Seal of the Honorable East India Company
Over the next 50 years British trade with India grew to the point that 20% of British imports came from the Indian sub-continent. When the Seven Years War (the French and Indian War) broke out in 1756, the conflict reached India and resulted in a significant expansion of the East India Company's operations. The expanded governance role by a private company, led to abuses which parliament tried to correct by new legislation which established indirect British rule of most of India under the aegis of the East India Company. Around the time of William's arrival, there were 41,000 Europeans in India, 90% of whom were soldiers, living alongside a native population of 15 million. By the end of 1844, the East India Company ruled all of India except the Punjab which was governed by the Sikhs.
Robert Clive after the British victory at Plassey in 1757 - a decisive point in Britain's conquest of India
After over 100 days at sea in exceedingly cramped quarters, William and his mates were doubtless looking forward to getting back on dry land. But they were in a very different place which would require more than a little getting used to. Supposedly many British soldiers were initially unable to sleep because of the heat and the noise of the jackals. Shortly after his arrival in India, my father recounted seeing "jackals, water buffalo, peacocks, camels and countless monkeys," which left him feeling that "this doesn't seem real." A positive note was finding over 30 letters waiting for him, mostly from my mother. No such possibility existed for William Winder and while my father was undergoing some degree of culture shock, his pre-arrival knowledge of India had to be far greater than William Winder's.
By 1767 Britain was in direct control of the shaded areas, less than 100 years later all of the sub continent was under British rule
Once they gathered their belongings and got off the ship, William and the group traveled by boat, foot or some combination thereof to join the regiment (the first railroad wasn't built in India until 1853). If we continue to assume that William's primary motivation for enlistment was financial, service in India had improved his financial fortunes somewhat. Labor was so cheap that even lowly privates like William could afford servants to polish their boots, clean their equipment and wash their clothes.
In addition to money going further there was more of it. British soldiers in India received additional pay called batta. A certain amount was paid for just being there, much like the additional $65 a month in hostile fire pay, I got in Vietnam. While it wasn't enough to motivate men to volunteer for Vietnam, you weren't about to decline it (I made about $750 a month as 1st. Lt.). Additional batta was also paid when the regiment was on campaign as an incentive for good performance.
Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the great Agra treasure
There were two other forms of financial reward for service in India - prize money (legal) and looting (illegal). Prize money is most often associated with naval warfare where captured ships are sold and the proceeds divided among the capturing crew. However the same concept applied to the army in India, if, for example, an Indian ruler's palace was captured, his possessions were subject to sale with the proceeds divided among the officers and men. Unfortunately for the potential recipients, prize money was not always distributed fairly and actual payment frequently took a very long time.
The first edition of The Moonstone which revolves around a jewel stolen from India
In some cases, soldiers might capture more liquid assets like a chest of jewels which presented them with the temptation of looting instead of turning the jewels into the authorities for the prize process. It most have happened often enough as the word "loot" came into the English language from the Hindustani word "lut" which means robbery. It was also common enough to be used in English fiction, such as the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Sign of Four" and Wilkie Collins novel, The Moonstone.
If William had improved his financial position by coming to India, the increased risks were far greater than the reward. As in the American Civil War, disease killed more men than swords or bullets. Living in unsanitary conditions in a world that knew nothing of germ theory, William's greatest health risk was cholera which was water borne, came on suddenly and killed quickly with an over 50% mortality rate. Equal lethal was venereal disease caught from countless prostitutes who "served" an army of single men. At least British soldiers in India seldom experimented with opium.
Drink, the "bane of the British soldier," was another temptation for William that could have serious consequences. While there were no pubs in India, drink was even more readily available in India, whether it was native spirits called "arrack" (fermented sap of palms or molasses and rice) or the daily issue of rum. The problem was excessive drunkenness, supposedly the number of offenses was huge which were usually dealt with by some means other than court martials. Officers and NCO's were reportedly directed to leave drunken soldiers to other lower ranks to avoid confrontations where the drunken man might strike an officer or NCO, an offense which could carry the death penalty. From William's discharge papers, we know he was never court martialed, but it's impossible to know if he was guilty of some lesser violations of military law. All told, William faced serious non-combat risks in India where the death rate for soldiers was three times that of what it was in England. Just by coming home, William beat the odds.
No comments:
Post a Comment