Thought I would post this bit of history - The year is 1947, the movement for free India has gained momentum. 15th of August 1947 brings Independence to India. What was once was a huge country is tearing into two. The muslims carve out Pakistan for themselves rationalizing that they can never get a fair deal in India, (today there are more muslims in India than in Pakistan). During what came to be known as the Partition of India, and in the bloody days that followed, people are on the move. There is mass hysteria muslims are picking up and moving towards Pakistan, Hindus are moving towards India.

People seek safety in numbers, sometimes it is useless, entire train loads of muslims and hindus are stopped on the tracks and the occupants murdered - no one is spared. The British leave India in droves. During this most dangerous time, my English great grandmother with two of her small children travel the length of India accompanied with no male other than an old servant and a big alsation dog. No harm comes to them despite some close moments.

At the same time the princely states are abolished and their smaller and greater kingdoms come under the power of the Indian government. The newly formed Indian army starts taking control. Every princely state and their ruling families wonder what this will all mean! They include men who were once occupants of grand palaces, hunting preserves and among the greatest purveyors of double rifles, rolls royces and other glorious things. One by one the great armouries are seized and thousands upon thousands of the most fabulous sporting rifles are thrown into state run armouries all over the country.

The most powerful Princely ruler is the Nizam of Hyderabad, he makes a stand! The Nizam's army is hopelessly outnumbered and ill equipped. Short of guns he hires an Australian gun runner to fly in guns. A man called Sydney Cotton, became something of a legend, he would fly in low at tree top height in an old Dakota on full moon nights. My mother as a young girl remembers hearing the plane. He would bring with him 9mm Beretta submachine guns for the Nizam's army. The model I don't know, but they had 2 triggers, the front was semi auto and the rear was full auto or may have been the other way around.

Finally a month or so later the Nizam's army surrenders to the Indian army. It is all over now! In the Nizam's domain, Police Action is declared to curb "terrorists" etc. Everyone has to surrender their guns. Many of them never see their guns again. My grandfather being the Chief Justice of Hyderabad, refuses to surrender his guns, he agrees to lock them in a wall cupboard and it is sealed with the new stamp of the Indian government.

During this time my father and his elder brother (who was in the Nizams army) are dying to go for a shoot, but no guns are to be had they are all locked up. My uncle collects two berretta sub machine guns and they set off looking for wildboar. In the high grass a big boar suddenly appears infront of my father, he pulls on the wrong trigger loosing off a full auto burst of 9mm rounds. His elder brother is hopping mad in case someone might hear the burst of automatic fire and they jump on their motor bikes and get the hell out of there.

A few days later my father gets to visit the police dump, he told me of a sight that sounds unbelievable. The finest of rifles and shotguns that one can imagine. Lined like matchwood. Purdeys, H&H, Greeners, Westleys, Mausers, you name it, it was there. Double rifles with shotgun barrels, pairs of shotguns, double rifles, with gold engraving the works...he selects a few guns that he wants, when he returns a few weeks later they are gone!

Peace slowly returns, the initial shock has worn off, the maharajas have lost all their sources of income and with every passing year their palaces start falling apart. The clever ones join the Indian government and their family fortunes are somewhat saved, many are broken men and will die of heartbreak.

Finally the heirs of the Nizam of Hyderabad once "the richest men in the world", have had enough and the last Nizam moves to the Australian outback. Here he looses most of his fortune and today lives in Turkey very modestly!

The guns of India slowly start leaving, many go to Australia and finally the English gun companies whose own fortunes have been destroyed with the 2nd world war, remember that there are many fine rifles to be had for very little money in India. They go on buying expeditions and began to buy entire collections remaining with some princely rulers.

As posted on the Westley Richards website:

"The last 50 years for Westley Richards have seen a phenomenal rise from near obscurity to a once again proud and highly successful gun and rifle maker. This turnaround was initially made possible by the purchasing of the majority shareholding in the company by Walter Clode in 1957. The initial success's after the purchase came from Walters acquisition of the various Armouries of the once great Indian Rulers including those from, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Dholpur".

In 1997, I manage to import one of the very last of my grandfather's rifles a 375 H&H double rifle (shown below with him and one of his 54 Tigers), one of a pair given to him by Salar Jung - a noble of Hyderabad.

Fascinating.

Will you please cut this stuff out. It breaks my heart every time I read one of your stories.

reddy, I hope you have been able to document and record as much of this history as possible. What a family heritage! Thanks for posting.
David

Great story and photo, thank you for posting.

Arjun,

What a wondeful story. Sad yes but wondeful nonetheless. How lovely that you have the one rifle.

Mark

Hello Reddy

What a story, I am glad you were able to save at least one of your grand father’s doubles.

Will you be at SCI, if so I would love to get together for dinner one day with you?

Regards
Aziz

Thank you Sir, thank you very much.
Beatiful story and picture.

L

Thank you for that dip into your famlily's past.. Great pic of your Grandad with that wonderful rifle.

Fantastic!!!

Would it be possible to see a picture of the rifle today?

Terrible circumstances but a wonderful, wonderful story.

A question: you say that you were able to successfully import one of the very last of your grandfather's guns. Were you able to get any other guns out and if so what were they?

Thanks so much for posting this!!

Regards,
Scott

Thank you for sharing the photo and history of this firearm.

As we read such tales the magnitude of what we've

forever lost becomes more and more discernable.

And it ain't over yet; far, far from it...

Thanks Lady and Gentlemen for your kind comments. Just my notes on a time that once was! I will post pics of the rifle, it's currently being completely restored at Champlins. I had it sitting in my safe for a long time and finally decided to bring it back to as close as possible to what it once was, when it made that journey to India so long ago!

great story indeed.plz post some vinage photos its really a treat to look them,regards

Most fascinating.

The Nizams, Holland and Holland Royal resides here in Mandurah, Western Australia.
It is a beautiful example of the workmanship from those days. And its new owner still uses it in the field.

Being old enough to well remember 1947 - let's also remember what has happened since then - Independent India, far from allying with the West constantly allied itself with the USSR -or at least never took the side of the West during all the years of the cold war. (Yeah, they're now on our side for business reasons) What became the Muslim side, Pakistan, is an iffy "ally" of the US. Who is this poster and who are his supporters? Amnericans had better look out to their interests and stop being so sentimental about sweet talk.

Before 1947 there were famines in India and people died. After 1947 there have been no famines in India.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerrypeters375:
Being old enough to well remember 1947 - let's also remember what has happened since then - Independent India, far from allying with the West constantly allied itself with the USSR -or at least never took the side of the West during all the years of the cold war. (Yeah, they're now on our side for business reasons) What became the Muslim side, Pakistan, is an iffy "ally" of the US. Who is this poster and who are his supporters? Amnericans had better look out to their interests and stop being so sentimental about sweet talk.

I only see ignorance and bigotry in your post.Every country looks out for its own national interests and what is wrong with it?Is USA,India or any other country any different? For the record, India did not side with USSR on quite a few issues and did not join any military block.The "iffy Muslim" ally you speak of so lightly, there has been no more a faithful pawn than Pakistan to US than any other country in the world.They fought the Afghan war for US for example and are now fighting her enemies on their own soil.

India is on US' side?They have many common interests and a few ideological similarities and it makes good sense to have good relations with each other.How are US' interests hurt?How does this personal anecdote of the OP hurt or undermine US' interests?

Yeah, that most those London best guns in feudal India had come from the blood and sweat of the systemically impoverished people is a different matter.

Best-
Locksley,R

quote:

Originally posted by Gerrypeters375:
Being old enough to well remember 1947 - let's also remember what has happened since then - Independent India, far from allying with the West constantly allied itself with the USSR -or at least never took the side of the West during all the years of the cold war. (Yeah, they're now on our side for business reasons) What became the Muslim side, Pakistan, is an iffy "ally" of the US. Who is this poster and who are his supporters? Amnericans had better look out to their interests and stop being so sentimental about sweet talk.

This is a forum about hunting / guns and other related matters. Not world politics and american allies. I added this post to shed some light on a time in history with regard to a country which was once one of the greatest hunting destinations and what happened to it's fine guns. Obviously this has all escaped you and you question who I am and my supporters, as if there is some great conspiracy afoot. As the saying goes "Empty vessels make more noise".

Reddy,

Thanks for your post and a small glimpse into a time when all the world was in transition. It's nice to have a face and a voice emerge from the past.

All journeys start with a first step and I believe the journey toward international understanding and friendship can only be advanced by acts like reddys sharing a part of his heritage.

Adrian