Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It struck me that these cameleers genuinely liked us gringos, serving
food and performing even the most menial tasks with the tenderness
more of parents than of servants. It seemed so out of character with
their warrior past, and I mentioned this. The fact that I was British
had something to do with it, apparently. People I'd encountered all
over India had sung the praises of the Raj days to me. Originally I
took this as a desire to please, a sad remnant of years of colonial
brutality and oppression. I suggested this to Hoppy. His reply took
the form of a truncated history lesson - a lesson he felt I'd never
learned.
Jaisalmer had been one of those princely states that had not
participated in the 1857 Indian War for Independence - the Indian
Mutiny in Western history books. In reality, it was India's first
attempt to rebel against colonial subjugation. Bahadur Shah, the
last Moghul emperor of Delhi, reportedly dispatched a letter to
Maharawal Ranjeet Singh, ruler of Jaisalmer in 1857, urging him
to crush the contingents of British soldiers in his state, and then
bring his entire army to reinforce the troops at the court of Delhi.
Bahadur promised Ranjeet great rewards for such obedience. But
the maharawal remained loyal to the British government, even
providing reinforcements for the massive British mobilisation from
Sind to Kota. Thus the administrative affairs of the maharawal's
state came to be even more strongly influenced by the colonial
government than they had been before 1857.
This was why an anti-British attitude upset Hoppy. Also, as our
host, he felt obliged to avoid subjecting us to anything distasteful,
not comprehending that someone could actually disapprove of his
own nation's behaviour. In any case, the Rajputs, with their proud
warrior traditions, admired the British for their military excellence
- something that in their minds far outweighed any trifling political
or ethical concerns. They'd been proud to fight with such a great
army, not to mention to be on the winning side against states and
peoples with whom they had warred for generations themselves.
The shrewd British had manipulated these ancient suspicions and
enmities among the princely states very skilfully, dividing one
against the other in order to rule both. The same tribal grudges still
underlie mind-boggling divisions in Indian politics and the
