When any Journey was an Adventure

In our time of the 21st century when a direct flight from Melbourne to Islamabad or from Lahore to Los Angeles, cruising at a 1,000 km/hr takes just about 14 hours, it is hard to imagine what travel was like before the early 19th century, in the pre-railway era. The only means of commuting over land was a cart or a wagon driven by beasts of burden plying at a leisurely speed of 2 to 3 km/h on uncertain and unpaved roads.

This article will study the means of travel in the pre-railway era and evaluate the social conditions in the absence of a safe and reliable travel conditions.

Before introduction of railway in 1830, animals – mainly horse, bullock and camel – provided the driving power for wheeled vehicles. Two-wheeled bullock/ox carts were the preferred beasts of burden in the Indian Subcontinent because of their better availability and tolerance for hot humid weather. In Europe, the four-wheeled horse-driven wagons were more popular because of the equine-friendly environment.

Animal driven travel is quite slow. An energetic horse can carry a sturdy rider at a fast pace and with change of horses at way stations every 15-20 km, at a speed of around 80 km/day. In the era of horse dependent armies, we have examples of Napoleonic French general Murat’s cavalry covering a distance of 50 km during the course of a day but arriving at the destination with their horses in no condition to fight. At another time during the Battle of Ulm, the French chased Austrian general Mack’s army, covering 165 km over five days while also fighting eight separate actions.

Railway was the first fast, safe, cheap and all-weather long-distance mode of land transportation on mass level. Prior to this, life was quite sedentary, especially by our standards.

While the Europeans had learnt to travel by ships to distant lands, elsewhere very few people ventured away from home. Railway altered the concept of land travel in the same way as internet revolutionized information flow two centuries later. The transformation can be visualized by the fact that Napoleon’s army crossed the Alps on horseback on its way to Italy in 1800 AD in the same manner as Hannibal’s did 22 centuries earlier in 218 BC. However, only half a century later around 1850, trains were running across the same route at about 100 km/hr – perhaps a little less at steeper climbs.

As travel was difficult and uncertain, the economy and social life in those times developed around local resources. Towns were few and far between. Habitation was centred on trading centres like seaports, river boatyards and caravanserais, or mostly in agricultural villages. These population centres were self contained and self-sufficient in terms of food and services. Whole endogamous families grew up in one place or in nearby villages. It was possible that all households of a village were inter-related through marriages and were descendants of one or two brothers. It is no wonder that many of the old villages in the Indian Subcontinent are named after persons who first inhabited them!

Travel by ordinary people, often accompanied by ladies, children and baggage, or by merchants carrying valuable trading goods, could be undertaken only on horse- or bullock-driven carriages. Bullock carts can carry about 700 kg, which translates into about 5 adult persons with their baggage, at a little under 3 km/h. Horse carts can carry similar loads at similar speeds over long distances. Camels can amble along at around 5 km/h as pack animals but are rarely used to draw wagons due to the sandy terrain of their usual habitat. The speeds mentioned herein are for long-distance loaded conditions though these animals can run at a much faster pace over short distances. The draft animals need frequent rests and nourishment, and may not be able to repeat their performance over consecutive days. Interestingly, over longer distances, humans themselves can match the speed and survivability of every other animal.

Travel over longer ranges was a complicated affair. While short travel lasting a day could be undertaken easily, a journey extended through one or more nights required careful planning because a careless itinerary could cost the lives of the travellers. In the absence of roads and tracks, choice of a safe route was essential. The path had to be fit for the wheeled cart and free of steep gradients, obstacles, streams and ruts which could damage a carriage or obstruct movement. A breakdown of some nature was a critical issue as with the carriage, the beast, the passengers and the baggage stranded at the mercy of the highwaymen and weather, it could take days before journey could be resumed. Travel posed several hazards as thieves and robbers were a constant threat.

Lonely travellers or those in small unprotected groups were especially at the mercy of a host of dangers. Apart from wild animals, who were frequently sighted, there were armed groups who preyed upon unsuspecting travellers. An example of such an incident was Chinggis (Genghis) Khan’s mother travelling with her first husband immediately after their marriage and getting waylaid by the Great Khan’s father, who found it opportune to help himself to a young girl by shooting dead the unsuspecting first husband by a stealthy arrow shot. The resultant union of this crime gave birth to one of the most successful conquerors of medieval times. Had the young innocent couple taken precautions against such an unforeseen tragic danger, the history of the world would have been a bit less sanguinary!

The journey had to be interrupted regularly for rest and to nourish the beasts and the passengers. Cooked food and water was usually carried along for short journeys of two to three days but longer journeys necessitated carrying of dry rations, meat-on-hooves and plenty of water for cooking, cleaning and bathing. As utensils, tents, beddings, rain-covers, etc, were also carried along, it resulted in increase of number of carriages and consequential reduction in the travel speed.

The situation in case of natural calamities, i.e. in earthquakes, epidemics and floods, was especially precarious. It would be weeks before the relevant authorities became aware of such incidents. Famines posed special difficulties. Gathering adequate quantities of grain or relief goods from one part of the country and transporting it to another for distribution required a massive operation that was rarely undertaken with success. Even when relief efforts were undertaken, there was little that they could be accomplished because aid arrived too late to be of any help to the affected. As a result, millions would perish before assistance or treatment could be provided to the needy.

People who moved to another part of the country for employment – or girls who were married off in distant villages or towns – would rarely, if ever, came in contact with those they had left behind. That is the reason for the sad folk songs that lament the departure of a loved one to “pardes” which translates literally as “foreign land”. The grief of departure was tangible and real because, in all probability, the separation was permanent.

Before railways, there was no concept of overland tourism. Most people were born, raised and died in the same place without venturing out even once in their lifetime. Some people did travel but they were few. They are now correctly remembered as adventurers and explorers, because that is what they were. Tourists, who travel for pleasure and recreation, did not exist. Railways created tourism. Anyone who had a bit of cash to spare could board a train to travel from, say, Karachi to Calcutta or Madras and be there within a day in an absolutely safe and comfortable environment. Before railways, it would have taken months in uncertain and unsafe conditions. For the first time in history, children and women could travel without any concerns.

The building of Railways was nothing short of a miraculous technical achievement. The initial Stephenson locomotives that pulled the world’s first regular inter-city railway-system train between Liverpool and Manchester could travel at excess of 40 km per hour. That was the fastest speed attained by humans till that time. With the steel industry developing at a rapid pace, there was virtually no limit on the number of lines that could be laid, the locomotives that could be built and the trains that could be put into service. Within half a century of the first rail-line, there was practically no nation that was left without an operational railway system. There was a rapid increase in passenger and goods traffic. It opened up new avenues of commerce. The railway itself became a large economy and engine for technical development. The structure of society went through a rapid transformation. The world would shrink and would never be the same again.

Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on historical and social issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com