Lecture Notes

"We Crown Thee King"

In 1858, during the reign of Queen Victoria, the British state took over the
Indian Subcontinent from the British East India Company, creating the so-
called Indian Empire or British Raj www Popularly referred to as "the jewel
in the crown" of British colonialism, the Raj endured until India and Pakistan
became independent in 1947 www The British individuals who emigrated to
work on the Indian Subcontinent were called Anglo-Indians, a term we see on
page 217 of "We Crown Thee King" www Anglo-Indians in official positions were
sometimes referred to as Sahibs ("masters")—for example, "the Burra [great]
Sahib" (221) www Initially, the British located the central Raj government in
the city of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) in the delta region of the mighty—
and sacred—Ganges river, along which Nabendu (from "We Crown Thee King")
walks "in the early morning" (223) www Calcutta is the dominant urban area in
the geographic and cultural region called Bengal, which has its own language
(Bengali) and is among the most densely populated zones on planet earth
www Partly to assert their cultural and linguistic difference from the colonizing
British—and partly to modernize and intensify aspects of their art, literature,
science, and society—Bengalis in the 19th and 20th centuries generated the
Bengali Renaissance, starting with Ram Mohan Roy (who died in 1833) www
Another family associated with the Bengali Renaissance had the last name
Tagore (formerly Banerjee); the family belonged to the elite Hindu class known
as Brahmins www Rabindranath Tagore, the author "We Crown Thee King,"
became the first Asian or non-Westerner to win a Nobel Prize (Literature,
1913) www He appreciated the tensions between the Raj on the one hand and,
on the other, Bengali and Indian demands for political independence www One
of Rabindranath Tagore's brothers (Satyendranath) became the first native
Indian to be appointed to the Indian Civil Service—that is, the Western-or white-
dominated body used by the Raj to administer the Indian Subcontinent www
Originally written in Bengali, "We Crown Thee King" appeared in English
translation in 1916 (in a volume of Tagore's word entitled The Hungry Stones
and Other Stories) www "We Crown Thee King" opens by emphasizing that the
character Nabendu Sekhar wants to continue his late father Purnendu's efforts
to gain British preferment and honors by means of kowtowing to the Raj
authorities—"by diligently plying…salaams [greetings]" (215); we might call
this practice "brown-nosing" www By contrast, Nabendu's brother-in-law
Pramathanath has come to "[desire] to keep away from Englishmen" (216)
and, instead, to seek national independence from the Raj www After living in
England for three years, Pramathanath returned home and fraternized with
Anglo-Indians, "enjoy[ing] English hospitality at…entertainments" (217) www
Make sure that you understand the episode at "the opening of a new railway
line" (217) that causes Pramathanath to "burst with indignation" (218) against
the Raj on behalf of "his Motherland" (218) www Also: make sure you
understand how Pramathanath explains his altered position vis-à-vis the Raj by
means of a "story" (218) about a donkey and an idol www It's important that
Pramathanath's epiphany-like disillusionment with the Raj occurs in the context
of railways, for (from the middle of the 19th century) the British created the
Indian rail-transport system, declaring (at the 1870 opening of the Bombay-
Calcutta cross-country route) that "the whole country should be covered with a
network of lines in a uniform system"  w ww When he first marries into their
family, Nabendu attempts to impress his "well educated" (219) sisters-in-law by
displaying European letters sent to his late father; the women respond by
satirically suggesting that Nabendu should worship English things and people—
for example, the eldest sister Labanya (also known as Labanyalekha)
constructs a kind of altar centered on "English boots" (220) for his use www For
testing purposes, know what a namavali is (220) www Tagore eroticizes
politics by having Nabendu become "much infatuated" (221) with Labanya; as
winter approaches, he finds himself "enchanted" by her "health and beauty"
(223), comparing her to the honeysuckle-like malati plant (used medicinally to,
among other things, expel parasitic worms from one's insides) www In fact,
Nabendu considers himself to be "placed between the cross-fires of his Sahibs
[Anglo-Indian officials] and his sisters-in-law" (221) www He wants Labanya to
believe that he attends a speech by the Indian nationalist Surendranath
Banerjee (221) www A Bengali Hindu, Banerjee co-founded (in 1876) the
Indian National Association, which would merge with the Indian National
Congress (founded in 1885), the political party most responsible for Indian
independence www A rumor spreads that, in connection with Queen Victoria's
birthday, the Raj will honor Nabendu by awarding him an RD: Rai Badahur,
meaning "brave prince," which comes with a medal (the Title Badge) www
Labanya assures Nabendu's wife (her sister) that "I will see what I can do to
prevent it" (222) www Even though both of them have spouses, Nabendu uses
cooking and card-playing to flirt with Labanya www Her Indian lawyer
husband, a member of the nationalist Congress party, "refuse[s] to pay his
respects to European officials" (225) www The husband asks Nabendu for a
financial subscription to Congress, assuring him that the donation will
remain confidential: "We won't publish your name in the papers" (226) www
Overanxious about proving his Bengali or Indian credentials—and about
impressing Labanya—Nabendu supplies 1,000 rupees and greenlights publication
of his name, even though backing Congress might cause the Anglo-Indian
establishment to block his plans for developing a racecourse www The Anglo-
Indian press features a letter (signed "One Who Knows") suggesting that
news of Nabendu's monetary support of Congress is an "absurd libel" (228)
www Urged on by the sexy Labanya, Nabendu approves a response that
declares, "[T]he haughty Anglo-Indians are worse enemies than the Russians or
the frontier Pathans" (230) www The British Empire vied with Russia for control
of the northern (Himalayan) region of India: a geopolitical struggle known as the
Great Game www Pathan is another word for Pashtun: the ethnic Afghans of
present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, most of whom follow Sunni Islam, the
largest branch of Islam www Nabendu's public alignment with Congress
precipitates a visit from the Anglo-Indian District Magistrate (DM), the Raj's
chief administrative and revenue officer in Nabendu's region (known as a
Collectorate [234]) www Nabendu keeps the DM waiting too long, so the latter
leaves; the next morning, Nabendu puts on "a big turban" (232) and attempts
to secure an interview with the DM, which necessitates payment of bakshish (a
tip or, more accurately, a bribe) to the DM's household retainers www Calling
Nabendu a "howling idiot" (234) to his face, the DM denies having visited him
(in effect, the Anglo-Indian establishment lies to and turns on Nabendu) www A
party of six of the DM's chuprassy-grade (i.e. badge-wearing) servants arrives
at Nabendu's home, looking for more bakshish; however, Labanya and her
husband refuse to "appease" (235) the men, even though they're fellow
Indians www Having been thoroughly manipulated by (his desire for) Labanya,
Nabendu finds himself lauded and elevated at the annual general meeting of
the Congress party www His "emerg[ing]…as a leader of the country" is a
political coup for Labanya www Turning the scion of a leading pro-British
Indian family into a nationalist in such high-profile ways (the press; Congress's
convention) constitutes a massive PR victory for her www Labanya follows up
with a household or domestic ceremony, flattering Nabendu with the declaration,
"To-day we crown thee King" (237) www The text indicates that Nabendu's wife
will later reward him sexually: in "the still secrecy of midnight" (237) www The
unidentified narrator has the last word, however; and he believes that Nabendu
will eventually turn back to the Anglo-Indian establishment and, thus, receive
glowing testimony in two Raj newspapers—the Englishman and the Pioneer
www The tale "We Crown Thee King" critiques its protagonist's motivations for
political involvement: his interest in the Anglo-Indians seems driven by
economics (specifically, his racecourse-building project) and by status (the
potential for an RD), while his commitments to Indian nationalism in general and
Congress in particular emerge from erotic infatuation with Labanya, who
regularly challenges him to man up www Arguably, we could read Labanya
(whose name means beauty) as a personification of India—a version of the
Motherland www Feminizing the nation is a common practice www Nabendu's
story highlights the dilemma of the colonized subject or subaltern: whether to
align himself with the colonizer or to campaign for national independence

END