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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [77r] (153/336)
The record is made up of 1 volume (168 folios). It was created in 1982?. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
75
Abdullah bln Ahmad, tha Governor of the highland territory of the Audhall
Sultan. These two square, solid towers were of dressed stone and were six
storeys high and were a landmark for many miles around. As we approached
the town, Ahmad was greeted by passersby and I was Interested to see that
these greetings were not confined to the men, but the women going about
their domestic tasks greeted him just as warmly. The women were clad In
one-piece drosses of the universal blue with a girdle of the same colour.
Their faces were dyed a curious ugly saffron colour. I enquired about this
strange customs and was told that the substance used was prepared from a
particular kind of earth found locally and was used just as the men used
Indigo and oil to protect the skin from the sun In summer and from the cold,
dry winds that blew across the plateau In winter.
A woman waved from a nearby roof and 1 asked him Who she was and was told
that It was his mother. An elderly man carrying a rifle, who proved to be
Ahmad's father, hurried through the door of the courtyard and came to meet
us. Re greeted Ahmad warmly and his surprise and obvious delight at this
unexpected meeting with his son was moving. I was Introduced and we shook
hands and at once he took his son to task for not having sent warning of
our Intended visit. 1 explained that the fault was mine alone as I had
insisted on no warning being given as I wanted to arrive without a lot of
fuss and bother over my entertainment. He insisted at once on my staying In
his house and as I had already promised Ahmad that I would spend at least
one night with him, 1 readily accepted the invitation. He took me by the
hand and led me to the entrance to the house. There he found better employ
ment for both his hands. He raised his rifle in the air, pushed forward the
safety-catch and fired two rounds. This was a customary salute and had the
dual purpose of honouring a guest and warning the household of a guest's
arrival. Although in the Protectorate "purdah" is not observed strictly,
sxcept In the household to meet strangers, unless they are sponsored by
their male relatives, and on hearing the shots they would hurry to their own
part of the house there to set the coffee to boll and prepare suitable
refreshment for the guest. I
I followed my host through the door and up the rectangular stone staircase
to the first floor. The ground floor of all the larger houses is used as a
combined cow-house and stable. On the first floor there were three oblong
rooms, each some twenty feet in length by ten feet wide. My host told me
About this item
- Content
This volume is a set of typewritten memoirs by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, a retired officer of the British Indian Army and the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. . Hickinbotham held various positions in India and in the Middle East, and these memoirs recount stories from his time in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Quetta, Persia [Iran], Aden, Audhali, Bahrain and North Waziristan.
The memoirs were most likely completed in 1982-83; they cover the period 1927-1982, although most of the chapters relate to events from the 1930s and 1940s.
Hickinbotham writes not only about his official duties but also about various trips taken during periods of leave. Below is a list of the chapters, with a short summary of each:
- 'No Medals This Time' (ff 3-6) – details of an incident in Kuwait involving a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. that caught fire off the foreshore at Shuwaik [Ash Shuwaykh]
- 'The Silver Coin' (ff 7-10) – thoughts on the use of the Maria Theresa thaler in Arabia
- 'The Golden Dagger' (ff 11-36) – an account of Hickinbotham's unofficial visit to Riyadh to meet Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] in May 1942
- 'The Brass Pencase' (ff 37-53) – memories of a journey undertaken from Quetta to Europe via north Persia in 1927, travelling in a Fiat Tourer with Colonel T Nisbet (also referred to as the 'purple emperor'), on what Hickinbotham claims to have been the first trip taken by car from India to the Mediterranean
- 'The Bronze Boy' (ff 54-72) – reminiscences of weekends spent in 'Little Aden' (a rocky peninsula seven miles west of Aden), in 1938, and a later visit, in December 1961
- 'The Silver Letter Case' (ff 73-118) – details of a ten-day trip on the Audhali plateau in the summer of 1938, and a return visit, in December 1960 (the chapter ends with remarks on the situation in Yemen generally from the late sixties to the time of writing, i.e. 1982)
- 'The Agate Ring' (ff 119-144) – memories of travelling in Oman during the summer of 1940 and how this compared with Hickinbotham's last visit to the country in 1980
- 'The Pearl Tie Pin' (ff 145-151) – thoughts and anecdotes on the pearl trade in Bahrain
- 'A Point of View' (ff 152-157) – a story told to Hickinbotham, possibly fictional, of a pearl trader in the Gulf who lost his fortune and livelihood, and eventually his sanity
- 'Snakes Alive!!' (ff 158-161) – an account of a near-fatal encounter with a krite [krait] in Waziristan
- 'The Queen's Visit' (ff 162-168) – memories of the Queen's visit to the Aden Protectorate in 1954, where Hickinbotham was serving as Governor.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (168 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains an index of chapter headings on folio 2, which includes some handwritten corrections and annotations.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 168; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-168.
Condition: The original plastic comb binding ring has been replaced with a wider one to facilitate flat opening of the volume. Polyester film covers have been added to protect the first and last folios.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [77r] (153/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x00009a> [accessed 2 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F226/13
- Title
- '"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE'
- Pages
- 1r:168v
- Author
- Hickinbotham, Sir Tom
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.