Musings from Antique Origins

Victoria Cross V ictoria Cross is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Until 1912, the Victoria Cross was not awarded to Indian members of the Indian Army and was restricted for award only to the Europeans. Only Forty Indians and Gurkhas were awarded the Victoria Cross since 1912. Subedar Major and honorary Captain Umrao Singh, the last surviving Indian Victoria Cross recipient died in 2005 .Umrao Singh, was awarded the Victoria Cross, for beating off four Japanese attacks on his advanced battery position at Kaladhan valley in Burma on the night of 15th December 1944. He struck down three Japanese soldiers before being knocked out. Six hours later, a counter attack party found Singh at the site of his gun, so severely wounded that he was hardly recognizable. Around him lay ten dead Japanese soldiers. No south Indian has ever won a VC and so what can be the Travancore connection to a VC? Du

Maharajah Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma of Travancore (AD 1846-60) I n one of the earlier blogs I had written about the “Opening of a New Bridge at Travancore - The Rajah's State Procession “based on an article as appeared in The Illustrated London News of 5th August 1854. It was during the reign of His Highness Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the Maharajah of Travancore (1846-60) who had succeeded his elder brother Maharajah Swathi Thirunal . He was known for his progressive rule including the abolition of slavery. He was comfortable with the European sciences and was instrumental in starting the zoo at Trivandrum. During his reign in 1857, immediately after the Indian mutiny, a reception was accorded to Lt. General James Outram and his staff in a grand durbar by the maharajah. Sir James Outram (1803-1863) was an English general, and one of the heroes of the Indian Mutiny. Attached picture is from an original copy of the engraving of 1857 which depicts this reception. Original

Sir Thomas Roe I n one of my blogs about AR Banerji ICS, former Diwan of Cochin, I had written that his mother Rajkumari was the first Indian woman to have set foot on the soil of England. She went to England in AD 1871 following her husband, Sevabrata Sasipada Banerji, a great social reformer of Bengal who gave special emphasis for the emancipation of woman. In this context I was curious to know as to who was the first Englishwoman who came to India. This information I got while reading the book “Chow Chow”, - A journal kept in India, Egypt and Syria- now a rare one at that written by Lady Falkland, the daughter of King William IV of Great Britain and the wife of Viscount Falkland. Lord Falkland was the governor of Bombay who came to India with his wife during the spring of AD 1848. William Hawkins, nephew of Admiral Sir John Hawkins –pioneer of the English slave trade and the terror of the Spanish Armada- came to Surat in 1608 and travelled to Agra to negotiate a treaty with the emp