'The Maharaja of Jodhpur's guns' book review: The royal armoury

It’s an impressive volume. And hugely heavy. Probably heavier than a couple of guns. Though I must  hasten to add that till date I haven’t held a gun in my hands! And I must also hasten to say that it’s one of those volume exclusively for those curious to gather more facts and factors to arms and the connected bandobast. And yes, it could also be useful to researchers and academics and all those delving deep into the bygones and what all they held out.

After all, the author—Robert Elgood—is an internationally known expert on historic arms. To be nearer precision, “of Hindu India and of the Islamic World”. Some of his earlier published volumes are: Islamic Arms and Armour, Arms and Armour of Arabia, Firearms of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Collection, Kuwait, Hindu Arms and Ritual, Arms of Greece and Her Balkan Neighbours in the Ottoman Period, Arms and Armour at the Jaipur Court, Rajput Arms and Armour: Rathores and Their Armoury at Jodhpur Fort...

With such an impressive, vast and  diversified coverage, this time Elgood has focused on Jodhpur. Not to overlook the vital fact that Jodhpur has been one of the prime military states of Rajasthan, especially during the reign of Maharaja Ajit Singh (1678-1724). Also stands out the fact that the successive Maharajas of Jodhpur continued adding to the arms collection. And in 1972, Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur-Marwar transformed the Rathore’s Mehrangarh Fort into a Museum and Cultural Centre. 

As he writes in the very foreword to this volume: “Instruments of power and beauty, guns inevitably became status symbols in the later Mughal Age, and my forbearers built up quite a collection, generation after generation; a dazzling array of weapons in all sort of precious metals and materials, in all shapes and sizes; some even to be used from a camel’s back… My father, Maharaja Hanwant Singh, took his passion for guns in a different direction; setting up a gun factory in Mehrangarh Fort, designing his own firearms. One of his famous inventions, a disguised .22 pen-pistol, was recently auctioned as part of the Mountbatten Collection. How it got there—yet another fascinating story in this book.”

So here comes this absolutely exclusive volume focusing on the firearms and the lesser-known facts and backgrounds to them. Details stand out together their distinct clear images. Perhaps, one of the first volumes to wholeheartedly focus on arms and ammunition of the bygone decades. It’s just that the high price of this volume could come in way of reaching to vast sections.