar meaning "Court
of Delhi
", was a mass assembly at Coronation Park, Delhi, India
, to mark the coronation
of a King and Queen of the United Kingdom. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire
. The 1911 Durbar was the only one attended by the sovereign, who was George V
. The term was derived from common Mughal
term durbar.
- Viceroy of India, maharaja
s, nawab
s and intellectuals. This was the culmination of transfer of control of much of India
from the British East India Company
to the The Crown
.
The Durbar was the beginning of a great transformation for India where the campaign for a free India was formally launched.
Inside Victoria Memorial
in Kolkata
is an inscription taken from the Message of Queen Victoria presented at the 1877 Durbar to the people of India:
"We trust that the present occasion
may tend to unite in bonds of close
affection ourselves and our subjects;
that from the highest to the humblest,
all may feel that under our rule the
great principles of liberty, equity,
and justice are secured to them; and
to promote their happiness, to add to
their prosperity, and advance their
welfare, are the ever present aims and
objects of our Empire."
A medal to commemorate the Proclamation of the Queen as Empress of India was struck and distributed to honoured guests.
Ramanath Tagore
was made a Maharaja
by Lord Lytton
, viceroy of India.
It was at this glittering durbar that a man in "homespun spotless white khadi" rose to read a citation on behalf of the Pune Sarvajanik Sabha. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi
put forth a demand couched in very polite language:
"We beg of Her Majesty to grant to India the same political and social status as is enjoyed by her British subjects."
With this demand, it can be said that the campaign for a free India was formally launched.
and Queen Alexandra
as Emperor and Empress of India.
The two full weeks of festivities were devised in meticulous detail by Lord Curzon
. It was a dazzling display of pomp, power and split second timing. Neither the earlier Delhi Durbar of 1877, nor the later Durbar held there in 1911, could match the pagentry of Lord Curzon’s 1903 festivities. In a few short months at the end of 1902, a deserted plain was transformed into an elaborate tented city, complete with temporary light railway to bring crowds of spectators out from Delhi, a post office with its own stamp, telephone and telegraphic facilities, a variety of stores, a Police force with specially designed uniform, hospital, magistrate’s court and complex sanitation, drainage and electric light installations. Souvenir guide books were sold and maps of the camping ground distributed. Marketing opportunities were craftily exploited. Special medals were struck, firework displays, exhibitions and glamorous dances held.
Edward VII, to Curzon’s disappointment, did not attend but sent his brother, the Duke of Connaught
who arrived with a mass of dignitaries by train from Bombay just as Curzon and his government came in the other direction from Calcutta. The assembly awaiting them displayed possibly the greatest collection of jewels to be seen in one place. Each of the Indian princes was adorned with the most spectacular of his gems from the collections of centuries. Maharajahs came with great retinues from all over India, many of them meeting for the first time while the massed ranks of the Indian armies, under their Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener
, paraded, played their bands and restrained the crowds of common people.
On the first day, the Curzons entered the area of festivities, together with the maharajahs, riding on elephants, some with huge gold candelabras stuck on their tusks. The durbar ceremony itself fell on New Year's Day and was followed by days of polo and other sports, dinners, balls, military reviews, bands, and exhibitions. The world’s press dispatched their best journalists, artists and photographers to cover proceedings. The popularity of movie footage of the event, shown in makeshift cinemas throughout India, is often credited with having launched the country’s early film industry.
The Aga Khan III
used this occasion to speak out for the expansion of all types of educational facilities in India.
The event culminated in a grand coronation ball attended only by the highest ranking guests, all reigned over by Lord Curzon and more so by the stunning Lady Curzon in her glittering jewels and regal peacock gown.
and Queen Mary
, and their proclamation as Emperor and Empress of India--and, without public forewarning, the shifting of India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
Practically every ruling prince, nobleman, landed gentry and other persons of note in India attended to pay obeisance to their sovereigns. The Sovereigns appeared in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India with eight arches, containing six thousand one hundred and seventy exquisitely cut diamonds, and covered with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g). They then appeared at a darshan (a sight) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them.[10] A feature film of the coronation titled With Our King and Queen Through India (1912) – also known as The Durbar in Delhi – was filmed in the early color process Kinemacolor and released on 2 February 1912.[11]
A Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary and an Assistant Herald were appointed for the 1911 Durbar (Brigadier-General William Peyton and Captain the Hon. Malik Mohammed Umar Hayat Khan), but their duties were more ceremonial than heraldic.[12]
Practically every ruling prince, nobleman, landed gentry
and other persons of note in India attended to pay obeisance to their sovereigns. The Sovereigns appeared in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India
with eight arches, containing six thousand one hundred and seventy exquisitely cut diamond
s, and covered with sapphire
s, emerald
s and rubies
, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g). They then appeared at a darshan
(a sight) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them. A feature film
of the coronation titled With Our King and Queen Through India
(1912) – also known as The Durbar in Delhi – was filmed in the early color process Kinemacolor
and released on 2 February 1912.
A Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary
and an Assistant Herald were appointed for the 1911 Durbar (Brigadier-General William Peyton
and Captain the Hon. Malik Mohammed Umar Hayat Khan
), but their duties were more ceremonial than heraldic.
There is a magnificent tiara
belonging to the present Queen called the Delhi Durbar Tiara. The necklace was presented to Queen Mary by the Maharanee of Patiala
on behalf of the Ladies of India to mark the first visit to India by a British Queen-Empress. At the Queen’s suggestion, it was designed to match her other emerald jewellery created for the Delhi Durbar. In 1912 Garrards
slightly altered the necklace, making the existing emerald pendant detachable and adding a second detachable diamond pendant. This is an 8.8 carats (1,760 mg) marquise diamond known as Cullinan VII, one of the nine numbered stones cut from the Cullinan Diamond
. The necklace was inherited by the Queen in 1953 and was recently worn by the Duchess of Cornwall
to a ball where she met the Norwegian Royal Family
.
Twenty-six thousand eight hundred (26,800) Delhi Durbar Silver Medals of 1911 were awarded, mostly to men and officers of the British regiments. A small number were also struck in gold for award to Indian princely rulers and the highest ranking government officers.
Today Coronation Park
is a jealously guarded open space whose emptiness comes as a bit of a shock after the dense traffic and crowded shanty town
s of northern Delhi’s urban sprawl. It is mostly overgrown, neglected and locked. The Park is sometimes used for big religious festivals and municipal conventions.
in December 1936 before he had had any coronation, it was initially envisaged that his successor George VI
would ultimately visit India and have his own Durbar. The Indian National Congress
passed a motion weeks after his accession calling for a boycott of any such visit, and in February 1937 Communist
MP Willie Gallacher
decried expenditure on such festivities in a country of such poverty. The King's Speech
of October 1937 included "I am looking forward with interest and pleasure to the time when it will be possible for Me to visit My Indian Empire", to the satisfaction of Sir Hugh O'Neill. However, the onset of World War II
and the movement towards Indian independence
meant this visit never happened.
Noble court
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
", was a mass assembly at Coronation Park, Delhi, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, to mark the coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of a King and Queen of the United Kingdom. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. The 1911 Durbar was the only one attended by the sovereign, who was George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. The term was derived from common Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
term durbar.
Durbar of 1877
Called the "Proclamation Durbar", the Durbar of 1877 was held beginning on 1 January 1877 to designate the coronation and proclaim Queen Victoria as Empress of India. The 1877 Durbar was largely an official event and not a popular occasion with mass appeal like 1903 and 1911. It was attended by the 1st Earl of LyttonRobert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, PC was an English statesman and poet...
- Viceroy of India, maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
s, nawab
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
s and intellectuals. This was the culmination of transfer of control of much of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
from the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
to the The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
.
The Durbar was the beginning of a great transformation for India where the campaign for a free India was formally launched.
Inside Victoria Memorial
Victoria Memorial (India)
The Victoria Memorial, officially the Victoria Memorial Hall, is a memorial building dedicated to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, which is located in Kolkata, India – the capital of West Bengal and a former capital of British India. It currently serves as a museum and a...
in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
is an inscription taken from the Message of Queen Victoria presented at the 1877 Durbar to the people of India:
may tend to unite in bonds of close
affection ourselves and our subjects;
that from the highest to the humblest,
all may feel that under our rule the
great principles of liberty, equity,
and justice are secured to them; and
to promote their happiness, to add to
their prosperity, and advance their
welfare, are the ever present aims and
objects of our Empire."
A medal to commemorate the Proclamation of the Queen as Empress of India was struck and distributed to honoured guests.
Ramanath Tagore
Ramanath Tagore
See Tagore for disambiguationRamanath Tagore was one of the leading social figures in 19th century Kolkata . The son of Rammani Tagore of the Jorasanko branch of the Tagore family, he was younger brother of Dwarkanath Tagore and a cousin of Prasanna Coomar Tagore...
was made a Maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
by Lord Lytton
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, PC was an English statesman and poet...
, viceroy of India.
It was at this glittering durbar that a man in "homespun spotless white khadi" rose to read a citation on behalf of the Pune Sarvajanik Sabha. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi
Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi
Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi was born in Satara in year 1828, April. He was called Sarvajanik Kaka with affectionate humour, was a social activist in Pune when Maharashtrian revival began, and he was the elderly guiding philosopher when Tilak and Agarkar's generation gave impetus to Indian freedom...
put forth a demand couched in very polite language:
With this demand, it can be said that the campaign for a free India was formally launched.
Durbar of 1903
The durbar was held to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VIIEdward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
and Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
as Emperor and Empress of India.
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
. It was a dazzling display of pomp, power and split second timing. Neither the earlier Delhi Durbar of 1877, nor the later Durbar held there in 1911, could match the pagentry of Lord Curzon’s 1903 festivities. In a few short months at the end of 1902, a deserted plain was transformed into an elaborate tented city, complete with temporary light railway to bring crowds of spectators out from Delhi, a post office with its own stamp, telephone and telegraphic facilities, a variety of stores, a Police force with specially designed uniform, hospital, magistrate’s court and complex sanitation, drainage and electric light installations. Souvenir guide books were sold and maps of the camping ground distributed. Marketing opportunities were craftily exploited. Special medals were struck, firework displays, exhibitions and glamorous dances held.
Edward VII, to Curzon’s disappointment, did not attend but sent his brother, the Duke of Connaught
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the shared British and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha royal family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the 10th since Canadian Confederation.Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and...
who arrived with a mass of dignitaries by train from Bombay just as Curzon and his government came in the other direction from Calcutta. The assembly awaiting them displayed possibly the greatest collection of jewels to be seen in one place. Each of the Indian princes was adorned with the most spectacular of his gems from the collections of centuries. Maharajahs came with great retinues from all over India, many of them meeting for the first time while the massed ranks of the Indian armies, under their Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
, paraded, played their bands and restrained the crowds of common people.
On the first day, the Curzons entered the area of festivities, together with the maharajahs, riding on elephants, some with huge gold candelabras stuck on their tusks. The durbar ceremony itself fell on New Year's Day and was followed by days of polo and other sports, dinners, balls, military reviews, bands, and exhibitions. The world’s press dispatched their best journalists, artists and photographers to cover proceedings. The popularity of movie footage of the event, shown in makeshift cinemas throughout India, is often credited with having launched the country’s early film industry.
The Aga Khan III
Aga Khan III
Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, Aga Khan III, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38. He was nominated to represent India to...
used this occasion to speak out for the expansion of all types of educational facilities in India.
The event culminated in a grand coronation ball attended only by the highest ranking guests, all reigned over by Lord Curzon and more so by the stunning Lady Curzon in her glittering jewels and regal peacock gown.
Durbar of 1911
Held in December to commemorate the coronation in Britain a few months earlier of King George VGeorge V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, and their proclamation as Emperor and Empress of India--and, without public forewarning, the shifting of India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
Practically every ruling prince, nobleman, landed gentry and other persons of note in India attended to pay obeisance to their sovereigns. The Sovereigns appeared in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India with eight arches, containing six thousand one hundred and seventy exquisitely cut diamonds, and covered with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g). They then appeared at a darshan (a sight) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them.[10] A feature film of the coronation titled With Our King and Queen Through India (1912) – also known as The Durbar in Delhi – was filmed in the early color process Kinemacolor and released on 2 February 1912.[11]
A Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary and an Assistant Herald were appointed for the 1911 Durbar (Brigadier-General William Peyton and Captain the Hon. Malik Mohammed Umar Hayat Khan), but their duties were more ceremonial than heraldic.[12]
Practically every ruling prince, nobleman, landed gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
and other persons of note in India attended to pay obeisance to their sovereigns. The Sovereigns appeared in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India
Imperial Crown of India
The Imperial Crown of India was the crown of the Sovereign as Emperor of India during the time of the British Raj. The crown is housed with, but is not part of, the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.-History:...
with eight arches, containing six thousand one hundred and seventy exquisitely cut diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, and covered with sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
s, emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s and rubies
Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g). They then appeared at a darshan
Darshan
or Darshan is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" , vision, apparition, or glimpse. It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine" in Hindu worship, e.g. of a deity , or a very holy person or artifact...
(a sight) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them. A feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
of the coronation titled With Our King and Queen Through India
With Our King and Queen Through India
With Our King and Queen Through India is a British documentary. The film is silent and made in the Kinemacolor additive color process....
(1912) – also known as The Durbar in Delhi – was filmed in the early color process Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor
Kinemacolor was the first successful color motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith of Brighton, England in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson. It was launched by Charles Urban's Urban Trading Co. of...
and released on 2 February 1912.
A Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary
Delhi Herald Extraordinary
Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary was a British officer of arms whose office was created in 1911 for the Delhi Durbar. Though an officer of the crown, Delhi Herald Extraordinary was not a member of the corporation of the College of Arms in London and his duties were more ceremonial than...
and an Assistant Herald were appointed for the 1911 Durbar (Brigadier-General William Peyton
William Peyton
General Sir William Eliot Peyton KCB KCVO DSO was a British soldier, a general of the First World War who fought in several other wars.He was Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary at the time of the Delhi Durbar of 1911....
and Captain the Hon. Malik Mohammed Umar Hayat Khan
Malik Umar Hayat Khan
Major General Sir Malik Mohammed Umar Hayat Khan GBE KCIE MVO , was a soldier of the Indian Empire, one of the largest landholders in the Punjab, and an elected member of the Council of State of India...
), but their duties were more ceremonial than heraldic.
There is a magnificent tiara
Tiara
A tiara is a form of crown. There are two possible types of crown that this word can refer to.Traditionally, the word "tiara" refers to a high crown, often with the shape of a cylinder narrowed at its top, made of fabric or leather, and richly ornamented. It was used by the kings and emperors of...
belonging to the present Queen called the Delhi Durbar Tiara. The necklace was presented to Queen Mary by the Maharanee of Patiala
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, GBE was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1900 to 1938.- Biography :...
on behalf of the Ladies of India to mark the first visit to India by a British Queen-Empress. At the Queen’s suggestion, it was designed to match her other emerald jewellery created for the Delhi Durbar. In 1912 Garrards
Garrard & Co
Garrard & Co is a luxury jewellery and silver company founded by George Wickesin London in 1735. Its current base is at Albemarle Street in Mayfair, London, its USA flagship store is in New York. The company also has a presence in Tokyo, New York, Dubai, Moscow and Hong Kong...
slightly altered the necklace, making the existing emerald pendant detachable and adding a second detachable diamond pendant. This is an 8.8 carats (1,760 mg) marquise diamond known as Cullinan VII, one of the nine numbered stones cut from the Cullinan Diamond
Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found, at .The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at was the largest polished diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, , also from the...
. The necklace was inherited by the Queen in 1953 and was recently worn by the Duchess of Cornwall
Duchess of Cornwall
The Duchess of Cornwall is the title held by the wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Duke of Cornwall is a non-hereditary peerage held by the British Sovereign's eldest son and heir....
to a ball where she met the Norwegian Royal Family
Norwegian Royal Family
The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...
.
Twenty-six thousand eight hundred (26,800) Delhi Durbar Silver Medals of 1911 were awarded, mostly to men and officers of the British regiments. A small number were also struck in gold for award to Indian princely rulers and the highest ranking government officers.
Today Coronation Park
Coronation Park (Delhi, India)
Coronation Park is a park located on Burari road near Nirankari Sarovar in Delhi, India. The park is sometimes referred to as the Coronation Memorial; it was the venue of Delhi Durbar of 1877 when Queen Victoria was proclaimed the Empress of India...
is a jealously guarded open space whose emptiness comes as a bit of a shock after the dense traffic and crowded shanty town
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
s of northern Delhi’s urban sprawl. It is mostly overgrown, neglected and locked. The Park is sometimes used for big religious festivals and municipal conventions.
No further Durbar
While Edward VIII abdicatedEdward VIII abdication crisis
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII's proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite....
in December 1936 before he had had any coronation, it was initially envisaged that his successor George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
would ultimately visit India and have his own Durbar. The Indian National Congress
History of the Indian National Congress
From its foundation on 28 December 1885 until the time of independence of India on August 15, 1947, the Indian National Congress was the largest and most prominent Indian public organization, and central and defining influence of the Indian Independence Movement.Although initially and primarily a...
passed a motion weeks after his accession calling for a boycott of any such visit, and in February 1937 Communist
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
MP Willie Gallacher
Willie Gallacher
William "Willie" Gallacher was a Scottish trade unionist, activist and communist. He was one of the leading figures of the Shop Stewards' Movement in wartime Glasgow and a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain...
decried expenditure on such festivities in a country of such poverty. The King's Speech
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
of October 1937 included "I am looking forward with interest and pleasure to the time when it will be possible for Me to visit My Indian Empire", to the satisfaction of Sir Hugh O'Neill. However, the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the movement towards Indian independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
meant this visit never happened.
Further reading
- Codell, Julie, ed. (2011). Power and Resistance: Photography and the Delhi Coronation Durbars. Ahmedabad: Mapin.
- Codell, Julie (2009), "Indian Crafts and Imperial Policy: Hybridity, Purification and Imperial Subjectivities," Material Cultures, 1740-1920: The Meanings and Pleasures of Collecting. Eds. A. Myzelev & J. Potvin. Aldershot: Ashgate, 149-70.
- Codell, Julie (2004), "Gentlemen connoisseurs and capitalists: Modern British Imperial Identity in the 1903 Delhi Durbar Exhibition of Indian Art," Cultural Identities and the Aesthetics of Britishness. Ed. D. Arnold. Manchester U P, 134-63.
External links
- The Coronation Durbar of 1911, film from BFI archives
- Great Coronation Durbar, DELHI video newsreel film
- Cornation Durbar films at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...