Today the Telecom industry in India is the second largest in the world with a subscriber base of 1.10 Bn as of May 2024. By the end of Sept 2023, the total number of internet subscribers increased to 918.19 Mn, out of which more than 40% belonged to the rural areas. These figures speak volumes about the kind of connectivity we enjoy as Indians today.
However, did you ever wonder where this journey of connectivity started for our country? Well, it all began with the arrival here of an audacious 24-year-old Brit working for the East India Company. Young William O’Shaughnessy, had come to India in 1833 as an assistant surgeon with the Company. Once here, he began experimenting with electricity. He invented an electric motor and a silver chloride battery. Then, in 1839, he set up a 13½-mile-long demonstration telegraph system near Calcutta.
That was only two years after Samuel F.B. Morse built his famous demonstration system in the United States. But O’Shaughnessy was unaware of Morse’s work. His telegraph used a different code and at first, he transmitted the message by imposing a series of tiny electric shocks on the operator’s finger. He also came up with another unique invention. He used a 2½-mile stretch of the Hooghly River, in place of wire, to complete the circuit.
O’Shaughnessy published a pamphlet about the system but he failed to ignite any interest in telegraphy. Finally, in 1847, Lord Dalhousie took over as Governor General of India. Dalhousie showed real vision in developing public works. He initiated roads, canals, steamship service to England, the Indian railway and a postal system.
Of course, it was Dalhousie who saw the potential of O’Shaunessy’s telegraph. He authorized O’Shaughnessy to build a 27-mile line near Calcutta. That was running so successfully by 1851 that Dalhousie authorized him to build a full trans-India telegraph. O’Shaughnessy finished it in three years. By 1856 the British completed a 4000-mile Indian telegraph system. It connected Calcutta, Agra, Bombay, Peshawar and Madras and it was instrumental in securing England’s grip on India.
It was an amazing triumph over technical and bureaucratic problems. By then O’Shaughnessy knew about the new English and American telegraph systems, but that was more hindrance than help. It simply meant he had to invent his own equipment to avoid patent disputes. He also had to work with local materials, environments and methods of construction. He had to invent his own signal transmitter and create his own means for stringing lines.
Three years later, the system networked the British communication machinery so well, that it was decisive in putting down the Sepoy Uprising. One captured rebel, being led to the gallows, pointed to a telegraph line and bravely cried, “There is the cursed wire that strangled us.”
So, while some us may well view this invention as a tool of nineteenth-century British colonialism, one can’t help but admire O’Shaughnessy. His work is a true testimony of what one person can achieve through perseverance and trusting one’s own creative ability. He stands as a reminder that one person can make a difference. Each one of us can!
As far as the telegraph system in India is concerned, due to the advent of superior technology like mobile phones and net connectivity, it finally became redundant and died a natural death. On Sunday, July 14th 2013, 100’s of people lined up at the 75 odd telegram offices remaining in India to send their last “Taar” as telegrams were commonly known as in India.
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