The English Conquest of India

A warm and bright sun shines down upon the land as Daniel strolls along the beach. Several days have passed since his arrival in the remote Indian bay. Upon this particular morning, the general enjoys some time to himself and walks along the massive sea. Stooping down onto the sand Daniel reaches into the clear blue waters and picks up a curiously shaped shell. The general then opens the notebook which he carries to a new page and amuses himself taking observations of and drawing the shell’s figure. It takes him some time to do this as Daniel is, by nature, a perfectionist. After his sketch has been completed Daniel drops the shell back into the frothy water. He thinks idly about using one of the company’s small boats to go fishing for specimens to observe. Banishing the idea from his mind to be considered at a different time, Daniel rises to his feet and turns away from the sea and towards the fort which his men are constructing. While he walks, the general considers his past days within India.

The morning after his arrival in the bay Daniel had taken all of his men onto the shore. He had then proceeded to hunt out a source of useable water and a location suitable for building a settlement. Both of these luxuries were found in an area about a quarter mile north of the pleasant bay. Satisfied that the location would serve him well, Daniel had set his men to work building a rough fort. This structure, the general fancied, would serve as a trading post. Over the past few days work had progressed well upon that structure. Further, yesterday Admiral Polk had departed with four out of the five ships that had ferried the Englishmen to this bay. With his men occupied with work, Daniel had finally been able to sneak away from the fort and onto the beach upon this morn. He had thus spent several hours down by the sea making observation of the water life, as he had planned to do in the previous week.

Now, Daniel surmises by the sun’s position, the hour is drawing toward noon. Thus, the general decides to travel back to his men, so that he may take lunch. After coming off of the unblemished beach, Daniel can see his men toiling at their labors in the distance. The sounds of work rise through the air as Daniel comes into the enclosure that will soon be his fort. He smiles openly as his men put the last touches to their project. With his body halted in the middle of the area enclosed by the fort’s palisade, Daniel observes a group of men positioning a cannon. While he does such a man dressed sharply in uniform, who does not bear the signs of having labored all day, approaches the general. Daniel turns his head to see who is nearing him and then turns back to observing the cannon. The man that now stands stiffly beside the general is an officer by the name of John Locksley. Together, the men stand in silence for a moment. Then, eager to break the silence, John states the obvious for his commander, “They should have the fort completed by this evening, sir.” Daniel does not speak in return to the words but merely nods his head. Soon, he thinks, the foundation for a settlement will be completed. As the group of men with the cannon finish their task, Daniel wanders off to his quarters to prepare an entry for his log. Night begins to fall over the nearly completed structure. In the forests surrounding the group of foreigners the unsettling sounds of unseen movement can be heard…


SH – Thank-you for reading, and I hope you continue to do such.

Fodoron – I’ve changed the font type. Is this form any easier on you eyes?

Daniel finds that the evenings upon the Indian coast at this time of the year are both hot and long. These conditions have never been favorable to the general when he attempts to sleep. Thus, Daniel has found that on most nights, undisturbed sleep stays out of his grasp. The general, over the past days, has taken to strolling the encampment late at night and inspecting the work of his men. After such walks Daniel might try to doze for a while before occupying himself with some pursuit like writing in his ever expanding log. Upon this evening, that of the fort’s completion, Daniel is strolling around the palisade when he notices what many of his men already have. As the general passes by the opening in the palisade, he can see specks of light that appear to float in the woods that boarder the fort. Daniel draws the conclusion that these specks must be the illumination given off by torches. Intrigued by the sight which graces his eyes, Daniel leans against the palisade and watches idly as the torches draw closer to the forts edge. Time passes, and at last the outlines of the men holding the torches are visible at the forest’s edge a short distance away from the palisade. From that location those holding the torches do not more forward.

The situation stays suspended in the same condition for some time. Tension is broken when a single native man tentatively walks forward out of the shadows and into the light of the camp’s blazing fire. This native Indian or, “savage” appears before the Englishmen in the nude and without decency. Some of the men chuckle at the native’s sight but a sharp glance from Daniel silences them. The general fears angering his guest, who seems to be a native to this land, into doing something rash. While the native man stands awkwardly at the fire’s side taking in his, no doubt, alien surroundings, Daniel gathers some trinkets. He places these cheap items, such as brass buttons, in his palms. Slowly, Daniel walks toward and extends his hands to the strange man standing before him. Without realizing such, the general allows his limbs to shake from apprehension. He had never before seen the, “savages” of which the lords in London had warned him to wary. Now, this, his first encounter with Indian natives, seems to be well underway. The native toward whom Daniel has extended his hands reaches out swiftly and grabs at the items which are suspended in the general’s palms. For a moment, Daniel’s apprehension slips away as he sighs with relief to have the action over. Then, unfortunately, a most curious special occurs. The man who has taken the trinkets stoops down and places his rewards upon the ground to inspect by the fire’s light. As he peers closely at the brass buttons and other trinkets another Indian native draws closer to the fire. At this point a rather odd event transpires in what appears to be an establishment of dominance. The second man to have drawn closer to the fire, who wears a simple yet impressive robe, leans down to pick up some of Daniel’s trinkets. This action is not greeted well by the first native who collects his trinkets defensively. Next, the second man to have come closer, who Daniel is beginning to think is the unheeded superior of the first, steps aggressively toward his fellow native. The two lost souls then exchange words in some undistinguishable tongue. Following the verbal exchange the second, robed, native lunges at the other Indian’s hands and tries to pry the trinkets from then. In retaliation, the first man pushes his fellow backwards. Awkwardly the native falls into a short tempered officer by the man of Williams, who is by all accounts standing too close to the native visitors. This invasion upon his personal space is taken in great offense by Williams, who pushes the Indian down upon the ground.

Thus, was the escalation of the situation that night from a strained encounter between the two groups of men, into a fight between them. Daniel tries desperately to stop the scuffle from going too far. However, the situation falls out of his control when the other ten some-odd natives that had been waiting in the darkness rush forward. Seeing that he can not stop totally a fight of some nature from happening, Daniel attempts to keep his men from discharging their guns. Desperately the general orders to, “Pacify not kill.” His pleas to do such, it seems, are too late as during the scuffle two men fire their guns into the native’s that have rushed forward. It is these shoots that seen to scare off the natives who rush off back into the woods from which they came. When all is said and done, two natives lie dead and three are captured. As mournfully Daniel watches his men bury the bodies and place shackles upon the new slaves he silently fears what may transpire in the future as Indian retaliation…


Turion - Not a real attack. At this point they are just curious. However, the natives in Gujarat have the highest rating of aggressiveness. Thus, a real battle can't be too far in the future.

SH – I’m really glad you think such.

A candle flares up suddenly in a dark room. It, the candle, has been placed upon a small desk which appears to have been fashioned from local Indian lumber. The candle’s dim light illuminates a room that can be described only as shabby. A damp dirt floor lies below the desk, and a low ceiling hangs not far over the piece of furniture. With the exception of the room’s door, there are no openings in the chamber’s four crocked walls that light may travel through. Scattered throughout the room are a few pieces of battered furniture. Among these items is a wonderfully carved bookshelf that was created by the expert craftsmen of James Howard back in London. Elsewhere in the room, standing motionless over the hastily constructed desk, is Daniel. The general settles uneasily into a small chair placed before the desk and glances about the room, which has been serving as his living chamber for the past month. Adjusting his view, the general looks toward the pieces of blank parchment that are upon his desk. As he prepares to write an address to the lords in London, who have voiced their demand for him to do such, Daniel considers his past month in this strange land of India.

Death is a thing which is both hard to overcome and is usually accompanied by consequences for a man’s actions. It is this thought, instilled long ago by his tutors in England, that drove Daniel to be fearful in the days following his first altercation with the Indians. He, so to speak, held his breath for the week following the regretful deaths of those two natives. The reason for his apprehension was that he, logically, feared that the brethren of those lost souls might attack the fort in retaliation. Despite this fear, no actual retaliation came on the part of the Indians. There were, however, no more visits to the forts by the strange and intriguing natives of India, but that is something Daniel was willing to overlook. Thus, the past month had been lived out in almost total peace. Under Daniel’s guidance his men had begun to learn how to harvest the land of its riches. While doing this the soldiers also strengthened the ability of their fort to act properly. Time passed rather uneventfully for a spell. Then, almost exactly one month to his departure, Admiral Polk arrived back in the harbor, now named in his honor, on his return trip to England. The settlers were informed that on his travels south down the Indian coast Polk had come upon Portuguese trading posts in land King James had hoped to claim. Over supper, Polk expressed this aggravation at this to Daniel and asked if perhaps the general might like to create a report upon the settlement’s progress. The admiral offered to carry the report to London, should Daniel wish to create it. Daniel decided that he might as well inform his masters of the settlement’s progress and petition for its expansion. He knew exactly what would need to be said in that letter if the colony was to move forward. And thus, Daniel sits within his chamber upon this humid night preparing to writes his thoughts to his admirable lords back in England.

The general dips his pen into a well of ink. Then, he slowly lets the writing utensil fall upon his waiting parchment. In his address to the lords in London Daniel writes, “Despite the initial skirmish with the godless natives, I feel that my settlement is secure. Your lordships requested that I advise you to a dispatch a colonial expedition at the earliest date possible date. That time, I feel, is now.” While as Daniel writes he feels confident that his decision to advise further men be sent to tame this land is well founded, he will later regret it. However, one can never be sure what will happen as a result of their action. If Daniel had been informed of the events that will come to transpire as a result of his words, then perhaps he would not have been so quick to write then….

The dawn is both a stunning and beautiful sight for a man who observes its coming over the Indian Ocean. Looking out across the plain of water which is the doorstep to his settlement, Daniel is struck by the majesty of that scene. Daniel, in the wee hours of the morning, stands upon the coast with a group of about a dozen other souls. Recently, the group, of which Daniel is party, has made a daily ritual out of standing upon the coast and probing the horizon with their eyes. They, the people, look across the sea for a long awaited ship. It is the hope of those upon the beach that the vessel for which they search will carry fresh colonists to their little settlement. That hope was instilled within them when a month or two before when a battered merchant vessel sailed into Polk’s Bay carrying a letter for Daniel. Soiled and tattered, that letter had expressed a favorable response from the Lords of the Admiralty back in London with regards to Daniels request for more settlers. And therefore stands the group of people upon the unblemished beach, yearning to see more of their noble race. While Daniel scans the horizon he contemplates the past, something he finds soothing.

Polk had once again departed from the settlement, with his ego much expanded, about five months ago. It is hard for Daniel to believe that such a large amount of time has passed, but it most certainly has. Life, ove the past months, has since settled into a strange sort of routine. Under their general’s guidance, the soldiers, many of whom viewed India as little more than an escape from English prison, had settled down. Foremost in importance, over the past months the fort had been completed and its defenses refined. Further, the proceeding weeks had been spent by the soldiers clearing the land of natives, who were proving far too aggressive to stay on friendly terms with. Two notable, “Firsts” had happened as of late in the colony as well. These being, the first English harvest, which was actually taken from an Indian field captured for English purposes. Also the settlement’s resident missionary, a harsh Scot by the names of Robert Callie, had found his first convert among one of the two originally captured Indians. Thus, life had kept going for King James’ intrepid settlers. By the King’s decree, the land was being harnessed for civilized purposed, and the natives were being, “Dealt with harshly.” With these recollections spinning in his head, Daniel turns away from the sea and towards, newly christened in his majesty’s honor, Fort James. The new colonists will not be arriving this morning, ponders Daniel, and he has labors to apply himself against.

Slowly, Daniel plods up the beach toward his living quarters. His thoughts have shifted from rehashing the past, to contemplating his current chores. Grudgingly, the general silently admits he will have to commit some of his men to digging a well. He hates the prospect of wasting labor on a labor task that may not yield any gain. Just as Daniel comes off the beach and his thoughts begins to meander to the mundane, if anything related to Indian be called that, he hears the cry. The shout is bellowed from the sands behind him in a breathless and exited tone, ”A sail! They have come.” It is a vague statement in itself, but everyone seems to understand its meaning. That being, a ship has been seen upon the sea. The colonists have come…


Turion – Here you go Turion, an update. I’m afraid you will have to wait for the next update to read the “storm after the calm” if that is what you are looking forward to.

MAlexander06 - Wonderful, thank-you! I had a little trouble writing that part of the story as my first draft came out rather choppy soudning. I hope that was resolved in what I posted.

Thanks for the comments everyone, they are greatly appreciated. Anyway, I'm departing on vacation for a week or two. When I get back I'll pick back up writing. Until then, enjoy the summer.