1910-1955. BRITISH FICTION AND THE EURASIAN

Forster, Thompson, Candler and Dennis Kincaid(1905-1937)wrote critically of the Raj and extended that criticism to Englishwomen.

They described her as Insensitive andlacking InIntelligence. She was viewed as a major force for the inability of the English and Indians to meetasfriends,Thompsonledthis attack inFarewell to India(1930).

and effete. SimIlarly In Dennis Kincaids's Cactus Land(1933)and Diver'sThe Singer Passes (1934) the nationalists were seen as putting self Interests before social reform.

Diver proved particularly critical of Gandhi for his social conservatism and political phIlosophy.

Following the 1914-19 War some British writers began to display doubts about the impact of British institutions on the Indian civIlization. The perception that the British in Indiamay be passing emerged inAbdication (1922) written by Edmund Candler (1874-1926) and was also suggested a bit later In Olver's The Singer Passes (1934). The passageoftheBritish in India was expressed byE. J. Thompson (1886-1946) even more explicitly In his Night Falls on Siva's Hills (1929). L. H. Myers (1881-1944) in Rajah Amar (1935) questioned the presence of the materialistic Western man In India. E. M.

Forster(1879-1970)used a Muslim weddingin his story "Advance India'"to attack Western values. InAn End to the Hours(1938)E. J.

Thompson characterized the Government of Indiaas weak, the cinema as imbecIle, and the literary offerings senIle.

1911. The cultural assimIlation of the British and Indian proved nearly impossible, even in literature. The existence of the Eurasian woman was generally viewed as an anomaly.

Steel approached the Indian woman as a passionate, sensual individual in her stories

"Fire and Ice" and "In the House of the Coppersmith". In Candles in the Wind(1909) Maud Diver looked at the relationship of a

"civilized" Indian who married an English The unlikelihood of a successful relationship was shown to be Impossible and as social gulf opened between them. His death from the plagueand her attraction to an English officer tidied up the story. Inrefutation of Kipling's BRITISH FICTION IN

1910-1939.

TRANSITION.

horrible. The treatment of theHindugod Kali and the cult ofKali received particularly critical treatment by Steel andJohn Masters (1914-1983).Steel asserted In "On the Second andThe Law ofthe Threshold(1924)that the Hindu used Kali to oppose British sanitation efforts and represented a focal point for the spreading of Bolshevik teachings. Later Masters allowed William Savage in The Deceivers (1952) to feel the power of Kali within him as athug to elicit the evIl of man.

On the other hand, Kipling's Kim (1901) presented the Bengali babu in a fairly positive light.

180 Historyof BritishIndia

stories In Plain Taies, Diver wrote The English Woman in India (1909) suggesting that the Englishwoman was better behaved than Kipling made out. Later Diver again addressed the subject of mixed marriagesand their offspring In her trilogy: Lilamani (1910), Far to Seek (1921) and The Singer Passes (1931). Her characters of these successful relationships possessed elite backgroundsand display a superior beauty, spirituality and abillty. Diver turned full circle near theend of the warkasone of the male childreneschewed an Indian women to return to England to marry an English In Diver's Awakening (1911) anEnglishmanandan Indian women madea successful marriage but live in England to avoid the prejudices of the East. I.A. R. Wylie (1885-1959) presented a marriage of an Englishman andthedaughter ofatempiepriest in Daughter of Brahma (1912). She characterized the vast cultural differences between the couple by describing the horrors of Hindu rites astheundermining forced of their failed relationship. Rumer Godden (1907-1987) in The Lady and the Unicorn (1937), John Masters in Bhowani Junction (1954), andJonGodden(1906-1984) in The City and the Wave (1954) all represented treatments of the Eurasian community. Their essential theme addressed being caught between two worlds and the attempt to work out an existence oftheir own. Bhowani Junction offered theadditional complicationof beingset in 1946 amidst the turmoil leading up to Independence and the question of where did the Eurasian fit inthe newIndia.

1912-1935. ARCmTECTURAL mSTORY OF NEW DELHI.

12 Dec. 191I. At the Deihl Durbar King George V announced the transfer of India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi. In consequence a site for the capital reqUired selection, architects had to bechosento designand to overseeconstructionofaseries of buildings. Dec. 1911-Feb. 1912. The choice of architectural style for the new capital immediately emergedas apoint ofcontention.

On Dec. 22, 1911 Ernest B. Havell (1861·

1934),retiredPrincipalof the Calcutta School of Art, began to promote the use ofanIndic style Inaletter to The Times. Hecalledfor the use of Indian craftsmenapplyingIndianarts and science. Later on February 6, 1911 a

group of prominent English artists, scholars and politicians presentedapetitiontothe India Officecallingfor the use oftraditionalIndian craftsmanship. This group represented a coalition of interest In Indo-Saracenic architecturalstyle andin the Indianartsand crafts movement.

13 Mar. 1912. The British Government announcedthe membership oftheDelhi Town Planning Commission. It included: Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), Henry Vaughn Lanchester (1863-1953), George Swinton (1859-1937), and J. A. Brodie (1858-1934).

Their charge embraced recommendinga site for New Delhianddrawingacity plan.

2 May 1912. On behalf oftheTownPlanning Commission Lutyensindicated the selection ofa site for New Deihl slightlysouth of the present Delhi. Thisconceptbecameformalized in the Commission'report of June 13 to the Government of India. The Commission evaluated the southern site as cheaper, healthier, and possessed greater room for growth. The Viceroy,Lord Hardinge (1858-1944), similarly recommended this site on March 7,1913andLord Crewe (1858-1945), Secretary of State for India,gave finalapproval.

1 Oct. 1912. Lord Hardinge named Malcolm Hailey (1872-1969)asCommissioner of Deihl and President oftheImperial Delhi Committee.

Geoffrey de Montmorency (1876-1955) was later named Secretary to the Committee.

1913-16. Raisina Hill Controversy. As early as 1913 Lord Hardinge acknowledged that Raisina Hill would block observation of the Viceroy's House for a part of the approach along the processional route. A perspective drawnearlyin 1913 misleadinglyshowedboth of the Secretariatsandthe Viceroy's House in their entirety. In June 1914Lutyens fileda signed plan withtheImperial DelhiCommittee affirming the grade of the approach to the Viceroy's House and fixed theerror forever.

Only in January 1916 did Lutyens perceive the diminished view of Viceroy's House. He was to fight fruitlessly the issueforthe nextsix years..

29 Jan. 1913. An agreement evolved that Luytens would have principal responsibility for the layout of New Delhiandthe design of the Viceroy's House. A secondarchitect,Herbert Baker (1862-1946) would be responsible for

designing the two secretariat buildings. The architect Sir Swinton Jacob (1841-1917)took employment as a consultant. but retired in August 1913. On May 8 adispatch from the Viceroy to the Secretary of State for India formalized the selection of the architects. their remuneration andgeneralInstructions.

Jan. 1913. By this time Lutyens had essentiallysettled onaEuropean classicalstyle for the Viceroy's House. His Initial drawings calledforahuge domeandmanycolumnsand subordinated Indlc forms suchastheChaJja.

Chattris. a cobra fountain. and the use of trabeated arches atthe kitchenentrance. On completion the Viceroy's House displayed a 600-footfrontage.measured 180 feet to the top of Its dome.and coveredfourand ahalfacres.

Lutyens used a combination of blood-red Dholpur sandstone mixed with contrasting cream-colored stone for its exterior surface.

He completed construction of the Viceroy's House in 1929.

Feb. 1913. The Government of Indiaassigned to William Henry Nicholls the responsibility for designing buildings in New Delhi notassigned to Lutyens or Baker. Later he would be named the Architectural Member of the Imperial Deihl Committee.

1914-19. The First World War imposed serious delays on the construction of New DelhI. Some supplies Increased greatly in price due to their Inflation. others requiring import were Simply not available. The skilled workforce ebbedawayto 8.000. or only one-thirdof their original number.

Winter 1919/20. A new Capital Committee replaced the Imperial Deihl Committee. Its membership now included the Secretary for Public Works andanofficer from the Financial Department. Additional powers were granted to the Chief Commissioner of DelhI.

Collectively these changes Increased the efficiencyof the construction process.

1919-35. Robert Tor Russell (1888-1972).

ChiefArchitect to the Government of India.

executed designs for a number of supplementary buildings reqUired In the new capital. They included: Connaught Placewhich was a shopping center. two hostels for legislators. the mansion of the Army's Commander-In-Chief, other offiCial housing.

HistoryofBritish India 181 hospitals. bungalows. police stationsandpost offices. Hisstyle was essentially Classical.

12 Feb. 1921. The Duke of Connaught (1863-1938) laid the foundationstonefor the Indian Legislative ChambersatNew DelhI.

1927-35. On behalf of the religious needs of the new capital. theAnglican Church of the Redemption was constructedoverthis period.

H,A. N. Medd (1892-1977) drew its designs and itwas adistingUished location on the axisof the Jaipur Column atthe requestof Lord Irwin. Some of itarchitectural aspects resembled those of Palladlo'sIl Redentore at Venice.

1927. In the design of the two Identical Secretariat blocs located on either side of King's Way. Baker combined elements of English classicism with Indian architectural features. The latter included the overhanging stoneChuJja. the canopied Chattri. and the marble Jaali. These Indian architectural aspectspretty much duplicated those Lutyens had used at the Government House. In addition Baker used the Nashiman. or recessed porch. In the main these Indian architectural features represented the means of dealing with India'ssun andmonsoon ralns.

1927. Planning for theCapitalgrounds called for the Inclusion ofeight-acrelots on which the Indian princes could build their palaces. Lutyens produced the designs for the New Delhi palaces of the Nlzam of Hyderabadand theGaekar of Barodaandwere completed by 1931.

Jan. 1927. Lord Irwin (1881-1959) offiCially opened the Council House In which the Chamber of Princes. Imperial Legislative Assembly and Council of State resided. The structure possessed a circular Colosseum design whichemanatedfrom Lutyens' thinking.

1928-30. Arthur G. Shoosmith(1888-1974) designed the Garrison Church ofSt.Martin.

Massive.simpleIn designand almost severe.it was constructed entirely In brick. As time passed critics acknowledged It asone of the great pieces ofarchitecture In the twentieth century.

1930-34. In this period H. A. N. Medd also designedtheRoman CatholicCathedralofthe

182History of BritishIndia

Sacred Heart. His plans possessed the influence of the sixteenth century church in Rome, the

1931. Australia, Canada. New Zealand, and SouthMricadonated fourcolumns,knownas the Asokan columns, representingeachof the Dominions. Each columnwas topped by a bronze ship in connotation of the maritime natureandpowerofthe British Empire.

1931. Atthe east endof King's Way. Lutyens designed the All-India War Memorial Arch.

Standing one hundredand thirty-nine feet in height. itcommemoratedthe dead ofthe 1914-19Warand the3'dMghan War. Additionally Lutyens drewupthe plans fortheKingGeorge V Memorial whichstoodfive hundred feet to the east of the War Memorial Arch. It was completedin 1936.

4-15Feb. 1931. This fortnightof celebrations focused on the opening of the LadyHardinge Serai.aseries of formal dinnersandinformal parties.an investure ceremony, unveiling the Asokancolumnsfrom the four Dominions.a commemoration ceremony atthe Indian War Memorial Arch. and the consecration of the Church oftheRedemption. Lord Irwin ledthe various eventswhich were marredsomewhat by concerns overexpensesand possibility of Indianviolence.