Imperial vision

A well-researched and entertaining account of the creation of India?s capital is enhanced by exquisite sketches

One hundred years ago, the city of Delhi had a population of 233,000. There were less than a dozen motor cars and the telephone exchange had just 30 subscribers. To get a sense of what Delhi looked like then, it would be useful to place these numbers in context. Today, Delhi’s population is close to 17 million, the number of registered vehicles is about six million and mobile phone connections alone are over 41 million.

The numbers are not strictly comparable but they are enough to bring out the significance of what the British government sought to achieve in 1911. It decided to shift India’s capital from a bustling, robust city then known as Calcutta and widely recognised as the country’s centre of commerce, industry and culture, to Delhi, which, as the numbers in the first paragraph highlight, was sparsely populated, full of Mughal-era monuments, but with limited resources in virtually all spheres.

As Sentinels of Raisina Hill recounts the story of the shift of India’s capital, it becomes clear that the decision was largely influenced by political considerations and had little economic logic. It was one of Viceroy Charles Hardinge’s masterstrokes — a multi-pronged strategy comprising “a reversal of the [Bengal] partition, reorganising the province and the transfer of the capital to Delhi.”

For Hardinge, the India assignment was a dream job, since he would be in the same chair that his grandfather had occupied in the late nineteenth century. What’s more, he succeeded Viceroy Minto, whose tenure aggravated the problems that arose from Viceroy Curzon’s decision to partition Bengal in 1905. The revocation of that partition along with the shift of the capital and redrawing of the boundaries of the Bengal province was the equivalent of killing many birds with one stone. And what better way to announce this grand deal than choosing the occasion of the Imperial Durbar — the third to be held in India and the first at which the British monarch would be personally present for his coronation.

All this is fairly well known. Less so are the many doubts and dilemmas that the British administration went through before pulling off this “multi-pronged” strategy. A glimpse of all those little-known stories makes the 144-odd pages of the book eminently readable. For instance, before deciding on George V’s coronation, questions arose over why this event should take place at all since he had already been crowned as the king a year before. Precedents were found in two former kings of Britain who also went through two coronations. So, another exception was made and the New Delhi Imperial Durbar in 1911 saw the second coronation of George V. Disputes arose also over who should finance the crown that the king would wear on December 12, 1911. After some debate, it was decided that the funds should come from the Government of India. That crown is now preserved in the Tower of London.

Not surprisingly, the two authors of the book (Dhirendra Singh is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer and Mohan Joseph a civil servant) wonder if there is a strong case to “bring this crown, paid for by the Indian exchequer, back to India”. Being civil servants, they also do not fail to note the confidentiality Viceroy Hardinge maintained on the strategy involved in shifting the capital. Only 12 people in the system knew of the full proposal until it was announced at the Imperial Durbar. Going by their account, even the Queen expressed surprise over the decision when it was read out by the King. There was general applause, but also many questions on the choice of the new capital.

Singh and Joseph have done some commendable research to put together this account. The choice of Raisina Hill itself became a bone of contention. The foundation stone was originally laid at the site of the Durbar and many officials thought the new capital would be located around that area. But George V had better sense and gave full freedom in writing to Hardinge to choose any other area that was more suitable for the new capital. The architects had zeroed in on the Ridge, but after one look at it and Raisina Hill rising in the middle, blocking the view east of the city, Hardinge realised that the Governor’s House could not be located on the Ridge. Instead he chose Raisina Hill, on the ground that it would allow the creation of a grand monument sloping towards the east and allowing the other secretariat buildings to come up on either side of a main causeway.

More riveting than the written account are well-known artist and photographer Vikram Kalra’s black-and-white sketches of the buildings that adorn the country’s capital even today. The sketches are exquisitely done and highlight the timeless architectural beauty and design integrity of those structures, planned for the new capital of India, one hundred years ago.

SENTINELS OF RAISINA HILL
Authors: Dhirendra Singh & Mohan Joseph
Publisher: Timeless Books
Pages: 144
Price: Rs 3,000