A Revised and Enlarged Account of the Bobbili Zemindari/Chapter 11/1905
1905.
There are only two important events to be mentioned in this year, and they are more or less of a personal character between H. E. Lord Ampthill and the Maharajah. When His Excellency went to receive a Municipal Address at the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Town Hall, Vizagapatam (a free gift to the Town by the Maharajah), the Maharajah and his son the Kumar Rajah received and conducted him upstairs. His Excellency in the course of his reply to the Municipal address, said:—
"One of the reasons why I am particularly glad to be here is that it has afforded me an opportunity of seeing this handsome Town Hall which you owe to the generosity of my friend the Maharajah of Bobbili, and one of my chief regrets at having been unable to pay you my intended visit last year was that I lost the opportunity of presiding at the opening ceremony which the Maharajah had most kindly invited me to perform. Mr. Campbell, your Collector, however, took my place and spoke on my behalf, and I now cordially endorse all that he said on that occasion about the generosity and the admirable qualities of the distinguished donor, and the advantage the people of Vizagapatam have gained in the possession of this fine building. Although I have hardly had time to look round, yet, as I came upstairs, I noticed two spacious and most useful apartments on either side, in which I see there is a billiard table, which, I am told, is for the use of the Club already established here. I have never seen a larger or better shaped room outside Madras in the Presidency, and I have no doubt whatever that it will be of the greatest profit and mutual advantage to the people of Vizagapatam, when they meet here for every sort and kind of occasion in the future. It is the greatest pleasure to me to see this building and I regret more than ever I did not have the honour of declaring it open myself. However, I could not have performed the ceremony better than your Collector did, and all that I have to do now is to endorse and re-echo what he said on that occasion. It is my good fortune to meet the Maharajah of Bobbili constantly in Madras, and it is seldom that I do not find him considering some scheme of public utility. Only the other day, I had the advantage of reading the proof sheets of his latest work, in which he is seeking to impart the benefits of his own experience with much sound practical advice to the rising generation of our aristocracy."
The Maharajah wrote 24 essays on various subjects likely to be useful to the rising generation of the Indian Aristocracy, and at the beginning of October published them in book-form under the title "Advice to the Indian Aristocracy." Before the publication of the book, the Maharajah sent the essays to H. E. Lord Ampthill asking for his permission to dedicate the work to him.
After going through the essays Lord Ampthill wrote to the Maharajah the following letter giving him the permission asked for:—
Government House, Madras,
4th February, 1905.
"My Dear Maharajah,
I have read your Lectures with great interest and in returning them (under separate cover) with many thanks I venture to congratulate you not only on your work but also on the motives which induced you to undertake it. It has often seemed to me that the rising generation of the aristocracy of Southern India, to whom we are giving an English education, need nothing so much when they assume the management of their estates as sound practical advice from men of their own class. Living as they do on their estates, in great isolation and with few opportunities of meeting their equals they lack those influences which are exercised on the youthful aristocracy of England by the constant society of persons of similar social standing. You have sought to remedy this want and I cannot but think that the sound, practical advice which you have given in such a simple and out-spoken manner will be useful to the rising generation of Zemindars and will impress them as coming from one who is not only of their own race and class but has also set a notable example as a landlord and a public man. It has been interesting to me to see how in many respects your point of view is different to that of an Englishman, and I consider it a special compliment to have my name associated with a book written by an Indian for Indians. And yet you have not adhered to a purely Indian point of view, for your 'Lectures,' which are clearly the fruits of your own experience and original thought, show how it is possible for the Indian nobleman to adapt himself to English ideas without losing his own national customs and characteristics.
I have very great pleasure in accepting the dedication of the work which you have been so good as to offer me.
Believe me to be,
Your sincere friend,
(Signed) AMPTHILL.
To
- The Maharajah of Bobbili, K.C.I.E."
The Maharajah has distributed copies of his book among his friends both in India and at Home, and the book was equally appreciated by Indians and Europeans.
In this year donations, of one thousand rupees each, were given to the following institutions and funds:—
- (1) The Jubilee Club, Parvatipore.
- (2) The Madras Landholders' Association.
- (3) The Earthquake Relief Fund.
- (4) The Prince of Wales Reception Fund.
- (5) The Lord Curzon Memorial Fund.