The scene is set… a large amphitheatre with thousands of spectators in their allotted places waiting with bated breath for the most significant event of the year to commence…. No, this isn’t wishful thinking about the 2010 Commonwealth Games ceremonies, though it is, in some way, a precursor! It’s a spectacle that took place 99 years ago in a large Delhi ‘maidan’, just off Karnal Road, in the year 1911.
As you may have guessed, it was the grand Coronation Durbar of King George V of England where he was crowned the Emperor of India, the first time for an English monarch to be enthroned whilst in India. The vast yet innocuous space of land that today hosts a few statues and a solitary commemorative obelisk, was transformed into a carefully orchestrated theatre where officials gathered in colourful turbans and tunics and where princes of the native states of India paid their obeisance by placing their swords in front of the King’s feet.
Now while all this sounds quite regal and the Durbar was an impressive spectacle of colonial order and discipline, the events that led up to the coronation were far from it. In fact just as the current Commonwealth Games saga has been mired in controversy, so too was the Coronation Durbar. Events like the famines of 1896-97 and 1899-1900 and the partition of Bengal in 1905 had soured public opinion of the British, especially in Calcutta, and the durbar was as much a diversionary tactic for the British as it was a show of power.
The site chosen was the same one used for two previous durbars, in 1877 (proclaiming Queen Victoria as Empress of India) and 1903 (proclamation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), but this occasion was quite different. The emperor himself was present, which wasn’t the case in the previous durbars. Further, the announcement itself was a momentous one, with far-reaching consequences for India.
Dressed in all his finery (including a crown studded with 6,170 diamonds!), the king emperor stood on the dais and proclaimed that Delhi would become the imperial capital of India instead of Calcutta! Once again, Delhi was the seat of power in India.
(Note: the Coronation Memorial site is a few kilometers beyond Kingsway camp, just after Nirankari Colony. The obelisk can be seen from afar and the statues of George V and his dignitaries are located in an enclosure. If lost, look out for children playing cricket)
