OUTRAM IN INDIA: The Morality of Empire
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
CHAPTER 1.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED.
In 1857 the Indian soldiers serving in the Bengal army mutinied against their British officers and ran amok. The rebels captured many of the key cities in north-east India with no mercy shown to any Europeans living there. Delhi was occupied, and for a few months the future of British rule in India was in severe danger. Had the mutiny spread to other parts of India, or had the rebels managed to retain the key cities, it is difficult to see the British recovering their position But neither of these conditions occurred; Delhi was recaptured, reinforcements poured into the country and the so-called Indian Mutiny was defeated. One of the key cities in the struggle was the capital of the province of Oudh, Lucknow. After Delhi was recovered, it became the focus for the rebel forces, the most important city in the north-east, which had not fallen. A small band of British soldiers and officials, besieged in the Residency there, resisted all attempts on their enclave, and their heroism was to become a legend in the history of the British Raj.
The British garrison sheltering in the Residency at Lucknow came close to exhaustion and despair. For more than three months one thousand and seven men, protecting five hundred and fifty women and children, resisted constant onslaught from a surrounding horde of over eight thousand mutinying Indian soldiers, supported by local officials and police. Reports from other cities told them what to expect if the Residency fell: they would all be killed. The bombardment was incessant: there was little time for rest. Their only hope was that relief would come from the distant British force, battling up from Calcutta and Kanpur. Rations were low, disease was rife, women and children at the end of their tether. All the buildings in the compound had been shattered by round shot and damaged by torrential rain. Constant attempts by mutineers to burrow into the compound and destroy the defences with mines had been resisted. Word came from the advancing relief column that they were still at least twenty-five days away; the message was: "Do not negotiate, but rather perish sword in hand."12
Just before midnight on September 22, 1857, a messenger came running through the lines with exciting news: the relief force had crossed the Ganges at Kanpur and would be at Lucknow within a few days. Spirits were raised by the sound of distant gunfire, growing closer: heavy artillery, rifles and muskets. Then, at 6pm on September 25, along the straight road leading up to the gates of the Residency, through the middle of the city, there appeared bearded Highlanders and Sikhs. They advanced steadily through withering fire directed from the houses and palaces crowding closely around the street. They did not hesitate. At their head rode the two heroes of the campaign, Brigadier-General Henry Havelock and Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram. As the gates of the Residency came into view, a new vigour was apparent in the step of these soldiers, and there was a surge forward. At the embrasure guarding the gates Outram’s horse balked, and the Highlanders heaved him and his horse bodily across it. The spontaneous cheer which rang out could be heard for miles. The most significant battle of the so-called Indian Mutiny was won, and Havelock and Outram were to be lionised and feted by a Britain desperate for good news.
It was the most triumphant moment in the long and distinguished career of James Outram. He was to have statues erected to him in Calcutta, and on the Victoria Embankment.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
During the Indian rebellion of 1857, the siege of Lucknow was raised by Generals James Outram and Henry Havelock. Outram was hailed as a national hero, and his statue was erected on the Victoria Embankment in London. Yet throughout his long and eventful career in the Indian army he was frequently at odds with his superiors. Promotion and preferment came slowly, and he was not a wealthy man when he died.
Always the outsider, his ideas were ahead of his time: he believed that the way forward in India was to work with the local people, and not rule over them. His actions frequently brought him into conflict with established British practice, and in the process raised fundamental questions about the morality of empire, as practised by the English East India Company.
As a soldier Outram distinguished himself in action. He was a fearless yet thoughtful leader who was revered and idolised by his men and whose tactics frequently surprised his enemies.
This book sets out the dramatic events which took place during Outram's career in India, from 1820 to 1860, and attempts to place his life in the context of the times in which he lived. It shows how the British presence in India changed that country irrevocably, for good and bad.
About the Author
This is Roy Digby Thomas' third book. The first two, "Digby: The Gunpowder Plotter's Legacy" and "George Digby: Hero and Villain," recounted the lives of two significant figures in England in the 17th Century.
His latest book, "Outram in India: The Morality of Empire" deals with the life of James Outram in the 19th Century. It is based on three years of research into British rule in India, and Outram's role there. But it is more than just a straightforward biography. Like the two previous books, it portrays an outsider's struggle against the Establishment, and what happens when an individual's conscience and morality clashes with the accepted way of doing things.
In the last fifty years new information has come to light which enables a reappraisal both of the morality of the English East India Company's rule in India, and Outram's role as a servant of the Company. This has led to a fresh approach on a subject which, since the independence of India after the Second World War, has not receieved enough attention.