Blavatsky H.P. - From Beyond the Seas

From Beyond the Seas

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Calcutta. July 25.

Sleepy, lazy India dozed, according to its annual custom, from June to November. She lay on her side calmly, taking advantage of the minutes of political and commercial calm, under the gentle, warm, continuous rain of monsoon; she was covered with green mold and overgrown with moss. Everything bloomed and perspired; everything, both nature and people. Only occasionally, at any outstanding event of her internal order, such as the unusual interference of the English Saab in the household affairs and life of a Hindu, in questions about the remarriage of widows or compulsory study in schools of Muslim Urdu (lingua franca of the country) instead of Hindi and the preference given by the authorities to the hated dialect over the native language, made India’s emaciated body shudder and, without waking up, turn hard from side to side with a quiet moan... This is how an unrequited, characterless and meek person sleeps, who fell asleep among family misfortunes and troubles. He fell asleep under the influence of moral and physical fatigue, in the bitter consciousness of his own impotence; whether a mosquito bites him or a terrible nightmare squeezes his chest like in an iron vise, he only mechanically waves his hand, groans, snores and falls asleep again. So India slept, and even now she is not quite awake, apathetic – India of Hindus, hardened in suffering and having the armor of it. But suddenly the Muslim parasites stirred and fussed on her body; the loud, commanding voice of “barr saab", her great Master, rang out. There was a long–familiar note in the intonation of his voice – the first call of threat to the pocket of the sleeper, and now India nervously opened one of her eyes...

The long preparation of the Egyptian events, the riots and political troubles that followed one another crescendo, left her completely impassive and calm until now. A telegram arrived unexpectedly: "On Tuesday morning, Admiral Seymour will start bombarding the Alexandrian fortresses." And everything stirred and held its breath in the British and Muslim world of India; but India itself was still sleeping peacefully. Another dispatch arrived: "British bombs have incinerated the fortresses of Alexandria..." War! Rapid, feverish preparations began, everything became even more bustling from Simla to Calcutta, from Madras to Bombay, and something like babel began.

Having lazily opened one eye and found out what was the matter, India, the manufacturing people of India, was even rejoiced. "Ah, Ram, Ram!" she sighed. – If only the war had dragged on and the communication through the Suez Canal would have been interrupted for three years, then there would have been profit for the owners of paper-making mills!" – But, alas, the telegraph line message was interrupted for a day the trade between Suez and India resumed again and the hopes of the manufacturers flew away for a while. The poor guys sighed and squatted down to wait for the grass grow under their feet. Suddenly, like the ninth wave, terrible news flooded all the bazaars. A terrible rumor, predicted by astrologers since the beginning of the year, that India alone will have to pay with its modest wallet for the disgraced honor of England, flew around the country from end to end and made its peoples tremble. Strangely, only yesterday, July 24, Lord Hartington announced in the lower chamber that the costs of the Indian contingent sent to Egypt would be charged from India – and this was known and talked about back in June. They are amazingly clairvoyant people, real mediums and visionaries. The predictions have come true, confirmation of the rumor came from London; and so every sound, the slightest order transmitted by telephone from the quartermasters’ office to the docks, reverberated like a hammer in the hearts of the Hindus, and a scream rose from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas. The scream stands like moaning in the air now. From the palaces to the most squalid palm hut, everything curses British autocracy and the injustice of the government.

Indeed, the situation is tragicomic. Without guilt, this guilty milch cow of the United Kingdom, like a fleeced sheep, ruined by Manchester, an empire in rags, sees itself forced to be responsible for the sins of England with its own skinny sides and, for lack of milk, pay with the last drop of blood. The native newspapers could not stand it, they chattered and chattered, as if at a coven. Their polemics and bickering with Anglo-Indian colleagues are interesting and instructive. For example, the indomitable Amrita Bazar Patrika argues: "Our rulers are looking into our pockets again. Again, we are invited to pay, and this time for the preservation of the canal, the opening of which finally ruined India's trade. And because of what?" "Because," the Bombay newspaper coolly replies it, "so that great Manchester does not go bankrupt." "And damn it, your Manchester! – other brave native magazines reply it unceremoniously. – But our domestic trade will benefit; our national productivity will be revived again; disappearing arts and handicrafts will be resurrected... So why else would we pay for our own ruin?" – "And at least because you are the children of fathers who, as a result of the rebellion of 1857, forced us to spend money on this canal... if ordered you will pay" (C[ivil] and M[ilitary] Gazette).

Well, isn't this a conversation from Krylov's fable – a dialogue between a wolf and a lamb? And of course they will pay, and they will also thank for the fact that now they are allowed to talk. After all, India is not England, even under the Marquis of Ripon. How can these 250 million of poor people compete against a handful of overlords and despotic shopkeepers? Positively a scene from the family life of Kit Kitych! – “You're playing pranks," Kit Kitych inspires the trembling, obsequious cohabitee standing in front of him, "I'm nobody’s fool, and no one will dare to offend me, because after all, I'll myself offend whoever I want."

Meanwhile, threatening with the fist of one hand, our British Kit Kitych, covering his eyes with the palm of the other hand as a visor, lookы sideways at the distant steppes of Central Asia, beyond the Himalayas, squints and sighs in the direction of the city of Merv and the Tekin deserts. England is a surprisingly interesting subject for studying psycho-political phenomena. At the first news of the defeat of the Alexandrian fortresses and the preparations of the Indian contingent, the Anglo-Indian newspapers started talking not about Egypt, but about Russia! They were not interested in the events in the former and the combinations that might arise as a result of them in Europe, but in how Russia would look at them, what Russia might be planning and what, in all likelihood, Russia would do under the guise of these events. One consolation for England is that her bête noire General Kaufman has died; they say that General Skobelev (positively it is hard to believe such a misfortune for the Russian army), and a double, heavy mountain fell off Albion's shoulders. But, thank God, General Chernyaev, the hero and conqueror of Tashkent, has not yet died, and his name still lies a wide black shadow on the heart of Anglo-India. After all, Russia is not sleeping, the local alarmists think. Russia will never miss an opportunity (alas, from their lips to God’s ears!) to take advantage of England's temporary impotence. And now "she is right next to India and gives orders in the vicinity of Merv, like a landowner in his village." Pioneer, Bombay Gazette, Englishman devote daily editorials and titles to this issue: "Urabi Bey" and "Russia in Merv" alternate on newspaper pages, flashing like mileposts along the way. The sight of such a deeply ingrained, apparently incurable mental disorder even stirs to pity. Take a look at the following:

"Thanks to the incompetent policy of Mr. Gladstone, we are in the most unpleasant, humiliated position. We have had bad governments before in England and cabinets of various kinds; there have been stupid and apathetic governments, incapable governments, but we have never had a government whose tactlessness and cowardice would dishonor England to such an extent as the current one does during the terrible European crisis... Our position makes us sick, and it is almost impossible to reason in cold blood. The disgusting massacre of Europeans in Egypt is a direct consequence of the mediocrity of the Gladstone Ministry and the Russophilia of his friends (!!!) ... Now we should keep an eye on Russia, when the London leaders of the policy of inaction suddenly decided to act inappropriately... If our canal is in the slightest danger, then we should, without wasting a minute, send an Indian contingent there... The reckless nature of the Egyptian Ministry is evident from the fact that it has armed 31,000 reserve troops and that Urabi Bey now has more than 50,000 reckless fanatics. ... It is clear that at the present moment the slightest sign of a lack of firmness, the slightest hesitation can lead England to an imminent catastrophe, to the loss of prestige and that universal influence beneficial to the world that she has on all (?!) European powers!" and so on, and so on.

These extracts from the main government press body of Anglo-India and the Bombay newspaper clearly show the favor that the prime minister enjoys among us for his "Russophilia". But that's not all. If, on the one hand, it is very natural that, valuing her head (India), England values as much "her neck", as the Suez Canal seems to her, then on the other hand, her constant chronic fear for her "scholar borders" of the north is somehow a monstrously frank consciousness of her own powerlessness. Despite her "enormous" influence on “all the powers of Europe," the courteous hesitation of France, the outright refusal of Italy and Germany to take part in her offensive actions against Egypt indicate the opposite. That is why England may be showing such a childishly stupid fear of Russia. With such a crowd of sharp-sighted diplomats, like our Anglo–Indian editors, who draw their wisdom from the Simlin Foreign Office, such a crowd of advisers who rack their brains day and night over all sorts of possible and impossible passages and combinations that Russia could resort to – the latter really don’t need to keep diplomats. Everything was thought up for her, provided for and prepared in advance by her outright well-wishers. From the six columns of the article "Possible consequences of the Egyptian turmoil" in the Pioneer, I take a few lines as an example.

"... That Russia will take advantage of our present predicament is beyond any doubt... If we now send our contingent (and it is departing on August 4), then the direct consequence of this step will be the following: first, the renewed tooth-grinding (free transfer) of Russia on account of the northeastern borders of India; secondly, Russia will never agree to look indifferently at the participation of the Indian army in the strife concerning, in her (Russia's) opinion (?), the whole of Europe, and not England alone... Then, incited by impotent malice, she will also put her card on the table in this game and do something very annoying to our government. Secondly, she (Russia), of course, will take the opportunity to assure gullible Europe that sending Indian troops has weakened our government and leaves India completely defenseless. And if she succeeds in this little trick, and in view of the superstition of the Asians, she must certainly succeed, then it is clear that if the Indians and Asians from beyond the Himalayas, every time we have to send our native troops across the seas, begin to imagine that we are in a helpless position, then we will have to leave them at home... Thirdly, Russia certainly knows and cannot help but know that such a dispatch of a significant part of its troops from the country really weakens our government (so where is the cunning or slander on the part of Russia, if so?)... because, thanks to the laxity of our military department, the Anglo-Indian troops are in a very meager position and expenses are being shabby... Thus, we are now stuck on the horns of not one, but several and very many dilemmas, of which the most difficult task is to seize the canal and hold it now, when we are tied hand and foot by Ireland and the reorganization of our Indian army." Having relieved the soul with such a confession, the newspaper adds that one thing is clear from all this: "Sending an Indian army to Egypt will only give Russia an excuse to play with England" on its Afghan borders, namely "in Kandahar, some kind of obnoxious thing"; but which one exactly the newspaper assures that "it is impossible to predict so far."

Is this stupidity, a trap, or just a consequence of the self-hypnotization by fear?

Generally speaking, the candor and frankness of English newspapers are not only praiseworthy in the abstract sense of virtues, but also very original in view of the possible practical consequences. It was as if numerous editorial offices scattered over the vast face of the British possessions had conspired to set a good program to facilitate, as far as possible, the present and future enemies of the fatherland the puzzling work of strategic plans. One in front of the other, they try to evoke, so to speak, the enemy and the adversary a variety of military tricks. For Urabi Bey, for example, it is completely unnecessary luxury to figure out how to repel the British and spite them more. And he does not need to be a War Minister or even a particularly remarkable commander to be helpful to the Egyptian National Party and drive the British either into the sea or lure them into the desert and slaughter them there like sheep. To do this, one only need to speak English, be able to read London and Anglo-Indian newspapers, especially the latter. Officers preparing for the campaign, of whom I know several and see every day, are simply in despair at such frankness of the Anglo-Indian press and send it twenty times a day to hell. Indeed, all of this it would be very funny if the terrible massacre in Alexandria had not already taken place and there were not several more such events in the future. There is no such trick, there is no such infernal idea that would not have been inspired to Urabi Bey by Anglo-Indian and even London newspapers from the very first day of the bombing. Everything that can be easily carried out, but that's probably why it wouldn't have occurred to the Arabs, is carefully and in detail set out in the leading articles and supplemented by the most ingenious possibilities and chances. There is nothing else left for Urabi Bey to do but to get settled on the sandy shore of the canal, enjoying bliss, lighting a nargil and sipping coffee, and choose at his leisure one of the thousand and one excellent strategic tricks for destroying the enemy, inspired by the enemy himself, – au grand choix – and act.

For example, the Times suggests that he submerge torpedoes in water in such and such places of the canal. "The consequences are sure and inevitable," says this venerable press body, Nestor of journalism. "Write it down," Urabi Bey orders the secretary. The London Telegraph expresses a pleasant confidence that a few rudely and flimsily built infernal machines filled with dynamite and buried very shallowly in the sands around the British camps on the way of the headquarters and troops, could blow up half of the British army and up to the last soldier "under favorable circumstances for the "monster," that is Urabi Bey. "It's not a bad idea," the War Minister thinks after reading it, "so let's write it down." The Civil and Military Gazette enlarges on the most convenient place in the Suez Canal, where to sink a ship, completely blocking the way for mail steamers; The Statesman elaborates in detail the idea of sinking the Indian contingent, as in the time of the Pharaoh in the Red Sea, by means of some amazing machines and canals built from Kafr El Dawwar to the road to Cairo. The Englishman goes into great detail and teaches the new pasha how to build earthworks quickly and without much difficulty and dig trenches around Cairo; and causing him to recall Plevna, clearly proving what even savage hordes of unlearned fanatics behind earthen fortifications are capable of doing, considers in advance “enormous losses” on the part of the British. Finally, The Pioneer, in its undisguised rage against the liberal Cabinet and its "political crimes," attacks it in a friendly chorus with the St. James Gazette, this anti-Gladstone organ par excellence, and unfolding before Urabi Pasha a whole panorama of attacks against British troops and their complete destruction, indicates to him the most convenient time for such an operation.

"Urabi Bey should only proclaim jihad," teaches it, and do so-and-so, and so on (detailed instructions follow) – "and the holy war will have to penetrate Tripoli, Tunisia and Algeria until the whole of North Africa rises as one man... Fanaticism is in full swing and it would be strange on the part of Urabi Bey if he did not take advantage of this most convenient moment for him to attack and defeat us, since it will take more than at least three or four weeks to equip our troops and send them to Egypt. And all this is due to the mediocrity and short-sightedness of the current cabinet."

Even in case of failure and inability of Urabi Bey to take advantage of the free and so precious advice for him, Pioneer, how to give vent to his bile over the ministry, instructs the "great rebel" how to get away scot-free when he gets caught. The short deadline set by Admiral Seymour for Urabi Bey to suspend work on the fortification of Alexandria, and the

"barbaric anti-diplomatic measure of the immediate bombardment of these fortresses, which followed disobedience, – must point out in the opinion of the whole of Europe to those who took the initiative of such measures (consider Gladstone) as the real delinquents of everything that followed and will follow... Without a doubt, the destruction of European quarters and the murder of so many Christians are the responsibility of Urabi Bey... But if, as it will probably be easy for him to prove that not only Arabs robbed, but also many Europeans who belonged to the scum of society and always found refuge in Egypt, then he will not only avoid personal responsibility, but also very easily prove, that our senseless, untimely attack and the destruction of fortresses were to blame for all this, which demoralized his army and police."

If after that Urabi Bey does not become a lifelong subscriber to Pioneer, then he will really show himself to be an ungrateful Arab!

But all this does not prevent the Indian contingent from preparing, even in its present semi-organized state. " A lover's anger is short-lived"; and Anglo-India is seriously going to hit Egypt. Probably remembering that "forty centuries" will look at her from the tops of the pyramids, she even begins to brag in advance that she will soon make Urabi Bey toe the line without European help. A few days ago, several letters appeared in print from eyewitnesses claiming that Urabi Bey and his army were even more demoralized by the news of the imminent appearance of an Indian army in Egypt than by the bombing by Seymour. But although military preparations have been going on for more than a month and the newspapers have already announced the numbers and names of the regiments being sent several times, for some reason these names are constantly changing, disappearing from the lists with fantastic rapidity. The fact is that Anglo-India is baffled. Anglo-India hesitates on the account of one of the measures listed by the Pioneer. The dilemma is difficult, and India does not know what to do. There is a little political secret in this hesitation – un secret de Polichinelle, of course, like all Anglo-Indian secrets, that is why I reveal it. The whole strength lies in the fact that the Muslim element is strongly mixed in the regiments with the Hindu one, although since the time of the rebellion it has been ordered to strictly observe an equal proportion in both for fear of strikes between different co-religionists. This element is now a hindrance. The Hindu soldiers assure their officers that if many Mohammedans are sent with them, the religious fear inspired to the latter by jihad will force the most loyal of them to desert, if not to defect to Urabi Bey. "For the Mogul, his Prophet is even higher than the English Saab, therefore the mogul is a fool," said an Indian sepoy to an officer, I know, yesterday. On the other hand, the officers do not want to part with their sepoy moguls and cite as proof of their loyalty the fact that they fought excellently in Afghanistan against their own Muslims. Anyway, the military authorities are now in excusable indecision, not knowing whether to send Muslims or to weed out this useful but dangerous herb from the military garden in advance. Back at the end of June, the Egyptian correspondent of Pioneer telegraphed his apprehension to Simla about this. The National Party is full of hope and is working hard to arouse the fanatical feelings of the Muslims of India in case of British interference in their affairs. Urabi Bey's threat that "the war with Egypt would more dangerous for England than for Egypt" was not in vain; and the War Minister’s confidence that the Indian Moguls would not fight against their brothers is even more important for someone who follows the Muslim native newspapers in India. In Bombay, for example, in the newspapers Kossid and Mumbai, the Gujerati press organ of Mohammedanism, the other day we read the following:

"The Khedive became a submissive tributary of the British. We will never believe that the brave Urabi Bey surrendered as easily as we think. He will still be able to resist the British and leave an immortal name in his homeland.... No one can imagine that, while he is alive, the united armies of England and the Khedive could do anything in this country. The Khedive's dependence on the British and his faith in them cover him with shame, branding him a slave and a coward, and although he is now supported by the powers as the legitimate ruler of Egypt, but since then he has lost all his influence, is hated by his subjects and every Muslim is now obliged to see in him only a nominal Khedive. It is impossible to understand how it can seem compatible with the dignity of a Muslim prince to be locked up in a half-burned palace and be guarded by Christian troops!"

It seems clear.

As a result of all this, today we learn from the newspapers that three regiments of Sikhs and Punjabs have been assigned to sail to Egypt, and only a small handful of Muslim sepoys: that is, for every four companies of Hindus, one company of Mohammedans. The choice is prudent. The Mogul has never had, does not have, and will not have an enemy more relentless and dangerous than the Sikh. A regiment of small Nepali Gurkhas was planned to send against Urabi Bey; since, according to the native proverb, "in every Gurkha there are two Sikhs and one devil, and when a Gurkha sees the shadow of a Mogul, he grows up to the stars." But as much as the Gurkha is indispensable in his native mountains, where he climbs like a wild cat, he will be useless in sandy deserts and in hot climates, and so the Gurkha is left at home on the scholar border to guard the Russians so that they do not cause any trouble in the absence of “owners” in Kandahar and closer.

From another telegram, we learn how much the loving heart of the Simlin authorities was touched by the expression of loyal feelings on the part of a nine-year-old boy, the Potentate of Putiala. The young phenomenon, hearing of the government's predicament, immediately and "eagerly offered his brave troops for the Egyptian campaign at the complete disposal of the Viceroy." Seeing in front of them a regiment of these "boom boom generals", warriors in blue tights, red boots, gold sleeveless jackets and with monstrous gods and six-armed goddesses sitting on high spires of golden helmets, the Bedouins might gape and allow themselves to be beaten at that time. This is the second time during his short but glorious reign, that the Maharaja of Putiala has the honor of serving his suzerains faithfully.

During the Afghan campaign, our patriot baby also wished to have the happiness to serve with money and troops and reap laurels with England. Neither was rejected at the time.

Footnotes

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