third eye
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As Delhi prepares to mark 100 years as India's capital, a previously lost diary written by an Anglo-Irish aristocrat has provided a fascinating insight into an extraordinary but largely forgotten act of dissent against colonial rule by an Indian maharajah.
Lilah Wingfield witnessed the moment 100 years ago when, in front of 100,000 spectators, the Gaekwar of Baroda, otherwise known as Maharajah Sayyaji Rao III, bowed improperly when presenting himself before the British monarch, then turned his back disrespectfully and walked away. It was an audacious act of defiance at an event that contemporary observers have described as a thousand times grander than royal weddings over the past 60 years in London. The 1911 Delhi durbar, or mass assembly - when George V was proclaimed Emperor of India - was the only such assembly to be attended by a British monarch in person. 'Laughing disrespectfully' The durbar was a display of unparalleled grandeur attended by nearly all of the great and the good in British India, who stayed in a tented city near Delhi that accommodated 250,000 visitors, guests and their servants.
Staged five months after George V's Westminster coronation to proclaim him as Emperor of India Held on a 25 sq mile area in Coronation Park, north Delhi, on the same site as the 1877 and 1903 durbars Guests arrived on a specially built railway to a tented city that accommodated 250,000 people Maharajahs arrived in 66ft train carriages lined with mirrors and upholstered in silk, leather and in one case a worship room of white marble Described as "bubbling over with luxury and magnificence", the durbar was attended by most rulers of India's 600 princely states Estimated to cost $1.5m (£1m) - nearly $1bn using today's prices - even some of the tent poles were covered in beaten silver Each Indian ruler or "native prince" was expected to perform proper obeisance to the King-Emperor by bowing three times before him, then backing away without turning.
The maharajah not only ignored royal etiquette by turning his back on the king and queen after formally introducing himself but compounded his perceived insolence by reportedly "laughing disrespectfully" as he departed from their presence. Lilah Wingfield's observations are recorded in a book by her granddaughter, Jessica Douglas-Home, about her travels in India at a time when it is now realised that British colonial rule had reached its zenith. Within 40 years, India would be independent. Although Mrs Douglas-Home inherited her grandmother's photos of the durbar, the diary detailing Miss Wingfield's views of the event was lost for many years before being discovered in an English secondhand bookshop and sent on to her. "They reveal that the Gaekwar of Baroda - second in importance only to the Nizam of Hyderabad - broke every rule in [Viceroy of India] Lord Hardinge's book," Mrs Douglas-Home writes in A Glimpse of Empire. "He arrived at the amphitheatre in full dress and covered in the historic Baroda jewels, but removed them all just before the moment came for him to approach the king. "On reaching the shamiana (dais) he made a cursory bow from the waist, stepped backwards and then, wheeling around, turned his back on the royal couple and walked from their presence nonchalantly twirling a gold-topped walking stick." Mrs Douglas-Home said the maharajah's gesture caused shock among British officials attending the event. From then until his death in 1939 he was for the most part ostracised by the British authorities even though he wrote a letter of apology soon afterwards which said that if he had not seemed to conform to the ritual, it was due to "nervousness and confusion in the presence of Their Majesties".
The maharajah was partly rehabilitated in 1919 when he was made a Knight Grand Commander by the British. 'Commendable bravery' The actions of the maharajah are today seen by Indian and British historians as coinciding with the beginning of the end of British rule in India.
Lilah Wingfield witnessed the moment 100 years ago when, in front of 100,000 spectators, the Gaekwar of Baroda, otherwise known as Maharajah Sayyaji Rao III, bowed improperly when presenting himself before the British monarch, then turned his back disrespectfully and walked away. It was an audacious act of defiance at an event that contemporary observers have described as a thousand times grander than royal weddings over the past 60 years in London. The 1911 Delhi durbar, or mass assembly - when George V was proclaimed Emperor of India - was the only such assembly to be attended by a British monarch in person. 'Laughing disrespectfully' The durbar was a display of unparalleled grandeur attended by nearly all of the great and the good in British India, who stayed in a tented city near Delhi that accommodated 250,000 visitors, guests and their servants.
Staged five months after George V's Westminster coronation to proclaim him as Emperor of India Held on a 25 sq mile area in Coronation Park, north Delhi, on the same site as the 1877 and 1903 durbars Guests arrived on a specially built railway to a tented city that accommodated 250,000 people Maharajahs arrived in 66ft train carriages lined with mirrors and upholstered in silk, leather and in one case a worship room of white marble Described as "bubbling over with luxury and magnificence", the durbar was attended by most rulers of India's 600 princely states Estimated to cost $1.5m (£1m) - nearly $1bn using today's prices - even some of the tent poles were covered in beaten silver Each Indian ruler or "native prince" was expected to perform proper obeisance to the King-Emperor by bowing three times before him, then backing away without turning.
The maharajah not only ignored royal etiquette by turning his back on the king and queen after formally introducing himself but compounded his perceived insolence by reportedly "laughing disrespectfully" as he departed from their presence. Lilah Wingfield's observations are recorded in a book by her granddaughter, Jessica Douglas-Home, about her travels in India at a time when it is now realised that British colonial rule had reached its zenith. Within 40 years, India would be independent. Although Mrs Douglas-Home inherited her grandmother's photos of the durbar, the diary detailing Miss Wingfield's views of the event was lost for many years before being discovered in an English secondhand bookshop and sent on to her. "They reveal that the Gaekwar of Baroda - second in importance only to the Nizam of Hyderabad - broke every rule in [Viceroy of India] Lord Hardinge's book," Mrs Douglas-Home writes in A Glimpse of Empire. "He arrived at the amphitheatre in full dress and covered in the historic Baroda jewels, but removed them all just before the moment came for him to approach the king. "On reaching the shamiana (dais) he made a cursory bow from the waist, stepped backwards and then, wheeling around, turned his back on the royal couple and walked from their presence nonchalantly twirling a gold-topped walking stick." Mrs Douglas-Home said the maharajah's gesture caused shock among British officials attending the event. From then until his death in 1939 he was for the most part ostracised by the British authorities even though he wrote a letter of apology soon afterwards which said that if he had not seemed to conform to the ritual, it was due to "nervousness and confusion in the presence of Their Majesties".
The maharajah was partly rehabilitated in 1919 when he was made a Knight Grand Commander by the British. 'Commendable bravery' The actions of the maharajah are today seen by Indian and British historians as coinciding with the beginning of the end of British rule in India.
