!['"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [‎83r] (165/336)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000880.0x0002de/Mss Eur F226_13_0165.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'\"NO MEDALS THIS TIME\" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [‎83r] (165/336)")
'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [83r] (165/336)
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.
81 -
Our next visitor was a very small boy, Sultan Jabil bin Hussein, a younger
brother of the Sultan. He must have been in his early ’teens but he looked
younger with his slim, well made body covered in the same indigo dye as the
tribesmen. With finely formed features and large mischievous eyes, he was
the most alive creature I was to meet on th» plateau. It seemed that he had
run away from school in Zara where he was being taught the Koran and the
elements of reading and writing, His sudden disappearance had alarmed his
relatives until his cousin, Sultan Abdullah bin Ahmad, had sent an urgent
message with news of his arrival. He shook hands politely and took his seat
against the wall next to his cousin. He was, I think, grateful to me
because my sudden arrival had temporarily distracted attention from his own
escapade. Sultan Abdullah bin Ahmad broke up the party shortly after
Jabil’s arrival and everyone trooped out leaving ne to my own devices, but
not for long. Ahmad appeared to ask if I would receive his mother and his
wife and sister-in-law. I said I would be glad to meet them and was sur
prised to find that they were waiting outside the door all ready to come in.
Ahmad's mother performed the introductions and they all sat down in the
middle of the room. The girls were very shy which was not to be wondered at
as I was certainly the first white man they had seen at close quarters and
probably the only one that they had ever seen. They were handsome girls,
very light in colour, their faces free from the disagreeable yellowish clay
which I have described. They were dressed in gowns of red and yellow verti
cal stripes made of what looked like glazed cotton cloth gathered at the
waist with girdles of the same colour and cut moderately low at the neck. I
had brought with me two dresses of Damascus silk which I had had made up in
Aden and I made this small presentation. Ahmad had helped me choose the
right colours and I was thankful when I saw how the choice was appreciated
that I had taken his advice and not followed my own inclination which would
have been for something far more subdued. My visitors did not stay long
and were, I am sure, much relieved when the old lady took them away apolo
gising as she did so for their being so embarrassed. As soon as they had
gone I went straight to bed and slept soundly on my camp bed until daylight.
By half past six I was dressed and helping Ahmad to dismantle the camp bed
when the Qadi called to pay his respects. His reception was scarcely
cordial. A more difficult and unsuitable hour for a visit would be hard to
imagine. It's a strange thing that all over the world some religious people,
whatever their denomination have an uncanny habit of arriving at awkward
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [83r] (165/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000a6> [accessed 3 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000a6
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000a6">'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [‎83r] (165/336)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000a6"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000880.0x0002de/Mss Eur F226_13_0165.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000880.0x0002de/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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.