Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21: Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur

by DeWitt C. Ellinwood Jr.

Overview

Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905-21 describes two societies in early twentieth century colonial India— the British governmental and military society and the regional Rajasthan aristocracy. The book portrays life in the peacetime cantonments of Mhow (1906-14) and New Delhi (1918-19), on the Western and Mesopotamian fronts of World War One, and on the Northwest Frontier (1919-21) during the Pathan uprising.

The story is tied together by the pioneering experiences of Captain (later Major-General) Amar Singh, an aristocrat of Jaipur state. Singh's personal story, revealed through the diary that he kept throughout his adult life, details Indo-British cultural collaboration. Amar Singh was, unwittingly, an excellent ethnographer of Rajput society, extensively recording family tensions, marriages, estate development, and the decadent lives of Rajput princes. Singh, in 1905, was among the first Indians given an officers' commission in the British Indian Army. However, it was not until 1917 that he received his full officer commission.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761831136
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/15/2005
Pages:	694
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.39(d)

About the Author

DeWitt C. Ellinwood, Jr. is Associate Professor Emeritus of History at the University at Albany (SUNY). Dr. Ellinwood earned his Ph.D. in History from Washington University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 List of Maps
Chapter 2 Preface
Chapter 3 Acknowledgments
Chapter 4 Introduction: Contexts and Concepts
Chapter 5 An Indian Officer of Uncertain Position: The Initiation, 1905
Chapter 6 Setting the Patterns of Dual Life, 1905
Chapter 7 Marking Time in the Military: The Mhow Cantonment, 1906-1914
Chapter 8 Qualities of Life in Mhow and Indore
Chapter 9 Where the Heart Was: Jaipur, Kanota, and the Company of Rajputs, 1906-14
Chapter 10 State and Estate, 1906-14: Dealing with the Maharaja's Government; Developing the Thikana
Chapter 11 Swept Up in the Great War: The Western Front 1914-15
Chapter 12 Wartime Experienc3es outside Europe; British Policy and New Commissions, 1915-18
Chapter 13 A Regimental Officer: The New Delhi Cantonment and the Northwest Frontier, 1918-21
Chapter 14 The Solace of Home, Princely Changes, and the Continuity of Rajput Life, 1916-21
Chapter 15 A Dramatic Change: Princely Adoption and Change in Family Fortunes, 1921
Chapter 16 Perspectives and Epilogue
Chapter 17 Appendices
Chapter 18 Glossary
Chapter 19 Bibliography
Chapter 20 Biographical Sketch of the Author
Chapter 21 Index

Editorial Reviews

Between Two Worlds [is] a welcome addition to the literature on British India's military. …[this] balanced and well documented work [can be seen] as a corrective for those who argue that the similarities between Britain and India's aristocracy played a more important role than race and gender in the workings of the Raj.

Journal Of Colonialism and Colonial History - Robert A. McLain

Ellinwood has ended up providing a rich introduction to the culture and politics of the Raj and its armed forces in the first decades of the twentieth century. The bibliography is extensive, the tone of the test conversational and informative, and the uninitiated reader will finda sure guide to the pecularities and intricacies of British rule and colonial society, no small achievement. The text is of particular valuefor teaching undergraduates, as it provides a seductive mis of first person experience with Ellinwood's summaries of relevant scholarship. Military specialists will find extensive discussion of Indianization, coupled with Amar Singh's often reserved observations of the treatment he received as well as portraits of sympathetic British officers.

Military History - Tarak Barkawi

...the author has accomplished the substantial effort needed to make appropriate selections from Amar Sing's voluminous diary linked by extensive commentary in a thorough and excellent manner. The selections provide a good sense of the variety and depth of the information and insights that the diary offers.

Journal of Asian Studies - Frances Taft

Between Two Worlds [is] a welcome addition to the literature on British India's military. …[this] balanced and well documented work [can be seen] as a corrective for those who argue that the similarities between Britain and India's aristocracy played a more important role than race and gender in the workings of the Raj.
— Robert A. McLain, California State University at Fullerton

Journal Of Colonialism and Colonial History

...the author has accomplished the substantial effort needed to make appropriate selections from Amar Sing's voluminous diary linked by extensive commentary in a thorough and excellent manner. The selections provide a good sense of the variety and depth of the information and insights that the diary offers.
— Frances Taft

Journal Of Asian Studies

Ellinwood has ended up providing a rich introduction to the culture and politics of the Raj and its armed forces in the first decades of the twentieth century. The bibliography is extensive, the tone of the test conversational and informative, and the uninitiated reader will finda sure guide to the pecularities and intricacies of British rule and colonial society, no small achievement. The text is of particular valuefor teaching undergraduates, as it provides a seductive mis of first person experience with Ellinwood's summaries of relevant scholarship. Military specialists will find extensive discussion of Indianization, coupled with Amar Singh's often reserved observations of the treatment he received as well as portraits of sympathetic British officers.
— Tarak Barkawi, University of Cambridge

Military History

...the author has accomplished the substantial effort needed to make appropriate selections from Amar Sing's voluminous diary linked by extensive commentary in a thorough and excellent manner. The selections provide a good sense of the variety and depth of the information and insights that the diary offers.
— Frances Taft

Journal of Asian Studies

Ellinwood has ended up providing a rich introduction to the culture and politics of the Raj and its armed forces in the first decades of the twentieth century. The bibliography is extensive, the tone of the test conversational and informative, and the uninitiated reader will finda sure guide to the pecularities and intricacies of British rule and colonial society, no small achievement. The text is of particular valuefor teaching undergraduates, as it provides a seductive mis of first person experience with Ellinwood's summaries of relevant scholarship. Military specialists will find extensive discussion of Indianization, coupled with Amar Singh's often reserved observations of the treatment he received as well as portraits of sympathetic British officers.--Tarak Barkawi, University of Cambridge "Military History "

...the author has accomplished the substantial effort needed to make appropriate selections from Amar Sing's voluminous diary linked by extensive commentary in a thorough and excellent manner. The selections provide a good sense of the variety and depth of the information and insights that the diary offers.--Frances Taft "Journal of Asian Studies "

Between Two Worlds [is] a welcome addition to the literature on British India's military. ...[this] balanced and well documented work [can be seen] as a corrective for those who argue that the similarities between Britain and India's aristocracy played a more important role than race and gender in the workings of the Raj.--Robert A. McLain, California State University at Fullerton "Journal Of Colonialism and Colonial History "

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