Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21 : Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of JaipurBetween 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. |
Contents
Introduction Contexts and Concepts | 1 |
An Indian Officer of Uncertain Position The Initiation 1905 | 45 |
Setting the Pattern of a Dual Life 1905 | 81 |
Marking Time in the Military The Mhow Cantonment 1906 14 | 131 |
Qualities of Lire in Mhow and Indore | 193 |
Where the Heart Was Jaipur Kanota and the Company of Rajputs | 239 |
State and Estate Dealing with the Maharajas Goverment Developing the Thikana | 301 |
Swept Up in the Great War The Western Front 191415 | 355 |
List of Indian Princely States of Importance to This Study | 625 |
List of Jaipur Thikanas Estates of Importance to This Study | 626 |
Register of Books Read by Amar Singh in 1906 | 627 |
Register of Amar Singhs Shikar Hunting in 1909 | 631 |
Descriptive List of Kanota Thikana Estate Servants 1912 | 632 |
Makeup of the Indian Corps in France 1914 | 636 |
Genealogical Charts of the Peelva Champawat Families Peelva Santha Gondher Kanota and Naila | 639 |
Glossary | 649 |
Wartime Experiences Outside Europe British Policy and New Commissions 1916 1918 | 423 |
A Regimental Officer The New Delhi Cantonment and the Northwest Frontier 1918 21 | 483 |
The Solace of Home Princely Changes and the Continuity of Rajput Life 1916 21 | 531 |
A Dramatic Change Princely Adoption and Reversal of Family Fortunes 1921 | 585 |
Perspectives and Epilogue | 597 |
651 | |
Biographical Sketch of the Aurthor | 661 |
663 | |
Common terms and phrases
Alwar Amar Singh appointment April aristocratic August Bhoj Bombay Brigade British officers brother cantonment Cavalry century Champawat Chiefs Chomu command commissioning Creagh Days December Delhi diarist diary Durbar Ellinwood European father February History horses Idar Imperial Cadet Corps Imperial Service included Indian Army Indian Corps Indian officers Indian soldiers Indian troops Indore interest jagir Jaipur January Jodhpur July Kanota Kanwar Kashmir Khan Kishengurh Last Leave Last Visit Leave of Six London Madho Singh Maharaja major March marriage Martial Races Marwar Mayo College Mesopotamia Mhow military Mohan Singh Muslim Naila Narain Singh Notes November observed October Peelva political Polo Tournament princes Purdah Rajasthan Rajput Rajputana reading regiment relationships Reversing the Gaze Roop Singh Rudolph and Rudolph ruler Sardar Singh Satheen sepoys servants Sheonath Singh Singhjee social society squadron talk Thakur thikana thing told took trenches University Press Viceroy village wanted wife Zorawar Singh