The Delhi Durbar (lit. "Court of Delhi") was the imperial mass assembly organized by the British Raj at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the accession of an Emperor or Empress of India. The ceremonial name was derived from the Persian term, durbar (royal court). Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire. The 1911 Durbar was the only one that a sovereign, George V, attended; at the earlier Durbars, the monarch was represented by their viceroy. A Durbar was contemplated in 1937 or 1938 for George VI, the last emperor, but was deferred, primarily on account of the burgeoning independence movement festering in the British Raj. The Durbar was rendered obsolete by the emergence of India and Pakistan as independent nations following World War II.
Durbar of 1877
Called the "Proclamation Durbar", the Durbar of 1877, for which the organisation was undertaken by Thomas Henry Thornton, was held beginning on 1 January 1877 to proclaim Queen Victoria as Empress of India by the British. The 1877 Durbar was largely an official event and not a popular occasion with mass participation like the later durbars in 1903 and 1911. It was attended by the Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, along with maharajas, nawabs, and intellectuals.
Inside the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta is an inscription taken from the message of Queen Victoria presented at the 1877 Durbar to the people of India:
We trust that the present occasion may tend to unite in bonds of close affection ourselves and our subjects; that from the highest to the humblest, all may feel that under our rule the great principles of liberty, equity, and justice are secured to them; and to promote their happiness, to add to their prosperity, and advance their welfare, are the ever present aims and objects of our Empire.
The Empress of India Medal to commemorate the proclamation of the Queen as Empress of India was struck and distributed to the honoured guests,The Illustrated London News dated 20 Jan. – 17 Feb., 1877 retrieved 3/18/2007 medal and the elderly Ramanath Tagore was raised to the status of an honorary Raja by Lord Lytton, viceroy of India.Cotton, H. E. A., Calcutta Old and New, 1909/1980, p. 596, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
It was at this glittering durbar that Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi, wearing "homespun spotless white khadi" rose to read a citation on behalf of the grass roots native political organization, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, which organization presaged the later rise of the Indian National Congress. Joshi's speech put forth a demand couched in very polite language:
"…Her Majesty to grant to India the same political and social status as is enjoyed by her British subjects."
With this demand, it can be posited that the campaign for Indian Independence was formally launched,The Delhi Durbar,, Dimdima.com, magazine of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, free india which was the beginning of a great transformation for India.KESAVAN MUKUL (Sunday, 29 May 2005) "STORY OF THE CONGRESS – Three pivotal moments that shaped early nationalism in India", The Telegraph, Calcutta, retrieved 3/19/2007 nationalism
The durbar would later be seen as controversial because it directed funds away from the Great Famine of 1876–78.Douglas Northrop, An Imperial World: Empires and Colonies since 1750 (Boston: Pearson, 2013), pp. 2–3.
Durbar of 1903
The durbar was held beginning on 1 January 1903 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The two full weeks of festivities were devised in meticulous detail by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India. It was a dazzling display of pomp, power, and split-second timing. Neither the earlier Delhi Durbar of 1877 nor the later Durbar of 1911 could match the pageantry of Curzon's festivities. In a few short months at the end of 1902, a deserted plain was transformed into an elaborate tented city, complete with temporary light railway to bring crowds of spectators out from Delhi, a post office with its own stamps, telephone and telegraphic facilities, a variety of stores, a police force with specially designed uniforms, a hospital, a magistrate's court and complex sanitation, drainage, and electric light installations. Souvenir guidebooks were sold and maps of the camping ground distributed. Marketing opportunities were craftily exploited. A special Delhi Durbar Medal was struck, as part of the celebrations.
Edward VII, to Curzon's disappointment, did not attend but sent his brother, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who arrived with dignitaries by train from Bombay just as Curzon and his government came in the other direction from Calcutta. The assembly awaiting them displayed a collection of jewels. Each of the Indian princes was adorned with gems from the collections of centuries. Maharajahs came with retinues from all over India, many of them meeting for the first time while the massed ranks of the Indian armies, under their Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener, paraded, played their bands, and restrained the crowds.De Courcy Anne (2003) "The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters", Harper Collins, 464 pages, , 61 page Abstract(biography) retrieved from Google 3/14/2007
On the first day, the Curzons entered the area of festivities, together with the maharajahs, riding on elephants, some with huge gold candelabra stuck on their tusks. The durbar ceremony itself fell on New Year's Day and was followed by days of polo and other sports, dinners, balls, military reviews, bands, and exhibitions. The world's press dispatched their best journalists, artists and photographers to cover proceedings. The popularity of movie footage of the event, shown in makeshift cinemas throughout India, is often credited with having launched the country's early film industry.Holmes Richard, "Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750–1914". HARPERCOLLINS. 571 pages.Bottomore Stephen (Oct, 1995) "An amazing quarter-mile of moving gold, gems and genealogy": filming India's 1902/03 Delhi Durbar, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, includes extensive bibliography of the event, retrieved 3/18/2007 Victoria Memorial Inside 2018 Kolkata
India Post issued a set of two commemorative souvenir sheets with special cancellation struck on 1 January 1903 – 12 noon, a much sought-after item for stamp collectors today.
The event culminated in a grand coronation ball attended only by the highest-ranking guests, presided over by Lord Curzon and Lady Curzon in her jewels and peacock gown.Cory, Charlotte (2002) Sunday Times, 29 December, retrieved 3/14/2007 "The Delhi Durbar 1903 Revisited",1903 Durbar, extensive description
Durbar of 1911
On 22 March 1911, a royal proclamation announced that the Durbar would be held in December to commemorate the coronation a few months earlier of King George V and Queen Mary and allow them to be proclaimed in person as Emperor and Empress of India. Every governor and all the rulers of princely states in India were summoned to pay obeisance.
The King and Queen left Portsmouth on 11 November aboard , a new P&O ocean liner, arriving in Delhi on 7 December in a grand State Entry through the city gates in which 50,000 troops participated, led by Sir O'Moore Creagh, the Commander-in-Chief of India. Escorted by a guard of the Household Cavalry, the King rode an Australian charger and was dressed in military uniform with a plumed pith helmet, to the disappointment of the people in the crowd, who had expected him to be riding an elephant and wearing a crown. The Queen followed in an open carriage. The following days were taken up with receptions for the Indian princes, a church parade and the presentation of regimental colours.
The Durbar itself was on Tuesday, 12 December, at Coronation Park, on which a semi-circular grandstand had been built for 10,000 government officials and other dignitaries, while further back an artificial mound seated 50,000 local people. The royal couple arrived in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India with eight arches, containing 6,100 diamonds, and covered with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34 ounces (965 g). Seated on thrones, they listened as the Delhi Herald Extraordinary, Brigadier-General William Peyton, read out the proclamation in English, followed by the Assistant Herald, Captain Malik Umar Hayat Khan,Cox, Noel, A New Zealand Heraldic Authority? in John Campbell-Kease (ed), Tribute to an Armorist: Essays for John Brooke-Little to mark the Golden Jubilee of The Coat of Arms, London, The Heraldry Society, 2000, p. 93 & p. 101 who read it in Urdu. They received homage from the native princes – including one woman, the Begum of Bhopal – at the shamiana (ceremonial tent); controversy ensued when the Gaekwar of Baroda, Maharajah Sayajirao III, approached the royal couple without his jewellery on, and after a simple bow turned his back to them when leaving. His action was interpreted at the time as a sign of dissent to British rule. Afterwards, the royal couple ascended to the domed royal pavilion, where the King-Emperor announced the move of India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The annulment of the partition of Bengal was also announced during the ceremony. After the departure of the king and queen, the enthusiastic crowd surged into the arena.
On the following day, 13 December, the royal couple made a Jharokha Darshan (balcony appearance) at the Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them, a custom which was started by Mughal emperors. On 14 December, the King-Emperor presided over a military review of 40,000 troops, culminating in a great cavalry charge. There followed an investiture in Delhi Park, the first was the Queen who received the Order of the Star of India. 26,800 Delhi Durbar Medals in silver were awarded to the men and officers of the British and Indian Armies who participated in the 1911 event. A further two hundred were struck in gold, a hundred of which were awarded to Indian princely rulers and the highest ranking government officers.Delhi Durbar Medals of 1911 1911 medal
Following the Durbar, the King and Queen left for ten days in Nepal, where the King was taken tiger hunting. After visiting Calcutta, they journeyed across India by train to Bombay, which they left on 10 January on RMS Medina.
A feature film of the event titled With Our King and Queen Through India (1912) – also known as The Durbar in Delhi – was filmed in the early color process Kinemacolor and released on 2 February 1912.Filming the Delhi Durbar 1911 filming
Generally the Durbar achieved its purpose of cementing support for British rule among the native princes (who pledged their fealty), as was demonstrated by the support given during the First World War.
Today, the Coronation Park in Delhi is sometimes used for big religious festivals and municipal conventions.Mukherjee Sanjeeb (Oct. 2001) Coronation Park – the Raj junkyard, the-south-Asian.com, retrieved 3/18/2007 Coronation Park The thrones used by King George V and Queen Mary are on display at Marble Hall Gallery and Museum at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Postponed Durbar of 1937 or 1938