The Last Indian Troopship, HMS Malabar, by Charles Parsons Knight (1829–1897)
The Malabar was one of five purpose-built troopships paid for by the Indian Government and launched in 1866. Although built in different yards, the Malabar and her sister-ships, the Crocodile, Euphrates, Jumna and Serapis, were all of the same design, tonnage and dimensions. The five vessels were each distinguished by a different coloured riband around the hull, which, in the case of the Malabar was black, and all carried the Star of India on their bows. Each ship could transport a full battalion of infantry with its married families, or about 1,200 people and, when the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, the round trip from Portsmouth to Bombay and back again could be completed in 70 days.
