Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the

Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21 describes two societies in early twentieth century colonial India-- the British governmental and military society and the regional Rajasthan aristocracy. The book portrays life in the peacetime cantonments of Mhow (1906-14) and New Delhi (1918-19), on the Western and Mesopotamian fronts of World War One, and on the Northwest Frontier (1919-21) during the Pathan uprising. The story is tied together by the pioneering experiences of Captain (later Major-General) Amar Singh, an aristocrat of Jaipur state. Singh's personal story, revealed through the diary that he kept throughout his adult life, details Indo-British cultural collaboration. Amar Singh was, unwittingly, an excellent ethnographer of Rajput society, extensively recording family tensions, marriages, estate development, and the decadent lives of Rajput princes. Singh, in 1905, was among the first Indians given an officers' commission in the British Indian Army. However, it was not until 1917 that he received his full officer commission.

DeWitt C. Ellinwood is an Associate Professor Emeritus of History at the University at Albany (SUNY).

List of Maps

vii

Preface

ix

Acknowledgements

xi

Introduction: Contexts and Concepts

1

(44)

An Indian Officer of Uncertain Position: The Initiation, 1905

45

(36)

Setting the Patterns of a Dual Life, 1905

81

(50)

Marking Time in the Military: The Mhow Cantonment, 1906-1914

131

(62)

Qualities of Life in Mhow and Indore

193

(46)

Where the Heart Was: Jaipur, Kanota, and the Company of Rajputs, 1906-14

239

(62)

State and Estate, 1906-14: Dealing with the Maharaja's Government. Developing the Thikana

301

(54)

Swept up in the Great War: The Western Front 1914-15

355

(68)

Wartime Experiences outside Europe; British Policy and New Commissions, 1915-1918

423

(60)

A Regimental Officer: The New Delhi Cantonment and the Northwest Frontier, 1918-21

483

(48)

The Solace of Home, Princely Changes, and the Continuity of Rajput Life, 1916-21

531

(54)

A Dramatic Change: Princely Adoption and Change in Family Fortunes, 1921

585

(12)

Perspectives and Epilogue

597

(28)

Appendix I List of Indian Princely States of Importance to This Study

625

(1)

Appendix II List of Jaipur Thikanas (estates) of Importance to This Study

626

(1)

Appendix III Register of Books Read by Amar Singh in 1906

627

(4)

Appendix IV Register of Amar Singh's Shikar (hunting) in 1909

631

(1)

Appendix V Descriptive List of Kanota Thikana (Estate) Servants, 1912

632

(4)

Appendix VI Makeup of the Indian Corps in France, 1914

636

(3)

Appendix VII Genealogical Charts of the Peelva (Champawat) Families: Peelva, Santha (Gondher), Kanota, and Naila

639

(10)

Glossary

649

(2)

Bibliography

651

(10)

Biographical sketch of the author

661

(2)

Index

663

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Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21 Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur

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Table of Contents

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