SHIV NANDY - WILLIAM SHAUGHNESSY ... The Bengali-Irish pair behind the First Electric Telegraph Line !!

Burrabazar, the commercial nucleus of Kolkata, is like a labyrinth to anyone who is not familiar with its lanes and bylanes. Stretching from the Ganesh Talkies in the north to the BBD Bag in the south and from the C R Avenue in the east to the Howrah Bridge in the west, the approximate one sq.km. area probably records the highest footfall in a day than any other location of the City. But unlike the rest of Kolkata, the names of the lanes and by-lanes do not really matter here. Most of the people visiting Burrabazar used to acquaint themselves with the commodity or building based demarcations viz. the different sub-markets (patti) like Sonapatti, Tulapatti, Masalapatti or buildings (katra meaning roadside inn or colonnaded structure in Arabic/Persian) housing specific products, like Raja Katra, Manohar Das Katra, Sadasukh Katra etc. A majority of the pathways with their names are now in oblivion. Shiv Nandy Lane in Posta near Ganesh Talkies is one such by-lane. 

It would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that I went hunting down this lane for my story. But in fact, I accidentally came across the alley while researching for another story of mine. I was in Chitpore, Ganesh Talkies, shooting the Adi Brahmo Samaj house near Jorasanko Thakurbari gateway. Suddenly, on the opposite footpath, a street name plate intrigued me - 'Shiv Thakur Lane'. Bound with a curiosity and a hope to find another derelict century old Shiva Temple, I entered the hardly 3 ft. wide alley. After a few yards, it opens up to a rather wide lane, making me to continue my quest. Though I did not find the temple but another street name plate suddenly tickled my memory - 'Shiv Nandy Lane', the name itself seemed to be quite familiar to my mind. A quick googling revealed the mention of this name in Amitabha Gupta's blog post about Optical Telegraph. Shiv Nandy or Shiv Chandra Nandy was the Bengali man behind the first electric telegraph line in India, more than a century ago. 

Wanderlust decided to go on exploring...

Before Shiv Nandy's Electric Telegraph -

To realise the importance of Shiv Nandy's achievement, we must first know the background of long distance communication in India. The word 'telegraphy' refers to the long distance transmission of messages without the physical exchange of an object and 'telegraph' is any device to facilitate the method. Prior to the invention of telegraph, exchange of messages over a long distance was an extremely time-consuming process. In late 18th century, a letter from London used to take 44 days on an average to reach Calcutta, the second most important city of the British empire then. It was becoming impossible to maintain the smooth communication and operation between the European trade settlements and colonies all over the world. As the necessity is the mother of invention, Optical Telegraph was born in France in 1792 amid the French revolution. Later British followed the French footprints and introduced it to the Colonial India. Optical Telegraph was a method of conveying information through visual signals using Semaphore Towers, the ruins of which can still be seen in various parts of Bengal. But the method soon became obsolete with the advent of Electric Telegraph. 

William O'Shaughnessy's Invention -

Sustainable Electric Telegraph was invented in the United States and India at almost same time. After the system was developed and patented by Samuel Morse (Morse Code fame) of US in 1837, Electric Telegraph was invented independently by William Brooke O'Shaughnessy in India during 1839, in Calcutta to be more specific.  

O'Shaughnessy, an Irish physician, came to Calcutta in 1833 as an Assistant Surgeon of the East India Company and joined Calcutta Medical College as the Professor of Chemistry apart from being the Joint-Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Though medical science still remembers him for his path-breaking research on Intravenous therapy and medical properties of Cannabis, O'Shaughnessy also experimented on use of electro-chemical conductivity for communication. 

The first proposal to build a telegraph network was presented by one Adolphe Bazin in the meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in June, 1839 but was rejected by a subcommittee as 'impracticable', arguing for a simpler system. O'Shaughnessy was a member of the very same subcommittee. Within 3 months, he came up with his primary experiments and published a paper in the Asiatic Society Journal of Sept. 1839 issue - 'Memorandum Relative to Experiments on the Communications of Telegraphic Signals by induced Electricity'. Here, apart from digging up the details of earlier trials in this field, he explained in brief his experiments so far. His first set of tests involved setting up of electro-magnetic machine at the ghat of Bishop's College (then at Shibpur, near Botanical Gardens; now the building is a part of Shibpur Engg. College) and lying of wire up to Dr. Wallich's library inside the Botanical Gardens' premise through the Hooghly river bed and along the dry paths of the garden. According to O'Shaughnessy's claim, the signal, from the machine, successfully reached the library! In his third trial, covering the entire boundary of the Garden and encircling the trees, eleven miles of metallic circuit was used beside 13256 feet of water circuit through the river bed and canal. In spite of two interruptions, the signal was strong, as noted by him. Apart from the mechanism, O'Shaughnessy's paper also carried a cost estimate of the projected network which was to become a reality soon.

Serving as the Chemical Engineer to the Govt. and Professor of Calcutta Medical College, O'Shaughnessy went on furlough to England in 1841.

Governor General Dalhousie, Patron of the Electric Telegraph Line -

In January, 1848, James Andrew Broun-Ramsay arrived in India as the Governor General who is more popularly known as Lord Dalhousie. Though the rather infamous policy of this Scottish office holder was Doctrine of Lapse through which East India Company (EIC) used to annex any non-British state lacking a proper male lineal heir, but his other reforms were quite noteworthy. They were an attempt to facilitate smooth communication and hassle free administration throughout the Indian colony. His initiatives include railroads, cheap postage, department of public works, irrigation and canals etc., all of which were preceded by a path breaking step - implementation of Electric Telegraph Lines. 

In the 1840s, telegraphy was all the rage in both Europe and America. The Court of Directors of EIC in London had been repeatedly approached and suggested to take the advantage of electric telegraph system. In September, 1849, the Court directed Governor General Dalhousie to look into the matter. By that time, O'Shaughnessy had returned to India, in 1844 and was functioning as the Assay Master of the Calcutta Mint. Dalhousie was aware of the unprecedented experiments done by O'Shaughnessy in the field of Telegraph. He appointed Shaughnessy and Colonel Forbes of the Royal Engineers to investigate on the overall viability of the plan. While O'Shaughnessy advocated the lying of underground telegraph lines, Forbes was in favour of having them aerially. Governor General decided to try both!        

Since 1786, an administrative body called 'Military Board' was in charge of the civil and establishment matters of the British provinces in India. The Civil wing of the board used to look after these cases. In November, 1849, Military board asked O'Shaughnessy to come up with a plan of installation of telegraph lines. Entrusted with this highly ambitious project then, O'Shaughnessy chose a reliable sub-ordinate of him from Calcutta Mint to assist on this plan. The man was none other than the Bengali gentleman, Shiv Chandra Nandy (spelled as Seeb Chunder Nandy in the official papers).

Shiv Chandra Nandy, the first Bengali in Indian Telegraphy -

Born in June, 1824, Shiv Nandy belonged to a not-so-affluent family in Calcutta. At the age of 22, in 1846, he joined the refinery department of the Calcutta Mint under O'Shaughnessy. Being a man of sound technical expertise, Shiv Nandy soon earned the trust of his boss. When in 1850, the first line between Calcutta (Alipore to be precise) and Diamond Harbour planned, Nandy was roped in by O'Shaughnessy and made in charge of the workshop. 

Between 5th November, 1850 and 30th November, 1851, the line was planted in its entirety. It was 27 miles long. On its completion, Shiv Chandra Nandy sent the first signal from the Diamond Harbour end which was received by O'Shaughnessy at the Calcutta Station in the presence of Lord Dalhousie himself. A history was created by this Bengali-Irish pair! 

Nandy-O'Shaughnessy built up the Indian Telegraph Network -

Soon after, Nandy was appointed as Inspector in charge of the line and O'Shaughnessy was made the Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs in India. Dalhousie sent O'Shaughnessy to London in April, 1852 to pursuade the Court of Directors to authorize a 5000 km network linking Calcutta, Agra, Bombay, Peshawar, Madras and Dacca, which immediately got approved. Armed with the sanction, O"Shaughnessy purchased 1100 iron rods and 9000 kms of copper wire and hired 60 people to act as telegraphers. Construction began in November, 1853. The line between Calcutta and Agra was completed by March, 1854 and the whole network started functioning in February, 1855. Amid all these, the Telegraph Act was passed on December 27, 1854. By 1856, British India had approximately 4000 kms of Telegraph lines and 46 Telegraph Offices. 

The cost of construction was fairly moderate, not exceeding Rs.21 Lacs or nearly Rs.550 a mile. But the quality of service was poor. The communication was slow and erratic. Indian Telegraph was also the cheapest in the world. In 1855, a 16 word telegram cost one rupee per 640 kms, roughly half the European rate.

Nandy became the first Indian to join the Indian Telegraph department. Later on he was also given the additional charge of Diamond Harbour Post Office at a monthly pay of Rs.800. Entrusted with the responsibility of constructing 900 miles of line connecting Calcutta, Allahabad, Benares, Mirzapur and Dacca, Nandy had successfully completed the job. After the overhead lines got completed, the challenge was to lay underwater cables crossing the river Padma. As the steamer companies quoted an exorbitant rate, Nandy utilised fishing boats to finish the deal. It was his design to use the palm trees as telegraph posts which was later included in the Telegraph manual. 

Dalhousie's initiative of implementing Telegraph lines proved to be extremely effective during the Sepoy Mutiny or Great Indian Rebellion of 1857. It became a crucial factor that the mutineers didn't have a sound communication mechanism compared to that of the British, thanks to the Telegraph network! Once the rebellion ends, telegraph spread rapidly, to serve the military and political needs of the rulers as well as to meet the personal and commercial requirement of the public at large. 

Recognition for the Pair -

While William O'Shaughnessy was conferred Knighthood in 1856 by Queen Victoria besides being appointed as the Director General of the Telegraph department, Shiv Chandra Nandy was promoted as the Assistant Superintendent in 1866 and retired on special pension in 1884. Immediately before his retirement, in 1883, the year in which Telegraph dept. merged with the Postage dept., he was awarded with the title of Rai Bahadur and post-retirement he was made an Honorary Magistrate. The accolades were largely due to his performance during the Sepoy Mutiny. O'Shaughnessy was on leave during 1857 and Colonel Stewart was officiating. When the rebellion started, Stewart too was out of station due to construction of telegraph lines in Ceylon. It was when Nandy was acting as the head of the Telegraph department. While the British India was in turmoil, Nandy ensured a secure communication between Calcutta and Bombay.    

The Bengali man whose name has almost oblivioned in the layers of decades of history, died in 1903 due to plague epidemic in Calcutta. Calcutta Corporation named a by-lane after him in 1904 as a mark of respect. 

From the Semaphore Towers to the Video Calling, India has traversed through a wide array of communication technologies in last 200 years. While Telegram officially ended its journey on 14th July, 2013, we, the tech savvy twenty-first century people are hooked on to the digital wireless communication. But apart from Telegraph, there is no other example in this two centuries-long history of Indian communication where a Bengali has achieved such a feat. It is important to remember such historical achievements, not only for the sake of the monumental greatness of it but also to keep alive the fascinating stories behind it, otherwise like the existence of the by-lane, the history too shall get buried under the burden of digitalisation.     


Special Mention:

• The blog posts by senior fellow bloggers Rangan Datta & Amitabha Gupta on Optical Telegraph & Semaphore Towers. The link to the well researched articles are as follows: Rangan Datta's Post & Amitabha Gupta's Post.

Special Thanks:

• Eshita Dey, for editing the story.

Acknowledgement:

• Hidden Calcutta by Rathin Mitra
• The Electric Telegraph in British India by W B O'Shaughnessy
• Shaughnessy's Article on Electric Telegraph in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 8, Sept. 1839
• Article by Dr. Krishnalal Shridharani, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Annual Puja Edition, 1956
• The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851-1945 by Daniel R. Headrick
• Nineteenth Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt by Amit Kumar Gupta
• Bangali Choritabidhan by Samsad
• Farewell Telegram - an article by Suddhabrata Sengupta in dnaindia, July, 2013
• Article at www.antiquecannabisbook.com
• The End of an Era: India Shutters its Telegraph System
• Indian Telegraph by John H. Lienhard
• Wikipedia Articles