BHOPAL. A manuscript letter to the Begum of Bhopal from Sir Arthur Palmer, C-in-C, India. 1902

Bhopal. A quarto sized sheet of folded writing paper with black mourning edges and the embossed seal of the Commander-in -Chief India at the head. addressed from Commander-in-Chief’s Camp, c/o Railway Mail Services, 19th January 1902  the letter is addressed to H. H. Nawab Sultan Jehan, Begam of Bhopal and advises the ruler that the C-in-C will not now be visiting Bhopal to inspect the State’s Victoria Lancers as they are in camp at Jhansi. He also sends his condolences on the demise of your late lamented Consort. The consort, the Begum’s husband, Sultan Doulah died of a massive heart attack shortly after her accession in 1901. The letter is in a neat secretarial hand and signed A. P. Palmer.  The final blank page has local writing in Persian, possibly a translation or a draft for a reply.   apr13/2

General Sir Arthur Power Palmer, G.C.B., G.C.I.E. [1840-1904]. After the death of his father during the retreat from Kabul in 1844 Palmer joined the Indian Army in the year of the Mutiny, during which he served in Hodson’s Horse. After service in the Mohmand campaign and the Abyssinia war he served in the 2nd Afghan war, Sudan, and Burma. He left India in 1902 and was succeeded by Kitchener.      A group photograph of him 1901/2 with the Maharaja of Bikaner appears elsewhere on the website.