Pilot Productions - Globe Trekker The Rise and Fall of the British Raj (2015)

The 'Raj' - stout British governors of 18th and 19th century India - gets the Globe Trekker treatment in a sweeping history Special presented by Travelers Bobby Chinn, Zay Harding, Katie Haswell, Holly Morris and Ian Wright. They span the Asian subcontinent to illustrate the spectacular story of the rise and fall from grace of the once mighty British Empire. In the 16th century, before England had even stepped afoot India's western coast, the land had succumbed to the whims of another empire that of the Mughals. England then claimed Bombay (present day Mumbai) in 1662, courtesy of Charles II's dowry from his marriage to Catherine of Portugal. The East India Company made Calcutta its headquarters almost a hundred years later through the valiant victories of Robert Clive of India. Out of this storm, the Raj was born. The East India Company ceased to govern a country it could not contain, so Queen Victoria became India's Empress. Since the Indian mutiny, Britain had become a superpower, fueled by an industrial revolution which made her the workshop of the world. The industrial revolution chiefly produced an extraordinary railway network in India and in celebration, Zay Harding rides the Indian trains. In 1947, India won her independence after 200 years of Raj rule but Pakistan also won its statehood. There was a terrific exodus as Hindus and Muslims exchanged borders and unspeakable atrocities were committed by both sides during their transit on the railways. Zay boards a train at Amritsar to receive testimonies from the descendants of those involved. Our Indian odyssey ends with a rumination over the legacy of the British Raj. Holly Morris visits the Coronation memorial in Delhi - a crumbling graveyard of British Viceroy statues.

Full Version Available Upon Request