Anglo-Indian ­ in Ward's day this would have meant a person of British birth, or ancestry, living in India. In today's Calcutta it would mean someone of mixed race.

Anna ­ a coin; one sixteenth of a rupee.

Armenians ­ they had come overland by way of Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet as merchants. They settled at the invitation of Emperor Akbar, who made a Queen of Mariam Zamani. She allowed her kinsfolk to build a church in Agra in 1562. Armenians became the most respected and numerous body of foreign merchants in Calcutta. They traded with China to the East, and Persia to the West, and most places in between. (1) Mother Theresa was an Armenian from Calcutta.

Asiatic Society ­ founded by Warren Hastings in 1784, it was presided over by the Orientalist, William Jones. He argued that there was a common source for all Indo-European languages and evoked a golden age in India's cultural past. Racial privilege was anathema and he shared his discoveries with the native intelligentsia of Bengal.

Ayah ­ an Indian nanny, lady's maid, or nurse.

Bearer ­ servant who cooks, shops, and waits at table.

Bengali ­ of or relating to to the people, language, or culture of Bengal; a native of Bengal; the language spoken in Bengal.

Black Hole of Calcutta ­ a name for the punishment cell in the original Fort William where 64 employees of the East India Company, men and women, were detained overnight by Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal. In the morning only 21 were still alive. (2)

Black Town ­ the segregated area where Indians, and other non-Europeans (chiefly Armenians, Portuguese, and Chinese), lived and traded.

Brahma ­ the Creator; one of the divine triumvirate of Hindu mythology. The others being Shiva the Destroyer and Vishnu the Preserver.

Brahmin ­ in the Hindu caste system the highest ranking of the four varnas, responsible for performing priestly functions, studying and teaching the Vedas, and acting as advisors to rulers.

British Raj ­ the name for British-ruled India.

Budgerow ­ a houseboat powered by sails, or by oarsmen. Also called a pinnace.

Bullock ­ a castrated bull; used in India as a pack animal, or to pull carts loaded with cargo.

Bungalow ­ a one storey home, often with a verandah.

Burrah-memsahib ­ the wife of the most senior member of a community.

Bustee ­ an area of slum dwellings. The huts are made of wattle, have tiled roofs, and mud floors. They are so congested that there is nowhere more than an arm's span in the dirt track lanes that separate one row from another. Open drains run down th middle of each lane. People sit in these lanes chopping wood, cooking at open fires, even buying and selling at tiny stalls. As many as 7 or 8 sleep one room. There is no electricity. (3)

Cantonment ­ a military installation in India.

Caste system ­ a system by which Hindu society was divided into 4 hierarchical groups, or varnas: Brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and soodras. Outside the system were the untouchables.

Climate, Bengal ­ Calcutta is tolerable in winter when the temperature is often around 22°C. Between March and the monsoon the heat begins to sear the city and temperatures can rise to 46°C, with the thermometer sticking on 38°C for days on end. It rarely falls below 27°C at night. On top of the heat comes the humidity, often registering 100 per cent. Calcutta, before the monsoon, means being soaked with sweat after walking, slowly, for 50 yards. The monsoon breaks in the first week in June and comes down in a torrent to a smashing of thunder. It rains for several hours in solid straight shafts of water. It stops, and the city steams, then it rains as before. It goes on like this for four months. The total annual rainfall is 64 inches. Most of it falls in those 4 months and Calcutta is flooded. (4)

Company, The ­ The East India Company.

Crore ­ ten millions, or one hundred lakhs.

Dandy ­ an oarsman.

Dhobi ­ a washerman; one who does laundry.

Dhoti ­ a long, cotton loincloth, wrapped around the hips, with one end between the legs and fastened at the waist. Worn by Hindu men.

Ditcher ­ a colloquial term used until the Second World Ward for a European born within the Mahratta Ditch.

Durga ­ Durga derives her name from the god Durgu, whom she slew. She is depicted as a yellow female with 10 arms sitting on a lion (the form of Vishnu) as the giver of success to her worshipers. She is usually attended by her son Kartikeyu, who rides on a peacock. She wields a trident, scimitar, discuss, spear, club, bow, axe, the serpent weapon, and the hook for guiding an elephant. She has one foot on Muheshu, a giant, to show that she subdues the enemies of worshipers. In Ward's day many thousands of victims were annually slaughtered in front of her temple and offered to her image. (5) Her hands are covered in blood.

Durga Puja ­ the Hindu religious festival, devoted to Durga, that takes place in Calcutta during October every year.

Durwan ­ a doorkeeper.

East India Company, The ­ the British commercial enterprise chartered by the Crown in 1600 to trade with India. The Company gradually became involved in, and took over, Indian political affairs, acting as the agent for British imperialism in India from the early 18th century. The East India Company was dissolved after the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when the British Government took control of India.

Factor ­ an agent of the East India Company who bought goods for shipment to Britain and elsewhere.

Factory ­ the name given to East India Company trading stations. They became fortified warehouses, surrounded by towns.

Feringhi ­ a foreigner.

Fort William ­ the original Fort was started in 1696 on the site of the present tank in Dalhousie Square, and was completed in 1699. It was named after William of Orange. The Fort protected a number of warehouses on the river bank and included a large tank of rainwater. There were 4 bastions with between 8 and 10 guns apiece. The curtain walls were 18 feet high, but less than 4 feet thick. It was built out of brick dust, lime, molasses and cut hemp ('as hard and tougher than firm stone or brick' and known as pucca construction). Calcutta was besieged, and the Fort lost to Siraj-ud-Daula in 1756. After the battle of Plassey the Fort was rebuilt by Clive further south, to a larger scale, and to a more sophisticated defensive plan. The handicap of the previous Fort, of having no field of fire around it because the mansions of the rich were built far too close, and far too high, was replaced by the huge expanse of the Maidan, 2 miles square, which still exists as a park today. The Fort also still exists.(6) To see a 1730 oil painting of the original Fort William from the land side click on the link.

Fort William College - Founded by Lord Hastings in late 1800, and housed in the Writer's Building. It was intended to transform the young men of the East India Company, prone to instability under the social pressures of Calcutta, and a prey to the moneylenders, into reliable functionaries of government. In Hasting's words, 'To fix and establish sound and correct principles of religion and government in their minds at an early period of their life.' It was intended to be comparable to the institutions of Oxford and Cambridge. In the first 5 years of its existence the College produced more than a hundred works in oriental languages. In 1818 it could boast of having 11,335 printed and manuscript sources, at a time when the Spanish Escorial had 1,851 volumes, Oxford 1,561 and the Seraglio in Constantinople 7,294. (7) At the beginning of 1807 Fort William College was remodelled and reduced. A new college was established by the East India Company in England, at Haileybury, Hertfodshire.

Ghat ­ a broad flight of steps, or a ramp, leading down to a river, permitting easy access for bathing, particularly in the early morning.

Guru ­ a teacher.

Governor-General ­ Under the Regulating Act of 1773, the highest post in the administration of British India, with a residence at Government House (now Raj Bhavan) and a country residence at Barrackpore (on the opposite bank of the Hooghly to Serampore).

Gurmukhi ­ the script in which many of the sacred texts of the Sikhs are written, which is used also for modern secular writing and printing.

Gujerati ­ an Indic language spoken in the region and state of Gujerat in north-western India.

Half-caste ­ a person of mixed Indian and European descent.

Hindi ­ a group of Indo-European languages of Northern India, including Hindustani: a recent literary form of Hindustani, with terms from Sanskrit.

Hindu ­ a member of any of the races of Hindustan or India: a believer in a form of Brahmanism

Hinduism ­ the religion and customs of the Hundus.

Hindustani ­ a form of Hindi containing elements of other languages.

Hindu Trinity ­ Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

'Hints' - In 1816, Joshua Marshman published a small pamphlet called 'Hints relative to native schools, together with the outline of an institution for their extension and management'. It contained a programme for national compulsory education, no less, in which peasant children, of both sexes, would learn to read and write with a vocabulary of 4,000 words. They would also have simple arithmetic and later become conversant with astronomy, geography, natural philosophy, mineralogy and chemistry. This was in a city of half a million, containing educational places for 4,180 Indian children. (8)

Indiaman ­ any large, sturdy ship, with three masts, working for the East India Company and varying in size from 400 to 1500 tons; usually heavily armed to protect its cargo and crew.

Jemadar ­ an Indian Army officer below a Subahdar: an officer of police, customs, etc. Also a nightwatchman.

Kali ­ Another form of Durga. Her hair is disheveled, her tongue hangs out, she holds in one hand a scimitar, in the other a skull, with another she forbids fear, and with the last is bestowing a blessing. Her four arms represent the 4 vedus; the two inspiring terror point out those portions of the vedu which relate to the destruction of enemies, and the other two allude to those parts which belong to devotion. Her dishevelled hair represents the clouds, her tongue is representative of lightning. She exhibits the appearance of a drunken frantic fury. She is the protectress of thieves, and her image at Kali Ghat is a head without a body. (9)

Kali Ghat ­ the temple devoted to Kali on Tolley's Nullah, in South Calcutta. It is the most sought after cremation site where bodies are burnt on sandal wood, goats are sacrificed daily, and flowers and fruit are offered to Kali by devotees.

Kanarese ­ of Kanara in western India: their Dravidian language, now called Kannada, is akin to Telegu.

Koran ­ the sacred text of Islam, the infallible word of Allah, as revealed to the profit Mohammed; the primary source for Islamic law.

Krishna ­ an incarnation of the god Vishnu.

Kshatriya ­ under the Hindu caste system, the second of the four varnas, to which warriors belonged.

Kulin ­ a high-caste Brahmin.

Kyast ­ one of the 'writer' caste.

Lakh ­ the number 100,000; usually written as 1,00,000.

Laudanum ­ an alcoholic tincture made with opium, used at one time for medicinal purposes.

Leadenhall Street ­ India House, the headquarters of the East India Company in the City of London.

Lepcha ­ a member of a hill tribe living in Sikkim.

Lingam ­ the worshipped symbols of the organs of reproduction.

Mali ­ a gardner.

Maratha, Mahratta ­ a people of west-central India; a person who speaks the Marathi language; a loose confederation of Hindu rulers in west-central India whose soldiers were especially well trained and equipped.

Marathi, Mahratti ­ the Sanskritic language of the Maratha people. Maharastra in Sanskrit means great kingdom.

Mahratta Ditch ­ a defensive canal to the north-east of Calcutta, built in 1742, at a cost of 25,000 rupees, and designed to provide protection from attacks by the Marathas. It was intended to create a complete arc around Calcutta but was never finished as the threat from the Marathas receded. The salt lakes gave protection to the south and the Hooghly gave protection to the west. (10)

The Maidan ­ a wide open space in the heart of Calcutta, dangerous for anyone with a touch of agoraphobia. Twice as big as Regent's Park, London, as it covers 2 square miles of parkland. Originally designed as a defensive area around the new Fort William to avoid the mistakes of the original where attackers could fire into the fort from the mansions of rich English merchants that had been built too close to the walls.

Masjid ­ a mosque.

Mela ­ a religious fair.

Memsahib ­ a title of respect for the mistress of a household.

Moghul ­ a descendent of that group of nomadic herding and hunting tribes from the steppes of central Asia who conquered India in 1526.

Moghul empire ­ the great imperial dynasty founded in 1526 by Babur, king of Kabul, with its capital at Agra. The empire ruled India until the 18th century.

Mohurrum ­the anniversary of the death on the battlefield of Hussan and Hussein, the two sons of Ali, the adopted son of Mohammed.

Monsoon ­ in Bengal the summer monsoon blows from the Bay of Bengal for 4 months, and brings with it stifling heat, strong winds and torrential rains.

Munshi ­ a language tutor.

Nabobs ­ a name given to English East India Company employees who prospered in India and flaunted their newly acquired wealth back in England.

Nawab ­ a Muslim ruler in the Moghul empire, usually either a provincial governor, or a prince.

Oriya ­ the language of Orissa, closely akin to Bengali.

Paita ­ the sacred thread worn by the three higher castes ­ the priests, the warriors and the merchants.

Palanquin ­ a covered or enclosed litter, usually for one person, carried on curved bamboo poles on the shoulders of four or six bearers.

Pan ­ a slightly intoxicating mixture of areca nuts, lime, and spices, wrapped in a betel leaf and chewed to aid digestion. The residue forms a red liquid in the mouth and is spat out.

Panchway ­ a vessel suitable for navigating Bengal's shallow waterways, with a low roofed shelter for protection from the sun and rain, but no seats.

Parganas, 24 ­ nine hundred square miles of land, south of Calcutta, annexed by Robert Clive after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. It was to provide Clive with an income of £30,000 a year till the day he died. (11)

Particular ­ relating to Baptists. The doctrine that salvation is offered only to particular individuals, the elect, and not to the race. (12) In 1633 the Particular Baptists were founded. They were a group whose Calvinistic doctrine taught that atonement is particular or individual. Immersion was not yet insisted upon in these churches, but in 1644 seven Particular Baptist churches issued a confession of faith requiring that form of baptism, and Baptist was thenceforth the name given to those who practiced it.

Peepul ­ one of the sacred trees of India, with a long pointed leaf.

Peon ­ a messenger.

Phaeton ­ a light, four-wheeled carriage containing one or two seats and drawn by a pair of horses.

Pice ­ a coin; a quarter of an Anna.

Pinnace ­ the same as a budgeree (see above).

Puja ­ Hindu ceremonial worship, ranging from simple private daily prayers, to elaborate temple rites and festivals, conducted by one or more priests, with its rituals varying widely depending on the occasion.

Pundit ­ a Brahmin scholar or religious teacher.

Punkah ­ a fan suspended from the ceiling, made either from a large palm frond, or of cloth held in a large rectangular frame, powered by a servant using a cord and pulley system.

Punkah-wallah ­ a servant who operated the punkah.

Pushtu, Pashtu, Pushtoo, Pashto, Pakhtu, Pakhto ­ the language of the Afghans.

Radha ­ a consort of Krishna.

'Ramayana' ­ one of India's two great religious epics.

Residency ­ the compound where the Resident and his staff lived and worked.

Resident ­ a British official attached to the court of an Indian ruler in a supposedly advisory, but often a dominating, capacity.

Rupee ­ a coin or note, made up of sixteen annas; the basic monetary unit of India. In Ward's day a rupee was worth approximately 2 shillings and 10 pence.

Ryot ­ a peasant.

Sadhu ­ a Hindu holy man, ascetic and mendicant. Possibly, under a tree, in a dirty sheet, with mud smeared on his arms and the white mark of Vishnu painted on his forehead, leaning on his quarter staff with his begging bowl in one hand, always in the same spot whenever you pass. (13)

Sahib ­ a title of respect equivalent to "sir"; a form of respectful address for a European, or an Indian man of rank in colonial India.

Sanskrit ­ the ancient, classical Indian language of India in which most of the texts of Hinduism were written, and from which most of the spoken languages of northern India are derived.

Sari ­ an outer garment worn by a woman consisting of a single length of cotton or silk, 5 to 7 yards long, most often with one end wrapped around the waist to form a skirt, the other draped over the shoulder, or head.

Sepoy ­ a Hindu or Muslim soldier armed and trained in the European manner by British officers, and serving, under British command, in native battalions in the army of the East India Company

Shastras ­ sacred Hindu books that regulate religious, social and professional behaviour and activities.

Shiva ­ the Destroyer; one of the divine triumvirate of Hindu mythology. The others being Brahma the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver.

Soodra ­ under the Hindu caste system, the fourth and lowest recognized varna, the servant and labouring class that served the three upper classes.

Subahdar major ­ the senior Indian officer in a native regiment of the British service.

Subaltern ­ a British officer equivalent to a lieutenant.

'Burning of Widows', an illustration from an American edition of 'A view of the History, Literature and Religion of the Hindoos', by William Ward, Hartford, 1824. Courtesy Derby Local Studies Library.

Suttee ­ the Hindu practice of burning widows alive on their husband's funeral pyre.

'When the husband is directed by the physician to be carried to the river side, there being no hopes of his recovery, the wife declares her resolution to be burnt with him. In this case, she is treated with great respect by her neighbours, who bring her delicate food, &c. and when the husband is dead, she again declares her resolution to be burnt with his body. Having broken a small branch from the mango tree, she takes it with her, and proceeds to the body, where she sits down. The barber then paints her feet red; after which she bathes, and puts on new clothes. During these preparations, the drum beats a sound, by which it is known, that a widow is about to be burnt with the corpse of her husband. On hearing this all the village assembles. The son, or if there be no son, a relation, or the head man of the village, provides the articles necessary for the ceremony.

A hole is first dug in the ground, round which stakes are driven into the earth, and thick green stakes laid across to form a kind of bed; and upon these are laid, in abundance, dry faggots, hemp, clarified butter, pitch etc. The officiating brahmin now causes the widow to repeat the formulas, in which she prays, that "as long as fourteen Indrus reign, or as many years as there are hairs on her head, she may abide in heaven with her husband; that the heavenly dancers during this time may wait on her and her husband, and that by this act of merit all the ancestors of her father, mother, and husband, may ascend heaven." She now presents her ornaments to her friends, ties some red cotton on both wrists, puts two new combs in her hair, paints her forehead, and takes into the end of the cloth that she wears some parched rice and kourees.

While this is going forward, the dead body is anointed with clarified butter and bathed, prayers are repeated over it, and it is dressed in new clothes. The son next takes a handful of boiled rice, prepared for the purpose, and, repeating an incantation, offers it in the name of the deceased father. Ropes and another piece of cloth are spread upon the wood, and the dead body is laid upon the pile. The widow then walks around the pile seven times, strewing parched rice and kourees as she goes, which some of the spectators endeavour to catch, under the idea they will cure diseases.

The widow now ascends the fatal pile, or rather throws herself down upon it by the side of the dead body. A few female ornaments having been laid over her; the ropes are drawn over the bodies which are tied together, and faggots placed upon them. The son, then, averting his head, puts fire to the face of his father, and at the same moment several persons light the pile at different sides, when women, relations, &c. set up a cry: more faggots are now thrown upon the pile with haste, and two bamboo levers are brought over the whole, to hold down the bodies and the pile. Several persons are employed in holding down these levers, and others in throwing water upon them, that they may not be scorched. While the fire is burning, more clarified butter, pitch, and faggots, are thrown into it, till the bodies are consumed. It may take about two hours before the whole is burnt, but I conceive the woman must be dead in a few minutes after the fire has been kindled.' (14)

For more details and examples see the Digital Library Page.

A tank near Shibpur.

Tank ­ a rectangular body of water used for bathing and washing.

Telegu ­ one of the Dravidian family of languages, spoken in south-eastern and central India.

A turn of the 20th century postcard of Dalhousie Square showing the Victorian General Post Office on the left, and the rebuilt Writer's Building on the right. The original Writer's Building housed Fort William College where Carey worked on his translations. The tank (or lake) is the site of the old Fort William.(15) To see the original Writer's Building click on the link.

Tank Square, also known as Loll Diggy or Dalhousie Square ­ the heart of Calcutta. Government House is to the south, the Writer's building, which also housed Fort William College, filled the north side. The body of water at the centre, called the Tank, is the site of the original Fort William. After the destruction of Calcutta by Siraj-ud-Daula, and its recapture by the British, the old fort was raised, and the present fort built further south. The tank was the main source of water for the residents of Calcutta. It would be crowded all day with servants filling skin bags with 8 gallons of water at a time for their masters.(16)

Thug, Thugee ­ a highway robber who ritually murdered by strangulation, committed by members of a religious sect in honour of the goddess Kali. They knotted a silver coin consecrated to Kali in one corner of a handkerchief, to give them a better grip. (17)

Untouchables ­ under the Hindu caste system those who fall outside the system. They perform tasks deemed too polluting for those within the system and their lives are bounded by numerous restrictions to prevent them polluting caste members.

Upanishads ­ Hindu religious and philosophical texts.

Urdu ­Hindustani: a form of it with many Persian and Arabic words, the official literary language of Pakistan.

Vaishya ­ under the Hindu caste system, the third of the four varnas, considered to be commoners and consisting of farmers, merchants, and some artisans.

Varna ­ any of the the four classes, or castes, into which society is divided under the Hindu caste system; specifically: Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and soodra. A fifth group, the untouchables, are so low socially that they fall outside the caste system.

Veda ­ any one of, or all of, four ancient holy books of the Hindus.

Vedanta ­ a system of Hindu philosophy based on the Vedas.

Vedist ­ one learned in the Vedas.

Viceroy ­ the term for the most senior figure in the Indian administration (formerly known as the Governor-General) when the British Government took over from the East India Company as the ruling power in India.

Vishnu ­ the Preserver; one of the divine triumvirate of Hindu mythology. The others being Shiva the Destroyer and Brahma the Creator.

White Town ­ the segregated area of Calcutta where the British and other Europeans lived.

Writers ­ Company servants. On the outward voyage they were required to salute the captain of the Indiaman on his quarterdeck whenever they saw him during the voyage. They appeared at meals to a roll of drums and they had to have their cabin lights out by 10pm sharp. The Writer was on the Company payroll but his pay was not excessive. He had to pay for his own passage, and his keep on board ship. Although he is fed and accommodated free in the Writer's building on arrival, he must furnish his rooms and obtain his servants, washing, candles, and many other necessities at his own expense. The immediate prospect is three or four years of drudgery with account books. Writers soon found that although they might have arrived almost penniless, they could rapidly acquire a fortune if they went about it the right way. They could see that, on the face of it, Members of the Council were not much better off than Writers, but every Member was allowed to trade freely and privately ­ as other Company servants were not ­ and the profits on free trade in Bengal could easily amount to several hundred times a Member's salary. (18)

'What life was like in the Jewel in the Crown, British India 1600-1905', Time-Life Books, 1999. 'Calcutta', Geoffrey Moorhouse, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1971. 'Chambers 20th Century Dictionary', 1983. 'William Carey', 1761-1834', S. Pearce Carey, Hodder and Stoughton, 1923.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18) 'Calcutta', Geoffrey Moorhouse, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1971.

(5 & 9) 'A view of the History, Literature, and Religion of the Hindoos', by the Rev. William Ward. From the Second Edition, carefully abridged and greatly improved, Hartford, published by H. Huntington Jr, 1824.

(14) 'A View of the History, Literature and Mythology of the Hindoos. Including a minute description of their Manners and Customs'. By W. Ward. Second Edition, carefully abridged and greatly improved. Volume 2, Serampore, printed at the Mission Press, 1815.