Luca Peliti writes : **** Federico Peliti (1844-1914) is my great-grandfather. He was born near Turin, in Northern Italy, and went to India in 1868 as a caterer to the Viceroy, the Earl of Mayo. After the assassination of the Viceroy, he established himself as an independent caterer and hotel director, with establishments in Calcutta and Simla. His Simla restaurant is mentioned in Rudyard Kipling's short story "The Phantom Reekshaw" (1880). He had been trained as a sculptor in his youth, and while sculpting from time to time as a hobby, he became a more and more passionate photographer as time went on. A great part of his production now belongs to the Calcografia Nazionale in Rome. There are several photos here, taken from the book: Federico Peliti: An Italian photographer in India at the times of Queen Victoria, edited by Marina Miraglia (Peliti Associati, Rome, and Corner House, London, 1995). **** http://www.geocities.com/lupeliti/index.html ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day folks, Just found that there is a program available for Windoze users. Go to.... www.memoryminer.com/software/ to download MemoryMiner ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

G'day folks, As most of you would know by now, I am an Apple Mac User. I have just been looking at an application (Apples don't have 'programs') called "MemoryMiner". It is a photo related application that can create various kinds of outputs after being given certain types of inputs - particularly photos. But the interesting thing that I noticed is that it can import information from GEDCOM files. You can see a small video created by the author at... www.memoryminer.com/help/video_gallery.html Look at the first video on the page and keep your eyes open for the GEDCOM icon ( A green tree, what else?). It certainly looks interesting. Obviously I have no commercial interest in this application. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Begin forwarded message: From: "John Orchard" <john@welbeckretail.co.uk> Date: 14 April 2008 4:00:23 AM To: <moonrakers@lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com> Subject: [Moonrakers] Hon. East India Company Reply-To: moonrakers@lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com Some years ago I was investigating some aspects of the Hon. East India Company, because of its connection with Croydon in Surrey, where I grew up after leaving Wiltshire. I discovered that the main records of the college (there was a college of the company in Addiscombe, Croydon) were held at Sandhurst Military College. This was because after the mutiny in India the British government took over the military aspects of the company and the colleges of the company were subsumed within those of the governments military. Anyone searching for people related to the company could do worse than contact the archivist at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in Berkshire. Regards John Orchard ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

G'day Kathleen, On 13/04/2008, at 3:51 AM, KATHLEEN LOPEZ wrote: <<It was not a fiche that I ordered, it was a film---sorry I left the slip with the film # in the box at the library. The library is in downtown Toronto , so the film # will have to wait until the next time I make a trip to the library to view the film.>> Thanks for that response Kathleen. We can wait! :-) ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Sun. Apr 13 2008 William Dalrymple spoke recently at University of King's College in Halifax, on his ''The Last Mughal'' looking at Delhi life in mid-19th century. http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Books/1049483.html ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Military stories from the regiment of history Book Review by General S Padmanabhan Sunday April 13 2008 >From - http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEB20080412155825&eTitle=Books+%26+Literature&rLink=0 Empire's First Soldiers by D P Ramachandran Publisher: Lancer Pages: 316 Price: 795 Should we, as a free nation, continue to recount and celebrate the actions and achievements of the pre-Independence Indian Army and its colonial predecessors, the erstwhile Presidency Armies? Empire's First Soldiers does just that. The author believes that the military professionalism of today's Indian Army, its ethos and traditions are derived from its historical past of over 250 years, including its colonial experience. In fact, the entity we know today as 'Indian Army' was created in 1895 by the amalgamation of the three Presidency Armies of which the Madras Army was the oldest. This book deals mainly with the South Indian soldiers of the old Madras Army and their successors - the Madras Regiment, Madras Engineer Group and 16th Light Cavalry. The Book has three sub-divisions. The first deals with the wars, battles, rebellions and mutinies in South India during the 17th and 18th Centuries. The second part deals with the wars in which the Indian Army was employed as an instrument of the British Empire in places like Afghanistan, Burma, China, Egypt, Philippines and various battlefields of the First and Second World Wars. The third part deals with the post-Independence Indian Army in all its roles including war fighting, peace keeping under the UN flag and the operations in Sri Lanka. There is also an informative chapter on the arms, uniforms and memorials to martyred soldiers and a brief addendum on the role of the Madras Sappers in non-combat operations. In sum, this book gives the reader a better than bird's eye view of the old Madras Army and its descendant, the modern Indian Army. The author makes a few interesting observations. First, out-sourcing of the security of their realms by 'native' rulers to the East India Company led to the eventual conquest of these by their intended protectors. Second, India was conquered 'for the British by Indians' - thanks to the perfidy of the 'native' rulers, the valour of the 'sepoy' armies and the quality of leadership provided by the British. Third, the post-World War II Indian Army, as much as the freedom movement based on satyagraha, made it clear to the British that they must quit India. Fourth, the dogma of martial races propounded by the British is untenable. The author saw active services as a young Armoured Corps officer in the 1971 operations in Bangladesh. Based on his experiences in that war, he authored a book Legion of the Brave. Empire's First Soldiers is an equally fascinating book, notable for its easy narrative style, ring of authenticity and clear appeal to all who are interested in matters military. He deserves to be congratulated for this second offering as well. ============================= ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

A short clip entitled ''Afghanistan - The Battle of Maiwand'', accompanied by music based on North Indian classical musical style, set to ''Raga Jogiya''. http://youtube.com/watch?v=wP3nXLJaAEU ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar wrote: > A short clip entitled ''Afghanistan - The Battle of Maiwand'', > accompanied by music based on North Indian classical musical > style, set to ''Raga Jogiya''. > > http://youtube.com/watch?v=wP3nXLJaAEU Harshawarden - I found this very moving, both visually and aurally. Whether or no a contributing factor to my feelings is that the British base at Kabul is named Camp Souter after the exploits of a gr gr grandfather of mine, Capt. Thomas Alexander Souter, during the 1st Afghan War I am not sure. Yours Aye Andrew Sellon

Andrew (whose return to duty is very welcome!) wrote in response to Kathleen Lopez: > > This strikes me as being a most valuable resource. Certainly there are > more individuals that I have an interest in than I dare to give the > names of! Perhaps the Salt Lake reference number of this Register might > be posted, so that others could make application. > > I also thought that FIBIS might have an interest, but I seem to have > lost their website. Has anything happened to them in my off-line > absence, or have I forgoten how to search? (My old 'bookmark' did not > find them either). Firstly FIBIS is still very much alive and is proud to announce that its membership at the end of last financial year has now reached well over 1000. Our web-site, given at the foot of all messages to the 'sister' (Genealogy) List (www.india@rootsweb.com ) is www.fibis.org We welcome transcriptions of any list, such as that described by Kathleen, to place on our searchable database site www.search.fibis.org which now contains well over half a million items of data, almost all from the India Office Records and all kindly transcribed by volunteers. So, we certainly would have an interest in the film referred to by Kathleen, but this is not on our formal current transcription list - yet! Good Hunting! Peter Bailey Chairman Families in British India Society www.fibis.org

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/12/windia112.xml ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Begin forwarded message: From: "KATHLEEN LOPEZ" <kathleen.lopez@rogers.com> Date: 12 April 2008 1:23:14 PM To: <moonrakers@lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com> Subject: [Moonrakers] EAST INDIA COMPANY Reply-To: moonrakers@lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com A film has arrived for me from Salt Lake: THE REGISTER OF CADETS FOR THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. I had a quick look to-day . It seems to be the period from c 1775 to 1890. If anyone has a person of interest I would be willing to keep my eyes open for them. You would have to give me a date since there are hundreds of names listed and some of the print is VERY faded. In some cases there are lots of details given--letters of recommendations, baptism certificates etc. The first part of the film seems to be devoted to those young men who were rejected due to failing certain school subjects.A lot of these fellows appear to be the products of wealthy families. Kathleen in Toronto ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Lawrence of Arabia negatives go for £6,572 April 12 2008 ORIGINAL negatives of Welsh First World War hero Lawrence of Arabia were sold at auction yesterday for £6,572 after being discovered by a collector who bought them for £32. The pictures show him posing in India in the 1920s and were estimated to sell for £1,500 at Duke's Auction House in Dorchester, Dorset. A spokeswoman said the negatives were sold to a UK-based private collector over the phone. The price included the buyer's premium. The anonymous seller found them among items he had bought at auction seven years ago in Bournemouth. It was thought the negatives had been lost in the 1930s despite several copies being on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Thomas Edward Lawrence, born in Tremadog, North Wales, helped lead the Arab revolt against the Germany- allied Turks in World War I. He fought with Arab irregular troops under the command of Emir Faisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, in guerrilla operations against the Ottoman Empire. His achieved legendary status when his military exploits were captured in David Lean's award-winning film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Historians believes his greatest contribution to World War I was persuading Arab leaders to co-ordinate their revolt to aid British interests. In 1917, he was promoted to major after arranging a joint action with the Arab forces under Auda Abu Tayi (until then in the employ of the Ottomans) against the strategically- important port of Aqaba. Following an overland attack, Aqaba fell to Arab forces - but this wasn't the end of Lawrence's military glory. Around a year later he was involved in the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1918. He embraced local customs and traditions (photographs show him in the desert wearing Arab clothing and riding camels), and he soon became a close friend of Prince Faisal. Towards the end of the war he tried, with mixed success, to persuade his superiors in the British Government that Arab independence was in their interests. Military historian John Sadler said Lawrence eventually became an embarrassment to the British authorities because he was such an uncompromising champion of Arab nationalism. He said: "Lawrence was in a way the father of Arab nationalism. "He was aware that the British Government had entered into a number of conflicting agreements. "They promised autonomy to the Arab states while striking a deal with the French to forget about the Arabs and carve up the Middle East between themselves. Also, there was the Balfour declaration which undertook to give Jews a state in the region. "Lawrence was aware of this and told Prince Faisal that the Arabs were effectively being shafted. After he led the Arabs into Damascus in 1918 he became an embarrassment and he was sent home literally the next day." Mr Sadler said Lawrence was at the centre of these conflicting British promises that underlie many of the contemporary problems in the Middle East. "He very much identified with the Arabs and not with the Anglo-French imperial or Zionist interests. "One could say that much of the trouble in the Middle East now comes from that period because of these conflicting undertakings." Lawrence's 1927 account of the campaign - The Seven Pillars of Wisdom - cemented his reputation, which continues to fascinate scholars and historians. Lawrence lived his later years in Bovington, Dorset, but died in a motorcycle crash near his home in 1935 aged 46. The collection for sale also contained more than 30 slides showing images of landscapes and other pictures thought to be Lawrence's family. Deborah Doyle, from Dukes, said: "We've had inquiries from right across the world and from a lot of local people as well. "Everybody loves Lawrence of Arabia. There's something romantic about him. "Everybody wants part of his life." http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/04/12/lawrence-of-arabia-negatives-go-for-6-572-91466-20754416/ ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

The last Mughal in the rebellion Review of a new book: from http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=233&page=21 ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Sons of Babur: A Play in Search of India, Salman Khurshid, Rupa & Co., pp 121, Rs. 295 (Rupa & Co., 7/16 Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002.) Reviewed By Manju Gupta April 20, 2008 "We begged the rajas and nawabs, the gentry to fight under a united command. But they would have none of it. We called upon our subjects to think of themselves as Hindustanis, not Muslims and Hindus, but no one would listen. It wasn't our battle alone. It was a battle for Hindustan. The firangis divided us easily and dubbed it a Muslim revolt: a mutiny of soldiers who were mostly Hindus, upper caste Brahmins and common folk!" Salman Khurshid, the active politician, was on a holiday trip to Goa when he decided to pen down this play to "rethink and resituate" Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor's role in the great rebellion of 1857 and thus in India's history. The play begins with Bahadur Shah Zafar reminiscing in exile in Rangoon and traces history till Emperor Babur lays the seed for rule of Mughal dynasty and ends with Zafar again. Through his play, Salman Khurshid attempts to map the emotional distance traversed from Babur to Bahadur Shah Zafar through the route of identification -why was it that a young warrior from Farghana, in the country of Uzbekistan, who journeyed across the Hindu Kush mountains to lay the foundation of a vast empire in Hindustan, couldn't give up Kabul even in death; yet how his descendants developed such deep feelings for the land that the last amongst them wrote some of his most beautiful poetry in anguish at the loss of that motherland? The following poem by Bahadur Shah Zafar has been recited, sung and written umpteen number of times: Lagata nahin hai ji mera, ujre dayar mein kiski bani hai alam-e-na- payedar mein. Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye do gaz zamin bhi na milee kuh-e-yaar mein. It is in transformation of feelings for Hindustan that Salman Khurshid finds the historic and emotional explanation for the concept of India. The play begins with an old and infirm-looking Bahadur Shah Zafar half-reclining on a cot in a small run-down dwelling in Rangoon and complaining against the British, "They stripped and killed our sons, nay, royal princes; Mughal princes of great Timur's lineage, in cold blood. Emperor Babur's descendants mercilessly slaughtered. Mirza Mughal, Khirz Sultan, even our grandson Abu Bakr; they brought their severed heads to us.to their father." He is seen adding, "Our Empire snatched and defiled by goras, pale-faced imposters." After a while Zafar continues, "We begged the rajas and nawabs, the gentry to fight under a united command. But they would have none of it. We called upon our subjects to think of themselves as Hindustanis, not Muslims and Hindus, but no one would listen. It wasn't our battle alone. It was a battle for Hindustan. The firangis divided us easily and dubbed it a Muslim revolt: a mutiny of soldiers who were mostly Hindus, upper caste Brahmins and common folk!" Through this monologue the author-cum-playwright traces the history from the time of Babur as told by Bahadur Shah Zafar. Khurshid says that the Hindu-Muslim issue was one that the Mughals struggled with intensely, "even if it is seldom remembered that Babur (a Mongol) defeated a Muslim (an Afghan) adversary at Panipat." He continues that the Mughals since the time of Babur were acknowledged as emperors. Even Humayun, after losing the battle of Kannauj and forced to stay away from Hindustan for 13 years, was referred to as the Emperor by Sher Shah Suri. After the latter's death, Humayun came back as the Mughal Emperor. Salman Khurshid has developed other themes in the play to show generational change, sibling rivalry and ambition; the acceptance of violence and submission to violence as a way of life; the desire among the successful to be rid of the trappings of power (as seen in Humayun, Akbar and to some extent, Jehangir). Another interesting contemporary theme added is the role of women in administration or governance-here the example of Nurjehan and her dramatic influence during Jehangir's reign is most vividly described. The play ends with Bahadur Shah Zafar, "a hopeless pensioner of the British inside the confines of the Red Fort", becoming on May 11, 1857 "the symbolic face of resistance to the British and the natural leader of India's first War of Independence." The author says that soldiers of the Bengal army marched from Meerut to Red Fort in Delhi, hoping for support from the last Mughal but "how difficult that challenge was for Bahadur Shah Zafar" is reflected in this play as also in a series of other books published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of 1857. Salman Khurshid has presented his own interpretation of history which is quite contrary to what historians have to say. ==========

Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar wrote: > Lawrence of Arabia negatives go for £6,572 > > April 12 2008 > > ORIGINAL negatives of Welsh First World War hero Lawrence of > Arabia were sold at auction yesterday for £6,572 after being > discovered by a collector who bought them for £32. > > The pictures show him posing in India in the 1920s and were > estimated to sell for £1,500 at Duke's Auction House in Dorchester, > Dorset. <snip> T.E. Lawrence must, in all probability, have been the most enigmatic Britisher of the past 150 years. He had an aversion to publicity which induced him, on leaving the army after his hurried return to Britain, to change his name and re-enlist, this time as an aircraftsman in the RAF. Once this was discovered he again changed his name, but continued his RAF service. I must confess to forgetting his service in India in his lowly rank. I regret the loss, some years ago, of my 1930s copy of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The underhand dealings within the 'Chancelleries of Europe', (including our own Foreign Office) concerning the Middle East is one of the sadder episodes following WW I. It is true that many in the British foreign service were in fact very pro-Arab, (their number was termed 'The Camel Corps' - of which there are still remnants), but their thoughts did not hold sway. Certainly Lawrence was very distressed, disillusioned and embittered by what he judged to be the revoking of many promises made to the Arabs at the time of the final dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Yours Aye Andrew Sellon

John Feltham wrote: > Begin forwarded message: > From: "KATHLEEN LOPEZ" <kathleen.lopez@rogers.com> > <snip> If anyone > has a person of interest I would be willing to keep my eyes open for > them. You would have to give me a date since there are hundreds of > names listed and some of the print is VERY faded. In some cases there > are lots of details given--letters of recommendations, baptism > certificates etc. The first part of the film seems to be devoted to > those young men who were rejected due to failing certain school > subjects.A lot of these fellows appear to be the products of wealthy > families. > Kathleen in Toronto > > John - This strikes me as being a most valuable resource. Certainly there are more individuals that I have an interest in than I dare to give the names of! Perhaps the Salt Lake reference number of this Register might be posted, so that others could make application. I also thought that FIBIS might have an interest, but I seem to have lost their website. Has anything happened to them in my off-line absence, or have I forgoten how to search? (My old 'bookmark' did not find them either). Yours Aye Andrew Serllon

Thanks, Andrew. I always like to study the other side of the coin also. And, yes, I was wondering about your long silence. Aren't you going to give us some more of your famous Reverend Sydney Smith-isms? -- Harshawardhan ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India > ** Why do it? Because it's there **The Times April 11, 2008 >>>> -It is pleasing to see that during my enforced absence from the list the high standard of your snippets from "other sources" has been maintained, if not actually risen. This article is indeed a very worth while read. -- Andrew Sellon

Does anbody know when this is going to be shown in the USA? Ernest On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 8:55 AM, <l_ehamilton@iprimus.com.au> wrote: > I bought Michael Wood's book on the subject which I found extremely > disappointing. > > Molly Sarstedt-Hamilton, Townsville, Australia > Researching - > > Sarstedt/Hitchcock/Osborne/Cullen/Pringle/Vargas/Hamilton/Slark/Samworth/Fury/Short/Lawcock/Smith > Beautiful autumn weather at present > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Ernest Paul, Dir 336-287-1085 ClueSystems Internet Consulting Clemmons NC 27012 www.cluesystems.com This email including attachments, is confidential and may contain information, which may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately.

An excellent backgrounder piece on the peculiar English character - something which most non-English fail to understand. ** Why do it? Because it's there ** One type of explorer (like the man who crossed Britain free by bus) is peculiarly English. At the start of the 19th century, the Rev Joseph Wolff, one of the oddest explorers this country has ever produced, announced that he was heading into the wilds of Central Asia to find the Lost Tribes of Israel. For many years, dressed in full canonical garb, he harangued Afghans, Sikhs, Turks, Indians and Uzbeks, trying, and failing, to convince them of the superiority of the Anglican faith. Many of his hearers did not take kindly to this. Wolff was beaten, stripped, threatened with death in a variety of complicated ways and thrown into a bug pit by the Emir of Bokhara. After completing his travels, he retired to a vicarage in Somerset and never did anything remotely interesting again. With so much of the world already discovered, mapped and accessible via Google Earth, the "it" in "because it's there" has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. It may still be Everest, though the mountain is now horribly crowded, but it may also be a trans-island bus journey, or the Pennine Way, or the marathon, or even simply following a single sports team to every fixture. This longing for a personal quest, embedded in the British soul, is partly cultural, a remnant from the days of empire when great swaths of the world remained mysterious, awaiting only an Englishman in a pith helmet to be "discovered". Alongside the names of Livingstone, Speke or Thesiger, came hundreds of unknown, middle-class British explorers: missionaries, scientists, soldiers, but also many who were simply up for a challenge. When George Leigh-Mallory declared "Because it's there!" in response to the question he had been asked so many times before, he was not intending to frame some profound truth, but stating the blindingly obvious. Everest may be a larger challenge than most, but to Mallory it was only logical that if there was a big mountain, a British mountaineer would want to climb it. The British urge to get away and achieve some self-made mission is, of course, mirrored by the desire to come home: in the words of T.S. Eliot "to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time". Ernest Shackleton wrote that "no one who has not spent a period of his life in those stark and sullen solitudes of that sentinel the Pole will understand fully what trees and flowers, sun-flecked turf and running streams mean to the soul of man". [snip] >From The Times April 11, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article3724105.ece ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Remember, I'm simply reporting this. Am not taking any sides. Whether this fellow is right or not - it's for you to judge individually. Don't hang the messenger. ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Defending the West http://europenews.dk/en/node/9177 Fjordman on Ibn Warraq: Defending the West April 10 2008 Quote: I had the pleasure of meeting former Muslim Ibn Warraq in Denmark recently, where he received a free speech award for his work from the Danish Free Press Society and gave a speech with quotes from his recent book Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism. This essay is inspired by his book. Ibn Warraq's book was written as a response to Edward Said's deeply flawed, but highly influential Orientalism from 1979. Said chastised Western countries for their supposed racist and stereotypical view of "the Other." Ibn Warraq dubs Said's methods "intellectual terrorism" and demonstrates the logical inconsistencies of his positions: An emblem associated with Asoka (or Ashoka) the Great is now the national emblem of India, yet he was virtually forgotten until the British got there. The rise of Buddhism as a major force is often linked to Asoka. Buddhism was virtually wiped out from its cradle in Central Asia and northern India with the arrival of Islam. What is difficult to explain is why neither non-Muslim Indians nor the deeply Buddhist-influenced nations of East and Southeast Asia showed greater interest in excavating monuments related to the Buddha. Why didn't Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean or Vietnamese scholars examine the archaeological sources of early Buddhist history? Why was this done by Europeans, overwhelmingly of Christian or Jewish stock? Unquote [snip]