The Chattri is a First World War memorial near Patcham (part of the city of Brighton and Hove) on the south coast of England. It was unveiled in 1921 in memory of 74 Indian soldiers who died in military hospitals in Brighton, particularly the 53 Hindus and Sikhs who were cremated on the site. More than a million Indians fought in the British Indian Army during the First World War (1914–1918), of whom 140,000 served in Europe. Over 4,300 were treated in temporary hospitals in Brighton between December 1914 and February 1916 and the Hindus and Sikhs who died there were cremated at a remote hilltop location. A proposal for a memorial on the cremation site was advanced by the mayor of Brighton and funding was agreed between the local council and the British government.
The monument was designed by Elias Cosmas Henriques under the supervision of Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, and takes the form of a chattri or chhatri ( in several Indian languages), an elevated dome-shaped pavilion. The dome is in white marble and stands on one end of a grey stone terrace, which covers the ghats (funeral pyres) used for the cremations. The unveiling ceremony took place on 1 February 1921, presided over by Edward, Prince of Wales. The monument was subsequently allowed to fall into disrepair and was damaged by rifle practice in the Second World War. The Royal British Legion organised a pilgrimage to the Chattri in 1932 and then annually from 1951 to 1999, when the ceremony was taken over by the local Sikh community.
Academics have suggested that the Chattri's purpose was to promote Indian unity within the British Empire and to show that the Indian casualties were treated with respect. Susan Ashley suggested that its neglect after the unveiling ceremony was evidence of the British government's insincerity, but that it had been repurposed by the local community. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission unveiled a separate memorial on the same site in 2010. The Chattri is a Grade II listed building.
Background: Indian soldiers in Brighton
The United Kingdom entered the First World War in August 1914 and began deploying troops to France and Belgium. At the time, India was part of the British Empire and the Indian Army was under British command. The British government quickly decided to deploy Indian soldiers to the Western Front, although the Indian Army was generally only used in South Asia and had never previously fought in a European conflict. The deployment was intended to alleviate manpower shortages and simultaneously curb rising Indian nationalism by instilling imperial pride. The first Indian troops were dispatched in late August 1914, and arrived in France in October.Barringer, section: "In the Trenches".Hyson & Lester, pp. 19–20.
Soldiers wounded on the battlefield were initially treated in field hospitals. Those only lightly wounded were generally returned quickly to the front but many of those requiring further treatment were evacuated to England. Brighton, being a resort town on the south coast and close to major ports, was well-positioned to accommodate the evacuees."Indian soldiers", in Collis, p. 157.Hyson & Lester, p. 21. Three temporary hospitals were established in the town—one in the workhouse, one in the grammar school, and one in the Royal Pavilion complex, a former royal palace known for its Oriental-style architecture. In December 1914, 345 injured soldiers were transferred to the hospitals in Brighton by train. Careful arrangements were made to provide for the different dietary and religious requirements of the Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. The wounded Indians became something of a tourist attraction; among dignitaries who visited the pavilion during their stay were Lord Kitchener, King George V, and Queen Mary.Barringer, section: "The Brighton Hospitals".Jassal, p. 58.
Over the course of the war, more than a million Indians fought for the British Empire, of whom 140,000 saw service in France and Belgium.Ashley (August 2016), p. 555. Over 4,300 Indian soldiers were treated in hospitals in Brighton, of whom 74 died of their wounds. The British authorities considered it of great importance that the dead received the appropriate funeral rites for their religion. The 21 Muslim men who died were taken to the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey, and buried in a purpose-built cemetery.Jassal, p. 59.Dunlop, p. 200. The bodies of the 53 Hindus and Sikhs were taken to a remote location near Patcham, high in the South Downs hills, where a ghat (open-air funeral pyre) was built and the bodies were cremated. There was some debate as to whether open-air cremation was legal in the UK under the Cremation Act 1902, so government sanction was required to allow these funerals to take place.Jassal, p. 59.Hyson & Lester, p. 23.Robinson, p. 57. Photographs of the deceased were taken, which were sent to their relatives in India along with a portion of their ashes. The remainder of the ashes were scattered in the sea. The Brighton hospitals ceased to accommodate Indian soldiers in February 1916 and the facilities were converted to treat British amputees.Barringer, section: "Funerary Rituals".Ashley (January 2016), p. 35.Jassal, p. 61. The reason the Patcham site was chosen is unknown.
Inception
In August 1915, soon after the final cremations, Lieutenant Das Gupta of the Indian Medical Service approached the Mayor of Brighton, Sir John Otter, with a proposal for a memorial on the site of the ghat. Otter left office shortly afterwards, but chaired Brighton's Indian Memorials Committee and became the driving force behind the Chattri project. He proposed two memorials—one on the site of the ghat, and another in Brighton town centre.Singh (2026), section: "Twentieth-Century War Memorials". The latter became the Indian Memorial Gate, a monumental entrance to the Royal Pavilion complex built in a similar style to the Chattri.Robinson, pp. 56–57.Newman, p. 33. The site of the ghat and the surrounding land were owned by the Marquess of Abergavenny, who donated the land to the Borough of Brighton in 1916. Otter sent his proposal to the India Office (the British government department responsible for administering India), which agreed to share the cost of the Chattri.Donovan, pp. 53–54."Chattri", in Collis, pp. 58–59.Barringer, section: "Memorial".
Otter approached the retired architect Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob to work on the memorial project. Jacob had worked extensively in India and was widely associated with the Indo-Saracenic architectural style and, in particular, was known for his use of chhatri, elevated domes supported on pillars. The word chhatri or chattri means in multiple Indic languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. Jacob, 75 years old, declined the commission on the grounds of age but recommended Elias Cosmas Henriques. Henriques, a junior architect from Bombay who worked for the Indian government, was studying in England. Jacob acted as supervising architect. Henriques waived his fee and accepted only reimbursement of expenses.
Funds were raised and Henriques completed his design by 1917. The memorial was to be made of Sicilian marble, but the stone could not be extracted during the war.Donovan, pp. 54–57.Barringer, section: "On the Downs" Construction work started in August 1920 and continued until the end of that year. A cottage was provided nearby for a caretaker. This added £1,117 (£ in ) to the final cost of £4,964 (£ in ).Donovan, pp. 58–61.
Design and setting
The Chattri was built at the exact location where the funeral pyres were constructed for the cremation of the 53 soldiers. It is in an isolated position on the South Downs north of Brighton, above sea level, offering views of the town, the surrounding area, and the sea. It is roughly a mile and a quarter (two kilometres) north of All Saints Church, Patcham. The only access to the memorial is via a path off a bridleway that leaves the A27 Brighton Bypass at Patcham.
The main part of the monument is a dome (chattri) of white Sicilian marble in the Mughal style.Antram & Pevsner, pp. 276–277. Roughly the shape of an umbrella, it stands on a base set within of landscaped garden and rises to the finial at its apex. The dome is supported by eight columns, which start with square bases before becoming octagonal halfway up. The columns terminate in decorative capitals with each column having four brackets projecting from it and wide overhanging eaves. A low stone wall surrounds the structure, with a flight of steps providing access.
The monument sits on a square plinth of grey stone which is stepped down four times on the south-eastern side to a terrace upon which stands three granite blocks covering the sites of the cremation ghats. The plinth bears an inscription in English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, the text of which was prepared by Sir John Otter:
Unveiling
Otter initially approached the Duke of Connaught (a member of the royal family and army officer who had served in India) to unveil the Chattri, but the duke was due to be out of the country on the proposed date. The unveiling ceremony was held on 1 February 1921 and Edward, Prince of Wales, presided. Before the ceremony, the Chattri was draped in the flag of the British Raj.Ashley (August 2016), p. 557. Also present were Sir William Meyer, the first Indian high commissioner; three members of the Council of India—General Sir Edmund Barrow, Sir James Brunyate, and Sir Murray Hammick; officials from the India Office; and several senior army officers, who all travelled with the prince by special train. The mayor and mayoress of Brighton and Otter joined at Brighton railway station and the party proceeded by car to Patcham, greeted by enthusiastic crowds along the route. Only two native Indians were part of the prince's entourage—Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi, the raja (prince) of the Indian state of Aundh, and St. Nihal Singh, a journalist. A film crew and several press photographers attended.
Otter gave a speech in which he outlined the planning for the memorial and paid tribute to the men it commemorates. He told the crowd: "Brighton aspires today to speak in the name of the nation" in sending a message to India "that we honour their slain—slain in the bloody, cruel war which has scarred the world".Singh (1921), pp. 578–579. Otter also expressed hope that the memorial would "strengthen ties between India and [the UK]". The prince gave a brief speech following Otter, in which he remarked: The prince then pulled the flag away and the ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and the sounding of "The Last Post" and the "Reveille" by military buglers.Singh (1921), p. 581. According to Singh, "When the Prince of Wales pulled the cord which disclosed the memorial to view, one immediately realised that the young Indian artist [Henriques] had succeeded in imparting Indian feeling to it";Singh (1921), p. 580. in his article covering the day's events, Singh recorded that he was "impressed with the genuine gratitude which the British feel towards India for the help she gave them in their hour of crisis".Singh (1921), p. 583.