Description

Lt. Col. Sir Alexander Fleetwood Pinhey, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.

Given by Lt. Col. L.A.G. Pinhey

1. Personal and mainly official diary 11 August 1897 – April 1900. Satna and Rewa. Usual office routine, inspections, tours etc., relations with rajas and diwans; visit of MahaRao of Rewa to Calcutta and investiture by Viceroy; appears before Famine Committee (President Sir John Lyall) in Jubbulpore 18 March 1898; leave; on 11 January 1899 proposal by Bengal Trading Company to cut salary; railway proposals for Rewa. Diary ends 1 March 1899, then starts again as office diary from 1 October 1899. Beginning of famine; rise of prices; goes on tour; attitude of rajas; on tour gives grain prices, and records state of crops in villages; relief measures given in detail, including notes of conversations with Famine Relief officials; appointed Resident of Mewar (Udaipur); arrives April 1900; outline of daily work, tours, inspections etc.; notes of discussions with British and native officials; second famine averted; tour as Resident in Mewar November 1900 – March 1901; some statistics as well as careful record of each place visited. Ends April 1900.
2. Official diary, beginning 29 September 1901. Hot weather tour, 18 April – 10 May 1903. Possibility of famine; state of crops; condition in the State, province by province; famine; relief.
3. Tour. 23-27 November 1903. Tries persuading Maharaja to send sons to Mayo. On tour, visits temples at Nagda (Negendra) and makes notes of his list of archaeological remains at Mewar; visits Bappa’s tomb.
4. Tour 23 March – 29 May 1904. From Partabgarh where Pinhey arranges about conversion of the coinage scheme and also budget; reform of customs department, provisional reform of police department school organization; destruction of wood by Bhils; inspects Banswara – increasing demand for education; poor state of jail and working quarters.
5. Diary for 1905. 20 January – 13 May 1905, plague in Udaipur; measures against it; long report on Jaisamand; record of Maharaja’s attitude to reports on Banswara etc.
6. Cold weather tour 1905-06. Famine again; depopulation of areas owing to former famines, and result is that only better class left who will not go on relief works; relief measures; assessment of famine; general touring – at Sagwara, Dungarpur State, ‘struck by the continual improvement that goes on in this state’; new school at Dingapur; prison improvements.
7. Second tour 10-21 February 1906. Visits Jain ruins at Majauri and Kakir; temple at Nadima and Dhikara etc.; Ranpura; Mahadev temples at Majera.
8. Tour in famine tracts of Mewar 1-29 April 1906. Mandal (Udaipur), examines working-parties, wages and conditions; Par; tank work begun in 1899; Ajmer for Famine Conference, meet Viceroy; Wakefield’s scheme of relief work explained; measures of relief and the Rajas’ attitudes and cooperation; describes various stupas etc. near Chitor.