KASHMIR. Original letter signed by the Maharaja to his departing Resident 1913

Letter from H. H. The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir to his departing Resident, The Honble. Mr S. M. Fraser, C.S.I., C.I.E., I.C.S.  1913

The letter is written in a secretarial hand on three sides of a bifolium, 10 x 8 ins, of the Maharaja’s writing paper embossed with the address The Palace, Srinagar and the Maharaja’s coat of arms in blue. It is dated 12.10.1913 and has the salutation and subscription with signature in the Maharaja’s hand. The ruler has clearly had very cordial personal relations with his Resident and notes that they “are not such as to end with the severance of your official Connection with Kashmir but they are life long and will last as long as we live, however distant we may be from each other.” These are not the feelings all rulers had on the removal of their Resident. The letter is on stout paper and in excellent condition. It is presented on a larger thin card with some copied material and a copy photograph of the Maharaja.          apr8/3    

Stuart Mitford Fraser [1864-1963] entered the ICS in 1882, serving first as Tutor to the Maharajas of Kolhapur & Bhavnagar and later as guardian to the Maharaja of Mysore. After negotiating the Anglo-Tibetan Convention in 1904 he became Resident at Mysore. Following his service in that office in Kashmir he became Resident at Hyderabad. He was knighted K.C.S.I. in 1919.