Few associated the tough Rajput thakur with reading till Kanota’s Amar Singh, also an Imperial Cadet Corps general, established the region’s first library in 1878. Now, his personal collection of books and photographs enter the public domain
A reading chair reclines at a comfortable angle. Spectacles lie within arm’s reach. Old teak consoles with black marble tops line the room, which is dominated by book-crammed cupboards. Old frescoes of Hindu gods accentuate the sacred emotion of reading and growing with each book. An old hookah and an ebony-and-ivory chess board add to the personal sense of the space. Thakur Amar Singh could have just left his library for a spin around his estate at Kanota.
Though he died more than 70 years ago, there’s no mistaking the stamp of personality Amar Singh (b.1878, r.1924-42) left behind on every object and objet d’art at the General Amar Singh Museum and Library. His collection of old books, manuscripts, diaries, maps, photographs was thrown open amid the sound of bagpipes and the presence of royalty late in January.
By all accounts, Amar Singh was a remarkable man: The grandson of the founder of Kanota thikana, Zorawar Singh (b.1827, r.1862-1908), and a protégé of Idar’s Maharaja Pratap Singh, his military career straddled the British Raj and free India, taking him to service locations in China, France and Afghanistan. Balancing his itinerant lifestyle was a deep love of reading and writing.
The Period Room, which houses the library, dates back to 1898. It began life as a study and grew into a personal library, as Amar Singh’s collection of books began to expand. The family, especially Amar Singh’s younger brother Shivnath Singh, was encouraged to develop an interest in the library; this interest percolated down to his grandson Thakur Man Singh, who helped realise this shrine to learning and life.
The pride of place in the library goes to Amar Singh’s diaries: He started writing them in his Meerut College exercise books and didn’t miss an entry for a single day between 1898 and 1942 except for one, when he was unconscious after a fall from a horse. The 89 volumes of Amar Singh’s writing make up the world’s longest diary. The observations of daily life, social, political, military and family affairs, provide captivating insights into life in the princely states during the British Raj.
While researchers can access the microfilmed diaries, Amar Singh’s Waterman-penned entries are open for the visitor to read. Museum-keepers plan to switch around the diaries and change the display to reveal new dimensions of Amar Singh’s writing. For preservation, it is a good idea, since constant exposure to lights can damage the diaries.
Besides the diaries, there are 5,000 books currently available in the library. The collection provides an idea of the range of his interests: From Thomas Carlyle to Jane Austen, and from A Bad Boy’s Diary to Tales of Three Centuries, they all find a place here.
Curating History
(This story appears in the 08 March, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)