Thus the journey to India via the Middle East first became known as the Steam Route. The introduction of steam had made it possible to start regular services through the Red Sea from 1837, and in 1840, the P & O secured the mail contract between England and Egypt.

In the early 1800s, the primary mode of travel was the East Indiaman, a massive wooden sailing ship that navigated around the Cape of Good Hope. This grueling journey typically took 4 to 6 months, subject to the whims of the trade winds and the danger of storms. By the mid-1800s, the "Overland Route" gained popularity; passengers would take a steamer to Egypt, travel by camel or carriage across the desert to the Red Sea, and board another ship to Bombay. This cut travel time to roughly 30 to 45 days. The most significant shift occurred in 1869 with the opening of the Suez Canal, which allowed steamships like those of the Peninsular and Oriental (P&O) Line to bypass the African continent entirely. This innovation reduced the voyage to about 3 weeks, making travel more accessible for the "Fishing Fleet"—women traveling to India to find husbands—and solidifying the British administrative presence in the Raj.