By Ilana Soulas
In red we can see the empire which belong to the British Colonial
Empire. We can notice that a big part of the world belongs to the
British empire.
I-The British Empire in India (1772-1947)
In 1856, India was part of the British Empire. It was considered like
the jewel of the crown in the British Empire. Britannia had a major
military presence in India. The period of the Britannic domination
in India is called : British Raj ( but this is not an official name).
The British Empire did not have only India: it included India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bimanya , as shown on this map.
II) Life during the British life in India
The view of Bombay in 1767 contains most of the factors in the equation of
British life in India. The open space for military drill and the drive in the cool of
the evening. Government House, the centre of social life and arbiter of fashion.
The office, for the work of the day, and the church, for worship.
III) Architecture
Architecture is an emblem of power, designed to endorse the patron.
Numerous outsiders invaded India and created architectural styles reflective of
their ancestral and adopted homes. Like all other aspects, colonization of India
also had an impact on architecture style.
In its later phase the colonial architecture culminated into what is called the
Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The British used architecture as a symbol of power. They followed various
architectural styles – Gothic, Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance and
Victorian being the essentials.
British architects who worked in the empire, regardless of their choice, shared
a set of attitudes very different from their colleague’s home. Their views
together formed the colonial style, which more or less were inflicted with a
concern of making visible Britain’s imperial position as ruler.
IV) Examples of the British architecture in India
Calcutta
Calcutta is a city. It was the capital of the British Empire in India. There
are a lot of examples of British architecture, but I am going to show you
2 monuments. Calcutta was the richest, largest and the most elegant
colonial city of India.
1.
The old fort William, was named after King William III of England.
There are actually two Forts William, the old one and the new. The
original was built in 1696 by the British East India Company under
John Goldsborough.
2. The Government house
Government House is the name given to the residences of Governors in the
British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as
well as the many receptions and functions hosted by the occupant.
Later after the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British
Crown in 1858 it became the official residence of the Viceroy of India.
The construction started in 1799. The Government House has been designed
by Capt.
3) Victoria Memorial, Calcutta
For the Victoria Memorial at the other end of the Maidan, William Emerson tried
to emulate the Taj Mahal in material if not in form.
The Victoria Memorial, officially the Victoria Memorial Hall, is a memorial building
dedicated to Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom.
He has been established in 1921.
Now it’s a museum.
4) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly Victoria Terminus
It is a railway station which serves as the headquarters of the Central
Railways in Bombay.
Designed by Frederick William Stevens with influences from
Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and Indian (Mughal
and Hindu) traditional buildings, the station was built in 1887 to
commemorate the Golden Jublie of Queen Victoria.
5.La Martiniere College
La Martinière is a non-denominational public school in India.
La Martinière Schools was founded posthumously by Major General Claude
Martin in the early 19th.
Claude Martin was born on January the 5th 1735 in Lyon, France. He served in
the British East India Company.
6) General Post Office, Kolkata
The site where GPO is located was actually the site of the first Fort William.
The General Post Office was designed in 1864 by Walter B. Grenville(18191874), who acted as consulting architect to the government of India from 1863
to 1868. With his Calcutta General Post Office, Walter Cranville fused the
Classical and Baroque.
7) Mutiny Memorial Church Kanpur
Kanpur Memorial Church, Kanpur which is also known as All Soul's Cathedral
was built in the year 1875 in the memory of the British who died in the Sepoy
Mutiny of 1857. The Kanpur Memorial Church was designed by Walter
Granville who was then the architect of East Bengal Railway. This church is
now widely famous as Kanpur Church.
8) Mumbai University
The Italian Gothic preferred by John Ruskin for secular works, and applied most
influentially to public buildings in England, was seen to be well adapted to
conditions in India. After numerous essays in northern styles, the masterly
‘Venetian’ designs sent out by Sir Gilbert Scott for Mumbai University were
decisive.
9) Rajabai Clock Tower
The Rajabai Clock Tower is a clock tower in South Mumbai. It is located in the
confines of the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai. The tower stands at a
height of 85m.
The Rajabai tower was designed by Sir George Glibert Scott, an English
architect. He modeled it on Big Ben, the clock tower of the UK houses of
Parliament in London. The foundation stone was laid on March 1, 1869 and
construction was completed in November 1878.
10) Crawford Market Mumbai
The market was designed by British architect William Emerson. In 1882, the
building was the first in India to be lit up by electricity.This market is one of
South Mumbai’s most famous market. After India's independence, the market
was renamed after Maharashtrian social reformer, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.
5) Quote
T. Roger Smith said that “The great peculiarity
of a tropical climate is that it is very hot…and
that is one point an architect must never
forget.”