[JenBurdoo] Neigh, My Friend

[JenBurdoo1]

In 1831, the British government sent a gift to Maharajah Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Confederacy on the northwest border of India - four English plowhorses and a carriage. What was their ulterior motive?

[GalFisk]

Did they want to give a good impression? A bad one? An incorrect one? WAG: did they send strong but slow horses in order to trick the Sikh into thinking that English horses in general were slow?

[Sarisberie]

Were the Sikhs expecting the gift? Were they surprised by it? Did the Brits expect a gift, or something else, in return? Would this have worked if they had sent other types of horses, animals, vehicle? Were the Brits expecting, or hoping for, something in return? Military relevant?

[JenBurdoo1]

Did they want to give a good impression? This. A bad one? An incorrect one? WAG: did they send strong but slow horses in order to trick the Sikh into thinking that English horses in general were slow? No.

Were the Sikhs expecting the gift? They were informed of it beforehand. Were they surprised by it? Did the Brits expect a gift, or something else, in return? No. Would this have worked if they had sent other types of horses, Probably not. animals, Unlikely. vehicle? Possibly. (All of these depend on the specific gift chosen.) Were the Brits expecting, or hoping for, something in return? Somewhere between Yesish and Yope.. Military relevant? Yes.

[Sundowner64]

Did the British want to encourage the maharajah to do something? to build more roads? roads according to British standard? roads for the British military?
Relevant what type of carriage it was? a wagon? a state coach? a post/stage coach? was the idea to encourage the maharajah to open a postal service in his country?
Was there something relevant in the carriage? did the British expect to get the carriage back with a relevant freight?
Were the horses for breeding? or was the part of the horses just that they drew the carriage to the maharajah's palace?
Was the maharajah an ally of the British? an enemy? neutral? relevant?
Was the idea of the gift to demonstrate something? to hint at something?
Was the gift a response to something the maharajah had done before? to some other gift the maharajah had received from someone else?
As it was in 1831 and in Punjab: the Great Game relevant?

[JenBurdoo1]

Did the British want to encourage the maharajah to do something? to build more roads? roads according to British standard? roads for the British military?
Relevant what type of carriage it was? a wagon? a state coach? This. a post/stage coach? was the idea to encourage the maharajah to open a postal service in his country?
Was there something relevant in the carriage? did the British expect to get the carriage back with a relevant freight?
Were the horses for breeding? or was the part of the horses just that they drew the carriage to the maharajah's palace? This.
Was the maharajah an ally of the British? This. an enemy? neutral? relevant? Mildly.
Was the idea of the gift to demonstrate something? to hint at something?
Was the gift a response to something the maharajah had done before? to some other gift the maharajah had received from someone else?
As it was in 1831 and in Punjab: the Great Game relevant? Yes.

No to the rest.

[GalFisk]

Would it have worked if they were not plowhorses? Not English? Was the Great Game a sporting event? A recurring event?

[JenBurdoo1]

Would it have worked if they were not plowhorses? No. Not English? Irr. Was the Great Game a sporting event? A recurring event? The Great Game refers to a "cold war" between Russia and Britain over central Asia during the 19th century, one of the drivers of colonial expansion.

[trebor2]

Was this the first time a gift like this had been given to an Indian leader? Was there anything special about this carriage (other than being a state carriage)?

Was this done to anger the Russians? To anger Indian people allied with the Russians? To upset anyone else?

[JenBurdoo1]

Was this the first time a gift like this had been given to an Indian leader? Irr, assume yes. Was there anything special about this carriage (other than being a state carriage)? No.

Was this done to anger the Russians? To anger Indian people allied with the Russians? To upset anyone else? No to all.

[trebor2]

Are any other countries relevant? If so, any countries on India’s northwest borders?

[GalFisk]

Is some aspect of plowhorses relevant? If so: weight? Strength? Size? Tenacity? Feeding? Watering? Speed? Docility? Breeding? Coat? Temperature tolerance? Had the horses in question actually performed plowing, before being given as a gift? Relevant? Is the ulterior motive related to the way they would pull the carriage? Weight of the carriage relevant? Of occupants? Of luggage? Hills relevant?

[JenBurdoo1]

Are any other countries relevant? Yes. If so, any countries on India’s northwest borders? Primarily Afghanistan, the Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan (the latter three all now part of Pakistan), but the Northwest Frontier as a whole is relevant too.

Is some aspect of plowhorses relevant? To an extent. If so: weight? This. Strength? Size? Tenacity? Feeding? Possibly this. Watering? Speed? This. Docility? Breeding? Coat? Temperature tolerance? Possibly. Had the horses in question actually performed plowing, before being given as a gift? Irr. Relevant? Is the ulterior motive related to the way they would pull the carriage? Weight of the carriage relevant? This. Of occupants? Of luggage? Hills relevant? Yes.

Nothing else relevant.

[GalFisk]

Do they want the Maharajah to go somewhere? To be able to go somewhere? To see something? To build or improve roads?

[JenBurdoo1]

Do they want the Maharajah to go somewhere? To be able to go somewhere? To see something? To build or improve roads? All irrelevant.

[GalFisk]

Going uphill relevant? Downhill? Is the carriage heavy? Is the Maharajah heavy? Does this gift solve a problem? Are any other gifts relevant? Do they want to create a demand for such horses?

[Sundowner64]

Did the British want the Maharajah to do something? not to do something? to change something?
Were these four horses brought from Britain to India? Was the carriage brought from Britain to India? relevant?
Did the same four horses draw the carriage all the way from Mumbay (or whereever carriage and horses arrived) to Lahore?
Did the Maharajah already have a state carriage? or was this means of transport entirely new to him?
Was the idea that the Russians could not make him a similar gift? as there was no road through Afghanistan that would allow the passage of a carriage?

[JenBurdoo1]

Going uphill relevant? DOYD. Downhill? No. Is the carriage heavy? Yes. Is the Maharajah heavy? Irr. Does this gift solve a problem? Yes, but... Are any other gifts relevant? No. Do they want to create a demand for such horses? No.

Did the British want the Maharajah to do something? not to do something? to change something? No to all.
Were these four horses brought from Britain to India? Was the carriage brought from Britain to India? relevant? Yes to all.
Did the same four horses draw the carriage all the way from Mumbay (or whereever carriage and horses arrived) to Lahore? No.
Did the Maharajah already have a state carriage? or was this means of transport entirely new to him? Irr.
Was the idea that the Russians could not make him a similar gift? No. as there was no road through Afghanistan that would allow the passage of a carriage? This is mildly relevant, but the Punjab was at the time a friend to British India.

[GalFisk]

Traveling in hilly areas relevant? Roads relevant? Places where the carriage can't travel relevant? Or can't travel easily? Other modes of transportation relevant? Of travel? Does the gift solve a problem for the British? For the Maharajah? For someone else? Would a lightweight carriage not fulfill the ulterior motive? Are the people of the Sikh community relevant?

[Sundowner64]

If the carriage was not drawn by horses to Lahore, was it then transported by ship? on the Indus?
Was the Maharajah expected to use the carriage for some special occasion? to receive state officials? from Britain? from Russia? to celebrate a feast? an anniversary? his wedding?
Was the Maharajah about to marry a princess from another Indian kingdom? and the British wanted to express their support for this marriage?

[JenBurdoo1]

Traveling in hilly areas relevant? Roads relevant? Places where the carriage can't travel relevant? Or can't travel easily? Other modes of transportation relevant? Of travel? Yes to this and all previous questions. Does the gift solve a problem for the British? For sufficiently vague values of "solve" and "problem." For the Maharajah? For someone else? Would a lightweight carriage not fulfill the ulterior motive? Are the people of the Sikh community relevant? No to the rest.

If the carriage was not drawn by horses to Lahore, was it then transported by ship? on the Indus? This.
Was the Maharajah expected to use the carriage for some special occasion? to receive state officials? from Britain? from Russia? to celebrate a feast? an anniversary? his wedding?
Was the Maharajah about to marry a princess from another Indian kingdom? and the British wanted to express their support for this marriage? All else irrelevant.

[Sundowner64]

Was there no good road to Lahore? was it too far? was it not safe to go by road? was the road not completely under British control?
Did they feel safer to go by the river? like: on the river they may encounter only local rulers with whom they could negotiate their way on? but not robbers and street gangsters? oh, did the British actually just want to travel to Lahore, and the carriage for the maharajah was to safeguard their passage? as no-one of the local rulers would dare to mess with the maharajah?

[JenBurdoo1]

Was there no good road to Lahore? Yope. was it too far? Yope. was it not safe to go by road? The road was safe ... was the road not completely under British control? ... and under British control.
Did they feel safer to go by the river? like: on the river they may encounter only local rulers with whom they could negotiate their way on? but not robbers and street gangsters? oh, did the British actually just want to travel to Lahore, and the carriage for the maharajah was to safeguard their passage? as no-one of the local rulers would dare to mess with the maharajah? No to all. There was no fear of obstruction.

[GalFisk]

Do they want the carriage to go by boat? Boat routes relevant? Do they want it to go by road? Specific roads relevant?

[Sundowner64]

So they was a safe road to Lahore but they decided to go by ship, right?
Were they afraid the horses would not make it? the carriage could get damaged on the way?
Did they tell the maharajah that they came by ship? or was it rather along the lines "look how strong our English horses are, they drew the carriage 500 miles uphill and are not the least bit exhausted"?
Lahore is not located directly at the Indus? Relevant? Did they go the last part by road?
Did the trip by ship serve still another purpose? Did they want to test how far up British vessels could go? Did they want to survey/measure/test/create a map of the Indus?
Relevant that a ship could hold more people than a carriage? Did they secretly bring in soldiers? secret agents? into the Sikh territory?
Or, much simpler: they needed the ship to get back after they delivered the carriage?

[JenBurdoo1]

Do they want the carriage to go by boat? Yes. Boat routes relevant? Yes. Do they want it to go by road? No. Specific roads relevant? No.

So they was a safe road to Lahore but they decided to go by ship, right? Correct.
Were they afraid the horses would not make it? Assume yes. the carriage could get damaged on the way? Assume yes.
Did they tell the maharajah that they came by ship? Irr, assume yes. or was it rather along the lines "look how strong our English horses are, they drew the carriage 500 miles uphill and are not the least bit exhausted"? There was no direct deception involved.
Lahore is not located directly at the Indus? Relevant? No. Did they go the last part by road? Assume yes.
Did the trip by ship serve still another purpose? Yes. Did they want to test how far up British vessels could go? Yes. Did they want to survey/measure/test/create a map of the Indus? Yes!
Relevant that a ship could hold more people than a carriage? No. Did they secretly bring in soldiers? secret agents? into the Sikh territory? No.
Or, much simpler: they needed the ship to get back after they delivered the carriage? No.



SPOILER



The British knew that eventually they might have to deploy armies along the Indus (which they did in the 1840s, conquering Sind and the Punjab). For this reason, they needed to survey the Indus River, as it would be their primary support route during a war in that part of the country or in Afghanistan. The gift of a carriage and horses was a thinly-veiled excuse to travel up the river, as the gift could not reasonably be expected to march a thousand miles or more along roads without damage or injury. Some decades later, the Russians similarly surveyed the Oxus River north of Afghanistan whilst smoothly delivering a massive pipe organ to an ally.