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"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, THE YOUNG BRITISH SOLDIER
The Church of St. John the Evangelist is popularly known as the Afghan
Church. It is located in Colaba, in the southern most tip of Bombay. Its
steeple rises 210 feet, and for more than 100 years it has served as a
landmark for ships entering the harbor.
*inscription inside the Afghan Church*
"THIS CHURCH WAS BUILT IN MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS WHOSE NAMES ARE
WRITTEN ABOVE, AND OF THE NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND PRIVATE
SOLDIERS, TOO MANY TO BE SO RECORDED, WHO FELL, MINDFUL OF THEIR DUTY,
BY SICKNESS OR BY THE SWORD, IN THE CAMPAIGNS OF SIND AND AFGHANISTAN,
A.D. 1838-1843."
The Afghan Church is a mute testimony to the brave men who sacrificed
their lives for the glory of the Empire. Built in the Gothic style, it
was meant to be a garrison church to observe the memories of the British
soldiers who lost their lives during the First Afghan War. It later also
commemorated the fallen soldiers of the Second and Third Afghan Wars.
The Afghan Church was the first monument of religious and spiritual
significance that was built (in India) to commemorate a military event.
It is one of the most important Anglo-Indian monuments.
*inscription inside the Afghan Church*
"TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN MEMORY OF / PERCY CHARLES HEATH /
CAPTAIN BOMBAY STAFF CORPS / THIRD SON OF THE LATE MAJOR GENERAL / J.C.
HEATH BOMBAY ARMY / BORN 11TH APRIL 1847 / KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF
MAIWAND / AFGHANISTAN JULY 27TH 1880 / THIS MEMORIAL IS PLACED HERE / BY
HIS BROTHERS / IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE / "THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND /
AND THE DEAD / SHALL BE RAISED"
The Afghan Curch was consecrated on January 7, 1858. It was the first
church in India to be built with basalt and brown limestone. In Bombay's
dazzling tropical sunlight, the solemn beauty of the church adds to its
ethereal character. William Butterfield, Britain's most famous 19th
century ecclesiastical designer, was commissioned to design the choir
stall, the tiled floor and the teakwood pews. Some of the pews have the
unique feature of slots for use as gun-rests. The church was and is
located inside a Naval Base (then British, now Indian).
*inscription inside the Afghan Church*
"IN LOVED MEMORY OF / MAJOR SIR / PIERRE LOUIS NAPOLEON / CAVAGNARI
/ K.C.B. C.S.I.B.S.C. / POLITICAL OFFICER WITH / THE BRITISH TROOPS IN
AFGHANISTAN / AND ENVOY TO THE COURT OF KABUL / HE FELL / WITH THE
MEMBERS OF HIS ESCORT / WHILST GALLANTLY DEFENDING / THE RESIDENCY AT
KABUL / AGAINST OVERWHELMING NUMBERS / 3RD SEPTEMBER 1879 / AGED
37."
The multicolored stained glass windows and the ventilators high on the
ceiling add splendor to the soldiers' stories in stone.
- Constantin von Hoffmeister
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