User:Peter Ormond/Royal tours of India by the British royal family


 * 1875: Bertie
 * 1905: George
 * 1911: George
 * 1920: David
 * 1959: DoE
 * 1959: P Alex
 * 1961: EIIR
 * 1983: EIIR
 * 1984: A, PR
 * 1997: EIIR
 * 2010: Chuck
 * 2010: Ed Wsx
 * 2016: W&C

Royal tours of India by the British royal family have been taking place since 1875, and continue into the 21st century. George V is the only reigning Emperor of India to have set foot on Indian soil; he did so on 2 December 1911. His granddaughter Elizabeth II toured the Republic of India on three separate occassions. Other members of the royal family have also paid visits.

19th century
The first member of the Royal Family to visit India was Bertie, Prince of Wales (later King-Emperor Edward VII), son of Queen Victoria, Empress of India, in 1875.

In October 1875, the Prince of Wales set off on a four-month tour of the Indian subcontinent, visiting over 21 localities, which today encompass India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal, before returning home in May 1876.

The Prince of Wales departed for his tour on 11 October 1875. From London, he travelled by rail and ferry to the port of Brindisi in southern Italy, where he boarded HMS Serapis, the ship that was to take the Prince and his entourage to India.

The Prince made brief stops at Athens, Cairo and Aden on the way to India, where he met King George I, Khedive Isma'il Pasha, and Sultan al-Fadl III ibn `Ali al-`Abdali, respectively. The route to India made use of the Suez Canal, which had opened in 1869. The canal had reduced the journey from Britain to India by 4,500 miles.

On 8 November, after more than three weeks at sea, the Prince of Wales arrived at the port of Colaba in Bombay. To mark the Prince’s arrival in India, royal gun salutes were held in major cities across the Indian subcontinent. 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.

During the Prince’s first month on the Indian subcontinent he also visited Poona and Baroda.

The second leg of the Prince of Wales’s tour around the Indian subcontinent was predominantly by ship. The Prince departed Bombay on 25 November and sailed toward Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The HMS Serapis arrived at the port of Colombo in Ceylon on 1 December. Here the Prince was welcomed by William Henry Gregory, Governor-General of Ceylon, and members of the Tamil community. In Ceylon the Prince also visited Kandy, a former capital of various kingdoms in Ceylon.

From Ceylon the Prince sailed to the southern tip of India. He arrived at Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) on 10 December. On 18 December, the Prince made his way to the British capital of India, Calcutta (Kolkata) and arrived there on 23 December.

The Prince visited the Meenakshi Amman Temple on 11 December 1875 and was sprinkled with gold dust as he entered the temple complex through an impressive gateway, or gopura.

When the Prince arrived at Calcutta an impressive reception was organised to welcome him to the city. Pavilions were erected on the muddy banks of Prinsep's Ghat and decorated with white and gold pillars wreathed with garlands of roses and banners. The Prince was met by Viceroy Northbrook and several of the Maharajas who had not been able to meet him in Bombay. In this watercolour, Ranbir Singh Maharaja of Kashmir is shown greeting the Prince.

Queen Victoria issued a warrant that authorised the Prince of Wales to hold an investiture of the Order on New Year's Day.

This watercolour shows the installation of the Maharaja of Jodhpur as a new Knight Grand Commander. The Raja of Jind and Maharaja of Panna were also invested during the ceremony.

The Prince met with several Indian rulers at Government House, in Calcutta.

From Calcutta, the Prince visited Benares (Varanasi), Lucknow, Delhi and Lahore, using the extensive rail networks that had connected many parts of India from the mid-nineteenth century. The Prince himself opened a new railway bridge for the Punjab Northern State Railways in Wazirabad (now in modern-day Pakistan), which crosses over the River Chenab.

In the final months of his tour, the Prince visited Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur, Nepal and Indore. An important aspect of the tour was to make connections with the rulers of India, many of whose lineages had been established for centuries. The Prince received numerous invitations from Indian rulers to visit their palaces and states, providing him with opportunities to learn more about them.

The Prince visited Gwalior as a guest of Maharaja Jayaji Rao Scindia, arriving on 31 January. He stayed at the Maharaja’s newly built palace, Jai Vilas Mahal. Another state visited by the Prince was Jaipur. He arrived in the city on 4 February 1876 and was welcomed by Maharaja Ram Singh II. They then travelled through Jaipur on elephant-back, their route lit by torchlight.

The Prince of Wales arrived at Agra on 25 January.

Here, the Prince of Wales was so taken by the Taj Mahal that he visited it twice, once when it was lit by moonlight.

From Indore, the Prince of Wales travelled back to Bombay, where the HMS Serapis waited to sail back to England. The Prince departed India on 13 March, after travelling the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent and meeting more than 90 Indian rulers.

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. In England and Scotland alone, more than 2.5 million visitors went to see them.