The Colonisation ***

The land looked lush. The mist hung like an eerie curtain. Krishnarayan looked out from the bow of his ship. It was more than 3 months since he left India. He missed the balmy humid climate. Here it was perpetually grey and cold.

Krishnarayan’s sturdy mothership Thoothukkaval berthed off the busy port of Southampton, in England, which was then ruled by a weak ruler, Milton Cabot the younger. Only two of Krishnarayan’s four ships had managed to reach Southampton. Southampton was the port for London, a thriving city where Arabs, Chinese and Hindu merchants from all over Asia and East Africa came to trade in pepper, ginger as well as gold, ivory and silk. The ships had twenty cannons mounted prominently on it. Soon Milton Cabot the younger was willing to sign a peace treaty.

The landing party was ashore. The locals were awed. Pale skinned and tall, they cowered, seeing the brash invaders and their fearsome weapons. The year was 1448. This single event was to portend a race for supremacy in trade in the next century between the Indians and the Chinese, with the Turks and Arabs also taking more minor roles. During the earlier half of the fourteenth century England was dominated by the Turks, who controlled the sea routes on the western shores of Africa, effectively blockading any ships belonging to other nations. Only in the second half of the century, after the fall of Kefturk Akabira, did the Turk power begin to fade, making way for the Indians to be more active in the area.

***

Krishnarayan ruled England for over 20 years. He built the first Indian factory in London in 1451. From then till 1470, he went on a perennial campaign, attacking and capturing swathes of land all the way to Scotland to the north and Wales and Ireland on the west. London was renamed New Chennai in 1460. In 1468 it was proclaimed as the capital of Indian Britain.

***

The British Isles had been under Indian colonial occupation for over 500 years. But recently there had been sporadic rumblings of discontent among young Englishmen.

John Henry Montgomery was an intense young man. He spoke passionately to the motley group of listeners in the open square of London. “இது நம் நாடு . இந்திய ஆக்கிரமிப்பாளர்கள் நம்மை பல வருடங்கள் ஆண்டுவிட்டர்கள். நம் நாட்டை சூறை ஆடி விட்டார்கள். அவர்கள் நாடு செழிக்க நம் நாடு வாடுகிறது . நமக்கு சுதந்திரம் உடனடியாக வேண்டும் . சுதந்திரம் கிட்டும் வரை போராடுவோம் . அது நமது உரிமை." (This is our land. The Indian oppressors have ruled us for far too long. They have plundered our country and exploited us to the hilt, enriching their own people and country. We demand Independence. We will fight until we get it. It is our God given right.)

The group of Indian soldiers watched attentively from the sidelines.

“இந்திய ஆக்கிரமிப்பாளர்கள் மிக வலிமை வாய்ந்தவர்கள் . வலிமையால் அவர்களை நாம் வெல்ல முடியாது . நம் வழியில் அவர்களை போராடுவோம் . அஹிம்சை தான் நம் வழி . அவர்களின் வலிமைக்கு நாம் அஹிம்சை வழி பதில் அழிப்போம்."
(We know the Indian colonial imperialists have brute strength. We cannot win them on their terms. We will fight our way. We will adopt non-violence as our weapon. We will reply to their force by turning our other cheek.)