'Memoirs and Recollections of An Officer of the Indian Political Service' [‎47r] (93/156)

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4^
We often discuss the old days together.
In September my wife gave birth in Rajkot to our third son, Brian. We had brought with
us from Hyderabad a large motherly English nanny named Anne Cavell, to whom the child
ren became greatly attached. Our house was large and commodious, and we lived very
comfortably. I frequently accompanied the Resident on tour: more often than not, we
travelled by train as many of the more important states owned their own railways, and
the Rulers would put their saloons at our disposal. But the fact that we were away
from headquarters did nothing to lighten the workload. Every day the ’chaprassies'
would arrive from Rajkot bringing with them the large black metal boxes so dear to the
Government of India, stuffed with files and reports which had to be studied and
minuted to the Resident for orders. In the evening the boxes would be returned with
drafts ready for typing and instructions for the Political Agents. The next morning,
a new set of boxes would arrive. While the Resident was being entertained by the Rulers
and taken to inspect public works or on the occasional 'Shikar* trips, I would remain
behind in the guest rooms of the palaces, devilling away at the files. Occasionally
the Resident would insist on my leaving the office for a while, and I would go off
with him and his host on some small game shoot. The best of the shooting (sand grouse
and black partridge) was in the Rann of Cutch, a large tract of low-lying land to the
north of the State Capital of Bhuj, which is periodically inundated with sea water
which later dries out in the hot season, leaving a residue of salt. The extraction
and purification of, and subsequent export of this salt to all parts of India, con
stituted a lucrative source of revenue to Cutch and some of the maritime states. The
Government of India of course held the monopoly of the sale of salt, and it was they who
benefitted from the small tax laid on it which so engaged the attention of Mahatma
Gandhi. It was to the purpose of compelling the Government to abolish this tax that
the Mahatma defied the Government in a series of 'salt marches', which seriously
embarrassed the authorities during the 1930's. The small game, the shooting of which
gave us so much pleasurable sport, frequented the higher ground in the Rann which
escapted the salt water inundations. The inaccessibility of the Cutch State arose
out of the fact that to get there one had to travel by ship across an arm of the sea
separating it from Kathiawar proper.
Kathiawar had played an important part in the history and the culture of India. It had
been fought-over on numerous occasions, and it was invaded by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1024,
who razed to the ground the famous Hindu Temple of Somnath, which stood on the edge of
the sea in the Muslim State of Junagadh. In the same State lies the 4,000 ft. holy
mountain of Girnar, the summit of which - covered by Jain Temples - have attracted
pilgrims since the third century B.C. On the track to the top, the world-famous Asoka
Stone is to be found. It has now become the emblem of Independent India. The Gir
Forest or scrubland of Junagadh was formerly the haunt of the last indigenous lions