British Government in India, Volume 1George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925) was a British politician, traveler, and writer who served as viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905 and foreign secretary from 1919 to 1924. The somewhat confusingly titled British Government in India: The Story of Viceroys and Government Houses was one of Curzon's last books, completed after he left the Foreign Office in January 1924 and posthumously published. The two-volume work is a study of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), capital of British India in the period 1772-1911, and home of the governors and viceroys who represented the British East India Company and later the British government from the early 18th to the early 20th century. As Curzon states in the preface, his plan to write the book went back to his time in India, when he "resolved to write the history of Government House--that stately building, by far the finest Government House in the Empire, designed upon the model of my own home of Kedleston in Derbyshire--which had sheltered the rulers of India for exactly one hundred years...." In addition to being a study of the house, the book contains notes and observations on viceroys and governors such as Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, and Lord William Bentinck. The last chapter in volume one, entitled "Forms, Ceremonies, and Entertainments," is an especially interesting overview of ceremonial life at the viceregal residence, which reflected a blend of British and Indian traditions. Other chapters cover the famous Black Hole of Calcutta or touch upon important historical events, such as the Indian Mutiny and the Anglo-Afghan Wars. |
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afterwards appeared Ball Room Band Barrackpore Belvedere Bengal Black Hole boat Body Guard British building Calcutta Captain century ceremonial Clive Company Council Chamber Council House Court of Directors described dinner dome Durbar East India England English entertainment erected Esplanade European expense February floor furniture Gallery Garden Gate Gazette Government of India Governor General's ground guests Holwell Holwell's honour inscription Kedleston King Lady later letter Levée Lord Amherst Lord Auckland Lord Cornwallis Lord Dalhousie Lord Hastings Lord Minto Lord Wellesley Lord William Bentinck Madras Maidan Marble Hall ment House Monument native occasion occupied Office Old Fort William Old Government House original painted palace persons picture pillar portraits present Prince purchase Queen record rent repairs residence river scene Sicca Rupees side Sir John Sonamukhi staircase statue successor tablet Throne Room Viceroy Victoria Memorial Hall walls Warren Hastings Wellesley's wing wrote