A Lady's Escape From Gwalior [Illustrated Edition]

Ruth Coopland

• Publisher: Normanby Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781782892274
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia británica

[Illustrated with over one hundred maps, photos and portraits, of the battles of the Indian Mutiny]
By 1857, British power in India had been largely undisputed for almost fifty years, however, the armies of the East India Company were largely recruited from the native people of India. But in 1858 the Sepoy soldiers turned against their erstwhile British employers.
The events that led up to the Revolt were many and varied, including British highhandedness, ignorance of local customs and religious values, and incendiary propaganda. It is generally argued that the spark that lit the flame was the rumour that the newly issued rifle cartridges would be greased either with tallow, derived from beef and thereby offensive to Hindus, or lard, derived from pork and thereby offensive to Muslims. The enraged soldiers mutinied across a number of Indian States, taking Delhi, besieging Lucknow, and revolting in Oudh.
In the middle of these tumultuous events was Ruth Coopland, wife of Rev. Coopland who had been sent to the important city of Agra some in Gwalior. Her world shattered as the news of the uprising of the Sepoys spread. Her own household servants became sullen, aggressive and possibly murderous; she recounts how the atmosphere began to heat up as rumours of slaughters abounded. Finally the clouds broke; the rebellion finally reached Gwalior and anyone British was a target for cold-blooded murder, her husband was killed in the initial stages of the fighting and as rioting carried on she made good here escape in the company of other women. Her travails only increased as she attempted to escape to the fort at Agra which she describes in all of its perilous details along with the grim struggle to stay alive in the fort. Having survived all of the brutalities of India she returned to England where she was determined that her story, as an exemplar of the larger suffering, should be made know to the public.

Chapter 1 – Calcutta

We reached Calcutta on the afternoon of the 17th of November, 1856. The usual bustle and excitement, consequent on the arrival of an overland steamer, ensued. We all gathered on deck to view the rapidly approaching land. Some, who were returning to homes and relations, welcomed this country of their adoption as an old friend. Others, like myself, examined with a critical eye the new and strange land which they believed would be their home for many years. At last we anchored, and the friends who had been impatiently waiting on shore put off to the vessel. Some of the meetings must have been very trying; children in anxious suspense to see their parents after long years of separation, and parents in like anxiety to claim their children. A friend of mine told me he once overheard two fine fashionable-looking girls, just come from some great school, say to one another, on seeing a boat approaching the ship, containing two yellow-looking, ordinary people, “Who are those old quizzes? what an antediluvian couple!” when, to their horror and dismay, the despised couple claimed the gay young ladies as their own children. I heard many such tales of former days, when India was not so easy of access: but now, in these times of weekly intercourse, when boys and girls go backwards and forwards for their holidays, and when it is merely a pleasant trip to see the “City of Palaces,” the snow-capped Himalayas, or the romantic beauties of Kashmir, such things never happen.

My husband’s brother-in-law now appeared, to our surprise, as we did not know he had arrived a fortnight before. At the same time, we were informed by a servant from the boarding-house, where we had engaged rooms, that a carriage was waiting for us; so without delay we bade adieu to our numerous friends, many of whom we were never again to meet, and getting into the boat, were soon on shore, and driving rapidly through the native part of Calcutta. I was much pleased with my first sight of the grand Fort, the Cathedral, the fine row of houses on Chowringhee-road, which is the “Belgravia” of Calcutta, the Maidan, or “Hyde-park,” and the imposing-looking Government House, whose lofty dome was surmounted by some adjutants (birds) looking down on what was passing below, with grave, attentive dignity. But it is not my intention to give more than a slight description of Calcutta; I was there only five weeks, and abler writers than myself have so often described it, that Calcutta is better known to the generality of people in England than Paris or Rome. There is scarcely a family in the three kingdoms that has not some friend or relative in India, and who has not sent home an account of Calcutta, its splendid mansions, its balls, races, and the luxurious life of its inhabitants.

We arrived before long at our destination, Miss Wright’s boarding-house, one of the quietest and best conducted establishments of the kind. We much preferred it to the confusion of a great hotel: my husband too had been there before. Miss Wright we found a most pleasant and attentive hostess. Our large airy room reminded me of some in the German hotels. After the luxury of a bath, we waited for dinner in the drawing-room, which only differed from an English one in the quantity of its lights. By this time the room was filled with hungry people, ready for dinner, an agreeable mixture of civil and military, but no ladies. A native appeared with meekly folded hands, and in a sedate voice said, “Khana mez par hi” (Dinner is on the table). We then proceeded to the dining-room, which we had only been separated from by silken curtains. The table was surrounded by native servants, gaily attired in their winter clothing, of different coloured cloth. I only noticed a few odd things; one was the want of decanters: the black bottles were clothed in pretty netted covers, and the tumblers had small silver covers to keep out the insects. I remember sitting next to a poor young officer, who gave me an account of fever, ague, and other Indian drawbacks; he looked dreadfully ill, and was on the eve of embarking for England.

The next morning my husband went to call on the Bishop, and report his arrival; and also to hire a buggy for our morning and evening drives. I, in the meantime, was employed in selecting an ayah{1}, a difficult task, as I knew next to nothing of the language; but Miss Wright kindly helped me, and selected a clean-looking woman, who had the best chits (written character). I was very much astonished to see the number of servants we required, even in a lodging-house – a kitmutghar{2}, an ayah, a bearer, a dhobi{3}, and a dirzie{4}. After tiffin{5} we dressed for our evening drive. The carriages and horses were equal to those seen daily in Hyde-park, and the ladies were most exquisitely dressed. Dresses from Paris arrive every fortnight, and the climate only requires a very airy style. We drove down Chowringhee-road, and on to the Maidan, or public esplanade, which extends several miles, round Fort William, and along the banks of the river. Many dangerous accidents happen here during the year. One morning I saw a beautiful horse lying on the road, with its leg broken, and a lady whom I knew had two horses killed in one year. Sailors, when they get a holiday, invariably spend it in driving about recklessly in a wretched hired buggy with tumble-down horse in the midst of the splendid equipages, and as they are often intoxicated, accidents of course follow. I was told that a sailor made the following excuse the day after one of these accidents:– “I saw two lights ahead, and steered straight between them.” Calcutta was not then lighted up after dark with gas, so there was an order for all the carriages, at a certain hour, to carry lamps. The aspect of the river was very interesting: it was crowded with vessels of all nations, from the well-built English and American frigates and steamers, to the picturesque craft from the Persian Gulf, and the queer Arab boats, with their strange, wild-looking crews and gay flags. The scene was more striking here than in London, or any English port, on account of there being nothing to take off your attention.

A Calcutta “turn out” deserves a description. The carriage is like any London one, but the pair of glossy, graceful Arabs are worth looking at: they are stud horses, with the stud mark branded on their flanks, and though rather small, make up for it by their grace. The coachman is a stately individual, in a white dress, and gay cummerbund{6}, made of two different coloured bands, twisted together. The turban is not, as we fancy, simply a piece of muslin wound round the head, but is regularly made up, turban fashion; and obliquely across it is a corresponding band, with the master’s crest in silver, like the thistle on a Scotch cap. The European children were all assembled in the Auckland, or as they were often called, the “gardens of Eden,” the Miss Edens having planned them: poor little things! they looked pale and sickly, and sadly overdone with grandeur. Fancy a tiny child, gaily dressed in the Highland costume, followed by an ayah, and preceded by a syce{7}, leading his diminutive steed, and a bearer{8} holding a large white umbrella, and two chaprasis{9}.

After driving for a couple of hours we returned to dinner.

I will describe how each day passes in Calcutta.

We rise at daybreak, half-past five; the morning is heralded by the cawing of myriads of crows, the sharp squealing of kites, and the twittering of sparrows: very different from the awakening in a quiet country-house in England; and instead of thinking and indulging for an extra half hour, we start up, hurry over our bath and dressing, and then go out for a drive of an hour: and woe betide your head if you remain out too long without the buggy hood up. We then loiter as long as we dare in the garden; return in and partake of chota hazerie, bread and butter and tea; bathe, and dress for breakfast at 9 o’clock: after that, most ladies occupy themselves with their households and children. My husband went out to the shops to buy things for our journey up the country.

At twelve, a dead calm falls on the whole city. The delicate European lady in her lofty chamber, the poor coolie with his head wrapped in his turban, and curled up in some corner, or basking in the sun, even the animals, are alike slumbering. At two there is tiffin; we read and amuse ourselves till five, when we again drive out, dine at seven, and retire to bed at ten. But the gay inhabitants of Calcutta don’t keep such early hours: the cool time of the year is their “season,” when they keep as late hours as “Londoners.”

The houses in Calcutta are very fine ones, from fifty to sixty feet high; many of the rooms are forty feet long, and very lofty. The white chunam{10}, contrasted with the green verandahs, has a dazzling effect. The floors are made of white chunam, and carpeted with light, pretty matting. Many of the entrance halls and dining-rooms are paved with marble. I was much struck with the number of outside staircases, or ladders, for the natives to reach the upper stories without going through the house.

Our room opened into a pretty garden, where we often walked, and the old gardener used regularly to give me a nosegay every morning.

My husband went one morning to a large clerical breakfast at the palace, and returned with a kind invitation from the Bishop for me to breakfast there. So, on the appointed day, we drove to the palace; a large well-built house. The Bishop was very kind and friendly in his manner, and talked much about England, and some friends of his whom I knew. We then went into the chapel, a small room, filled with benches, where the Bishop read the Psalms for the day, and a long extemporaneous prayer. At breakfast the Bishop told my husband the station he was to be appointed to was Gwalior, which both he and Dr. Pratt seemed to consider a very good one. The Bishop then turned to me, and said, “I have given your husband this station, which is a very desirable one, as he suffered so much in Burmah.” After breakfast he asked us to stay in the palace, but as we had engaged our rooms for some time at Miss Wright’s, we refused his kind invitation.

We often went out to the shops to buy things we should require at Gwalior. Some of the bookshops were very tempting, with all the new publications lying on marble tables, and the rooms so cool and dark that it was quite a treat to rest in them after the dusty, glaring streets; but it was very dangerous to linger long, as the books were double the price they are in England. I was very much amused with the Exchange, a large place, where everything is sold; the shopmen here are natives, but they speak English very well. I know £5 seemed to go no further than £1 in England, everything was so dear. I now felt what a pleasure it was to receive letters from home, and often solaced my home-sickness, or, as the Germans more poetically call it, “Heimweh,” by the “sweet singing nightingales of the pen of correspondence.”

A steamer arriving, the fresh influx of people crowded every hotel and lodging-house to overflowing. My uncle, Colonel Stuart Menteath, his wife and daughters, arrived. They had to stay a day or two on board before they could get rooms, and then they could only get unfinished ones at Wilson’s, up a steep flight of stairs. I went to see them, and the confusion was tremendous. Part of the house was a large shop, where everything could be got, from a wedding trousseau downwards. One morning we went with Colonel Goodwin to see a school he had established to teach the natives modelling. Some of the models were wonderful. When they did them very well they were allowed to sell them. Colonel Goodwin gave me one or two: I remember one was a model of a little mouse.

My husband’s bearer was a perfect specimen of a “mild Hindu” (so much raved about at home). He was lithe and slender, with beautifully formed hands and feet, clear olive skin, well-cut features, and white, regular teeth. His movements were most graceful and refined, and he was most particular in the fashion of his dress.

We asked some friends what sort of a place Gwalior was, and found it was not under the Government, being in the Mahratta states of Gwalior and Indore; the rajahs{11} of which are each bound by treaty to maintain a body of troops, officered from the Company’s army, and under the sole orders of the British Residents at their respective courts. Sindia’s Contingent consists of five corps of artillery, with thirty guns, two regiments of cavalry, seven of infantry, in all about 7,300 men. This Contingent was called into the field during the disturbances in Bundlecund, and did very good service. A good description of Gwalior will be found in “Blackwood” for 1844; and for a panegyric on the sepoys, people must read Alison’s “History of Europe,” vol. a., page 370. We were told Gwalior was considered, though very hot, a healthy station, and the society there very pleasant; for, being a Contingency, the officers and their families did not change so often as at other stations.

We missed, in the flat country, the graceful undulations and hill and dale of our own home scenery. There is no hill which you may ascend and have a good prospect of the surrounding country: you cannot see beyond the fiat, dirty-looking plain, and your eye soon wearies of the extensive cotton fields, only varied by miserable native villages, with stagnant pools and open drains. We had often to turn back when attempting to pass through some of these villages, the dense feeling of the air and smell of malaria making it unpleasant to proceed. I was sorry we could not see Barrackpur, my relatives who had formerly been there having left, for I heard the park and Governor-General’s country residence were very fine. Lord and Lady Canning seemed to prefer this residence, as they only occasionally came into Calcutta for a state dinner, &c. Many of the Calcutta people spend their Sundays at Barrackpur.

The gentlemen at our boarding-house often spent their evenings at the opera or other public places of amusement. The opera-house is an odd-looking building, built of bamboos, and thatched.

We often used to watch the cricket-matches on the Maidan. Cricket and races seemed the principal amusements of Calcutta. The natives, whose only amusements are sleeping, smoking, or watching the dance of the nautch girls{12}, who soothe them to sleep by the tinkling of their ornaments and their languid movements, must have laughed at our toil after pleasure.

We went one day to see the Mint, and were fully initiated into the merits of gold mohurs, rupees, and annas, by Dr. Boycott, the assay master, to whom we had an introduction. I thought the device on the gold mohurs very pretty – a lion standing near a palm-tree; though the former seemed rather out of proportion. Many ladies make bracelets by stringing these coins together; and they often have ornaments made of rupees melted down: one rupee will make a thimble. The effect of the nearly nude black figures of the natives flitting about in the darkness, dimly lighted by the forge fires, was very unearthly.

We spent another day very pleasantly at the Bishop’s College, founded by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, with Dr. Kay, whose society we much enjoyed; he...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Table Of Contents
• Dedication
• Chapter 1 - Calcutta
• Chapter 2 - The Mofussil
• Chapter 3 - Gwalior
• Chapter 4 - The Mutinies
• Chapter 5 - The Escape
• Chapter 6 - The Fort
• Chapter 7 - The Fort
• Chapter 8 - The Exodus
• Chapter 9 - The Journey Homeward
• ILLUSTRATIONS