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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [188r] (375/498)
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.
the field where the sports and parades used to take place, is now all broken
up into flower gardens surrounded by high walls and pavilions. On the
south side is the ladies' mosque - the Shaikh Lutfullah mosque. i.Tt _ j
It has n© minaret but the dome is a beautiful beige colour. Opposite the
ladies' mosque is the high pavilion of Shah Abbas from which the Shah watched
the happenings in the Maidan below. Then we went to the garden of the Chhil
Saturn - actually there are only twenty wooden pillars and not forty as
'chhil' suggests. It is a small museum looking out to the inevitable
Persian fountains and gardens. Paintings on the wall of Ismail Shah's
invasion of India and of the cruel Nadir Shah's victory at Delhi, etc.
That evening we were shown the "People's Mosque" dating back to Arab
Mansur's time, 960 A.D. A mosque of less adornment, plain brick for the most
part, in a large enclosed courtyard with many arched rooms all round which
must have been used to accommodate the many visiting pilgrims. All so
different from the usual highly coloured tiled mosques. Reminds one of a
cold, bare Norman church and castle.
Then we drove away out of the town to the "Trembling Minarets" - the
Minar-i-Jamban, a small tomb ziarat with stubby minarets up which one can
climb, and the minaret does actually tremble as one moves around the flat
roof. We drove back along the Ziandah Rud and took photos of the warm,
brick bridge across the dry bed of the river - a double road in that there
are two roadways, one above the other.
The N.I.O.C. agent, who had been our guide, collected us in the evening
and took us to meet his purdah wife - a great honour. She was from Azer
baijan. Eventually quite a crowd of friends came in and we were regaled
with wine and sweets.
Next day the agent picked us up and took us to the extensive covered
bazaar which seemed to run for miles. Nancy bought a couple of old brass
water vessels. Then we were taken to the school of fine arts where the
Shah's enthusiasm to revive the old Persian arts is bearing good fruit.
A
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).
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- 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.