A Legend of the Foreign Office

(notes edited by Roberta Baldi)



the poem

[June 7 2004]

Publication

First printed in the Civil and Military Gazette, February 23rd, 1886, under the title “A Legend of the F.O.”, then changed to “A Legend of the Foreign Office” in the 1890 England published edition “to make things clearer for the English reader” (F.A. Underwood, “The Expansion of Departmental Ditties”, Kipling Journal, December 1973, 10) . Collected in Departmental Ditties and Other Verses, 1886, E.V., 1900; I.V., 1919; D.V., 1940; Sussex Edition, Vol. 32, page 12; Burwash Edition, Vol. 25 (ORG entry: nr. 168, page 5109).

Background to the poem

The "Native States" in India were governed by their respective princes, each of whom had the help and advice of a political officer appointed by the supreme Indian Government. Negotiations between an Indian State and the Supreme Government were conducted through the Indian Foreign Office. The native princes were allowed to manage the internal affairs of their states so long as they did so without injustice or oppression. The progress that some states made under enlighted rajahs is evident from the very vivid accounts which Rudyard Kipling has given in Letters of Marque (From Sea to Sea) of the cities of Jeypore, Udaipur, Chitor, Jodhpur, and Boondi in Rajputana. The Naulahka, by Rudyard Kipling and Wolcott Balestrier, also depicts life in a Native State.” (Durand pages 3-4).


Notes on the text


The lines refer to the whole poem, heading lines included.

[Line 1] Rajah “A prince, chief, or ruler in India or the East Indies” (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company, Rajah, http://www.bartleby.com/61/87/R0028700.html May 21 2004).

[Lines 1, 32] simpkin The glossary annexed to the English edition of Departmental Ditties translates this as a Hindustani corruption of the word ‘champagne'. The Oxford English Dictionary adds the qualification “Anglo-Indian” (OED, Simkin 2).

[Lines 1, 32] peg “A drink; esp. of brandy and soda-water. Chiefly in Anglo-Indian slang” (OED, Peg, entry 6).

[Line 6] Lusted for a C.S.I. “Many Indian princes do not wholly understand or approve the Supreme Government’s love for sanitation, but to humour it on this point is recognised as advisable by those who wish to stand well with the Viceroy. There is an old story to the effect that a native prince, knowing that the Viceroy intended to inspect some interesting old carvings in his dominions, prepared for his visit by having the carvings whitewashed. The Order C.S.I. (Companion of the Star of India) is an honour conferred, on such occasions as the King’s birthday, on native princes and other notables who deserve recognition.” (Durand, page 4).

[Line 6] – so began to sanitate The OED explains the meaning of this verb as “To put in a sanitary condition; to provide with sanitary appliances” reporting its use in this line by Kipling: “1886 KIPLING Departm. Ditties (1899) 15 Rustem Beg of Kolazai...Lusted for a C.S.I. so began to sanitate.” (OED, Sanitate (verb))

[Line 13] octroi “A local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in Roman times as vectigalia.” (Octroi, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/O/OC/OCTROI.htm May 21 2004).

[Line 15] cess “India. A tax levied for a specific object [...].” (OED, Cess, entry 1c)

[Lines 16, 29] Bukhshi The Commander-in-chief.

[Line 17] Mahratta fury A plausible hint at the three Mahratta Wars (1775-1782; 1803-1805; 1817-1819) fought by the English against the Mahratta Confederation. “The three Mahratta Wars illustrate how British power led to interference with the succession of native rulers, since the continual threat of war between usurper and usurped made peaceful government and trade impossible. British ascendancy in India made the East India Company the 'policemen' for the native rulers. By a policy of supporting contender or ruler (according to how one or the other viewed the British) the Company was able to prevent the Mahrattas from extending their alliances to challenge the position of the British.” (A Web of English History, The Age of George III, Wellesley as Governor General: 1797-1805, http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/india/welles.htm May 21 2004).

[Line 18] dasturi Bribes.

[Line 22] nothing more than C.I.E. Durand notes that the status of 'Companion of the Indian Empire' was lower and consequently less valued than 'Companion of the Star of India'.

[Line 27] thana The glossary annexed to the English edition of Departmental Ditties translates this as “a police station”.

[Line 28] Zenana The glossary annexed to the English edition of Departmental Ditties translates this as “the apartments of a house in which the women of the family are secluded”.


[R.B.]