FOR ALL WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY
OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE BRITISH RAJ
The British in India Historical Trust presents live and online lectures by authors of recently published books of interest to descendants of the British in South Asia between 1600 and 1947 and all who want to know more about the East India Company and the British Raj. The proceeds from lectures fund annual book prizes for excellence in non-fiction historical writing on British India.
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Online lectures run from November to April and this year's programme is here. They are broadcast via Zoom and are available UK-wide and to an international audience. Lectures from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 series have been uploaded to YouTube as a free resource for all who are interested in the history of the British in South Asia. The playlist is available here.
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In 2024 The British in India will present two live lectures on the Indian Mutiny on Monday 10 June and Monday 14 October at a venue in central London. The first, by Dr Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, was on ‘The Rise and Fall of the City of Lucknow’ and details of the second, by Sir Mark Havelock-Allan, are given below. ​​
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FEATURED LECTURE
MONDAY 14 OCTOBER 2024 18.30-20.30 (LIVE)
Onward, Christian Soldier: Havelock's March to Cawnpore and Lucknow
Sir Mark Havelock-Allan KC
ALAMY / NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM
In mid-Victorian Britain, Major General Henry Havelock was the most celebrated military commander since Nelson and Wellington. His heroic march across northern India to relieve the beleaguered British garrisons at Cawnpore and Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny captured the public's imagination like no other since Waterloo.
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With his small force of 1500, Havelock set out from Allahabad in July 1857 to march through searing heat and monsoonal rain the 175 miles to Cawnpore and Lucknow. Opposed by tens of thousands of mutinous sepoys, he fought three battles to reach Cawnpore, arriving too late to save the garrison there, and a further five battles before he fought his way into the British Residency at Lucknow, preventing its fall and the massacre of everyone in it. In this lecture Sir Mark Havelock-Allan recounts the life and deeds of his soldier ancestor, who was as renowned for his evangelical fervour as his military achievements.
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Sir Mark Havelock-Allan KC is a retired judge. He is the great-great-grandson of Sir Henry Havelock and is President of the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia.
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BOOK PRIZES
Proceeds from lectures fund annual prizes for non-fiction historical writing on British India: The British in India Book Prize and The British in India Military History Book Prize. The results of The British in India Book Prize 2024 are given here.
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