Hi John Thanks for the really funny skits. Most enjoyable. Good to have some off topic stuff. Have you read the book "Hullabaloo in the guava orchard' by Kiran Desai? If not, I recommend it. Alfred Vieyra. -----Original Message----- From: india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of John Feltham Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 8:28 AM To: Raj Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Warning - OFF TOPIC Big ears and little ears. An Indian Connection. http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=9HJzy3WSYFM ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon. ------------------------------- 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

In a recent message "Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar" <bosham@gmail.com> wrote: > Snipped from > http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/univercity/some_observations_on > _library_for_indian_travelers.html > Some Observations on Library for Indian Travelers > June.03.08 > Edward Eastwick (1814-1883) joined the East India Company in 1836 > as a cadet but was soon promoted because of his capacity for language > acquisition. In 1845 the East India Company appointed him to the post > of professor of Urdu at their officer-training school at Haileybury. He > continued to serve the India Office in a number of diplomatic missions > through the 60s until his election to House of Common. His translations > of Sa'di's Gulistan and Kashifi's Anvar-i Suhaili were popular texts in the > East India Company corpus. He also wrote several handbooks on various > cities and edited or prefaced a number of books by the natives (published > for English audiences). [snip] An advanced search for Edward Eastwick on Google books has a large number of hits, although only one is available in full text. -- Dave Keep GMT all year

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2074121/Britons-can-trace-Australian-ancestors-online.html or http://tinyurl.com/6znb64 ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

G'day folks, A msg from Shirley. She has given her consent for me to propagate her msg. So over to you? Do any of you out there still have rellies in India? Shirley is based on Mumbai - Bombay, in the old money. ooroo Begin forwarded message: From: "Shirley Abraham" <abraham.shirley@gmail.com> Date: 4 June 2008 11:31:52 PM To: wulguru.wantok@gmail.com Subject: Hello. Dear John, Just a little note to say thanks for all the prompt help to the queries I've been posting. And yes, I do have a small request to make of you again. Will you have some time to read through this? I wonder if I've ever discussed my project with you, but I'm exploring the tradition of maintaining Hindu ancestral records at some sites in India, and am looking for a character whose journey I am looking to follow. My research is to look for somebody with a 'mixed' background- preferably a Britisher with some Indian Hindu connect, as this will lend a certain sense of historical significance to his/her search. I am trying to find somebody who is already looking for his roots in India, or just somebody who might be interested in pursuing his unique ancestory, with a Hindu background. The documentary will follow the journey of this person, as he/she travels back to trace his/her roots. I understand that not all Anglo-Hindus are aware of/willing to acknowledge an Indian Hindu ancestory, for various reasons that greet me at all stages of this research. However, I'm trying my best to dig up as much, as this is absolutely a fascinating story. Lots of people on this list have been very patient and forthcoming, but the film will use these records as a point to take off for the story, and hence, an Indian-Hindu ancestor is an important consideration. -Will you know of any such families now settled abroad, who might be willing to undertake this journey with us? - Will you have a contact for the Skinners, especially the Hindu descendants. (Though I suspect they might be tiring of the constant spotlight turned on them!) -I've been trying hard to get a contact for any current resident of McCleuskiganj, to be able to gauge the current situation before I plan a trip down there, to look for these stories. (David Cameron has heard me out, but he is old and now living in Calcutta..I hate to keep prodding him for this. ) This is purely a question of perspective- do you think it might be a good idea? I've been reading up on it, and unfortunately most accounts seem despondent. Extremely grateful for any help. Thanks a lot. Warm Regards, Shirley.

Big ears and little ears. An Indian Connection. http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=9HJzy3WSYFM ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Hi, In 1957 ,on centenary of 1857,the government of UP had published a hugh 6 volume book called 'Freedom&nbsp; Struggle in Uttar Pradesh'.It was edited by Rizvi and Bhargava and was based on archival documents in various districts.Have a look. It is a government publication and may be in public domain.I am not sure what the arrangement with authors was. skpande __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

G'day Sy, On 03/06/2008, at 3:25 AM, Sy Morse-Brown wrote: > I hope that the moderator will accept this is an appropriate subject. No problem at all with this post. <Phyllis Danko and I are slowly editing the FIBIS database of battles associated with British India which can be found at http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Category:Battles. Most of the battles A to D have been edited but there are still some which are proving difficult to track down. >> Just looked at the list A to D. What a militant mob the Brits were! ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

This brief history leaves blank the period 1929-1948, because the the extensive Ralli confederation had to retrench and could not support a formal extablishment in India until after WWII. Nevertheless Ralli was certainly there - my father and an uncle were sent by Rallis to India in the early thirties as "box-wallahs". I am vague about the details, but my family worked for the Liverpool end of the firm over quite a long period. The son of a third brother was managing director in London in the middle 1970s when he took Ralli Brothers & Coney into one of the huge financial conglomerates fashionable at the time, under the (then big) name of Bowaters, and from there in the early 1980s into the even huger commodities trading empire now known as Cargill Cotton. Rupert Butler -----Original Message----- From: india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:india-british-raj-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Arvind Kolhatkar Sent: 03 June 2008 13:51 To: india-british-raj@rootsweb.com Subject: [INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ] Rallis India Dear Listers, Rallis India has a long history. Its origins go back to Greece in 1815 and it came to India in 1851. Since that time it has gone through many avatars, partnerships, mergers and vicissitudes of fortune. At different times its operations were centered in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Kanpur. A trading and distribution business, it has, over time, dealt in things as diverse as agricultural produce, Manchester piece goods, tannery needs, jute, bulk pharmaceuticals and chemicals, fans of the house variety, tractors, fertilizers and seeds. It came to India before the 1857 uprising and has far outlived the Raj. It is still a well-known name and currently is in the agri-business. To read this interesting history in brief, please visit http://www.rallis.co.in/aboutus/history.asp Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, June 03, 2008. ------------------------------- 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 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1480 - Release Date: 6/3/2008 7:00 AM

01 June 2008 '251 years after the Battle' Conference on the English East India Company The Battle that changed East End Sunday 22 June 08, 11am-5pm Lab 4 & 5, Idea Store Whitechapel 321 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BU 3 June 2008 will be the 251 years anniversary of the Battle of Plassey, a decisive day when the British conquered Bengal underthe leadership of Robert Clive. It was also the beginning of the British Indian Empire, under the banner of the English East India Company. Brick Lane Circle is currently running a highly unique project which will engage a group of young people (18-25) from diverse backgrounds to explore East London's historical links with Bengal through researching and writing about the East India Company sites in East London. The conference is designed to help generate wider interest and encourage the diverse local communities to learn more about East London's heritage, the East India Company and Bengal. FREE ADMISSION - ADVANCE BOOKING ONLY! 07903 671 787 bricklanecircle@yahoo.co.uk further details at: http://bricklanecircle.webnode.com/news/a251-years-after-the-battle-conference-on-the-english-east-india-company/ ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Tuesday, June 03, 2008 Tony Mango, Greece's honorary consul in Mumbai, passes away Tony Mango had an extraordinary life. He was born a subject of the Ottoman Empire, in what was then Constantinople, and is now Istanbul, in 1915. He moved to India before the Second World War and witnessed the collapse of the British Empire in the subcontinent. He remained in India for most of the rest of a long and hyperactive life, working as an industrialist and serving as Greece's honorary consul in Mumbai for more than 40 years. He was a keen bridge-player, an excellent cook and a generous host with a wide circle of friends. He never lost the great curiosity and energy that gave him an almost insatiable appetite for travel and of meeting people - in the last year of his life he visited the US, France, Switzerland, the UK, Greece and several places in India. He died on May 28 at the age of 92 while on holiday in Athens. He is survived by his wife Jeroo, his daughter Marie-Louise, his grand-daughter Anai, four step-children, and seven step-grandchildren. Tony Mango's parents were French-speaking Greeks, for whom Constantinople, the 'polis' as they knew it, rather than Athens, was the centre of the Greek world. As the fighting during the First World War drew closer to Constantinople, Tony and his two older sisters were evacuated to Geneva. His father ran a family shipping business that lost money during the Depression, and Tony began working for the Greek trading company Rallis, which had sizeable operations in British India. He travelled to India on the passenger ship Cilicia in December 1938 for what he thought would be a short posting - but he would still be living in India almost 60 years later. On that first posting, he was based in the remote town of Bellary in southern India as the Rallis representative. He described it only half-jokingly as "hell on Earth". He would later move to Chennai with his family - his first wife, Paula, and his young twins, Dimitri and Marie-Louise, before moving to Mumbai in the 1950s. He eventually became managing director of Rallis India, and an important figure in India's booming fertilizer industry. He was on the board of several others multinational companies - and had terms as President as the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, and as Chairman of the Fertilizer Association of India. He was appointed Honorary Consul General of Greece in Mumbai in 1965 - a role he always played with dedication and generosity to many penniless or beleaguered Greek travellers. He would later be awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of Merit by the Greek government. In 1977, Tony married Jeroo in a ceremony in Athens. They settled at Jeroo's home on Juhu Beach - and he became a much loved stepfather to Jeroo's children: Bahram, Ardashir, Naoshirvan and Shireen Vakil. He and Jeroo would welcome first their spouses and then their children into the wider Vakil/Mango family. (Anthony D Mango was born in 1915, and died on May 28, 2008, in Athens) http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1168211&pageid=0 ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Taken from today's BBC news Tuesday, 3 June 2008: A doctor who has been described as Scotland's Florence Nightingale is to have a tribute in her honour unveiled in France. Dr Elsie Inglis, who was born in India in 1864, founded the Scottish Women's Hospital for Foreign Service in 1915. Elsie's father worked in the civil service before her family moved to Scotland and settled in Edinburgh.She gained her MD at Edinburgh University in 1899 before establishing the first female-run maternity hospital in Scotland. She became a staunch advocate of women's rights, and helped found the Scottish Women's Suffrage Federation. After war broke out in 1914, she had the idea of sending teams of women medics to the front line. Elsie was undeterred by opposition from the War Office, who told her to stay home and knit, and despatched two units of the Scottish Women's Hospitals to France. Within months of the war breaking out, her Abbaye de Royaumont hospital, containing some 200 beds, was in place. (snip) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7432094.stm or use tiny url: http://tiny.cc/qr97l I'd love to know if she's one of a lister's family - a great gal;-) Ruth in Brum (Birmingham, England - very wet!)

HI John: Military intelligence? Planned chaos? Great Depression? Yes, I'm looking at the list! and I'm a "little bug" feeling smaller just getting pass Battle of Aden alone no doubt - aaarrrggghhh!!! And I thought Ghandi and Churchill had issues! Back to the book - grin. --Manaia ++++ --- John Feltham <wulguru.wantok@gmail.com> wrote: > G'day Sy, > > On 03/06/2008, at 3:25 AM, Sy Morse-Brown wrote: > > > I hope that the moderator will accept this is an > appropriate subject. > > No problem at all with this post. > > <Phyllis Danko and I are slowly editing the FIBIS > database of battles > associated with British India which can be found at > > http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Category:Battles. > > Most of the battles A to D have been edited but > there are still some > which are > proving difficult to track down. >> > > Just looked at the list A to D. What a militant mob > the Brits were! > > > > ooroo > > If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a > door. > > Anon.

Dear Listers, Rallis India has a long history. Its origins go back to Greece in 1815 and it came to India in 1851. Since that time it has gone through many avatars, partnerships, mergers and vicissitudes of fortune. At different times its operations were centered in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Kanpur. A trading and distribution business, it has, over time, dealt in things as diverse as agricultural produce, Manchester piece goods, tannery needs, jute, bulk pharmaceuticals and chemicals, fans of the house variety, tractors, fertilizers and seeds. It came to India before the 1857 uprising and has far outlived the Raj. It is still a well-known name and currently is in the agri-business. To read this interesting history in brief, please visit http://www.rallis.co.in/aboutus/history.asp Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, June 03, 2008.

Here are a few books from Gutenberg.org The Story of the Malakand Field Force by Winston Churchill - www.gutenberg.org/etext/9404 The Afghan Wars 1839-1842 and 1878-80 by Archibald Forbes - www.gutenberg.org/etext/8428 Campaign of the Indus by T.W.E. Holdsworth - www.gutenberg.org/etext/12863 Rabia Karachi

Here are a few books from Gutenberg.org The Story of the Malakand Field Force by Winston Churchill - www.gutenberg.org/etext/9404 The Afghan Wars 1839-1842 and 1878-80 by Archibald Forbes - www.gutenberg.org/etext/8428 Campaign of the Indus by T.W.E. Holdsworth - www.gutenberg.org/etext/12863 Rabia Karachi Sy Morse-Brown <symb@mac.com> wrote: Dear Listers I hope that the moderator will accept this is an appropriate subject. The recent post on the Siege of Arrah and Koer Singh from Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar was a very interesting and detailed contemporary account. Phyllis Danko and I are slowly editing the FIBIS database of battles associated with British India which can be found at http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Category:Battles. Most of the battles A to D have been edited but there are still some which are proving difficult to track down. It is intended that this will be a resource for those interested in history of the Raj and those looking for information on the regiments in which their ancestors might have served. We would be very grateful to anyone who can provide links to first hand accounts such as can be found in Google Books or can recommmend books such as The Indian Mutiny 1857 by Saul David or who knows of other sources of copyright free material which can be used. Do have a look at the database and let us know what you think. Any comments and suggestions will be welcome on or off list. Thanks Sy ------------------------------- 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

Dear Listers I hope that the moderator will accept this is an appropriate subject. The recent post on the Siege of Arrah and Koer Singh from Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar was a very interesting and detailed contemporary account. Phyllis Danko and I are slowly editing the FIBIS database of battles associated with British India which can be found at http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Category:Battles. Most of the battles A to D have been edited but there are still some which are proving difficult to track down. It is intended that this will be a resource for those interested in history of the Raj and those looking for information on the regiments in which their ancestors might have served. We would be very grateful to anyone who can provide links to first hand accounts such as can be found in Google Books or can recommmend books such as The Indian Mutiny 1857 by Saul David or who knows of other sources of copyright free material which can be used. Do have a look at the database and let us know what you think. Any comments and suggestions will be welcome on or off list. Thanks Sy

The town of Arrah featured quite prominently during the events of 1857. Here is an online book on '' The siege of Arrah, The relief that failed, The relief that succeeded, Herwald Wake: the man who held the fort at Arrah, Koer Singh hunted to his jungle stronghold, The magistrate of Ghazipur; and how he helped forward the relief of Arrah, Letters from John Nicholson and others''. Turning point in the Indian mutiny (1910) Author: Isabel Giberne Sieveking Publisher - London : D. Nutt Online at - http://www.archive.org/details/turningpointinin00sieviala And here is a story on the ''Koer Singh'' mentioned above - Kunwar Singh, the man known as Bihar's last lion. May 6, 2007 Bihar's last lion Kunwar Singh was the authentic Bhojpuri folk-hero. There are just two triggers in Jagdishpur (Arrah district, Bihar) to evoke memories of the legendary Kunwar (Kuer) Singh. One is the colossal black equestrian statue of the martyred Raja of Jagdishpur, who, apocryphal reports have it, cut off his hand with his sword when a bullet hit it, and dropped it into the Ganga as an "offering". A few days later, he was dead. That aside, two ageing descendants, six generations removed, live less than 10 miles from the town, in Dalippur village. In Bihar, the land time forgot, Veer Kunwar Singh is himself the forgotten hero. Few remember him in the place where he was born in 1777, and where he valiantly fought the Company forces for a year, at the age of 80, eventually succumbing on April 26, 1858. He was Bihar's last lion, annihilating the forces of Captain Dunbar and Captain Le Grand to liberate Azamgarh, participating with Tantya Tope in the Battle of Kanpur. In a country where heritage is just another word, Kunwar Singh is just another name. His fort and palace in Jagdishpur have been almost entirely demolished. Only two pillars remain, freshly coated with pale yellow lime wash. Full story at - http://theyear1857.wordpress.com/2007/05/06/bihars-last-lion/ ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day Arvind, On 29/05/2008, at 11:49 PM, Arvind Kolhatkar wrote: << The site www.kapadia.com has interesting material on the post-1857 life of Bahadur Shah and those who went to Burma with him in exile. >> The book about him by William Dalrymple is a good read too. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=5fd9e8af-e637-4e43-be11-e9467596a4d4 A ghost funeral in Chandni Chowk In 19th century when hundreds of minor principalities had divided India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal, was reduced to preside over a dwindling Mughal empire in Delhi. The last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty, he was the son of Akbar Shah II by his Hindu wife Lalbai. Zafar became the Mughal Emperor upon his father's death on September 28, 1838. However, the East India Company ruled the roost and he remained only a symbolic head as his power barely extended beyond Delhi's Red Fort. The British allowed the emperor a pension and authority to collect some taxes, and maintain a token force in Delhi. Immersed in Urdu poetry and consummated calligraphy, Bahadur Shah did not show any interest in statecraft or possess any imperial ambitions. Yet, as the Indian rebellion of 1857 spread centering around Bahadur Shah Zafar as a uniting force, the Indian regiments seized Delhi and acclaimed Zafar their nominal leader, despite his own reservations. The British tried him for treason and Zafar took refuge at Humayun's Tomb in Nizamuddin east. British forces led by pernicious Major Hodson surrounded the tomb and brutally killed numerous male members of Zafar family. Zafar was exiled to Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar) in 1858 along with his wife Zeenat Mahal. Zafar died there at the age of 87 on November 7 1862. He was buried near Shwedagon Pagoda at Ziwaka Road in Yangon. His wife Zinat Mahal followed his death four years after. However, it seemed the great Urdu poet's soul remained in Red Fort and the crowded bazaar of Chandni Chowk. Author of four diwans, Zafar's poetries were about love and mysticism which backgrounds were invariably Delhi. It is said on many Thursday nights, a ghost procession led by the last Mughal king and his beautiful consort went around the Red Fort. The procession was possibly one of Zafar's children who died in the hand British. A published account in media says: "The apparition of the King was of average height, with broad shoulders, long arms but unusually short legs. The queen was tall like the letter Alif, as graceful as a cypress tree, with long raven-coloured hair; she had a narrow waist and short feet fitted in sandals adorned with pearls, which glittered in the moonlight." The people witnessed to this ghost procession say, "The King always wore loose pyjamas and the queen invariably spotted a long, gold-laced gharara, with a golden cummerbund, which reached almost to the ground and rustled in the breeze." Both apparitions appeared to be grief-stricken, because of the sudden demise of their child. They walked along the procession in measured steps, almost regiment like. The King's head always mournfully dropped on his shoulder. While some part of Bahadur Shah's opus was lost or destroyed during the unrest of 1857-1858, a large collection did survive, and was later compiled into the Kulliyyat-i Zafar. Some say since Zafar was in love with his writings he revisits his preserved writings in the moonlight. Yet there is a cynicism that how could Zafar appear in Delhi when he was buried far away in Myanmar where his mortal remains rest in a shrine known as Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=5fd9e8af-e637-4e43-be11-e9467596a4d4 ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

Dear Listers, The site www.kapadia.com has interesting material on the post-1857 life of Bahadur Shah and those who went to Burma with him in exile. Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, May 30, 2008