 |
| Charles Tegart. The notorious British police officer NoiseBreak |
Over a long period of time, Britain became an imperial power having colonies in many parts of the world. It's growth was phenomenal after the annexation of Bengal with dubious means in the late 18th century, They received vast amount of revenue from Bengal with which they grew in stature and became a force to reckon with. Because of over exploitation of Indian natives and their lands, besides their land-grabbing spree using various excuses, the emergence of countless revolutionaries, Indian nationalist and freedom fighters, India became a trouble spot in the British Empire. Now, freedom movement had taken firm roots in India. Britain's relation with India is a complex one. That England, a rich nation was helping India, a poor nation progress in a democratic set up is not true. On the contrary, India was a rich nation in the 15th century with a GDP of 23% and exported vast quantities of textiles, spices, etc and maintained the same GDP when the East India company arrived here for trade purpose. When they found out there no semblance of unity among the Indian rulers, besides a weird society torn by religion and castes, the English company's job became simple. They kept the various groups apart and then they had begun to take over the kingdoms and the lands one by one. This way the colonists in India helped England come out of poverty, using revenue from the Indian subcontinent, Mind you in the 5th century, Britain's GDP was just less then 0.05%. The major advantages they had were their military and artillery power and good organizational and administrative power backed by Machiavellian craftiness. They changed the political and trade scenario in India in the late 1900s. As early as 1870, India got 22% of British overseas investment, and, on the eve of the World War I, it was the largest single market for British exports.
The problem of holy land of Palestine in the 1920-1930s was primarily due to British meddling to establish their hegemony there. As the Jews had no home land exclusively for them for centuries, Britain took upon itself the task of creating a home land for the Jews by allowing their migration into the Holy Land from Europe. The Arab population of Palestine understood the implication of this move by the British and the repercussions in the future. Knowing that the British had a selfish motive in this respect, the Arabs revolted against them.
 |
| postal ensign (British Mandate of Palestine 1923-1948) |
The Arab revolt (1936-1939) became a serious one, forming a road block to their ambition, They kept bringing in arms and weapons south into Palestine from Lebanon and Syria and it became a menace. Britain, at this crucial juncture, turned to one uncompromising Irish man who could advise (1936-1939) the British police force in Palestine on how to deal with political unrest and end smuggling of illegal weapons into Palestine. The choice fell on none other than Sir Charles Tegart, the Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, an embodiment of cruelty and terror when dealing with opponents against the British empire. He knew how to deal with Indian insurgency and had a name for using violent and uncompromising way with detainees; no room for long interrogation or through investigation. The United Kingdom had a lot to protect the subcontinent to keep their economy healthy
Having arrived in Palestine in December 1937, Tegart had quickly sprung into action. To prevent Arab gangs bringing arms and weapons into Palestine , he proposed creating a line of fortresses - 77 reinforced concrete police stations and posts to safeguard any ferocious attack and control the movement of insurgents, goods and weapons along the northern border of Palestine. On his recommendations were built new"Tegart forts" in 1938, as they came to be referred to throughout Palestine; many were built after the Arab Revolt in 1940-41. They were built of reinforced concrete with water systems that would allow them to withstand a month-long siege.
 |
| Tegart fort at Kibbutz Sasa en.wikipedia.org |
 |
| The Tegart police fort at Latrun, Iseael en.wikipedia.org |
 |
| British mandate, Palestine. SlidePlayer |
 |
| British mandate, PalestineSlidePlayer |
In 1942 Tegart headed operations at the Ministry of Food in wartime Britain to combat the black market which affected the economy of England during that crucial period.Tegart died in April 1946 at his home of age-related disease.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19019949
https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/feagh-mchugh-obyrne-
https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2018/07/sir-charles-tegart-notorious-colonial.html
