Raja Nahar Singh’s 1857 letter to Lord Ellenborough

[lrburdak]

A letter penned during the revolt of 1857 by Nahar Singh, king of the then princely state of Ballabgarh, is set to go under the hammer soon. The handwritten letter to '''Lord Ellenborough''', the governor-general of India from 1842-44, is to be sold at the Bonhams “Photography and Travel: India and Beyond” auction in London, on October 4 and is expected to fetch an estimated £1,000 to 1,500. “The letter, it seems was written as a ruse to deceive the British in the event of his capture... As he was fully committed to the cause of Indian Independence” says an official statement by the auction house.

“The letter, it seems was written as a ruse to deceive the British in the event of his capture… as he was fully committed to the cause of Indian Independence” says an official statement by the auction house.

In the letter, dated September 10, 1857, Nahar Singh seeks the protection of Lord Elllenborough, whom he had met as a young man; offers his services to the East India Company; and promises “to explain many unspeakable matters and unsupportable calamities into which India is involved and to spend the remainder of my life in your service.”

Singh also refers to earlier correspondence in similar terms with Lord Ellenborough and other senior British figures.

Written four days before the British troops entered Delhi, the letter is handwritten on a sheet of paper with gold floral pattern. It is one of the 550 lots on sale at Bonhams. Nahar Singh is now regarded as a key figure in the first war of Independence and pivotal to the defense of Delhi. He acted as right hand man to '''Bahadur Shah''', who had been declared the Emperor of India by the rebels, and had played an active and public role in the mutiny from its beginning.

Reference -

1. http://www.asianage.com/newsmakers/n...fetch-1000-136 The Asian age, 15 September 2011 and

2. http://www.indolink.com/displayArtic...d=091411094003 Princely letter up for sale on Indolink

[DrRajpalSingh]

Hello Mr. Burdakji,

You have rightly placed the letter purported to have been written by Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh as a thread for discussion. notwithstanding the sterling role of the Raja in the first War of Independence and subsequent his trial by the British Military Court, no letter written by him in his own hand was produced whereas a large number of letters written in Persian, Hindustani and English on his orders were produced which were in reality authored by his letter writers like Dharam Chand, Mr. Munroe and so on. If the letter under discussion to Lord Ellenborough is genuinely written in Raja Nahar Singh's handwriting it is a wonderful addition to the literary sources of History of Ballabhgarh! Could you enlighten us further by letting us know if the letter was written by some other author on the orders of the Raja or the Raja himself.
In the meantime you deserve our thanks for having shared with us a very valuable piece of information about one of the gems of the Jats and as such of India who sacrificed his life on the altar of the motherland to free it from the fetters of the British.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Rajpal Singh