Subhro Niyogi & Jaideep Mazumdar, TNN Dec 11, 2011, 05.00AM IST
Only a handful of people knew of the proposal to transfer the capital of the British empire in India from Calcutta to Delhi. The discussions and plans were kept top secret, as was the estimated cost of shifting bag and baggage - 4 million sterling. The speed and secrecy with which such a monumental decision was taken, stumped everyone.
Astonishing as it may seem a century later, the formal request to transfer British India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi was made just three and a half months before it was announced by King George V on December 12, 1911. The announcement at the Delhi Durbar came just 41 days after the British government formally agreed to the proposal.
In early 1911, an eight-member committee was constituted by the Governor General, Lord Hardinge of Penhurst, to look into the viability of Calcutta continuing as the capital of the British empire in India. The panel, which had only one Indian member in Saiyid Ali Imam, submitted its report on August 25, 1911, arguing strongly for shifting the capital to Delhi.
It set out a number of reasons in favour of the shift, but the crux was that Calcutta was the seat of a provincial government and the Government of India cannot have its seat in the same city. The prominence that Calcutta Presidency enjoyed as the seat of both Government of India and provincial government was a cause of envy to the other two Presidencies of Madras and Bombay.
Calcutta, the committee argued, is "ill-adapted" to be the capital of the "Indian Empire", which extended from Burma in the far East to Afghanistan in the west. It made particular mention of the partition of Bengal that had generated ill-feeling among Bengali Hindus.
"Public opinion in Calcutta is by no means always the same as... elsewhere in India," the panel said, adding that Delhi had "splendid communications", a good climate for seven months and being closer to Shimla (the summer capital) would result in substantial savings. The British were tired of Calcutta's heat and humidity. Besides, Delhi is closer to the commercial centres of Bombay and Karachi "whose interests are sometimes opposed to those of Calcutta", the panel noted.
It listed out several political advantages as well - Delhi's connection with Hindu legends, especially the Mahabharata war, and that "Mahomedans" would be happy to see the "ancient capital of the Moguls restored to its proud position as the seat of an Empire". Despite minor reservations, the Secretary of State for India agreed to the transfer of capital and said: "The ancient walls of Delhi enshrine an imperial tradition comparable with that of Constantinople or with that of Rome itself."
The committee also said that the "Hindi-speaking people of Behar", and the people of Orissa and Chhota Nagpur have "nothing in common with Bengalis" and had been "unequally yoked with the Bengalis". Therefore, all these three regions should have separate Lieutenant Governors.
The Secretary of State said that Calcutta would always be a "Bengali city in the fullest sense" and hence unsuitable to be the capital of British India. "History teaches is that it is sometimes necessary to ignore local sentiment or to override racial prejudice in the interest of sound administration or in order to establish an ethical or political principle," he noted.
The panel was aware that the only serious opposition would come from the European commercial community of Calcutta. Bengali Hindus would also not be happy, it said, but noted that "their opposition would raise no echo in the rest of India" and this community "could be placated by upgrading the Lieutenant Governorship of the province to that of a full Governorship".
Another key reason was the "undesirable" possibility of the Governor General of India and the Governor of Bengal residing in the same city and "liable to be brought in various ways into regrettable antagonism or rivalry".
The Secretary of State felt that if the transfer is to be approved, "it is imperative to avoid delay". "I cannot recall in history... a series of administrative changes of so wide a scope, culminating in the transfer of the main seat of government carried out with so little detriment to any class of the community, while satisfying the historical sense of millions, aiding the general work of government and removing the deeply felt grievance of many," he noted.
Stating this, he gave his general sanction and agreed that the transfer of the capital would be a worthy subject for the announcement by King-Emperor in person at the Delhi Durbar.
And that was that. King Gorge V put the seal on the proposal by announcing the capital shift on December 12, 2011. And the entire country heard it in stunned silence.
