The Prince of Wales's Tour of India in 1875-6
Albert Edward's tour aimed to strengthen ties between the two countries
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On 11 October 1875, Albert Edward Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, embarked on a four-month tour of the Indian subcontinent. From London, he travelled by rail and ferry to the port of Brindisi in southern Italy, where he boarded the HMS Serapis, the ship which took the Prince and his entourage to India. There, he visited more than 21 towns and cities.
The tour was part of an educational programme developed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for the Prince of Wales, who had already undertaken tours to Canada and the United States, and to Egypt and the Middle East. They felt that travel would provide the Prince, who would later become King Edward VII, with an opportunity to learn about the culture, history and religions of these different countries, and to forge diplomatic links between their rulers and the British Crown.
An important aspect of Indian diplomacy was an exchange of gifts. The Prince presented commemorative gold and silver medals, bracelets, rings and lockets commissioned from the crown jeweller, Garrard and Co., and illustrated books. In return, the Prince received a wide array of beautiful objects ranging from rings, lockets and brooches, to daggers, swords and scabbards. Each object was linked with Indian court traditions; they were intricately decorated and displayed craftsmanship that was much admired in England. Some of the finest Indian treasures in the Royal Collection were presented to the Prince during this visit.
The Prince’s tour party
The Prince was accompanied by some of his closest friends and members of his household. William Howard Russell, a reporter for The Times, later published the official tour diary in 1877, while Sydney Prior Hall, a reportage artist for The Graphic, joined the party as the Royal Artist. His drawings were used to illustrate Russell’s vivid accounts.
First steps in India
On 8 November, after nearly a month at sea, the Prince of Wales arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai). He was greeted by crowds ‘glittering with gems’ and ‘swaying to and fro'. In his diary, Russell was taken by the
extraordinary types of dress and effects of colour. There was something almost supernatural on those long vistas winding down banks of variegated lights…
In Bombay, the Prince hosted his first reception for the Indian rulers. Here, he adopted Indian court customs such as offering paan (shavings of betel-nut, various seeds and spices, and lime-paste wrapped in a betel-leaf) and attar (perfume) to welcome them.
This turban ornament, or sarpech, was presented to the Prince during the reception by Sajjan Sing, the Maharana of Udaiput. The ornament is made of gold inlaid with diamonds and emeralds, while the back is beautifully enamelled in red, green, white and blue flowers with peacocks. To receive a sarpech as a gift was a high honour. They were worn in parts of India to symbolise a ruler’s royal status.
Along the coasts of India and Sri Lanka
The Prince departed Bombay on 25 November to embark on the second leg of his tour around the Indian subcontinent. The HMS Serapis arrived at the port of Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 1 December. William Henry Gregory, Governor-General of Ceylon and members of the Tamil community welcomed the Prince.
Outside the Governor’s residence, the Prince was entertained by a procession called Pera-hera – a Buddhist festival. Although it is usually celebrated in July or August, a special rehearsal was staged. In this drawing by Sydney Prior Hall, we can see the Prince seated on the left, surrounded by elephants and masked dancers.
From Ceylon, the prince sailed to the southern tip of India, then travelled by train to see the monumental temples of Madurai and Trichinopoly. He visited the famed rock fort that housed two Hindu temples, where he watched the fireworks arranged in honour of his visit.
While in Trichinopoly, the Prince purchased this ornate bangle. It is made from a sheet of gold that has been beaten in the form of makara head, a mythological sea-creature. It was later presented to his mother, Queen Victoria, on her 57th birthday:
I received a number of lovely things. Arthur gave me a charming old Spanish fan from Seville and Bertie 2 beautiful Indian bracelets from Trinchinopoli and Jeypore.
The Prince travelled further along the coasts of India to Kolcata. He arrived on 23 December to an impressive welcome reception. Pavilions were erected on the muddy banks of Prinsep Ghat and decorated with white and gold pillars wreathed with garlands of roses and banners.
Travelling inland
From Kolkata, the Prince visited Varanasi, Lucknow, Delhi and Lahore, using the extensive rail networks that had connected many parts of India from the mid-19th century. The British Indian Government developed the railways to transport goods and troops. The network was particularly important during the Indian Uprising in 1857, when Lucknow became one of the five cities in northern India embroiled in the conflict, an event commemorated by the Prince during his visit to the city.
This leg of the journey was focused on commemorating British and Indian soldiers and civilians who had died during the 1857 Uprising. The prince laid the foundation stone for a memorial for the Indian soldiers who defended the Residency and met some of the survivors.
In Varanasi, the Prince visited Ramnagar Palace at the invitation of the Maharaja Ishwari Narayan Prasad Singh. He travelled on the Maharaja’s state barge along the River Ganges at dusk. The river was
Covered with tiny lamps…little earthen vessels, bearing their cargoes of oil and wick…[that] it seemed as though a starry sky were passing between banks of gold
This enamelled and jewel-encrusted peacock inkstand was a gift from the Maharaja and is modelled on a state barge known as the Maurpankhi. It comes apart into 19 separate pieces, including a pen-knife, two inkwells, two pen nibs and a pair of scissors.
Visit to the Indian courts
During his tour, the Prince received many invitations from Indian rulers to visit their palaces and states. An important aspect of the tour was to make connections with the rulers of India, many of whose lineages had been established for centuries.
In the final months, the Prince travelled further inland, visiting Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur, Nepal and Indore. The Prince and his entourage were particularly struck by the architecture in Jaipur, known as the ‘The Pink City’, Russel wrote he had ‘never beheld any street architecture of this kind’.
Here, the Maharaja Ram Singh II presented the Prince with this beautiful perfume holder. When pressure is applied to the rod beneath the tray, the ‘leaves’ of the perfume holder open to reveal a yellow enamelled cup and cover. The feet of the tray are in the form of elephant-like animals with curled up trunks that rest on green enamelled circular feet with gold-set diamonds. The enamelled holder underwent five firings and took five years to complete.
Farewell to India
The Prince departed India on 13 March, after travelling the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent and meeting more than 90 Indian rulers. Eager to share his experiences, he asked George Birdwood, curator of the Indian Museum at South Kensington (Victoria and Albert Museum), to take charge of exhibiting the gifts for the wider public to enjoy.
The exhibition of the Prince's gifts from India travelled to ten locations: South Kensington, Bethnal Green, Paris, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, York, Nottingham, Copenhagen and Penzance. More than 2.5 million visitors saw the collection in Britain alone.
