Lord Curzon: The Last of the British Moghuls

342 Pages·1993·24.767 MB·English

by  Nayana Goradia

LORD CUR20N
The Last of The British Moghuls

LORD CURZON
The Last of The British Moghuls
Nayana Goradia
DELHI
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
1993
Oxford UniversityPress, WaltonStreet, Oxford0X26DP
New York Toronto
Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
KualaLumpur Singapore HongKong Tokyo
Nairobi DoresSalaam
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andassociatesin
Berlin Ibadan
©
OxfordUniversityPress1993
SBN0195628241
Endpapers:GovernmentHouse,Calcutta,1876,
CourtesyIllustratedLondonNewsPictureLibrary.
Talepage. VictoriaMemorial, Calcutta.
Drawing,byVishwajyotiGhosh.
TypesetbyImprinter, C--79OkhlaPhase-I,NewDelhi110020
PrintedbyRekhaPrintersPvt.Ltd.,NewDelhi-110020
andpublishedbyNed0*Brien, OxfordUniversityPress
YMCALibraryBudding,JaiSinghRoad,NewDelhi110001
To
PrafuU
withoutwhom this
wouldnothave beenwritten, and
Madhavi, Brinda and Gautam

Contents
ListofIllustrations IX
Prologue 1
I TheVictorianScene 13
II KedlestonHall 24
III ImaginedTormentors 33
IV GoldenYearsatWixenfordandEton 50
V ErosEncountered 70
VI OxfordandPolitics 84
VII TalesofTravel 97
VIII GeorgeandMary 106
IX FindesiecleIndia 120
X ‘WeMightasWellbeMonarchs’ 133
XI InPrincelyIndia 148
XII AnImperialistandaGentleman 161
XIII TheGiantAwakes 173
XIV TheyCallHimImperialGeorge../ 186
XV AFatefulAppointment 200
XVI ThePartitionofBengal 210
XVII AHumiliatingRetreat 228
Epilogue 247
AncestryofCurzonofKedleston 258
VIU Contents
Acknowledgements 260
NotesandReferences 263
Bibliography 295
Index 303
List ofIllustrations
(Onpage145)
The‘birdcage’lift,GovernmentHouse,Calcutta.Curzoninstalledthe
lift as part ofhismodernizationprogramme. DrawingbyDesmond
Doig.CourtesyTheStatesmanLtd,
(betweenpages164and16^)
PortraitofCurzon,1864,agedfiveyearsold.Hecriedwhenhiscurls
werecutoff.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
With MasterArchibald Dunbar, 1872. Hewas a‘greatfavourite’ of
Dunbar. Curzon attractedtheattentionofseveralmasterswhowere
knowntohavehomosexualtendencies.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
Curzon’s study at Eton, with picture of his mother Lady Blanche
Scarsdaleabovethemandepiece.Shehelpedtodecoratetheroom.To
Curzonshewas‘very,veryprecious’.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
Curzon’sfather,RevdAlfred,4thBaronScarsdale,1909.Portraitby
WilliamLogsdail.CourtesyTheNationalTrust/4thViscountScardsale
Lord Scarsdaleplayinghostto Curzon’sSouthportConservatives at
KedlestonHall,1890.Yetanimpressionwasbuiltthathisparentswere
indifferenttohim.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
Newly-wedGeorgeandMarybeingfetedbyLordScarsdaleatKedles-
ton,1895.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
AtacountryhousepartywiththePrinceofWales.Maryisseatedtohis
left.CourtesyIndiaOfficeLibrary
MaryasVicereine.Tttakesmybreathaway,’shesaid.CourtesyIndia
OfficeLibrary