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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [132r] (263/498)
The record is made up of 1 file (247 folios). It was created in 1976-1978. 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.
- 130 -
of negative virtues.
The Nehru-Jinnah talks in London end in stalemate.
We then go to Raipur, the headquarters of my
Political Agent
A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency.
for the
Central India States. I there hold a three days' conference with all my
Rulers and my two Political Agents. Sir Conrad C. head of Political Dept.,
arrives from Delhi to meet my conference of ^ Rulers ano their divans.
All very agreeable. We all go up to Bastar State where the
Raja
King
is a minor,
so State of Bastar administered by Keith B. Sir C. goes down with malaria
and has to go to bed so sees little of State.
T e went on to Khairagarh State and met Maharaj
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Singh and the son
who is to marry Princess Kamala of Bharatpur and seems a nice lad. I had
to go to lay foundation stone of X-ray ward. Dined at the Palace where the
Rani appeared - very nice and speaking good English. Her nurse and teacher -
English - there at their first public appearance in the State. The Uncle,
Bilcram Singh, was also there as noisy, ill-mannered and boasting as ever.
To Dungargarh to see Wood Distillery
Factory
An East India Company trading post.
. See the distilling of hard
wood for acetic acid and acetone with tar and charcoal by-products.
All through next months busy touring States and visiting their institutions,
opening schools, new hospitals, etc.
Nancy got a bad go of painful boils and eventually the English Civil
Surgeon insisted on her going into hospital and having a course of penicillin
injections which, after several painful days, do the trick and she comes
back to Hastings House pale and weak.
I have to visit Tripura State where the weak, foolish and generally drunk
Maharaja has to be talked to very firmly. Doubt if it will do much good.
Thank goodness he doesn't interfere in the running of his State, but leaves
it to the very competent - and clever - Bengali Diwan.
20 th Feb. 19^7. Momentous news of Attlee's Government announcing that
they will hand over and leave India by June 19 ^ 8 . Lord Wave11 replaced as
About this item
- Content
Memoirs of Sir Herbert Todd (1893-1985) of 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. , later of the Iraq Petroleum Company. Written during the years 1976-78, the memoirs begin by recounting Todd's childhood on his family's farm in Kent, his education and entrance into the Home Civil Service in 1912, and his entrance into 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. in 1913. Roughly half of the memoirs (ff 10-137) covers Todd's career up to 1947, which can be summarised as follows:
- Posted to the Indian Police, Burma [Myanmar], 1913-17 (ff 10-22)
- Served in the 11th Bengal Lancers (Probyn's Horse), Indian Army, in Mesopotamia [Iraq], 1917-19 (ff 22-24)
- Remained in Baghdad as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Baghdad East Subdivision, 1919-20 (ff 25-31)
- Transferred to 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. , holding positions in Baluchistan, 1921; Gilgit, 1927; Quetta, 1931; Bharatpur, 1936-39 (ff 31-67)
- Served in the Home Guard during extended leave (1939-40), first in Canfield, Essex, and later in Blackheath, London (ff 68-72), followed by a spell as an air warden while awaiting re-posting to India (ff 72-78)
- First attempt at passage to India abandoned when the ship he was travelling on, SS Simla , was torpedoed, September 1940 (ff 79-88)
- Returned to India, holding positions at Udaipur, 1940 (ff 93-97); Baluchistan, 1941 (ff 97-101); Cochin [Kochi] and Travancore, 1943 (ff 101-111); and Calcutta [Kolkata] and the Eastern States, 1944-47 (ff 111-134)
- Returned to London on leave, April 1947; career brought to an abrupt end in June 1947 with the announcement of the handing over of power and Indian independence (ff 135-137).
The last hundred or so folios relate to Todd's employment in the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), 1948-59 (ff 138-227), and his subsequent retirement in Oxted, Surrey, 1959-78 (ff 227-248). As Chief Representative of the IPC, Todd and his wife spent much of their time in Baghdad. The memoirs document Todd's relations with prominent Iraqi politicians, diplomats, and visiting British MPs, as well as Todd's visits to Beirut, Damascus, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Persia [Iran] and the United States. Also included are Todd's thoughts on the Suez Crisis and the 1958 revolution in Iraq (Todd was holidaying in Austria at the time and never returned to Baghdad).
Aside from his career, Todd writes about his hobbies (polo and hunting) and comments on UK and world events, such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the death of Winston Churchill, and the first moon landing in July 1969; he also mentions in passing meeting Professor Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie at the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Iraq) in April 1955.
The text is typewritten with annotations and crossings out in pencil and ink. It includes some offensive terms and language in its descriptions of members of colonised populations.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (247 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 249; 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. The file also contains an original printed foliation sequence. It should be noted that number 13 in the original foliation sequence is missing (in between folios 14 and 15).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F226/30
- Title
- 'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977'
- Pages
- 2r:248v
- Author
- Todd, Sir Herbert John
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- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.