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| Victoria silver jubilee arch. Pudukkottai, TN jenniferhowes.com |
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| Diamond Jubilee arch 1897 Pudukkotai town flickr.com |
During their misrule the English - under the East India company and later (after 1858) directly under the British Crown administration ran the country till 1947. When they left the Indian shores, they had left behind their legacy and imprint of their long rule across India in the form of numerous public building, colleges, courts clock towers, statues of British administrators and most impotently the railways. Almost all of them came up here at the British India government's revenue for their benefits. Surreptitiously, the colonists in a subtle manner, looted about USD 41trillion (in today's value) and countless Indians are of the view now the Indian netas behave like the colonists and in the past few decades have looted a lot of public wealth - supposedly belonging to the common people - all in the name of democracy. Historians say it is a paradox and we have to accept it!!
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| 1913 map Madras Presidency with Pudukkottai State.en.wikipedia.org |
The district capital of erstwhile Pudukkottai samasthanam was once effectively ruled by the dynasty of Tondaiman. When the administration of the small princely state was in a mess, the British put it under their control and appointed a Dewan one Seshaya Sastery to improve the revenue and cut down the unwanted expenses. Under his dewanship and help from the royal members, t Pudukkottai town saw many civic developments - most important one being potable water supply system for the town from near by lakes in this semi-arid area.
Upon Ramachandra Tondaiman' death in 1886, Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman, then a minor, succeeded to the throne of Pudukkotta. Seshayya Sastri, continued his Dewanship till 1904 and ruled Pudukkottai as Regent till Martanda Bhairava Tondaiman attained the eligible age to rule the state on his own.
The Maharajah of Pudukkottai (1875-1928), a loyal ally of the British, built in 1897 in a prime locality an archway commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria as a token of his respect for a grand lady who had been holding the reign for a long time.
I heard people mention about the gateway on the East main street as being a legacy linking the princely state with the British crown. It is said there was an unusual image of Queen Victoria in an oval frame on the center of the arch smiling, with her left hand raised to her chin. With unusual jet-black hair and brightly colored royal regalia and headgear she appeared odd - more an Indian royal than a British one; the image was flanked by a lion and a horse in a victorious gesture.
The design of the arch is European with Gothic styled tower on either side. besides there is a taller tower of similar look on both sides standing independently. Atop the portrait on the arch is the replica of the British empire crown.
In the second week of November, 2009, this age old narrow arch was pulled down because the structure became weakened after a heavy vehicle rammed on to the structure. In a matter of 40 minutes the entire arch was pulled down (on collector's order) and it showed how fragile the structure was. Just like silver jubilee arch of Thanjavur near Ranee's clock tower, the arch was not an impressive one. The Thanjavur Diamond jubilee archway was pulled one year before the World Tamil conference in 1995.
Tit-bits:
Queen Victoria, the empress of India:
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| Queen Victoria. Getty Images |
Above image: Queen Victoria: She went on and continued to rule the British empire till her death in 1901. Her reign was the longest one, (second longest female monarch after Lorraine of France) in the annals of world history. Incidentally the queen never visited India during her reign. The reason attributed was she became too obese to move out...............................
England's Queen Victoria did not participate in any public event soon after the demise of her husband in 1861. Haunted by pangs of separation from her husband the queen took to the life of isolation and also she was aware of her responsibility to run British empire with many colonies across the globe.
The Golden Jubilee of 1887 provided her a limited return to view since her husband's death following her near total isolation after her husband’s death in 1861. In 1876 she was proclaimed and assumed the title ‘Empress of India.’ It was a controversial Royal Titles Bill ’introduced during tenure of PM Benjamin Disraeli, a conservative party leader. In 1876 her son the Prince of Wales )later king George V) was on a trip to India to get himself familiar with culture and tradition of the vast Indian subcontinent.
On 21 June the Queen, wearing the Orders of the Garter and the Star of India, was taken to Westminster Abbey escorted by an Indian cavalry, commanded by Captain Charles W. Muir, for the first time each member of the escort was later presented with a covetous Jubilee medal by the Queen in a ceremony at Windsor Castle
A galaxy of rich and opulent Indian Maharajahs and other rulers were in attendance in their respective royal regalia and later had royal dinner.
https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/queen-victorias-golden-jubilee
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/Historical-arch-demolished-in-Pudukottai/article16892087.ece
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJ9HUt9AMA