Marian Fowler > Quotes

“The Kohinoor diamond, radiant symbol of the power of the Moghul Empire, had, with the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, been quietly palmed into future Chief Commissioner John Lawrence's waistcoat pocket. From there it was sent to London to be shown at the Great Exhibition in 185I, recut by Garrard's, the fashionable London jewellers, then set in the very centre of Queen Victoria's crown. In 1656, when it had been presented to Shah Jehan, the Kohinoor had weighed 756 carats; recut by Garrards, it was reduced to 106 - fit symbol of waning Indian fortunes.”
― Marian Fowler, Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj

“Thuggee had prospered for 2,000 years before Lord William Bentinck ordered Captain William Sleeman to stamp it out, leaving only the word "thug" itself to survive in common English parlance.”
― Marian Fowler, Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj

“While the Cannings were still at Bombay, Lord Elphinstone was a charming host and got up two expeditions to famous caves, which showed just how far Raj formality had spread since the Edens' time. On January 31st, a large party went to the caves of Keneri, where everyone had their own cave furnished with washing tubs, sofas, writing-tables "and all requisites down to pen knives and India rubber bands," as Canning noted approvingly in his diary. Lord Elphinstone's servants had laboriously carried all this paraphernalia during the night "to this desolate uninhabited, trackless spot." The Imperial Presence became even more pronounced on February 5th when the Cannings went by steamer to the caves of Elephanta. Tents and huts had been set up outside where the party all changed into evening clothes- all frightfully well organized. Dinner for fifty people was laid in the principal cave, complete with champagne coolers, finger bowls, everything. The British toasted their Queen while Hindu gods carved in the dank rock leered lasciviously. On”
― Marian Fowler, Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj

“How could any British person, raised on Western notions of the supremacy of reason and the sanctity of humanlife hope to understand? How could he or she, blinded by racist superiority, comprehend Indian minds randomly flowing, fatalistic, focused not on this life but on the one, or the hundred, still to come? "It is unintelligible," puzzled George; "inexplicable," sighed Emily, both of them craving what India would never, ever give: a rational explanation which presupposed some logical order in the world. The”
― Marian Fowler, Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj

“Boating is not quite a pleasure, for one's senses are cruelly offended by the numbers of floating bodies of Hindus who travel up and down with the tide till they entirely disappear. This holy river is thought the happiest of resting places but a mean propensity to economy in the wood of funerals causes many bodies to be launched into the water when hardly scorched.   Charlotte”
― Marian Fowler, Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj