Artist: William Simpson.
British India, 1860.
A hand-coloured lithograph that emerges from the eighteenth century depicts a jumble of men, animals and supplies rambling across a dusty Indian landscape raising a cloud of dust at the tail end. There is also the figure of a child running amidst the confusion and the scene brings to mind professor Kalikaranjan Qanungo’s description of the chaos that prevailed when a medieval Mughal army marched for war. Except, this is no Mughal army.
What the scene depicts becomes much clearer to understand when we glance at the accompanying title that explains, ‘Troops of Native Allies’ and we learn that this illustration that is so beautifully animated by the use of watercolours reveal the forces of the native chieftains and princes who had historically sided with the British during the violent insurrection of 1857 – for reasons that had ranged from unflinching loyalty to an utter dislike for those who they had eventually helped the British subdue.
Simpson who by now had earned the reputation of a successful war artist having documented the Crimean war of 1853-56, had captured this rambling mass originally for a comprehensive book on India that London based publishers, Day and Sons, had intended to release in the Victorian market to cash in on the phenomenal interest the mutiny of 1857 had generated among the public at the time.
Inspired by the work of artist Daniel Roberts who had produced a four-volume folio showcasing the wonders of Jerusalem and Egypt, this book on India had been planned by Simpson and William Day (Senior partner of Day and Sons) to contain 250 richly coloured original illustrations. All of which Simpson himself had created by hand. First by making quick sketches and later spending four years to flesh out and finalise his drawings.
Financial troubles and liquidation of William Day’s publishing company between 1867-68, however, had turned the grand project into a shoddy one and far from endowing Simpson with the honour and recognition he had laboured so hard to achieve, left him searching for new employment – which he had eventually found as a ‘Special Artist’ with the Illustrated London Times in 1868.
Though Simpson’s illustrations had not appeared in the manner he had envisioned in 1867, both the work he produced on British India and the autobiography he had unveiled years later holds immense historical value. As through his artworks and words, it is not only possible for us to explore the life of British India right after the mutiny, along with the natives and customs of the era but also the politics at play.
As a guest of Lord Canning, Simpson had the honour of touring the old country in the company of the Governor-General in the immediate years that had followed the suppression, and it was during this time he had produced this illustration titled the ‘Troops of the Native Allies’.
While in Canning’s company, he had observed up close the native style Durbars the British had held in Peshawar, Lahore, Ambala and other places to not only reinstate their position as the dominant and triumphant power in the region and accept the homage of local kings but to also reward them for their role during the mutiny, particularly with gun salutes. He had witnessed the offering of tributes, political negotiations and the royal retinues pouring in from all directions.
At the Ambala Darbar, Simpson had been fascinated by an army of 300 Sikhs, resplendent in clothing of yellow and blue. The Sikhs had been one of the closest and most willing allies of the British during the mutiny of 1857 – on account of their hatred and fear for their long time foes, the Mughal empire and their protectorates the Marathas.
That had resurfaced, the day the Meerut mutineers after having rebelled on 10th of May 1857 had journeyed the 400 miles to the city of old Delhi to proclaim Bahadur Shah Zaffar as the Mughal emperor.
The Sikhs had not only fought alongside the British in almost all major encounters during the insurrection but also massacred the rebels and plundered their strongholds along with the Gurkhas, Nepalis and other allies. Their role in the looting of Delhi after the fall of the city to loyal forces is a well-known reality of the conflict.
In fact, during the insurrection, the allies of the British had far outweighed the support the rebels had received. The Bengali elites of Calcutta too had refrained from assisting the rebellion as they had considered the British to be the harbingers of change and modernity in stark contrast to the return of the Mughal rule, which they had deemed as an outdated way of life.
The book on India that Day and Sons had proposed to publish in 1857 had received much support and encouragement, primarily for its subject matter. Even before a single illustration had been produced, the Queen of England had given her permission for the work to be dedicated to her name.
In present times Simpson’s illustrations including the ‘Troops of the Native Allies’ are all collector items.
