ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON  DAY 107/327/19: NEW DELHI, INDIA

August 1980 and  6 October, 1980

India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory: British India and about 175 independent Princely States. The courts and the law of the Princely States continued to exist under the authority of the respective rulers of those states, much as it had been under the Mughal Empire.

 A clear distinction between "dominion" and "suzerainty" was supplied by the jurisdiction of the courts of law: the law of British India rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament and the legislative powers those laws vested in the various governments of British India, both central and local; whereas the Princely States continued to pass their own laws as they had done for an eternity.

In 1942 the British government sent the Cripps' mission  to secure Indian nationalists' co-operation in the war effort in exchange for a promise of independence as soon as the war ended.

The Indian National Congress party  launched the Quit India Movement in July 1942 demanding the immediate withdrawal of the British from India or face nationwide civil disobedience. On 8 August, 1942 the British arrested all national, provincial and local Congress leaders, holding tens of thousands of them without trial until 1945. The country erupted in violent demonstrations led by students and later by peasant political groups.

In January 1946, a number of mutinies broke out in the armed services, starting with that of RAF servicemen. The mutinies came to a head with mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay in February 1946, followed by others in Calcutta, Madras, and Karachi.

At the end of the war in 1945, the British colonial government announced the public trial of three senior officers of the Indian National Army, accused of treason.  The subsequent convictions of the officers, and the public outcry against the convictions, helped the Congress Party's subsequent electoral victories in eight of the eleven Indian provinces.

In 1947, British India was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan. The Englishman who drew the partition maps had never been in India, and the partition maps were not shown to the Indian or Pakistani leaders until after the partition. Massive loss of life, carnage, and unprecedented migration, followed the ill-conceived and unplanned partition, including border wars between India and Pakistan which are still not settled.

Delhi is the perfect overland stopover for maximum freedom, bus repairs and independence. Shopping and walking tours were popular, both in the Old City and New Delhi.

The Imperial Hotel near Connaught Place was another favourite for some respite from the madding crowds, as westerners could enter the beautiful, historic hotel grounds to escape from the locals on the mere suggestion of buying a fresh lime soda or a lassi. We could then enjoy the sanctury of a luxury hotel and its facilities, especially the swimming pool – another pleasure we would not expect to enjoy again until we drive to Jordan, where the best swimming is snorkling in the Red Sea resort town of Aqaba.

↑ Day 326 ↓ Day 328