Eight Lectures on India

by Halford John Mackinder

|1.
Map of Indian Railway System.| Two new facts have of recent years altered all the relations of India with the outer world, and have vitally changed the conditions of internal government as compared with those prevailing at the time of the Mutiny. The first of these facts was the opening of the Suez Canal, and the second was the construction, and as regards main lines the virtual completion of the Indian Railway System. Formerly shipping came round the Cape of Good Hope, and it was as easy to steer a course for Calcutta as for Bombay. To-day only bulky cargo is taken from Suez and Aden round the southern point of India through the Bay of Bengal to Calcutta. The fast mail boats run to Bombay, and thence the railways diverge northward, northeastward, and southeastward to all the frontiers of the Empire. Only the Burmese railways remain for the present a detached system. But in regard to tonnage of traffic Calcutta is still the first port of India, for the country which lies in rear of it in Bengal and the United Provinces contains a very large population.

From Bombay inland runs the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, or as it is known everywhere in India, the G.I.P. This line branches a short distance from the coast, striking on the one hand southeastward in the direction of Madras, and on the other hand northeastward in the direction of Allahabad. A second great railway system, the East Indian, begins at Howrah on the shore of the Hooghly opposite to Calcutta, and thence crossing the low Rajmahal spur of the central hills descends to the bank of the Ganges at Patna, from which point it follows the river to Allahabad, and there branches, one line continuing northwestward to Delhi and beyond, the other striking southwestward through the hills to Jubbulpore, where it meets the northeastward branch of the G.I.P. Each week, four hours after the arrival of the mail steamer at Bombay, three express trains leave the Victoria Station of that city. One of them is bound southeastward for Madras. The second runs northeastward over the G.I.P. and East Indian lines, by way of Jubbulpore and Allahabad, to the Howrah Station at Calcutta. The third also runs northeastward by the G.I.P. line, but diverges northward from the Calcutta route to Agra and Delhi. When the Government of India is at Simla, the last mentioned train continues northward beyond Delhi to the foot of the mountains. The time taken to Madras is 26 hours, to Calcutta 36 hours, and to Delhi 27 hours.

Access to the great plains at the foot of the Himalayas was formerly by the navigation of the Ganges and of its tributaries. Then the Grand Trunk road was constructed from Calcutta northwestward through the Gangetic plain to the northwest of India. It was by this road that relief was brought during the Mutiny to the besieged garrisons of Cawnpore and Lucknow. Finally, the East Indian Railway was built from Bengal to the Punjab through the whole length of the densely peopled belt which is enriched by the monsoon rains of the Himalayas.

Recently a more direct line from Bombay to Calcutta, which does not pass through Allahabad, has been constructed through Nagpur, the capital of the Central Provinces of India. This runs, however, through a hilly country, much forested and relatively thinly peopled. There are now two daily mails between Calcutta and Bombay, the one running via Nagpur and the other viâ Allahabad.

|2.
Indian Railway Station.| We have here an Indian train standing at a platform. Note the screens constructed to give shade in the heat of the day.

|3.
Bhor Ghat Reversing Station.| |4.
The Same.| The two branches of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway approach one another at an angle from Allahabad and the northeast and from Madras and the southeast. They descend the steep mountain face which edges the Deccan plateau by two passes, the Bhor Ghat and the Thal Ghat. The lines are constructed downward, with remarkable skill of engineering, by loops, and in places by blind ends on which the trains are reversed. Here are two views of the Bhor Ghat Reversing Station, the first taken from below, and the second from above. The Junction of the two lines is in the narrow coastal plain at the foot of the descent. Thence the rails are carried by a bridge over a sea strait into Sashti Island, and by a second bridge over a second strait into Bombay Island, and so to the great Victoria Terminus in the midst of the city.

|5.
Map of Bombay District.| The island of Bombay is about twelve miles long from north to south. The harbour, set with hilly islets, lies between Bombay and the mainland, the entry being from the south round the long Colaba Point. Westward of Colaba is Back Bay, formed by the Malabar Point, on whose end, extended as it were to meet Europe, is the residence of the Governor of the great Province of Bombay.

|6.
Plan of Bombay City.| |7.
Bombay, from top of Rajabaie Tower, looking South.| |8.
The Same, looking Southeast.| |9.
The Same, looking Northeast.| |10.
The Same, looking Northwest.| |Repeat Map No. 1.| The most conspicuous feature of the now magnificent city is a range of public buildings, running north and south about mid-way between the harbour and Back Bay. East of these buildings is the oldest quarter of the city, known as the Fort. Westward, on the shore of Back Bay, is a broad expanse of garden. The native town lies to the north, and beyond it is Byculla, where are the mills and factories, and to the east of Byculla on the harbour front is the dockyard of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. How fine a city is Bombay may be realised from the top of the great tower of the University, some two hundred and fifty feet high, the most conspicuous building in the place. It is the central feature of the range of public buildings just referred to. We have here in succession from south and southeast to northeast and northwest, four views from the top of this tower. The first is to the south, and shows the Union Jack flying from the Secretariat of the Government of Bombay, and the entry to the harbour beyond. The edge of the garden belt towards Back Bay is seen along the right hand edge of the view. In the southeastward view we have the shipping and the islands of the harbour, and the Government Dockyard with its long jetty. Notice the island fort guarding the channel. In the northeastward view we look towards the native city, and see the factories smoking in the distance. It will be seen that there are practically no chimneys on the nearer buildings, and no smoke in the air. Finally from our tower top we turn northwestward, and look across the head of Back Bay towards Malabar Point. The building on the shore of the Bay is the office of the Bombay and Baroda Railway, which runs northward along the coast into a densely peopled lowland round the head of the Gulf of Cambay. Away in the distance on that Malabar Promontory, but not visible in this view, are the Towers of Silence, where the Parsis dispose of their dead.

|11.
Group of Parsis.| |12.
Parsi Tower of Silence.| The Parsis (i.e. Persians) are a community, chiefly of merchants, who came to Bombay in the Middle Ages, flying from Persia when the Musulmans conquered that land. They hold the ancient faith of Persia, and are commonly described as Fire Worshippers. They regard the elements fire, water, and earth as sacred, and therefore refuse to pollute them with the decay of dead bodies. They build round towers, known as Towers of Silence, and these they place in large grounds equivalent to our cemeteries. Each tower is hollow and exposed to the sky within. There on stone ledges the dead bodies are laid, and the vultures pick the flesh from the bones. The ash of the bones is washed by the rain into a central pit at the bottom of the hollow tower, where it slowly accumulates, so that, in accordance with one of the tenets of their faith, the Parsis, rich and poor, meet in death. The Parsis of Bombay are a wealthy and enterprising community, who do no small part of the commerce of the city. One of their number recently sat in the House of Commons at Westminster as the representative of a London constituency. They have no caste prejudices like the Hindus, and no seclusion of women like the Musulmans, so that their ways of life are nearer to those of Europeans.

|13.
The Rajabaie Tower, Bombay University.| |14.
The Same, more distant view.| |15.
P. & O. Offices, Bombay.| |16.
Carmac Bund, Bombay.| |17.
Victoria Terminus, G.I.P., Bombay.| |18.
The Same: another view.| |19.
Municipal Buildings, Bombay.| |20.
Esplanade Road, Bombay.| |21.
Fountain in Esplanade Road, Bombay.| |22.
Statue of Queen Victoria.| Now let us walk through the city, and realise its grandeur. Here we are down by the western façade of the University. The great tower rises above us from which we just now obtained our views. That tower is called the Rajabaie Tower, in memory of the mother of the founder of the building. This is a rather more distant picture of the same building. We have next the offices of the P. and O. Company, and then a wharfside with steamers about to start for Goa, the old Portuguese capital midway along the west coast of India southward of Bombay. Here we have the great Victoria Terminus of the G.I.P. Railway, with a central dome and an elaborately carved façade. Bombay claims that it is the finest railway station in the world. This is another view of the same building, with bullocks passing in front of it. Here are the Municipal Buildings with another fine dome. They are a combination of gothic with oriental architecture, and were opened about fifteen years ago. Notice the electric tramway wires above. Then we see another fine street, the Esplanade Road. The National Bank is to the left, and further along is the Bombay Club. Here is a fountain in the Esplanade Road, with a bullock passing in front of it, and here is the Statue of the Queen-Empress Victoria, unveiled in 1872. On the canopy are the rose of England and the lotus of India.