Rawul Pindee - The Raj Years

A banker by profession, Salim Ansar has a passion for history and historic books. His personal library already boasts a treasure trove of over 7,000 rare and unique books.

Every week, we shall take a leaf from one such book and treat you to a little taste of history.

BOOK NAME:  Rawul Pindee - The Raj Years

AUTHOR: Ali Khan & Isphanyar M. Bhandara

PUBLISHER: Murree Brewery - Rawalpindi 

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2015

The following excerpt has been taken from Pages: 82 — 87

“This narrative would certainly qualify as a 'Labour of Love'. Those who have lived in Rawalpindi through their formative years will attest to the fact that there is something about this place that draws them inexorably, irresistibly back into its fold. Having opened my eyes in this city, I was immediately attracted to this neat, clean, organized place where everything seemed to work and if it didn't, someone quickly came and fixed it. The beautiful Cantonment with its broad clean roads and manicured greenery. The bustling bazaars and the peaceful, almost crime free atmosphere that allowed us to roam the city without our parents ever having to worry about us. Then there were the four seasons and the mountains just a short drive away. All that seems like a distant dream now but the attract remains.

LALKURTI AND THE ANGOLO INDIANS

“As one enters Rawalpindi on the Grand Trunk road from the East, about a kilometer to the left of the Mall Road lies the locality of Lalkurti. It literally means Red Shirt in Urdu and signifies the presence of the British soldiers who wore red tunics in the nineteenth century. Lalkurti is a bazaar that caters primarily to the military. Built in a grid form with a main street, the bazaar is surrounded by a number of Barracks and Lines, including the Victoria Barracks, which now house the Army GHQ.

“Till just a few years ago, Lalkurti was famous for being the abode of the Anglo Indian community. In the early years of the Raj, Anglo Indians were considered to be those who were of English blood but were born in India. This was later changed to those people who had mixed English and Indian blood.

“The British valued the Anglo Indians and trusted them almost entirely with their communications systems. They knew the value of communications, because it was a telegram sent by an 18-year-old Anglo-Indian Telegraph Operator, George Brendish, from his post, to Ambala, while the 1857 War was surging around him. His telegram warned the Punjab of the outbreak of the war, crucially preventing it spreading to that region. In deed Punjab regiments and Sikh cavalry in particular, played a significant part in its suppression. Had there been no telegram, the tide would inevitably have turned to the rebels/freedom fighters. The Anglo Indians were employed in the Railway, the Telegraph and in the Telephone services, although many made their way into the armed forces and other services.

“The English actively encouraged the intermarriage of Indians and English, even though it was primarily one sided. Racism was alived and kicking at the time. ‘The Board of Directors of the East India Company thought the marriage of their soldiers with Indian women a matter of such consequence to posterity that we shall be content to encourage it with some expense and have been thinking to the future to appoint a "pagoda" to be paid to the mother of any child if you think this small encouragement will increase the number of marriages.’ A pagoda was a currency that preceded the rupee and was valued at between three to four rupees.

“The Anglo Indians were justifiably proud of their services to their English masters. They felt an affinity with them, their life styles were similar, and the British trusted them completely. Their pride is reflected in a speech by the Anglo Indian veteran if the British Indian army at a function in Sydney not long ago. Some might consider it a bit gushing and over the top, but it does convey the pride that the Anglo Indians feel in their accomplishments and in their community:

“‘Good Evening, Ladies & Gentleman.

“Welcome to this special evening. I am attempting to condense over 300 years of Anglo Indian history in to 10 minutes. The British Empire once held absolute power in over 52 countries, about two fifths of the world. But there was only one jewel in the crown - India. The first European settlers in India were the Portuguese in 1498 about 100 years before the British. The Dutch, French and the British followed.

“They were all here for the duration. The inevitable happened and a new mixed race community emerged. Even though the British came in peacefully as merchants and traders they soon colonized the sub continent of India. But the British needed allies to protect the jewel in the crown and so began a deliberate policy encouraging British males to marry Indian women to create the first Anglo-Indians.

“The East India Company paid 15 silver rupees for each child born to an Indian mother and a European father, as family allowance. These children were amalgamated into the growing Anglo-Indian community, forming a defensive structure for the British raj. This was a deliberate act of self-preservation by the English.

“This unique hybrid individual was a ethnically engineered by the occupying British so much so that the Anglo-Indians were the only micro-minority community ever defined in a Constitution. Article-366 of the Indian Constitution states: An Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose male ancestors in the male line is or was of European descent by who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such a territory of parents habitually resident there-in and not established there for temporary purposes only.

“So you can see we were intended to be a permanent micro-minority. In 1830 British Parliament described the Anglo-Indian, as those who have been English educated, are entirely European in their habits and feelings, dress and language. They were more ‘Anglo’ than ‘Indian’. Their mother tongue was English, they were Catholic or Anglican and their customs and traditions were English. While most of them married within their own circle, many continued to marry expatriate Englishmen. Very few married Indians. Without Anglo-Indian support British rule would have collapsed.

“We ran the railways, post and telegraph, police and customs, education, export and import, shipping, tea coffee and tobacco plantations, the coal and gold fields. We became teachers, nurses, priests and doctors. If it had any value the British made sure we ran it. And when it came to secretarial duties no one could touch our Anglo-Indian girls - the best stenographers in the world and with beauty to match.

“Were we favored? Yes, the English trusted us. After all we were blood related. We worked hard. We became indispensable. We lived comfortably and were protected by the British raj. Liked the British we had servants to do all our domestic work. The average Anglo-Indian home could afford at least three fulltime servants - a cook, a bearer and the indispensably nanny (ayah). Part time secants included a gardener, cleaner and laundry man (dhobi). Of course we learned to speak Hindi to be able to argue, give orders, bargain, accuse and terminate employment and throw in a dozen Hindi expletives.

“Imagine our horror when we were later to migrate to England, Canada and Australia and we no longer had servants to do our domestic chores. Who can remember looking at our first toilet brush and asking 'what do we do with this?' we had to learn to cook, clean, garden, do the laundry and take the garbage out and look after the kids.

“The tradition of making your own Christmas cake was a sacred Anglo-Indian custom. Each family had a secret cake recipe, handed down from our grandparents. About a week before Christmas the local baker was contacted. He would turn up to your home with two very large terracotta bowls that looked more like satellite dishes, one for the egg whites and one more mixing. Mum would dish out the ingredients. This was all mixed together under her watchful eye and distributed in to about a dozen or so caked tins and labeled with your name on it. This labeling was all-important. We did not want him to return that evening with someone else's cake recipe. Heaven forbid.

“Music, movies and socializing were high on the agenda. We loved a dance. Afternoon dance jam sessions were a magnet for the teenagers where we jived, jitterbugged, tangoed or just fox trotted.

“Many a lasting liaison was forged on the dance floor and today many of us are celebrating 40-year plus marriages. Our mums sat around gossiping and seldom took their eyes off their darling daughters. I know I speak from experience. I met my wife at once such event and now 44 years later I still fancy her.

“The Anglo-Indian railway and cantonment towns that sprung up around the major cities cultivated a unique social and industrial blend with a heartbeat. Their dances were legendary. At the drop of a hat the city cousins would jump on a train and travel for anything up to six hours to get to that up-country dance.

“Many of our lives revolved around the biggest and best railway system in the world. And the trains ran on time! Today the Indian Railways transports over 5 billion passengers each year employed more than 1.6 million personnel. Between 1853 and 1947 we built and managed 42 rail systems. This was a legacy we can be proud of.

“During World War 1 about 8000 Anglo-Indians fought in Mesopotamia, East Africa, and in the European theatre - Eleven Anglo-Indians were awarded Victoria Crosses. In World War 2 they fought at Dunkirk and flew in the battle of Britain - Guy Gibson of the Dam Busters was one such Anglo-Indian and we were in North Africa, Malaya and the fall of Singapore.

“Merle Oberon and Juliet Prowse, Tony Brent, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cliff Richards are all Anglo-Indians.

“The Anglo-Indians took India to Olympic hockey glory. From 1928 onwards, Indian won five consecutive Olympic hockey gold medals. In fact, when India faced Australia in the semi-finals of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, it was a unique occasion. The captains who came face to face were Anglo-Indians, Leslie Claudius and Kevin Carton.

“English education played a major role amongst the Anglo-Indians. Anglo-Indian schools numbered close to 300 and were prized. They stretched from Bangalore in the south to the cooler northern hill stations of Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas. Each was modeled on the posh English Public school system. We ran them as teachers and principals and to this day these schools are coveted across the sub continent.

“The Anglo-Indian has always faced an identity dilemma because of our mixed origins. Europeans said they were Indians with some European blood; Indians said they were Europeans with some Indian blood. The world of Anglo-India vanished on August 15th 1947, when India became the largest independent democracy in the world.

“The British packed and went home. Over 300,000 Anglo-Indians remained. We felt apprehensive and abandoned. So we too packed our bags and began to migrate to Australia, Britain, Canada, the U.S.A. and New Zealand. Many of you will remember the dreaded Income Tax Clearance document you need to leave the country and further faced the strict Indian foreign exchange regulations that allowed you only 10 pounds each. Imagine starting life in a new country with 10 quid in your pocket. Some had to leave behind their savings; others simply sorted to the risky black market losing a 30% of your savings.

“The Anglo-Indian identity is disappearing. We have found new lives and merged into the mainstream. Our generation, sitting here tonight, who were born in India, growing up in the 40s thru 60s, are possibly the last true Anglo-Indians.

“Look around you. Where in the next generation? Most of our children were born abroad and their connection of Anglo-India is very fragile. They have married Aussies, English, Canadian or other Anglo-Indians born outside India. They prefer to be regarded as English, Australian or Canadian. Our grand children will assimilate and forge a new identity based on their country of birth.

“Putting aside history I believe we could regard ourselves as an exotic cocktail that had its origins over 300 years ago. We have matured and become a unique aromatic spirit, generously flavored and very stimulating.

“‘We were a force to be reckoned with.’

“The Anglo-Indians have their own unique way of communicating. They use two words in a rhythm tone in order to get the message across. The Anglo Indians delighted in using the double words, for instance: Naukar-shaukar, hugger-mugger, hurdy-gurdy, tip-tip, higgledy-piggledy, hocus-pocus, tit-for-tat, topsy-turvy... harum-scarum, roly-poly, rump and stump, slip-slop, writing-shiting, pudding-shudding.’ Or sentences like:

“‘While having tiffin on the veranda of my bungalow I spilled kedgeree on my dungarees and had to go to the gymkhana in my pajamas looking like a coolie.

“I was buying chutney in the bazaar when a thug who had escaped from the chokey ran amok and killed a box-wallah for his loot, creating a hullabaloo and landing himself in the mulligatawny.

“They used words like ‘kedgeree’ for the Urdu, 'khitchree', a rice based dish.’”

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