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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [90r] (179/336)
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.
88 -
off our talks and hurried in great excitement from window to window to see
the rainwater running down the steep sides of the srmr on to the fields
below. Even as we watched the bed of the stream at the foot of the hill
which had been dry when I crossed half an hour earlier, filled with water
and became a raging torrent. It was incredible how quickly this happened
and I was concerned about how I was going to get back to Naser's village
without getting wet to the skin and half drowned. My companions were in
the highest spirits and were reluctant to come away from the windows even
when lunch appeared. After lunch our business was completed surprisingly
easily and then we went on to talk of the land and I promised to obtain
some peach trees from Baluchistan and the Sultan promised to plant them on
his own land. The Regent, not to be outdone, produced some apple seeds from
a pouch at his waist and announced his intention of trying to grow them. I
turned the conversation to the rifles hanging around the walls and suggested
that they were a v/aste of life and money and the Audhalis would all be far
better off if they co-operated with their neighbours in a move to disarm the
tribes. The Sultan was in agreement, but the Regent listened to my disarma
ment lecture with growing displeasure, he interrupted to enquire how law
and order was to be preserved if they had no weapons. I explained that the
Ruler would have his own police force, much as he had in England, except
that here local conditions would necessitate the police wearing kilts and
carrying rifles whereas we obtained the same results with white gloves and
blue helmets. The Regent decided to humour a guest he clearly considered to
be slightly mentally afflicted and said the time for such adventures was in
the hands of God, and with that sage reflection left the room.
The Regent left us alone for a few minutes only and when he cane back I asked
permission to return to Naser's village. He and the Sultan pressed ne to
stay the night but I was anxious to get back as soon as possible to the coo
ler atmosphere of the plateau and refused their kind invitation. As we
walked down the stairs, the Regent said I should find all Naser's relatives
fighting with their daggers about their water rights. Laughingly I asked the
Regent's permission to deal with them if indeed I did find such an unhappy
state of affairs. "Most certainly", he said and added that he hoped my meth
ods would be as successful in his country as he understood they had been in
the Colony. This was a rather doubtful remark, but so often have I had a
similar sort of answer from an Arab that I have learnt sufficient wisdom not
to attempt to reply. Two examples of what I mean come to mind. Once when I
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' [90r] (179/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000b4> [accessed 26 December 2024]
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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.