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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [100r] (199/336)
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.
98 -
Sultan Abdullah bin Ahmad was still trying cases when we returned to the house
but he announced that he would try no more that day and rose abruptly to his
feet ready to return to Aryab. It was not to be, however, because no sooner
did we issue from the front door than he was surrounded by a crowd of liti
gants in another land dispute. They persuaded him to inspect the site and
he went off in the midst of the shouting throng, each party trying to shout
louder than the other and Sultan Abdullah was pulled first in one direction
and then in another by the excited principals to the dispute. Why he did not
lose his temper I have no idea, but he remained good humoured in spite of the
man-handling and shouted to me to go on saying he would follow as soon as he
had settled the matter.
Saying goodbye to my host I left at once with my servant Ahmad and young
Jabil mounted on Sultan Abdullah's horse, ills little legs
where near the stirrups but he rode with perfect confidence, more confidence
that I would have had if I had been on the animal's back. We followed the
same road as we had coming out and when the path became too steep to ride,
Jabil slipped from the horse's back and I ordered Ahmad to lead it. Jabil
ran on ahead driving before him his donkey which had come with us entirely
on its own. Every time it stopped to graze he beat the animal on the rump
with his hand but he hurt himself more than he did the donkey, so he cut him
self a stick and sharnened the end with his dagger. The next time the donkey
stopped, he prodded it in the hindquarters. The reaction was immediate, he
was kicked in the stomach. Luckily he was unhurt, for the force of the blow
was broken by the animal's hoof striking the scabbard of his dagger. Jabil
was highly amused by this misadventure but thereafter, being no fool, he con
tented himself with running up behind the animal and waving the stick, which
had the desired effect and we made steady progress, half way to Aryab, rain
clouds fathered threateningly, so leaving Ahmad to wait with the horse for
Sultan Abdullah bin Ahmad and Ahmad Abdu Nabi who neither of them had
appeared, Jabil and I pushed on with all speed. By running most of the way
we managed to reach home before the rain began to fall. Half an hour later
Ahmad Abdu Nabi and Ahmad arrived with the news that Sultan Abdullah bin
Ahmad had gone off on foot with his soldier after a gazelle they had seen.
Ahmad Abdu Nabi himself had had something of an adventure. He had been
delayed by his highly strung camel falling down, and when he reached the place
where Ahmad and the horse were waiting, he told him that it was no use waiting
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' [100r] (199/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x0000c8> [accessed 14 June 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.