Day 10 - The Road to Kanpur

Well I guess I've pushed myself way too hard on these long marches, because now I feel pretty broken in places. That said, I’m in Kanpur! 

I haven’t said much about the road I’m travelling on yet, so here’s the deal; it’s a big long road. There’s not an awful lot more to say unless people want me to go into the condition of the tarmac etc. and I’m no expert in that. It’s a main highway, part of the Great Trunk Road joining northwest to northeast India. It’s the same road (more or less) that the British were so protective of and hugely important to domestic trade today. Signs of the Mutiny are predictably non-existent. India has mushroomed in population over 150 years and villages have become towns, towns, cities. there aren’t any landmarks and no memorials along the way. What you do get though, is a sense of what the countryside must have been like to traverse back then. There will have been a lot more uncultivated vegetation about, but the tall 10ft grasses, prickly bushes and dusty soil would have been the same that I’ve been weaving in and out of for the past few days. It is hot, dry, and polluted here. Excrement and plastic of all sorts litters the roadside.If you want to do your business, of any variety, the roadside is the place. Therefore the biggest hazard, tends to be to poo. care on where one places ones sandals becomes of paramount importance.  Where 150 years ago miles might go by without sign of human life, India today is a more crowded place. Every few hundred yards there is a chai stand, motorbike workshop, chewing tobacco vendor, or some such. The noise from the road is terrific. Drivers bang away on their car horns furiously, never ceasing, and the colourfully decorated trucks often have elaborate musical ditties to accompany theirs, like a bangra Dukes of Hazard. Earplugs or podcasts are essential. I get stopped every few yards by cyclists, motorcyclists, or other pedestrians and asked where I’m from, where I’m going, have I seen the cricket?, would I like a ride? And they all seem to think I’m mentally deranged to be walking to Kanpur. 

Well, I got nearly 20 miles along the road today and felt like I was on my last legs with still about 10 miles to go and a truck driver stopped and asked whether I’d like a lift. I was, on this occasion, grateful for the offer. I don’t think I could have made the final third without doing some kind of damage. I agreed to the offer and climbed into the shabby cab where I found another eight people crammed into the back. We had a very nice chat about cricket in Hindi and English as we slewed across the carriageways (he needed to use his hands to communicate quite a lot and steering took second place to making new friends it seemed). He dropped me on the outskirts of Kanpur and gave me a flower garland after compulsory photos and temple blessing. 

I reluctantly picked up my leaden pack and began trudging towards the city centre. A few hundreds yards on, I was stopped by three uniformed men in a 4x4 and asked where I was going. I was then bundled into the vehicle despite my protests that I’d be fine on my own, and immediately driven to their compound. There I was given two cups of ginger chai, a plate of McCoys Masala flavour crisps, and after an hour of chatting in Hinglish, told I was to go no-where without them for escort. The encounter concluded with me being driven to a hotel, a heavily discounted room rate arranged, and more compulsory piccies, before lots of salutes, handshakes and grateful goodbyes. It turns out the leader of the group was the Chief Fire Officer and determined to make my arrival in Kanpur as welcome and hassle free as possible. I rather like what I’ve seen of Kanpur so far.  

The road warrior at his ancient, decrepit monster truck

News of my arrival in Kanpur prompted an official welcoming committee from chief of the emergency services. Love that anyone in a peaked cap gets saluted for merely drinking tea. It feels very 'proper'. 

HISTORICAL NOTE:

Lucknow. The capital of Oudh province lies on the banks of the Gumti, 50 or so miles north of Kanpur. The government was represented by Sir Henry Lawrence, widely regarded as a fine, experienced administrator and much admired. Lawrence recognised the scale of the problem that sepoy disaffection would bring and while reassuring those under his stewardship, made contingencies should anything go awry. 

All the principal buildings lay between the city and the river. Here too was the residency which covered a little over 2000ft wide by 1200ft deep. 

Lucknow was garrisoned by the 32nd Foot, about 570 strong. 50 or so artillery men and the 7th Native Cavalry, 13th, 48th, & 71st Native Infantry with artillery attached. 

When danger seemed imminent, Sir Henry ordered the number of critical buildings guarded reduced from eight to four and strengthened them. The magazine and treasury were to be guarded by Europeans and by the 24th May, all families were moved into the residency. All administrative staff were armed and drilled, and Lucknow seemed as well prepared as anywhere in the troubled region. 

On the 30th May, the 71st revolted, murdered Brigadier Handscomb, plus others, and they were followed by the other Native regiments, save minority elements of the 48th, a few of the 71st, and the bulk of the 13th. Lawrence chased them out of town and continued to gather intelligence from the surrounding areas. It was clear that the mutineers were running riot in the countryside, but his grip on Lucknow for the time being remained intact. Sir Henry then appealed to all loyal Sepoys to join him at the residency and over 500 grey haired soldiers responded with 170 taken on strength. Still, he had very few men to defend a long perimeter, around 800 in total. As it was, there was no siege. When news of the fall of Kanpur reached on the 28th June, and the rebels 8 miles from the residency, Lawrence chose to attack them. Gallant, but ultimately futile, the expedition retreated back to the residency with half the 32nd gone and the city itself in the hands of the mutineers. The residency at Lucknow was under siege and all that could be done, as at Kanpur, was to hold until relieved.