Delhi Durbar

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Delhi Durbar 1911, with King George V and Queen Mary on the pedestal under the canopy.

The Delhi Durbar ( Hindi दिल्ली दरबार , Urdu دہلی دربار, "Court Day in Delhi "), sometimes also Imperial Durbar , was an assembly that was held on the occasion of the coronation of the British monarch as Emperor of India . A Delhi Durbar took place three times in total, in the years 1877, 1903 and 1911. The only durbar at which the British monarch was personally present was that in 1911, when George V was proclaimed Emperor of India.

Historical context and terminology

New crowns for old ones! (“New crowns for old ones!”): Prime Minister Disraeli (in the costume of an oriental vendor's tray) wears the Indian imperial crown instead of her British crown (satirical caricature of Punch 1876).

After the establishment of the British East India Company in 1600, the British colonial rulers gradually brought large parts of the Indian subcontinent under their control. The Muslim Mughal Empire , which encompassed large parts of northern India at the height of its expansion in the 16th and 17th centuries, lost much of its importance. After the suppression of the Indian uprising of 1857 , in which the last Mughal Mughal Bahadur Shah II took part, the East India Company was dissolved by the Government of India Act 1858 and its possessions converted into a British crown colony. The remnants of the Mughal Empire were incorporated into British India .

After the Franco-German War in 1870/71 , the German Empire was founded under the leadership of Prussia . The eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain , Victoria ("Vicky") , had been married to the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich since 1858 . After the founding of the empire , it was foreseeable that Vicky would someday wear the crown of a German empress. The prospect that her eldest daughter, with whom Victoria had a difficult relationship, would attain a formally higher rank than herself, worried the very rank and class-conscious queen. For this reason and for reasons of state policy, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli initiated the revaluation of the British Empire with the Royal Titles Act in 1876, making Victoria Empress of India . With the new title, the British colonial rulers endeavored to tie in with the traditions of the Mughal Empire. The last Mughal ruler had himself dubbed Badishah-e-Hind , the “Great King of India” during the uprising . Disraeli was attacked by the liberal opposition and he was accused of following the tradition of an oriental despotism or of taking the Russian autocracy as a model.

Durbars of Delhi

Durbar 1877

The elevation of Victoria to Empress was celebrated in British India from January 1, 1877, with a festive act spanning several days, not in the then capital Calcutta , but in the old Mughal capital Delhi. In connection with earlier Mughal customs, the event was given the name Durbar ( Persian دربار darbār , 'court day, court meeting'). Victoria herself was not present and has never set foot in India. She was represented by Lord Lytton , Viceroy of India . The rulers of all Indian princely states , who were personally loyal to the British crown, were invitedto the eventto pay homageto the empress in absentiam . The durbar took place in a picturesque atmosphere of oriental splendor. The Viceroy read the declaration that Victoria had made to her Indian subjects after the suppressed Indian uprising on November 1, 1858, in which she had given an amnesty for the rebels and a promise not to forcibly introduce Christianity in India . Then the viceroy, seated under a canopy in front of a large portrait of Victoria, accepted the homage and gifts from the Indian princes. A troop parade followed. The spectacular display of splendor took place during a famine in India from 1876–1877.

The new oriental title also had an impact in far-off Britain. In Osborne House , the summer home of the royal family on the Isle of Wight , a grand Indian-style Durbar Room has been set up. Abdul Karim came to be known as The Munshi , that is, the Indian servant of Victoria.

Durbar 1903

Arrival of the Viceroy Lord Curzon with Lady Curzon at the Durbar in Delhi in 1903

Victoria died in 1901 after a reign of 63 years. Her successor was her eldest son, who ruled as Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. Eduard knew India firsthand, as he had toured the country from 1875 to 1876 on a 17-week tour. However, he did not take part in the celebrations of Durbar in 1877. Edward's proclamation as Emperor of India also took place in his absence. In his place the viceroy Lord Curzon accepted the homage of the Indian maharajas and princes. The effort and the display of splendor were far greater than in 1877. The viceroy received public receptions from dignitaries in the Red Fort , the old Mughal residence in Delhi, which had been specially equipped with electric light. 63 Maharajas took part in the previous Durbar, in 1903 there were already 100. While the Durbar in 1877 still took place in a kind of (pseudo-) medieval-oriental presentation, Lord Curzon tried to be more modern. A large exhibition was held parallel to the Durbar, in which products of Indian craftsmanship could be seen.

Durbar 1911

King George V and Queen Mary at the Delhi Durbar 1911

After the death of Edward VII in 1910, his son ascended the British throne as George V. In contrast to his predecessors, the new king decided to personally attend the coronation celebrations in India, which were scheduled for 1911, together with his wife. In doing so, he wanted to strengthen India's ties to the Empire . In the previous decades there had been the first signs of an autonomy movement in India. In 1885 the Indian National Congress was founded, which gradually took on an increasingly prominent role in the demands for greater self-government in British India. In 1905 the British colonial administration divided the province of Bengal into an eastern, predominantly Muslim, and a western, predominantly Hindu part. This division of Bengal provoked protests mainly from the Hindus, who suspected that the British wanted to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, according to the maxim divide et impera . The Indian National Congress proclaimed the Swadeshi movement ( Swadeshi : "self-sufficiency") and called for a boycott of British goods and the purchase and promotion of indigenous Indian goods. Due to the ongoing protests, the partition of Bengal had to be reversed in 1911. Instead, a new division of Bengal followed in 1912, this time not along religious but largely along ethnic-language dividing lines, and the provinces of Bihar and Orissa and Assam were newly formed. Many Muslims who had welcomed a province with clear Muslim dominance felt offended by the re-dissolution of the province of East Bengal.

In 1911 George V arrived with his wife in Bombay and traveled with a large entourage and escort to Delhi, where the royal couple took up residence in the Red Fort. They were accompanied by the viceroy Lord Hardinge . On the balcony of the fort, the royal couple received the homage of tens of thousands of Indian subjects filing past. To the north of Delhi an extensive tent city was formed, in which the Indian princes, some with a large retinue, took up residence. The official celebrations took place from December 7th to 16th, 1911. Tributes by Indian princes took place on December 8th and 9th, a service on Sunday, December 10th, and a military parade on December 11th (presentation of colors) . The actual Durbar, ie the imperial proclamation in English and Urdu , took place on December 12th in front of about 50,000 spectators. In the proclamation, the monarch announced the transfer of the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi. On December 13th a new defile of Indian troops followed and in the evening the monarch couple gave a garden party. On the 14th there was another parade of troops and the monarch officially enfeoffed various high officials of the colonial administration. On December 15th an inspection of police units took place and on December 16th Georg and Mary left again. The events were captured extensively in film and photography.

Further development

Obelisk in Coronation Park in Delhi, at the point where Georg announced the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911
Memorial plaque in Coronation Park in Delhi

The most momentous event of the Durbar in 1911 was the proclamation of George V that the future capital of India should no longer be Calcutta, but Delhi. The proclamation came unannounced and surprising and was probably intended as a concession to the Muslims. Calcutta was increasingly viewed by the British as the center of Indian opposition to colonial rule, while the Muslims appeared to revolt less than the Hindus against the colonial rulers. In 1911, in the presence of George, the foundation stone was laid for the viceroy's newly built residence. In the following years a planned capital New Delhi grew out of the ground. The construction work started was largely interrupted by the First World War 1914–1918 and then resumed. On February 13, 1931, the new capital was officially inaugurated by the then Viceroy Lord Irwin .

When George V died in 1936, Edward VIII was initially his heir to the throne, who, however, abdicated a short time later as a result of the Wallis Simpson affair and gave George VI. followed on the throne. Initially, a visit to Durbar and India by the new king was considered, but these plans were dropped after the Indian National Congress, which had now grown into a powerful opposition movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi , called for a boycott of such an event. There has also been criticism in the UK itself for holding such a costly event in such a poor country. George VI. declared:

"I am looking forward with interest and pleasure to the time when it will be possible for Me to visit My Indian Empire."

"I look forward to the time when I will be able to visit my Indian empire full of anticipation, with interest and joy."

- George VI. : Speech in front of both Houses of Parliament on October 26, 1937

However, this did not happen due to the Second World War . India and Pakistan were granted independence in 1947 and India declared itself a republic in 1950.

Web links

Commons : Delhi Durbar  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Taylor, M .: Queen Victoria and India, 1837-61 . In: Victorian Studies . tape 46 , no. 2 . Indiana University Press, 2004, ISSN  0042-5222 , pp. 264-274 , JSTOR : 3830294 (English, online [PDF]).
  2. a b c Julie Codell: On the Delhi Coronation Durbars, 1877, 1903, 1911. Accessed on March 14, 2015 (English).
  3. ^ Jacqueline Banerjee: Bertie's Progress: The Prince of Wales in India, 1875–76: Part II, From Delhi to Bombay. Victorian Web, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  4. ^ Coronation Durbar Delhi 1911. 1911, accessed on March 14, 2015 (English).
  5. ^ The Great Coronation of Delhi Durbar 1911 , YouTube video
  6. ^ The Great Coronation of Delhi Durbar 1911 , YouTube video
  7. ^ THE KING'S SPEECH. October 26, 1937, accessed March 14, 2015 .