The forgotten plan to station Canadian soldiers in British India
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At the turn of the 20th century, few parts of the vast British Empire were more disconnected than Canada and India. Canada attained Dominion status in 1867, while India remained firmly under the grip of the Raj. Loyal to the Empire, Canadians grew up hearing stories about the 1857 Indian War of Independence and the violent attacks by “mutineers” on British women and children. The Canadian press of the time often portrayed Indians as “seditious”.
Yet media reports also suggest there was some sympathy for Indians suffering under British rule. In 1897, authorities in Ottawa established the Canadian National India Famine Fund to raise money for victims of famine in India.
“There has been consultation between the Governor-General and the Dominion Cabinet with regard to the best mode of evoking and transmitting further practical sympathetic help on the part of all Canada for the relief of the present dire distress in India,” Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier said in January 1897.
Relief funds were also collected in Canada during the Indian famine of 1899-1900, which claimed more than four million lives.
In 1904, the Canadian government considered using India as a training ground for volunteer army units known as the Canadian Militia. A concrete proposal came from Minister of...