Question:
I would be further interested to know why the Parsis (for instance) would have abandoned their ancestral surnaming style (tribal, was it? Or generational patronymic?) at such a late point in their long and distinguished history. Any ideas? It's as though Colonel Smithers of the EIC suddenly changed his surname to "Colonel".
I shall attempt an answer, based on my general knowledge.
It appears that use of surnames in the Marathi and Gujarati areas which not go back more than 300/400 years. Surnames were not in use in India in ancient times and almost till the end of the first millennium CE. Thousands of names are known from Sanskrit and Prakrit texts, rock-cut inscriptions, copper plates, coins etc. They are almost always single names. Very occasionally, we do come across the use of the name of a parent along with the name of the individual. For example, an important king of the Satavahana dynasty which ruled from Junnar (Poona District) or Paithan (Auragabad District) is called Gautamiputra Satakarni. Here Gautami is the name of the mother and Satakarni is her son (putra). This was done more as a mark of respect for the parent.
I would think that the patronymics and the surnames started crystallizing around the end of the first millennium. Some of the common surnames of today are corruptions of certain dynastic names from the Indian Middle Ages, such as Parmar to Pawar, Shilahar to Shelar, Chalukya to Salunke. In the second millennium started the use of surnames derived from the occupations such as Joshi from Jyotishi (village astrologer), Kulkarni for the village clerk, Deshpande for the clerk of a larger area or Desh, Patil/Patel for the headman etc. Later, surnames arose from the trades such as Sutar (carpenter), Lohar (blacksmith), Sonar (goldsmith) etc. or from physical and mental attributes such as Thite (a short person), Godbole (a smooth talker). Surnames also arose from places of origin such as Kolhatkar (a person hailing from the village of Kolthar (District Ratnagiri), Nimbkhedkar from the village of Nimbkhed etc. This is a complex subject and only a trained sociologist will be able to do justice to it. Though the surnames had started forming, it appears that they were little used.
Patronymics came in wide use from the middle of the 16th century, probably due to Muslim influence, as evidenced by an occasional use of the Arab 'bin' (son of) in Hindu names in the early days. Most names that we come across from that time till almost the end of the 18th century are a combination of the person's and his father's names, such as Dadoji Konddev (Shivaji's mentor in early days), Balaji Aavji and Prahlad Niraji (Shivaji's ministers), Balaji Vishvanath (the first Peshwa), Balaji Bajirao (the third Peshwa), Madhavrao Ballal (his son and the forth Peshwa).
Use of surnames really became widespread with the advent of the British administration. This was perhaps caused by the needs of a more systematic administration that demanded more clarity in identifying individuals and the facility of documentation and reading created by the widening use of the printing press. Thus came into being the current method of the individual's name, father's name and the surname.
The above is as regards Hindu Marathi surnames. An interesting thing happened with the Parsis. Apparently they had not brought any surnames with them when the migrated into India in the 14th century because all their present day surnames appear to be of the post-migration origin. Surnames in current use among parsis appear to be of 4 types - derived from a placename, an occupation of a new type that came into being under the British presence, a traditional occupation or a religious function. In the first category are surnames like Bharucha (from Bharuch or Broach), Khambatta (from Khambatt or Cambay), Balsara (from Valsad or Balsad), Surti (from Surat), Navsaria (from Navsari) etc. In the second category are names like Contractor, Vakil, Doctor - yes, this a surname for some Pasis -, Daruvala (dealer in alcoholic spirits), Batliwala (dealer in bottles) etc. In the third category are surnames like Gandhi (dealer in herbal medicines), Mehta (accountant) etc. Parsis share these surnames with the remaining Gujarati community. In the fourth category are surnames like Dastur (Zoroastian priest).
I hope I have succeeded to some extent in answering the question.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
VS Naipaul and the Hanuman House
The Hanuman House, the ancestral house of the Tulsi family in Arwacas, which is almost like a human character in VS Naipaul's novel 'A House for Mr. Biswas', is in reality the family house called 'The Lion House' of the Capildeo family and is situated on the Main Street of the Indian-dominated town called Chaguanas, which lies a little to the south of the capital city of Port of Spain. Naipaul's mother was one of the 10 daughters of Pandit Capildeo. He had come to Trinidad in the 1890's from Gorakhpur in Eastern UP as indentured labour and became the community leader of the Bihari Hindu community of indentured laborers.
The house, no more lived in, has been restored by the Capildeo descendents. The website http://www.thelionhouse.com/ is about the house and gives glimpses of the lives of indentured labour in Trinidad. Listers interested in them will find a visit to the site of interest.
Indian Coinage
A very interesting site for pictures and history of Indian coinage is http://www.bharatcoins.com/indiancoins.html. The links Edward VII, George V and George VI show, among others, the pie = the third of a paisa = the twelfth part of the Anna. Another interesting site for pictures of old currency notes is http://masoodmemon.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/rupees-at-the-time-of-british-empire/
Many of us remember with nostalgia the pre-1957 coins such as the square-shaped two-anna piece, the scallop edged one-anna piece, the annular one-paisa piece. Rupee, 8 anna, 4 anna, 2 anna and 1 anna pieces, carrying pictures of George V or George VI were very much around till the mid-60's.
Gulf countries and territories like Oman and Dubai, prior to the discovery of oil, looked mainly to India for their commerce and were heavily influenced by Indian customs and practices. Faisal bin Turki was Imam of Muscat and Oman - as the sultans were called in earlier days - between 1888 and 1913. I have, in my small collection of coins, two copper coins of 1/4 anna coined during his rule. The ruler is called Feessul bin Turkee, Imam of Muscat and Oman. 'Anna' was a direct import from British India. One thousandth of an Omani Rial is today called 'a baisa', clearly derived from 'paisa', as Arabic does not much distinguish between the 'b' and 'p' sounds. The site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari_riyal says that Qatar used the Indian currency till as recently as 1966. Another site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omani_rial tells us that the Indian Rupee and the Maria Theresa dollars were the currency in the region of the Trucial Coast before 1940. British interests in on the Trucial Coast were the responsibility of the Political Department under the Viceroy.
Talking of old coins, I have a Rupee coin (looks almost pure silver) of 1914 with the picture of George V, King Emperor, a 1/2 Rupee coin of 1946 with the picture of George VI, King Emperor and a one-paisa annular coin of 1946. I have another 1 paisa coin of one of the princely states, though the name is indistinct. Incidentally, I also have a Maria Theresa dollar of 1780.
Many of us remember with nostalgia the pre-1957 coins such as the square-shaped two-anna piece, the scallop edged one-anna piece, the annular one-paisa piece. Rupee, 8 anna, 4 anna, 2 anna and 1 anna pieces, carrying pictures of George V or George VI were very much around till the mid-60's.
Gulf countries and territories like Oman and Dubai, prior to the discovery of oil, looked mainly to India for their commerce and were heavily influenced by Indian customs and practices. Faisal bin Turki was Imam of Muscat and Oman - as the sultans were called in earlier days - between 1888 and 1913. I have, in my small collection of coins, two copper coins of 1/4 anna coined during his rule. The ruler is called Feessul bin Turkee, Imam of Muscat and Oman. 'Anna' was a direct import from British India. One thousandth of an Omani Rial is today called 'a baisa', clearly derived from 'paisa', as Arabic does not much distinguish between the 'b' and 'p' sounds. The site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari_riyal says that Qatar used the Indian currency till as recently as 1966. Another site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omani_rial tells us that the Indian Rupee and the Maria Theresa dollars were the currency in the region of the Trucial Coast before 1940. British interests in on the Trucial Coast were the responsibility of the Political Department under the Viceroy.
Talking of old coins, I have a Rupee coin (looks almost pure silver) of 1914 with the picture of George V, King Emperor, a 1/2 Rupee coin of 1946 with the picture of George VI, King Emperor and a one-paisa annular coin of 1946. I have another 1 paisa coin of one of the princely states, though the name is indistinct. Incidentally, I also have a Maria Theresa dollar of 1780.
What did Indians eat before chilli
What did the Indians eat before the chilli entered India as an import brought in by the Portuguese from South America. Today, one cannot think of Indian food without hot chilli. (A similar question about the Italians. What did they eat before tomato made its appearance?)
I have asked this question to several people, though none has come out with a good enough answer. Cooking not being in the main line of Sanskrit scholarship, I do not know of any old work devoted to this topic, though, I am sure, there would be at least a few on shelves of libraries that specialize in old manuscripts. I can only give a few pointers based on general knowledge.
Pre-chilli Indian food must have been pretty bland, somewhat like today's Japanese food of the vegetarian variety. For over two millennia, Indian food has been mainly vegetarian, avoiding meats generally. and fish in most places. Though India was known for its spices, most of the strong spices, miri or pepper for example, grow only in the extreme south of India. Given the difficulties of transport, it would not have been generally available to
the rest of the country.
Kautilya, in his Arthashastra, mentions the following in Ch. 2 at p.34 under the heading 'Tiktavarga' or 'Pungent class': "Long pepper, black pepper, ginger, cumin seed, kiratatikta (Agathotes Chirayta), white mustard, coriander, choraka (a plant), damanaka (Artemisia Indica), maruvaka (Vangueria Spinosa), sigru (Hyperanthera Moringa), and the like together with their roots (kánda) come under the group of pungent substances
(tiktavarga)." (taken from the English translation available at scribd.com).
Most of these botanical terms can be traced on the internet, though I could not identify any of them with equivalents I can recognize.
The Russian traveller Afanasii Nikitin, who spent 3 years in South India from 1471 to 1474, has the following to say about the food habits of the Hindus: "Hindus do not eat any meat, neither beef, nor mutton, nor fowl, nor fish, nor pork, although they have many pigs. They eat twice a day, but not at night, and drink neither wine nor mead. And they do not eat or drink with the Muslims. Even with each other, they do not eat or drink, nor with their wives. They eat rice, and kichri with butter, and various greens, and cook
these with butter and milk, and eat only with their right hands, and take nothing with their left hands. They have not heard of knives or spoons. And, on their journeys, they each carry their own pots to cook porridge. They turn away from Muslims, to prevent them from looking at their pots or food. If a Muslim casts his eye on the food, then the Hindu will not eat it. That is why they eat covered with a napkin, so that nobody would see." (For those interested, an excellent translation of his travel account is available at
http://tangentialia.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/afanasii-nikitins-journey-across-three-seas/
The unknown seer who composed the famous 'Rudram' (Prayer to Lord Rudra - another form of the more well-known Shiva) in Yajurveda asked for the following in blessing: 'Milk, Honey, fruits...paddy, barley, black gram, gingilly seeds, green gram, castor oil seeds, wheat and White Bengal gram, with elongated bushy millets (small paddy) and fine Superior paddy and excellent roots and all readily available grains in the Jungles'. This gives us a general idea of what ancient Indians were eating.
I have asked this question to several people, though none has come out with a good enough answer. Cooking not being in the main line of Sanskrit scholarship, I do not know of any old work devoted to this topic, though, I am sure, there would be at least a few on shelves of libraries that specialize in old manuscripts. I can only give a few pointers based on general knowledge.
Pre-chilli Indian food must have been pretty bland, somewhat like today's Japanese food of the vegetarian variety. For over two millennia, Indian food has been mainly vegetarian, avoiding meats generally. and fish in most places. Though India was known for its spices, most of the strong spices, miri or pepper for example, grow only in the extreme south of India. Given the difficulties of transport, it would not have been generally available to
the rest of the country.
Kautilya, in his Arthashastra, mentions the following in Ch. 2 at p.34 under the heading 'Tiktavarga' or 'Pungent class': "Long pepper, black pepper, ginger, cumin seed, kiratatikta (Agathotes Chirayta), white mustard, coriander, choraka (a plant), damanaka (Artemisia Indica), maruvaka (Vangueria Spinosa), sigru (Hyperanthera Moringa), and the like together with their roots (kánda) come under the group of pungent substances
(tiktavarga)." (taken from the English translation available at scribd.com).
Most of these botanical terms can be traced on the internet, though I could not identify any of them with equivalents I can recognize.
The Russian traveller Afanasii Nikitin, who spent 3 years in South India from 1471 to 1474, has the following to say about the food habits of the Hindus: "Hindus do not eat any meat, neither beef, nor mutton, nor fowl, nor fish, nor pork, although they have many pigs. They eat twice a day, but not at night, and drink neither wine nor mead. And they do not eat or drink with the Muslims. Even with each other, they do not eat or drink, nor with their wives. They eat rice, and kichri with butter, and various greens, and cook
these with butter and milk, and eat only with their right hands, and take nothing with their left hands. They have not heard of knives or spoons. And, on their journeys, they each carry their own pots to cook porridge. They turn away from Muslims, to prevent them from looking at their pots or food. If a Muslim casts his eye on the food, then the Hindu will not eat it. That is why they eat covered with a napkin, so that nobody would see." (For those interested, an excellent translation of his travel account is available at
http://tangentialia.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/afanasii-nikitins-journey-across-three-seas/
The unknown seer who composed the famous 'Rudram' (Prayer to Lord Rudra - another form of the more well-known Shiva) in Yajurveda asked for the following in blessing: 'Milk, Honey, fruits...paddy, barley, black gram, gingilly seeds, green gram, castor oil seeds, wheat and White Bengal gram, with elongated bushy millets (small paddy) and fine Superior paddy and excellent roots and all readily available grains in the Jungles'. This gives us a general idea of what ancient Indians were eating.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
A convention in Sanskrit literature for representing numerals
What you are referring to is a Sanskrit convention that attaches, based on Indian mythology, puranaas, and other traditional literature, certain numerals with names of deities, natural phenomena, parts of the human body etc.
Instead of writing those numbers, the associated names could be used by an author and the reader could conjecture at the underlying numbers. This was particularly of use when putting down a number in a stanza as that gave the writer the freedom to use an alternate for the number that would agree with the meter. (As you are perhaps aware, most Sanskrit writing, including works on subjects like jyotisha - a mix of astronomical calculations of position of heavenly bodies and astrological predictions - was composed in meters, perhaps to make it easy to learn by heart.)
As an example, see the following from Leelavati, a composition of Bhaskara (12th century) that deals with arithmetic, some algebra and some geometry. Here Bhaskara gives two formulas about the relation between the diameter and the circumference of a circle. In the first he proposes that the diameter be multiplied by 3927, and the product divided by 1250; the quotient will be a very precise circumference. He also states that as a broad calculation, diameter multiplied by 22 and divided by 7 gives a result for practical use. His exact verse for this is as follows: (Transliteration coded as for Itrans)
vyaase bhanandaagnihate vibhakte khabaaNasuuryaiH paridhiH susuukShmaH | dwaavi.nshatinighne vihR^ite.atha shailaiH sthuulothavaa.asyaadvyavahaarayogyaH ||
This translates as follows: When the diameter (vyaasa) is multiplied by bha nanda agni (representing respectively 27 9 3 i.e. 3927), and divided by kha baana suurya (representing 0 5 12 i.e. 1250) , it gives an accurate measure of the circumference. When the diameter is multiplied by dwaa+vi.nshati (22, the actual number) and divided by shailas, it gives a result which is a rough measure. [The number 7 is represented by shaila or mountain - the Sanskrit literary tradition counts 7 mountains as kulashailas or major mountains. These are i) Mahendra ii) Malaya iii) Sahya iv) Shuktiman v) R^ikSha vi) Vindhya vii) paariyaatra. All these are identifiable. Sahya is Sahyaadri, parallel to the western coastline, Shuktimaan is the Himalaya, R^ikSha is the Aravali, Vindhya is the Central Indian Range etc.]
To explain this further, bha is the sky or a constellation. There are 27 stellar constellations in the Hindu tradition. Nanda is the dynasty which Chandragupta Maurya, a contemporary of Alexander, overthrew to found his own empire. The number 9 is traditionally associated with the Nandas. Agni (fire) is associated with 3 as there were 3 types of agnis in the Hindu ritualistic tradition. Moving further, kha is the sky, associated with emptiness, or 0. 5 is baana or arrow. Why? The convoluted answer is that the God of Carnal Love, Madana (Indian Cupid) is armed with 5 arrows. One of his alternative names is pa~ncasaayaka - the one with five arrows. Thus the number 5 is associated with baana or arrow. 12 is associated with the Sun God.
As you must have by now realized, these words are used as shorthands or alternatives for names of numerals. There are several ways of doing this as Sanskrit traditionally has several alternative words to describe the same thing, most describing some peculiar attribute of that thing. This increases the variety of ways in which a thing can be described. The reader, who is supposed to well-armed with the knowledge of the traditional literature, can easily cut his way through this delightful confusion!
Instead of writing those numbers, the associated names could be used by an author and the reader could conjecture at the underlying numbers. This was particularly of use when putting down a number in a stanza as that gave the writer the freedom to use an alternate for the number that would agree with the meter. (As you are perhaps aware, most Sanskrit writing, including works on subjects like jyotisha - a mix of astronomical calculations of position of heavenly bodies and astrological predictions - was composed in meters, perhaps to make it easy to learn by heart.)
As an example, see the following from Leelavati, a composition of Bhaskara (12th century) that deals with arithmetic, some algebra and some geometry. Here Bhaskara gives two formulas about the relation between the diameter and the circumference of a circle. In the first he proposes that the diameter be multiplied by 3927, and the product divided by 1250; the quotient will be a very precise circumference. He also states that as a broad calculation, diameter multiplied by 22 and divided by 7 gives a result for practical use. His exact verse for this is as follows: (Transliteration coded as for Itrans)
vyaase bhanandaagnihate vibhakte khabaaNasuuryaiH paridhiH susuukShmaH | dwaavi.nshatinighne vihR^ite.atha shailaiH sthuulothavaa.asyaadvyavahaarayogyaH ||
This translates as follows: When the diameter (vyaasa) is multiplied by bha nanda agni (representing respectively 27 9 3 i.e. 3927), and divided by kha baana suurya (representing 0 5 12 i.e. 1250) , it gives an accurate measure of the circumference. When the diameter is multiplied by dwaa+vi.nshati (22, the actual number) and divided by shailas, it gives a result which is a rough measure. [The number 7 is represented by shaila or mountain - the Sanskrit literary tradition counts 7 mountains as kulashailas or major mountains. These are i) Mahendra ii) Malaya iii) Sahya iv) Shuktiman v) R^ikSha vi) Vindhya vii) paariyaatra. All these are identifiable. Sahya is Sahyaadri, parallel to the western coastline, Shuktimaan is the Himalaya, R^ikSha is the Aravali, Vindhya is the Central Indian Range etc.]
To explain this further, bha is the sky or a constellation. There are 27 stellar constellations in the Hindu tradition. Nanda is the dynasty which Chandragupta Maurya, a contemporary of Alexander, overthrew to found his own empire. The number 9 is traditionally associated with the Nandas. Agni (fire) is associated with 3 as there were 3 types of agnis in the Hindu ritualistic tradition. Moving further, kha is the sky, associated with emptiness, or 0. 5 is baana or arrow. Why? The convoluted answer is that the God of Carnal Love, Madana (Indian Cupid) is armed with 5 arrows. One of his alternative names is pa~ncasaayaka - the one with five arrows. Thus the number 5 is associated with baana or arrow. 12 is associated with the Sun God.
As you must have by now realized, these words are used as shorthands or alternatives for names of numerals. There are several ways of doing this as Sanskrit traditionally has several alternative words to describe the same thing, most describing some peculiar attribute of that thing. This increases the variety of ways in which a thing can be described. The reader, who is supposed to well-armed with the knowledge of the traditional literature, can easily cut his way through this delightful confusion!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Cemetery off Shankarseth Road in Pune
The newspaper story of 1998 brought out by Harshawardhan, about the discovery of an abandoned 19th century British cemetery off Shankarseth Road in Poona (Pune), prompted me to look for it in Google Earth and Wikimapia.org. Way back in the late 1960's I lived for 4 years in a housing society called Mira Society that lies a stone's throw away from Shankarseth Road and the cemetery. Shankarseth Road and the Dhobi Ghat (Washermen's Place) were on my daily route, though I never suspected the existence of a cemetery near the Dhobi Ghat.
You can see this place on Google Earth at coordinates 18 30 05.43 N and 73 52 33.09 E. It is actually labeled as Dhobi Ghat in Wikimapia. It lies to the left of the large open space called Golibar Maidan (Firing Ground). (Building No 1, Mira Society lies just a little lower down, though no KR Bora lived there at the time I was there.) The Office of the Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers) or CDA(O), whose task is to maintain pay accounts of all Army Officers (numbering more than 30,000), lies just to the south of Golibar Maidan. Near it is a small cluster of Army-owned buildings called 'Separated Families Accommodation', given to families of
officers serving in remote areas.
It is easy to see why the Dhobi Ghat is where it is. To the East and South lie the cantonments of Poona. Officers and others living there needed clothes-washing services of dhobis (washermen). The Mutha Right Bank Canal, taking off from the old Khadakwasla Dam at the foot of the Sinhagad Fort, crosses the Shankarseth Road near the Golibar Maidan. The canal is clearly seen in Google Earth and Wikimapia. Availability of this water brought the Dhobi Ghat here. Golibar Maidan too is where it is as the soldiers living in the Cantonment needed a large empty ground for their firing practice. This entire area, full of residential and office buildings today, was totally empty till the 1950. The entire length of Shankarseth Road was taken up by a couple of Film Studios, which have since then disappeared.
The name of Shankarseth given to the road is also evocative of the Raj. It was unusual for the Raj days to name a street after a native, but an exception was made for Shankarseth, surely because he was a 'loyal progressive native'! Jagannath Shankarseth (Nana as he was affectionately called) was a rich person who lived in Girgaon, where his house still stood till the 1950's, just outside the Fort area of Bombay. He was the undisputed leader of the native community in the 1850's and was a well-known philanthropist and social reformer. He was also one of the founders and a
Director of the GIP Railway. His is one of the faces adorning the columns in the Main Hall of the Victoria Terminus in Bombay (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or CST, recently seen the terrorist attack. (See the portion '100 years of Victoria Terminus,Bombay in the webpage http://www.irfca.org/articles/vikas/stamps.html ). His large sitting statue in marble is kept at the entrance of the Asiatic Society's Library in Bombay. The square in Girgaum called 'Nana Chowk' is an important landmark of old Bombay and is named after Nana Shankarseth as he lived in the vicinity of that spot. (Hardly anyone knows - indeed cares for - this small detail!)
He is remembered by the young generation of today for the prestigious prize called 'Shankarseth Scholarship' given to the student who scores top marks in Sanskrit in the Secondary School Certificate Examination. This scholarship is now more than ahundred years old. With the diminishing of the importance of Sanskrit (like the Classics in the Western countries) this scholarship has lost some of its glamour, though in earlier times it was the ambition of every bright student appearing for the High School Final certification examination to become the Shankarseth Scholar of his year. Among several such scholars who distinguished themselves in later life, was Sir Chintaman Deshmukh (C.D. Deshmukh as he is now known) of the ICS. He was the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, prior to 1947. After independence he was Nehru's Finance Minister for a few years before his differences with Nehru on granting Bombay to Maharashtra when linguistic states were created in 1956 led to his resignation.
All these stray thoughts came to me when I read the newspaper piece about the cemetery and I have noted them down in the hope that the Listers will find them informative.
You can see this place on Google Earth at coordinates 18 30 05.43 N and 73 52 33.09 E. It is actually labeled as Dhobi Ghat in Wikimapia. It lies to the left of the large open space called Golibar Maidan (Firing Ground). (Building No 1, Mira Society lies just a little lower down, though no KR Bora lived there at the time I was there.) The Office of the Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers) or CDA(O), whose task is to maintain pay accounts of all Army Officers (numbering more than 30,000), lies just to the south of Golibar Maidan. Near it is a small cluster of Army-owned buildings called 'Separated Families Accommodation', given to families of
officers serving in remote areas.
It is easy to see why the Dhobi Ghat is where it is. To the East and South lie the cantonments of Poona. Officers and others living there needed clothes-washing services of dhobis (washermen). The Mutha Right Bank Canal, taking off from the old Khadakwasla Dam at the foot of the Sinhagad Fort, crosses the Shankarseth Road near the Golibar Maidan. The canal is clearly seen in Google Earth and Wikimapia. Availability of this water brought the Dhobi Ghat here. Golibar Maidan too is where it is as the soldiers living in the Cantonment needed a large empty ground for their firing practice. This entire area, full of residential and office buildings today, was totally empty till the 1950. The entire length of Shankarseth Road was taken up by a couple of Film Studios, which have since then disappeared.
The name of Shankarseth given to the road is also evocative of the Raj. It was unusual for the Raj days to name a street after a native, but an exception was made for Shankarseth, surely because he was a 'loyal progressive native'! Jagannath Shankarseth (Nana as he was affectionately called) was a rich person who lived in Girgaon, where his house still stood till the 1950's, just outside the Fort area of Bombay. He was the undisputed leader of the native community in the 1850's and was a well-known philanthropist and social reformer. He was also one of the founders and a
Director of the GIP Railway. His is one of the faces adorning the columns in the Main Hall of the Victoria Terminus in Bombay (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or CST, recently seen the terrorist attack. (See the portion '100 years of Victoria Terminus,Bombay in the webpage http://www.irfca.org/articles/vikas/stamps.html ). His large sitting statue in marble is kept at the entrance of the Asiatic Society's Library in Bombay. The square in Girgaum called 'Nana Chowk' is an important landmark of old Bombay and is named after Nana Shankarseth as he lived in the vicinity of that spot. (Hardly anyone knows - indeed cares for - this small detail!)
He is remembered by the young generation of today for the prestigious prize called 'Shankarseth Scholarship' given to the student who scores top marks in Sanskrit in the Secondary School Certificate Examination. This scholarship is now more than ahundred years old. With the diminishing of the importance of Sanskrit (like the Classics in the Western countries) this scholarship has lost some of its glamour, though in earlier times it was the ambition of every bright student appearing for the High School Final certification examination to become the Shankarseth Scholar of his year. Among several such scholars who distinguished themselves in later life, was Sir Chintaman Deshmukh (C.D. Deshmukh as he is now known) of the ICS. He was the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, prior to 1947. After independence he was Nehru's Finance Minister for a few years before his differences with Nehru on granting Bombay to Maharashtra when linguistic states were created in 1956 led to his resignation.
All these stray thoughts came to me when I read the newspaper piece about the cemetery and I have noted them down in the hope that the Listers will find them informative.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
British origins of Indian Place-names
As a matter of curiosity, I have compiled the following list of names of cities and towns in India , Pakistan and Bangladesh
Only names of places have been included. Names of islands, bays, mountain peaks and similar geographical features are not included, of which there are several. (Examples Duke’s Nose near Khandala,Mount Harriet Georgetown in Allahabad
The arrangement is as follows. The names are grouped according to the current states in theIndian Republic
ANDAMAN ANDNICOBAR ISLANDS
Aberdeenbazaar; 92.73, 11.66; 744 104. Appears to be named afterAberdeen
Austinabad; 92.75,11.63
Beadonabad; 92, 11; named after Henry Cecil Beadon, Chief Commissioner, 1920-23
Bird Line; According to the website http://www.pratt-johnson.com/Bird.htm a small village called Bird Line has come up on the outskirts of Port Blair on land once owned by Maj. A. G. Bird, Assistant to the Chief Commissioner Col. C.F. Waterfall, when the Japanese occupied theIslands during WWII. Both were taken prisoners and Maj. Bird later executed on trumped up charges. I have not been able to confirm the existence of this village through the internet.
Brooksabad; 92.75, 11.62
Cadellgunj; named after Thomas Cadell (1835 - 1919), Chief Commissioner 1878 - 92. He had received the Victoria Cross in the Siege of Delhi in the Mutiny.
Campbell Bay
Craikabad; named after Sir Henry Craik, a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council as Home Secretary in the late 1930s and early 1940s. ( I have found references to him in 1936, 1941 and 1943.)
Ferrargunj; named after Michael Lloyd Ferrar, Chief Commissioner, 1923 -31.
Havelock
Herbertabad; 92.62, 11.63. I could not find the source of this name. If I were to make a wild guess, I would think that this is taken from Herbert Arrot Browning, Chief Commissioner 1906-13. His last name could not be used as there already was a Browning Club in Port Blair, probably named after him.
Hobdaypur; 92.65, 11.65. The islands were completely surveyed topographically by the Indian Survey Department under Colonel Hobday in 1883-1886
Port Blair; 744 101. The principle city in theIslands . Named after Capt. Archibald Blair (? - 1815), an officer in Bombay Marines. He conducted a survey of the Islands and found a natural harbour which he named after Commodore William Cornwallis, Commander-in-Chief of the then British Indian Navy. The harbour was subsequently renamed after Capt Blair.
Wimberlygunj; 744 201. Organized form of Policing in Andaman and Nicobar Islands was established in August, 1875 with the extension of Indian Police Act of 1861 to Andaman andNicobar Islands and Capt. Wimberly was appointed as the first District Superintendent of Police.
ANDHRA PRADESH
Horsley Hills; 78.88, 17.90; 517 329. A small hill station in The Chittoor District. W.D. Horsley, Collector of the Cuddapa District in the 1860s thought of this place as a summer retreat and built a bungalow there.
ASSAM
Only names of places have been included. Names of islands, bays, mountain peaks and similar geographical features are not included, of which there are several. (Examples Duke’s Nose near Khandala,
The arrangement is as follows. The names are grouped according to the current states in the
ANDAMAN AND
Aberdeenbazaar; 92.73, 11.66; 744 104. Appears to be named after
Austinabad; 92.75,11.63
Beadonabad; 92, 11; named after Henry Cecil Beadon, Chief Commissioner, 1920-23
Bird Line; According to the website http://www.pratt-johnson.com/Bird.htm a small village called Bird Line has come up on the outskirts of Port Blair on land once owned by Maj. A. G. Bird, Assistant to the Chief Commissioner Col. C.F. Waterfall, when the Japanese occupied the
Brooksabad; 92.75, 11.62
Cadellgunj; named after Thomas Cadell (1835 - 1919), Chief Commissioner 1878 - 92. He had received the Victoria Cross in the Siege of Delhi in the Mutiny.
Craikabad; named after Sir Henry Craik, a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council as Home Secretary in the late 1930s and early 1940s. ( I have found references to him in 1936, 1941 and 1943.)
Ferrargunj; named after Michael Lloyd Ferrar, Chief Commissioner, 1923 -31.
Herbertabad; 92.62, 11.63. I could not find the source of this name. If I were to make a wild guess, I would think that this is taken from Herbert Arrot Browning, Chief Commissioner 1906-13. His last name could not be used as there already was a Browning Club in Port Blair, probably named after him.
Hobdaypur; 92.65, 11.65. The islands were completely surveyed topographically by the Indian Survey Department under Colonel Hobday in 1883-1886
Port Blair; 744 101. The principle city in the
Wimberlygunj; 744 201. Organized form of Policing in Andaman and Nicobar Islands was established in August, 1875 with the extension of Indian Police Act of 1861 to Andaman and
ANDHRA PRADESH
Horsley Hills; 78.88, 17.90; 517 329. A small hill station in The Chittoor District. W.D. Horsley, Collector of the Cuddapa District in the 1860s thought of this place as a summer retreat and built a bungalow there.
Margherita; 95.68, 27.28; 786 181. Construction of the Railway Line passing through this town was supervised by Italian engineers in the 1880s. They named this place after the Queen Margherita of Italy
BIHAR
Forbesganj; 87.25, 26.30; 854 318; District. Araria. No other information available.
HARYANA
Ellenabad; 74.54 29.26; 125 102; Located in District Sirsa. No other information available.
HIMCHAL PRADESH
Forbesganj; 87.25, 26.30; 854 318; District. Araria. No other information available.
HARYANA
Ellenabad; 74.54 29.26; 125 102; Located in District Sirsa. No other information available.
HIMCHAL PRADESH
Dalhousie; 75.98, 32.53; 176 304; District Chamba. A hill station named after Lord Dalhousie (G.G. 1848 –1856) in 1854.
JHARKHAND
Daltonganj; 84.06, 24.03; 822 101. HQ of District Palamau. Named after Col. Edward Tuite Dalton (1815 – 1880), Anthropologist and Commissioner of Chhota Nagpur in 1861. He wrote ‘Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal’.
Lesliegan; 84.22, 24.05; 822 118; District Palamau. No other information available.
KARNATAKA
Daltonganj; 84.06, 24.03; 822 101. HQ of District Palamau. Named after Col. Edward Tuite Dalton (1815 – 1880), Anthropologist and Commissioner of Chhota Nagpur in 1861. He wrote ‘Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal’.
Lesliegan; 84.22, 24.05; 822 118; District Palamau. No other information available.
KARNATAKA
Closepet (now known as Ramanagaram) 77.12, 12.40; 571 511. 30 miles southwest of Bangalore. Founded 1800 by Dewan Puraiya of Mysore and named after Sir Barry Close, British Resident at the Peshwa Court, Poona and later at Mysore.
Dobbspet (or Dobespet according to the website of Indiapost); 77.24, 13.23; 562 111. On theBangalore Tumkur Road
Riponpet (or Ripponpete according to the website of Indiapost); 75.26, 13.98; 577 426; Hosanagar Taluk, Dist Shimoga. Perhaps named after Lord Ripon. No other information available.
Robertsonpet; 78.28, 12.97; 563 122; District Kolar, in the Kolar Gold Field. Founded August 15, 1903 and named after Sir Donald Robertson, late Resident atMysore
Dobbspet (or Dobespet according to the website of Indiapost); 77.24, 13.23; 562 111. On the
Riponpet (or Ripponpete according to the website of Indiapost); 75.26, 13.98; 577 426; Hosanagar Taluk, Dist Shimoga. Perhaps named after Lord Ripon. No other information available.
Robertsonpet; 78.28, 12.97; 563 122; District Kolar, in the Kolar Gold Field. Founded August 15, 1903 and named after Sir Donald Robertson, late Resident at
MADHYA PRADESH
Sleemanabad; 483 440; Tehsil Siroha, Dist.Raipur Jabalpur on the rail line towards Howrah
Sleemanabad; 483 440; Tehsil Siroha, Dist.
MAHARASHTRA
Malcolmpet: Named after Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, 1827-30. He established a sanatorium there in 1828 because he found its weather very salubrious. Now a street in the hill-station of Mahabaleshwar.
TAMIL NADU
Campbellabad; 628 614. No other information available.
UTTAR PRADESH
Brigdemanganj; 83.22, 27.20; 273 157. Named after J.H.Bridgeman who received a forest grant here in 1833.
Campierganj; 83.28, 27.03; Tehsil Pharenda, District
Captainganj; 82.58, 26.75; 274 301; District Padrauna. No other information available.
Captainganj; 83.71, 26.92; 272 131; District Basti. No other information available.
Colonelganj; 81.70, 27.13; 271 308; District Gonda. A halt on the Lucknow-Gonda Railway line. No other information available.
Drummondsganj; 84,22; No other information available.
Robertsganj; 83.06, 24.70; 231 216; District Sonbhadra. Location of
UTTARANCHAL PRADESH
Lansdowne; 78.68, 29.83; 274 502; Named after Lord Lansdowne, Viceroy 1888-95; Regimental Center of the Garhwal Rifles.
Herbertpur; 77.73, 30.45; 248 142; District Dehra Dun; well known for a hospital run by Missionaries.
Burnpur; 80,23; 713 325, Location of the Indian Iron and Steel Company.
Doyet Bazar; 741 164; No other information available.
PAKISTAN
Abbottabad; HQ of the Hazara District; Named after Maj. John Abbott, its first Deputy Commissioner, 1849-53.
Campbellpur; renamedAttock City
Fort Sandemann ; renamed Zhob; Location of the Pakistan Military Academy
Jacobabad; Founded by Gen. John Jacob, Commander of the Sind Horse in 1847, he was also its first Deputy Commissioner. He died here 1858. Had the reputation of being the hottest place in undividedIndia
Lyallpur; 104,29; renamedFaisalabad
Montgomery
BANGLADESH
Cox’s Bazar; The town is named after Lieutenant Cox, who died here in 1798 after he had established a colony of the Mogh, who sought shelter in the British territory after the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese. Two thirds of the population of the town are descendants of these refugees.
Charfasson; Bhola District; ‘Char’ is an accumulation of silt in the delta, which creates new land. This char was named after J.H.Fashion, District Magistrate of Bakerganj (Bakarganj?) 1885-87.
Abbottabad; HQ of the Hazara District; Named after Maj. John Abbott, its first Deputy Commissioner, 1849-53.
Campbellpur; renamed
Jacobabad; Founded by Gen. John Jacob, Commander of the Sind Horse in 1847, he was also its first Deputy Commissioner. He died here 1858. Had the reputation of being the hottest place in undivided
Lyallpur; 104,29; renamed
BANGLADESH
Cox’s Bazar; The town is named after Lieutenant Cox, who died here in 1798 after he had established a colony of the Mogh, who sought shelter in the British territory after the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese. Two thirds of the population of the town are descendants of these refugees.
Charfasson; Bhola District; ‘Char’ is an accumulation of silt in the delta, which creates new land. This char was named after J.H.Fashion, District Magistrate of Bakerganj (Bakarganj?) 1885-87.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
My posting dated April 06, 2005 in the British Raj List;
I would attempt an answer as follows:
I remember to have read that the price of gold in India in the early 19th century, and also during a long period before that, was Rs 21 for a tola. Tola is the traditional Indian measure for gold and is equal to 11.66 grams. Thus, around 1820, the price of gold would be Rs 18 per 10 g. The same today is around Rs 6,100. By the Rule of three, Rs 1,000 of 1820 would be equal to current Rs.338,889.
Question: Can anyone give me a general idea of the current value of one thousand sicca rupees in about 1820?
I remember to have read that the price of gold in India in the early 19th century, and also during a long period before that, was Rs 21 for a tola. Tola is the traditional Indian measure for gold and is equal to 11.66 grams. Thus, around 1820, the price of gold would be Rs 18 per 10 g. The same today is around Rs 6,100. By the Rule of three, Rs 1,000 of 1820 would be equal to current Rs.338,889.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Severndroog Castle, Shooters Hill, Greenwich
Dear Listers,
I believe the members of this List would be interested in reading the following exchange of emails between your humble servant and Trustees of the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust, Shooters Hill, Greenwich.
No. 1:
<<
Dear Anji,
Thanks for your mail.
I became aware of Severndroog Castle because of its mention in the book by John Biddulph, the digitalized version of which I chanced upon at <
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/1/3/9/11399/11399.txt>;. I believe you have gone through it since it was mentioned by me in the India-L List where you found my email address. Chapter XI of the book deals with the Suvarnadurg affair.
In the British eye, Kanhoji Angre and his successors had the reputation of being pirates as they were a threat to the Bombay and Surat based British trade. The Indian view is as follows. When Shivaji was creating his independent Maratha rule, free from the Muslim emperors of Delhi, he felt the need to guard and patrol his sea-coast on the Arabian Sea. He encouraged the Angre family to build a navy. It soon became a recognizable force in those waters. Being opposed to the British interests, the Angres earned the reputation of being pirates. The power of the Angres later disintegrated in the middle of the 18th century as a result of the rivalry between them and the Poona-based Peshwas. Present-day historians are critical of the Peshwa for thus indirectly helping the British. A lot of material on this is available in the print form and also on the Internet. Kanhoji Angre is a hero to the present day Indians. The HQ of the Indian Western Naval Command in Bombay (Mumbai)!
is named after him and so is a capital ship.
The website <http://www.indiansaga.info/architecture/marine2.html>; has the following to say about the Angres:
< Between Vijaydurg and the Sidhi Janjira lie four other forts: Kanakdurga and Suvarnadurg, both translatable as Golden Fort, the former a shore fort and the latter a very picturesque island fort only 20 miles from Sidhi territory, with the smaller Gopalgad or Aanjanwel and Bankot-Himmatgad in between. Gopalgad, once an embarkation point for Mecca, is now very dilapidated, and Bankot suffered, too, in the British occupation of 1790, when it was renamed Fort Victoria. Suvarnadurg was the home base of the renowned Kanhoji Angria who, like his father before him, served the Marathas. He had been born there and had grown up among the Koli sailors, learning their lore, learning their seamanship, but he was made second-in-command of the Maratha navy for his success in a land engagement.
Suvarnadurg was attacked by the Sidhis; Kanhoji, captured during a sortie, later managed to escape and successfully took command of the fort's defence. He rose to full command of the Maratha navy in 1698 after the death of Shivaji and patrolled the coast so effectively that the run between Goa and Bombay became a veritable gauntlet for other shipping. In coastal waters, the smaller Maratha vessels had some advantage over the East Indiamen: they could slip into shallow creeks to avoid the Britishers' heavy guns and if ever the larger vessels were becalmed, the galbats and ghurabs could be rowed out under cover of darkness towards the stern of the enemy, thus avoiding any danger of a broadside, and discharge their own prow or broadside three- or nine-pounders at close range.
Once the British guns were out of action, more ghurabs could come up with boarding parties. In this way Kanhoji took the Otter, the Robert and the Success and blew up several other ships, quite enough for the British in Bombay to deem him not just a nuisance but a pirate, and to stir forth to bring him down. They found it hard enough, failing, even acting with their Portuguese trading rivals, either to capture Vijaydurg or to blockade it. The Dutch fared no better, and Kanhoji's son continued to harry the Europeans until the 1750s, when dissension among the Marathas destroyed their independent strength.
In 1756 the Angria fleet was wrecked at Vijaydurg by British fire and the Maratha Peshwa entered into an alliance. Devgad; Sindhudurga, the fort built by Shivaji where his statue stands, and re-named Fort Augustus by the British; Terekhol; Fort Aguada in Goa, now a spectacular Taj hotel; and Sadashivgad in time all these fighting forts were neutralised, and today the village fishing fleets jostle in and out of their palm-grown ports, intent only on capturing the sea's bounty or to visit their neighbours up and down the coast. >
I have seen the contents of the two sites about the Severndroog Castle that you mentioned. If you permit, I may make some comments about their contents. a) While the Castle will continue to be called Severndroog, because that is the name its creators gave to it, its connection with the original Suvarnadurg (Golden Fort) needs to be somewhere brought out. It will make Severndroog more meaningful to a visitor. I am quite sure that an average visitor thinks that the name has something to do with the river Severn. The confusion created when rendering a foreign-sounding word is all too common. b) A narrative from the Indian perspective of the events of the battle for Suvarnadurg and about the Angres should be included in it at some place to ensure historical accuracy. c) Your timeline in contains the following factually incorrect observation: <1755:> In the!
early days, before the geographical picture became clear, the entire western coast of India was called Malabar. In actuality, the coastline from a little to the north of Bombay to Goa is called the Konkan coastline. Malabar, which is another name for Kerala, is the extreme southern extent of the coastline. Suvarnadurg thus properly falls in Konkan and not Malabar.
As to photos of Suvarnadurg, I could locate three good ones at the site http://www.wildphotos.com. They are commercially available and I suppose you can get them from the persons who run the site. I got them by typing the name as 'Suvarndurg', without the 'a', in their Search box.
>>
No 2: From Dr Barry Gray, Chairman of the Trust, Dt February 05, 2005. Reproduced with his permission.
<<
Dear Arvind,
Thank you for your very interesting piece and reference concerning Severndroog Castle. I am the chairman of the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust and can report that the castle is still very much an architectural feature of this part of London. We now, thanks to you, know more of its fascinating history and how to spell its name correctly in Marathi! the castle was built as a Gothic style tower in 1784 by Lady James, widow of Capt. James, commodore of the East India Company. The castle is now owned by the local council who have allowed it to fall into a state of neglect. It is fair condition externally, but the interior is mainly in poor condition. The castle is situated in old bluebell woods high on Shooters Hill, about 400 feet above sea level. Our Trust is dedicated to raising funds to acquire, restore and manage the castle as a community owned educational resource. In 2004 the castle featured in the BBC Television series "Restoration". We are in competition !
with property developers who want to turn the castle into offices. So far the local council have been patient with us in allowing us time to raise the necessary funds. Not out of the goodness of the hearts I suspect, but because a decision to sell to developers would be very unpopular with local voters and an election is approaching! The castle is a much loved local feature. We have two websites
www.severndroogcastle.org.uk and www.20six.co.uk/severndroog I attach some pictures of Severndroog Castle. I hope the files are not too large. Regards, Dr Barry Gray
>>
No. 3: From Dr Barry Gray, Chairman of the Trust, Dt February 06, 2005.
<<
Dear Arvind,
Thank you very much for your e mail and your interest. We would be delighted if you circulated our e mail, and indeed any of our resources to interested Listers. You may like to know that April 2005 marks the 250th anniversary of the conflict at Suvarnadurg. We are planning to hold a commemoration weekend on April 2nd to 3rd at Severndroog Castle, called "Severndroog 250" We are contacting London and UK Indian groups at present to help us plan this event. We would very much appreciate it if interested Listers could contribute to the commemoration, or indeed join us for that weekend if they happen to be able to get to London. They will be most welcome. I can be contacted through the websites or my e mail address.
With Kind Regards,
Barry Gray
>>
Dr Barry Gray's email address is allgray@btinternet.com
Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, February 07, 2005
I believe the members of this List would be interested in reading the following exchange of emails between your humble servant and Trustees of the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust, Shooters Hill, Greenwich.
No. 1:
<<
Dear Anji,
Thanks for your mail.
I became aware of Severndroog Castle because of its mention in the book
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/1/3/9/11399/11399.txt>;. I believe you have gone through it since it was mentioned by me in the India-L List where you found my email address. Chapter XI of the book deals with the Suvarnadurg affair.
In the British eye, Kanhoji Angre and his successors had the reputation of being pirates as they were a threat to the Bombay and Surat based British trade. The Indian view is as follows. When Shivaji was creating his independent Maratha rule, free from the Muslim emperors of Delhi, he felt the need to guard and patrol his sea-coast on the Arabian Sea. He encouraged the Angre family to build a navy. It soon became a recognizable force in those waters. Being opposed to the British interests, the Angres earned the reputation of being pirates. The power of the Angres later disintegrated in the middle of the 18th century as a result of the rivalry between them and the Poona-based Peshwas. Present-day historians are critical of the Peshwa for thus indirectly helping the British. A lot of material on this is available in the print form and also on the Internet. Kanhoji Angre is a hero to the present day Indians. The HQ of the Indian Western Naval Command in Bombay (Mumbai)!
is named after him and so is a capital ship.
The website <http://www.indiansaga.info/architecture/marine2.html>; has the following to say about the Angres:
< Between Vijaydurg and the Sidhi Janjira lie four other forts: Kanakdurga and Suvarnadurg, both translatable as Golden Fort, the former a shore fort and the latter a very picturesque island fort only 20 miles from Sidhi territory, with the smaller Gopalgad or Aanjanwel and Bankot-Himmatgad in between. Gopalgad, once an embarkation point for Mecca, is now very dilapidated, and Bankot suffered, too, in the British occupation of 1790, when it was renamed Fort Victoria. Suvarnadurg was the home base of the renowned Kanhoji Angria who, like his father before him, served the Marathas. He had been born there and had grown up among the Koli sailors, learning their lore, learning their seamanship, but he was made second-in-command of the Maratha navy for his success in a land engagement.
Suvarnadurg was attacked by the Sidhis; Kanhoji, captured during a sortie, later managed to escape and successfully took command of the fort's defence. He rose to full command of the Maratha navy in 1698 after the death of Shivaji and patrolled the coast so effectively that the run between Goa and Bombay became a veritable gauntlet for other shipping. In coastal waters, the smaller Maratha vessels had some advantage over the East Indiamen: they could slip into shallow creeks to avoid the Britishers' heavy guns and if ever the larger vessels were becalmed, the galbats and ghurabs could be rowed out under cover of darkness towards the stern of the enemy, thus avoiding any danger of a broadside, and discharge their own prow or broadside three- or nine-pounders at close range.
Once the British guns were out of action, more ghurabs could come up with boarding parties. In this way Kanhoji took the Otter, the Robert and the Success and blew up several other ships, quite enough for the British in Bombay to deem him not just a nuisance but a pirate, and to stir forth to bring him down. They found it hard enough, failing, even acting with their Portuguese trading rivals, either to capture Vijaydurg or to blockade it. The Dutch fared no better, and Kanhoji's son continued to harry the Europeans until the 1750s, when dissension among the Marathas destroyed their independent strength.
In 1756 the Angria fleet was wrecked at Vijaydurg by British fire and the Maratha Peshwa entered into an alliance. Devgad; Sindhudurga, the fort built by Shivaji where his statue stands, and re-named Fort Augustus by the British; Terekhol; Fort Aguada in Goa, now a spectacular Taj hotel; and Sadashivgad in time all these fighting forts were neutralised, and today the village fishing fleets jostle in and out of their palm-grown ports, intent only on capturing the sea's bounty or to visit their neighbours up and down the coast. >
I have seen the contents of the two sites about the Severndroog Castle that you mentioned. If you permit, I may make some comments about their contents. a) While the Castle will continue to be called Severndroog, because that is the name its creators gave to it, its connection with the original Suvarnadurg (Golden Fort) needs to be somewhere brought out. It will make Severndroog more meaningful to a visitor. I am quite sure that an average visitor thinks that the name has something to do with the river Severn. The confusion created when rendering a foreign-sounding word is all too common. b) A narrative from the Indian perspective of the events of the battle for Suvarnadurg and about the Angres should be included in it at some place to ensure historical accuracy. c) Your timeline in
early days, before the geographical picture became clear, the entire western coast of India was called Malabar. In actuality, the coastline from a little to the north of Bombay to Goa is called the Konkan coastline. Malabar, which is another name for Kerala, is the extreme southern extent of the coastline. Suvarnadurg thus properly falls in Konkan and not Malabar.
As to photos of Suvarnadurg, I could locate three good ones at the site http://www.wildphotos.com. They are commercially available and I suppose you can get them from the persons who run the site. I got them by typing the name as 'Suvarndurg', without the 'a', in their Search box.
>>
No 2: From Dr Barry Gray, Chairman of the Trust, Dt February 05, 2005. Reproduced with his permission.
<<
Dear Arvind,
Thank you for your very interesting piece and reference concerning Severndroog Castle. I am the chairman of the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust and can report that the castle is still very much an architectural feature of this part of London. We now, thanks to you, know more of its fascinating history and how to spell its name correctly in Marathi! the castle was built as a Gothic style tower in 1784 by Lady James, widow of Capt. James, commodore of the East India Company. The castle is now owned by the local council who have allowed it to fall into a state of neglect. It is fair condition externally, but the interior is mainly in poor condition. The castle is situated in old bluebell woods high on Shooters Hill, about 400 feet above sea level. Our Trust is dedicated to raising funds to acquire, restore and manage the castle as a community owned educational resource. In 2004 the castle featured in the BBC Television series "Restoration". We are in competition !
with property developers who want to turn the castle into offices. So far the local council have been patient with us in allowing us time to raise the necessary funds. Not out of the goodness of the hearts I suspect, but because a decision to sell to developers would be very unpopular with local voters and an election is approaching! The castle is a much loved local feature. We have two websites
www.severndroogcastle.org.uk and www.20six.co.uk/severndroog I attach some pictures of Severndroog Castle. I hope the files are not too large. Regards, Dr Barry Gray
>>
No. 3: From Dr Barry Gray, Chairman of the Trust, Dt February 06, 2005.
<<
Dear Arvind,
Thank you very much for your e mail and your interest. We would be delighted if you circulated our e mail, and indeed any of our resources to interested Listers. You may like to know that April 2005 marks the 250th anniversary of the conflict at Suvarnadurg. We are planning to hold a commemoration weekend on April 2nd to 3rd at Severndroog Castle, called "Severndroog 250" We are contacting London and UK Indian groups at present to help us plan this event. We would very much appreciate it if interested Listers could contribute to the commemoration, or indeed join us for that weekend if they happen to be able to get to London. They will be most welcome. I can be contacted through the websites or my e mail address.
With Kind Regards,
Barry Gray
>>
Dr Barry Gray's email address is allgray@btinternet.com
Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, February 07, 2005
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