Biography
1888: Military education in Jodhpur
In 1888, at the age of 10, Amar Singh was adopted into the care of Sir Pratap, who took him to Jodhpur to be educated at Paulett Noble School. Additional opportunities for self-development were granted when Amar Singh became an officer of the Jodhpur Lancers, also known as Jodhpur Sardar Rissala, raised by Sir Pratap in 1889. He served as adjutant and private secretary to Sir Pratap, who commanded two regiments.
Sir Pratap, affectionately known to his people as Sarkar, trained Amar Singh as a soldier and Ram Nath honed a scholar in him. Of Ram Nath, he said: "I consider myself to be the luckiest guy because I have earned the trust of someone like that who is very rarely found. In some matters, he was more than a father to me. It was only thanks to him that all members of my family began to consider me a promising young man. "
Ram Nath belonged to the Charan family, who were bards of the Jodhpur royal family, so in a sense it was ideal for someone of this background to encourage Amar Singh to keep a diary. Ram Natji kept a diary himself while travelling in Europe in 1894. He followed the English school's practice of diaries as a means of nurturing discipline, self-awareness and the development of moral qualities.
He told his young student that if he wanted to think like the British, to think in English, then for this he had to keep a diary.
When 21-year-old Amar Singhji handed the completed 1899 version of the diary to Ram Nath, he, after reading, called it a "slaughterhouse report" and reported that with very few exceptions, there was nothing worth reading in the diary, as the diary mainly contained detailed accounts of the shikaar (game hunting). Ram Nath directed Amar's mind to higher intellectual pursuits, notably Plutarch's "Roman Biographies" and the works of 19th-century English writer Samuel Smiles.
Plutarch's work had a strong influence on Amar Singh, giving insight into nobility and history and partly serving as a model for the diary. Samuel Smiles emphasized the concepts of duty, character and morality that reinforced the Rajput traditions of Amar Singh.
Although his diaries remained personal documents throughout his life, the themes of his records testified that he took to heart the words of his mentors: "The writer must always remember that it is his duty to give his readers something very useful in the time they spent reading his writings... thus making the diary not only amusing but also useful to mankind. "
1900: A trip to China to participate in the suppression of the boxer uprising
In 1900, Amar Singh first got the opportunity to work in China. By June 1900, European colonial ambitions had turned China into a powder keg. An anti-Christian and anti-foreign Chinese militia known as boxing rebels has entered Beijing.
From the beginning of the 19th century, Western European states began to penetrate into China, primarily Britain, seeking to establish control over Chinese markets. The Qing Empire could not resist its technologically superior powers, as a result of which it suffered a number of diplomatic and military defeats and by the end of the 19th century was actually in the position of a half colony.
In such conditions, in 1898, many spontaneously formed detachments with various names began to operate in northern China, the most common of which was the Ihetuani ("Justice and Peace Detachments"). Many members of the organizations regularly engaged in physical exercises (chuan), reminiscent of fist fighting, for which they were later nicknamed boxers by Europeans.
At 8 a.m. on June 20, German Ambassador Baron Clemens August von Ketteler, along with his translator and associates, went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by an armed escort. One block from the ministry building, they were intercepted by boxer rebels and the ambassador was shot dead. Now the powder keg has been blown up and a hail of call-to-arms telegrams have spread across Europe and the colonies.
On August 11, Rissaldar Amar Singh, 22, received a call to arms. The Empire commanded its Indian Army and Imperial Service forces, including the Jodhpur Lancers, to deal with the Boxer Rebellion and fight for influence in defeated China.
Jodhpur, Saturday 11 August 1900: "Sarkar called me in the morning. I dressed hastily, he showed me a telegram, which he received at about 2 am, it contained the joyful news of Sarkar's permission to go to China under the full command of his regiment of Jodhpur Lancers. Sarkar told me to get ready... "
Sunday, August 12, 1900: "I rode the horses in full camping order and made sure everything was ready. I also bought a watch for forty rupees. After breakfast, I tidied up my belongings and fixed everything in need of repair, by night train went to Kolkata eighty horses, among which was my beloved horse Gatotgach.
On August 13, the troops of the Alliance of Eight Powers, under the command of Russian Lieutenant General Nikolai Linevich, approached Beijing, scattering the rebel detachments. On August 14, Linevich's corps stormed Beijing, and the Russian column was the first to enter the city, suffering losses of 140 people. The Trans-Baikal Cossacks, as well as American marines, were especially distinguished. The unexpected assault on Beijing made a sensation in Europe, Linevich immediately gained world fame as an energetic and bold general.
Jodhpur's lancers only arrived in September and settled 65km north of the epicentre of the boxer uprising in Shan Hai Kuan, an ancient fortified city where the Great Wall of China meets the sea.
Shan Hai Kuang, Monday, October 15, 1900
"In the morning, Sarkar ordered that the first squadron be ready in full marching order. I was also ordered to accompany Sarkar to the city of Shan Hai Kuan, there was fighting in the city, and several Chinese people were killed. We saw their corpses lying in one of the city gates. We went around and around the city to intimidate the enemy...
The young Risaldar's account of China reflects, as it seemed to him, the Izzat (honor) that he mined for his regiment and the Rator clan, with a desire to serve with distinction, and at the same time he showed sensitivity to the enemy's plight and interest in his culture.
Friday, October 19, 1900: 'Came out on the same case as yesterday, which is to search the villages for weapons and burn them if found. The most pathetic sight was the many women who hid or, rather, tried to hide in the fields with babies attached to their breasts... It is shameful to bring so many troops to fight or, rather, to intimidate such poor and helpless women. "
Wednesday, October 25, 1900: "The Chinese are notoriously very hard working and clean, their villages are very beautifully built, their houses are also clean and well built, but consist of only one floor. I have not seen a single city belonging to the Chinese people that is two storeys... The most amazing thing is that they don't milk their cows. They don't know what milk is, all their meals are cooked in fat. "
On the Great Wall of China, Amar Singh wrote:
"The Great Wall of China, considered one of the seven wonders of the world, was our daily spectacle, I walked it for weeks and wondered what kind of person it was who started this great job. Here is the end, where the wall rests against the sea. "
War seems like a long cavalry attack to civilians, but very often the military has to fight the elements of nature in the same way as with other people.
July 4, 1901: "The winter was, without a doubt, very harsh... The record is 42 degrees below zero... Fruit, bread and everything froze. The ink also froze twice in our rooms, the mustache from breathing froze in the men... Even sometimes sweat froze on the bodies of horses when they were still hot and working on the track... there was no limit to the number of clothes we wore... swimming was rare.
The young soldier ended his Chinese campaign in July 1901.
Allied forces defeated the imperial army of China, which had to sign an unequal Final Protocol.
1901: Training at the Imperial Cadet Corps in Dehradun
Shortly after returning to India, Amar Singh began training at the Imperial Cadet Corps in Dehradun. The Cadet Corps project was created by Viceroy Lord Curzon to satisfy the military ambitions of India's noble fighting clans.
1905: Adutant Commander, 5th Division, Western Army in India
Of the 21 cadets invited to the first group, only 4 graduated in 1905. However, it was the sore question of the local officers commanding the white troops that prevented Captain Amar Singh and his fellow students from receiving their respective ranks for another 12 years.
Captain Amar Singh's life was peaceful. After graduating from the ICC, he spent 9 quiet years at Mhow as adjutant to the commanding general of the 5th Division of the Western Army.
1914: World War I conscription
On 17 August 1914, a telegram arrived in Kanota stating that Amar Singh had been assigned to active service and was given 4 days to put his affairs in order and report to General Brunker, commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade at Karachi.
Departure from Canota took place on August 18, and a favorable hour for departure was determined between seven and nine o'clock, so at nine minutes of the seventh he left the gate at home to fight in the First World War.
1916: Participation in hostilities in the Middle East
In 1916, Captain Amar Singh was part of the British-Indian forces that were sent from the Western European front to the Persian Gulf to protect British oil interests for the Royal Navy and at the same time secure Egypt.
British-Indian forces advanced from Basra up the Tigris River invincible, battle after battle right up to the Battle of Ctesiphon. Ctesiphon, an ancient city 35 km southeast of Baghdad, was conquered, but it was a pyrrhic victory. Losses destroyed their combat capability, and there were no reserves. It was impossible to hold Ctesiphon for a long time.
Kut El Amara was located on the bend of the Tigris River, the soldiers were surrounded on three sides by the river and on one side by the Turks, and of course the Turks were across the river on all sides. Kuta had 14,500 troops and about 6,000 civilians. They had full rations for 60 days waiting for the relief force.
Captain Amar Singh's brigade took part in the Battle of Hanna, which was the third attempt to liberate the besieged forces at Kut.
On February 21, 1916, he wrote:
On the morning of the 21st, I spent sorting and packing, and in the afternoon of the fourth day, our brigade went to Senna's position 4 miles away... The composition of our brigade has changed a little. We now have the 1st and 9th Gurkha Rifles, 93rd Burmese Infantry and Highland Light Infantry.
February 23, 1916:
As expected, the Turks dug trenches in the most favorable places along the river bank, and the next morning began to shoot at us... They still got into several people, nevertheless it was a big fun for us. Soon we discovered loopholes in them and opened fire on them. General Gorringe was struck in the bottom as he mounted a horse.
British-Indian forces failed to open the way to Kut, and the flood offensive made matters worse. Besieged, ready for siege with rations for 60 days, after 135 days they died of hunger, and relief was not expected. In the end, the diet was reduced to 80 grams of bread and 350 grams of mules meat, without salt and vegetables simply boiled in river water.
Shortly before the fall of Kut, Captain Amar Singh wrote:
"The troops did everything that was possible and are now completely defeated... They rarely get their full diet, and no person can fight on an empty stomach for long. I hope that God will see our success in this performance. "
On April 29, Coote was surrendered.
Boats carrying the sick and wounded sailed downriver, among them 1,500 incapacitated men from Kut, who were exchanged for Turkish prisoners of war. Captain Amar Singh believed they were lucky as the Turkish treatment of prisoners was poor.
1917: Squadron Leader
From 25 August 1917, Amar Singh was on active duty as squadron commander of the 16th Cavalry Regiment.
Amar Singh ended his career in the Indian Army fighting in Waziristan during the Third Afghan War. As acting major, he is probably the first Indian to command a regiment. In his diary, he reports three instances in which he assumed command of a regiment from 28 September 1920 to 15 March 1921.
1923: Indian Army Discharge and Service in Jaipur Armed Forces
Colonel Amar Singh retired from the Indian Army in 1923 to begin the third phase of his military career in the Jaipur State Armed Forces, where he was tasked with forming a cavalry regiment.
He went on to create a professional military, the Jaipur Lancers, including the headquarters of the 61st Cavalry Regiment of the Indian Army. He remained in the regiment until his retirement with the rank of major general in 1936.
1928: Homestead construction near Maharaja Jaipur Palace
In 1928, Amar Singh built his manor near the Rambagh Palace of the Maharaja of Jaipur. This residence later became the Narain Niwas Palace Hotel.
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