| Order number: |
OA4, Memories of the British in India, Sound Cassettes, Box 1 [CLOSED]
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| Summary: |
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 1: Family and educational background. Commissioning in Indian Army Reserve of officers, 1917. Postings in India. Afghan War: relief column for Bannu; orders to withdraw; Pryde1s complaint about neglect of wounded: his whisky remedy for dysentery; cholera epidemic among troops; tribesmen's theft of unit's sheep; Pryde's opinion of enemy; decapitation of CO. Afghan War: burial of CO; winning of posthumous VC by RAMC officer; rawness of troops; punitive raid on village; Fakir of Ipi and crash of plane; sight of Afghan Army. Benares: Pryde's evacuation to; his station staff officer duties; taking over of armoury at Moghul Serai; assessment of non-co-operation movement and strength of British rule; Pryde's commissioning in Indian Army.
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 2: His securing of Indian Police appointment. Training at Nisik. Sholapur: an anti-Muslim Hindu police officer; music before mosques tensions; control of crowds at Hindu fair; labour relations in mills; inter-British relations; police officer's defamation case against Hindu newspaper over bias allegation. Attempt of Englishman to bribe Pryde. Bribery attempt. Attempted bribery case in Sind; taking of bribe by Sessions Judge; dismissal of police officer for giving false evidence, about 1941; refusal to release murder suspect on bail; course taken by case. Surat: memories of Vallabhbhai Patel. Quality of Bhils as policemen.
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 3: Surat: attempt at bribery by gambler; successful raid on gambling den. Railway policing; theft of gold bars; murder case and Horniman's romanticizing of it; dismissal of policeman for theft. Mahableshwar: problems over accommodation of Linlithgow Commission. Khandesh: recruitment of Bhils; character of country; capture of dacoit; hockey exploits. Khandesh: tiger hunt; leave entitlement. Kaira: criminal character of district. Ahmedabad: increase of dacoity with rise of civil disobedience movement; failure of ambush of dacoits; round-up of Pathan suspects; capture of dacoits by means of clear-the-line telegram; use of whisky to 'loosen tongues'.
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 4: Ahmedabad: civil disobedience movement in; use of mounted police to disperse meeting; investigation of financing of Congress movement; informers in Congress ranks. Kaira; memories of Morarji Desai. Ahmedabad: anti-dacoit work. Bombay: special duty fighting Communist influence; Sir Victor Sassoon's tricks on Communists; Communist leaders. Censoring anti-British publications. Bombay: anecdotes to illustrate flamboyant character of W B Gilligan; how he came to be dismissed; his relationship with his servants; Pryde1s attempt to end strike; problem of mill hand indebtedness; Pryde's objection to mill hands Red Flag; his attempt to improve mill hands' conditions; case in which he paid mill hands legal expenses.
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 5: Bombay: conciliation case relating to mill hands' pay; Pryde's role as Labour Officer; his daily routine; areas of Bombay he was responsible for; his relationship with mill owners; Sassoon's trick on Girni Kamgar Union; group of mill hands who tried to take advantage of Pryde; how W R G Smith took potshots at Joglekar on-the-run; Pryde's opinion on individual Communist leaders; memories of Brabourne. Ahmedabad; Jeejeebhoy's anti-INC feelings; police ranks. Ahmedabad: a Parsi colleague; Pryde's belief in keeping accurate records; leisure pursuits. Bombay: conditions in chawls; use of country liquors. Convoy back to India at beginning of Second World War; Pryde's resentment of ICS members pulling rank on troopship. Sind: problems learning Sindi; problems with illiteracy and corruption in police force; case of extortion; corruption.
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 6: Sind: attempt to stamp OUT rasai; starting of malicious rumour about Pryde taking bribes, 1949; appointment and dismissal of Governor of Sind after 1947; Pryde's arrest of Pir Pagaro; civil disturbances, 1941; amusing story of martial law case. Sind: peculiarities of province; Commissioner system; character of Sindis; cattle theft; characteristics of Hurs; origins of civil war (or feud) between sons of Pir Pagaro; religious attitudes of Hurs; story to illustrate reverence of Hurs for the Pir; story of staged 'miracle' by the Pir; memories of Lambrick.
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| Main author: |
Pryde; Arthur Walter (b 1896); |
| Other authors: |
Wood; Conrad (b 1942); historian and interviewer |
| Previous numbers: |
OA2/73/1-7
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| Extent: |
4 sound casettes
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| Admin history: |
Arthur Walter Pryde - Indian Army 1917-23 including service in Third Afghan War 1919. Indian Police 1923-47 including service in Bombay and Sind. |
| Custodial history: |
Recorded as part of the ’Memories of the British in India’ project by India Office Library & Records [subsequently the Oriental and India Office Collection, British Library]. This recording was previously held at SOAS Library as part of the 'British in India Oral Archive Project' collection [Reference OA2], removed from this collection in August 2014 to reflect the recording’s alternative provenance as part of the ‘Memories of the British in India’ project. |
| Arrangement: |
Summary: Playback Cassette Side 7: Sind: story to show lack of co-operation between ICS and police; memories of Bhutto family. Partition: security precautions for Mountbatten and Jinnah; transference of Muslim refugees from the Punjab to Sind. Hindu-Muslim tensions in Sukkur before 1947. Hyderabad District Magistrate's order for burning down of Muslim huts. Effect of Pakistan formation on policing; problem of armed tribesmen; impressions of Jinnah. |
| Access status: |
Closed
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| Access conditions: |
Sound recording currently unavailable at SOAS Library due to preservation reasons. Researchers can access a copy of this audio recording at the British Library Listening & Viewing Service. For more details see www.bl.uk/listening or contact listening@bl.uk / 020 7412 7418.
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| Copyright: |
Copyright held by British Library |
| User restrictions: |
Private study only. For publication or broadcast please refer to Archivist |
| Language: |
English
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| Originals: |
Original sound recording of interview available at British Library Listening & Viewing Service [Reference: C63/76-88]
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| Format: |
Archive
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