ABSTRACT
In the region which was the most favoured for transport in India, the Ganges valley, in 1812 a fast 500-mile journey by boat from Calcutta to Cawnpore/Kanpur could be accomplished in about 11 weeks. In 1832 that new-fangled contraption the steam boat, could reach Allahabad (short of Cawnpore/Kanpur, but not by a large fraction) even when the wind did not blow, in three weeks. In 1852 it took Lord Roberts three months to ride on horseback from Calcutta to Peshawar near the Afghan border (note he did not go up the Indus Valley), which was twice as fast as it took a regiment to march the same distance. The electric telegraph reached India in 1864 linking the small British system with the smallish Indian system already developing, and was used inter alia to report jute and cotton prices to manufacturers in Britain. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened – and cut the journey from England to India and vice-versa, from a fastest possible time of 100 days to 25, and, in addition, progress could now be reported en route. It also proved, against expectations, that steam could compete in cargo trade profitably against sail, since sailing ships had no wind to blow them through the Red Sea, and still had to use the Cape Route. And it further meant that agricultural produce could be exported much more safely, since evil weevils now had far less time in which to multiply and sabotage the cargo. By 1880 when Assam was still awaiting its railway, the journey from England to Calcutta was quicker than the journey from Calcutta to Upper Assam.
