Historical Research - Rigby Rifles for Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor

[MCJ]

I recently became the proud owner of a beautiful John Rigby & Son 10-bore hammer double rifle with Indian provenance that I am attempting to trace. My rifle – one of a now broken pair – was made in 1877 for The Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor. According to Rigby records both rifles were “Best” quality, with “Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor” inlayed in gold on the barrels of each, and outfitted in their own individual oak & leather cases complete with full complements of tools (case and tools for my rifle at least now sadly lost). The rifles were delivered to Messrs. Arbuthnot Latham & Co. in London in late 1887 for transfer to The Rajah. At that time Arbuthnot Latham (which still exists today as a Private Bank serving high net worth individuals) was a trading house/merchant bank which became one of the biggest business houses in India (especially South India?).

Attempts to further identify The Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor have proven unsuccessful so far. Clearly he was a man of means, as evidenced by his ordering such a pair of Rigby “Best” rifles! Following exhausting research of the Rigby records, an attempt was also made to try to identify The Rajah (or at least where he may have been located in India) thru Arbuthnot Latham & Co., but sadly their relevant records were destroyed by the Germans in World War II.

Having exhausted all research avenues above, checking to see if anyone here may be able to help in my quest to identify The Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor or suggest other research sources? Any assistance or suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you!

[Shivaji.Dasgupta]

Bro. The name indicates that the above said Rajah Narrain Appa bahadoor probably from some southern area. There were many princely states in South India before indipendence even the wealthy land lords also adopt the title of Raja/ raja bahadoor/ ray bahadoor etc. Is there any inscription further on the gun about Narrain Appa. Can you post some pictures.

[MCJ]

Thank you for your reply. I agree that the name as well as the connection to Arbuthnot Latham & Co. probably indicates somewhere in Southern India, but this is a huge area and I've been so far unable to narrow down any further. And as you pointed out the titles Rajah and Bahadoor being used as honorific titles by wealthy landowners in addition to royalty really complicates attempts to narrow geography down and (hopefully eventually) identify the specific individual. One thing that leads me to believe that this person might be royalty is the fact that in the Rigby records "The" was used in front of his name (e.g., "The Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor"). But then again, that could mean nothing. Just guessing and detective work here. I have attached several pics of the rifle...

[pran80]

@mcj,
i thought of trying to find out from gazette of India to research more but then i realized that gazette of India itself was established in 1877 - the same year the rifle was build.
@shivaji.dasgupta - Narrain Appa could be a Maratha as well. Lets research more and see if we can help @mcj here.

[MCJ]

Thank you both (pran80 and shivaji.dasgupta) in advance for any further help you might be able to give. To respond to pran80's note that the individual in question here may be a Maratha if not a Southern personage, I did previously ask for research help from a well-respected Professor/historian on the sub-continent here in the USA, and this is what she told me:


"Half of the name is made up of very widely used honorifics that give no clue to region of origin. "Raja" is an Indo-European (used in Hindi and related languages) honorific that can apply to anything from a petty landlord up through a major prince. To complicate matters, it can also be a personal name, though I don't think that is the case here. "Bahadur," meaning brave, is a Persian origin honorific used pretty much wherever the Mughals once held power or impressed neighboring kingdoms with their power, i.e., throughout the entire subcontinent at a minimum. "Apa" might give us a hint. It is fairly frequently used as an honorific (for an elder) or a term of endearment (for a junior) among the Marathas, and is appended after the personal name, as we see here. However, "Apa" can also be a plain old personal name, and is the name of several minor Vedic religious figures and a couple demi-gods. However, this possibility seems a little odd coming after Narain, which itself is a name for Vishnu. So perhaps your fellow is a Maratha. Or, if "Apa" is really "appa", he might be anything from Northern to Southern Indian (though more likely South Indian), as all regions will use Sanskrit origin names like this. The meaning of Narain-appa is, again, Vishnu. As for Narain (= Narayan) itself, this is a very common personal name with no geographic or dynastic hints.

I consulted the Golden Book of India, a Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Noble, and Other Personages, Titled or Decorated, of the Indian Empire (1893). I could not find your fellow in it, but because the date is off by a good 16 years the fact that Narayan Apa isn't there doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't a "personage." He might have been dead by the time the book came out (especially if he was a Maratha and the "Apa" meant he was a respected senior). Besides, the fact that he had access to a pair of Rigbys suggests he was "personage" enough.

My best guess is he's either a Maratha or from a South Indian chiefdom. Not very specific, I'm afraid. Too bad the Golden Book wasn't published earlier. I think the chances of success with future research are very slim without some more solid geographical hints to narrow the search."


Since the above is pretty much as far as I have been able to get here on my side of the world, I thought asking for help from more local contacts like you both (and any others knowledgeable on/interested in this topic) would be pretty much my only hope of unraveling the secret of the this person's identity. It would be a pity if such history were lost...

[Shivaji.Dasgupta]

Dear MCJ,
Is the Delivery point or any other details available here.
an alternate I was thinking that, in present state structure there was hardly a hand full of princely sates i.e In present Tamilnadu Geographical area at max 10/12 princely states were present in British India. though it will be hectic but one way can be of find out the list of states and their present family.
as this Raja Narrain appa was interested in Rigby custom Built Rifle so he possibly was connected with hunting sports. so if we can get connected with some royal family in south and Maharashtra then we can get some clues. at least a chance.
The all royal Family some or other way have some records of their ancestors and they know each other very well as they in general connected with each other by Marriages etc.

[MCJ]

Dear Shivaji,

Unfortunately I do not have any final delivery point information (which is part of the problem). All I know is that the rifle was delivered to Arbuthnot Latham & Co. in London in August 1877, who would then in turn presumably have arranged to deliver the rifle to the Rajah thru one of their offices in India.

I had also originally thought that perhaps there might be some way to trace the rifle thru firearms records in India. But I learned that The Indian Arms Act, which included regulations on licensing of firearms, wasn't passed until 1878. As you know, that Act followed widespread disarming of the Indian population after the Rebellion of 1857. Princes that were loyal to the British during 1857 would have avoided disarmament, however. As far as I'm aware, princes would not have needed licenses prior to 1878 and importation of sporting rifles to princes was not a big issue (military grade weapons, like the Lee-Enfield rifle on the other hand, were more of a concern). Also, from what I understand it appears a lot of the weapons of various Indian royalty and notable personages were sold for export in the 1970's and 1980's (think this coincided with a push by the Indian govt to reduce large personal collections of firearms and desire by the owners to avoid increasing taxes and regulations on ownership?). But if those export records do exist, they would need to be accessed in India after finding the right office (assuming there is one centralized office, rather than several at the various potential points of export). But since I don't know the name of the heirs, there would be no particular way to find the record of my Rigby without literally looking through the entire collection of records, which may be massive (don't know, for example, if rifles are kept in one stack and other goods in another, or if everything is mixed together). So this approach doesn't seem promising.

Your idea to find out the list of states and their present princely families may be a possibility, with an eye toward contacting several of them and networking to see if anyone may recall the name Rajah Narrain Appa Bahadoor. Especially if any of the members of those families have a keen interest in shooting and hunting. To your point, the Rajah definitely would have been connected with hunting sports. His purchase of not just one but a matched pair of Rigby Best Quality 10-bore double rifles is not something the casual shooter would acquire – the 10-bore double rifles were really only used for the largest and most dangerous of Indian game (from tiger to bison even up to elephant).

[Shivaji.Dasgupta]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... Presidency
Dear MCJ it's really an impossible looking job but as my blood group is B+ so I am bound to look on the positive side of the things
The bad part is there were at least few hundred zamindars or landlords in only Madras presidency in British India. There were other royalties as well. I am checking for the family details of few of the notable royalties and if I get their contact details then it will worth to take a chance. I have attached the link for your reference.

[Vikram]

I think the Rajah was most likely from the state of Andhra Pradesh, formerly a part of the Madras Presidency. The full name is most likely to be Rajah Narayan Appa Rao Bahadur. I have asked a few sources and I will update once I receive any information.

[MCJ]

Dear Shivaji, Vikram and pran80,

Thank you all very much for your assistance. WIthout people like you my task would be pretty hopeless. Hopefully one of you may have some luck, but even if not your help is sincerely appreciated! Regards, Mark

[Shivaji.Dasgupta]

I think the Rajah was most likely from the state of Andhra Pradesh, formerly a part of the Madras Presidency. The full name is most likely to be Rajah Narayan Appa Rao Bahadur. I have asked a few sources and I will update once I receive any information.

It has a lot of possibilities. The largest royalty was Madras presidency and under that a hide no of raja and jamindars were present. Great work Vikram. Wish you luck in further search.

[MCJ]

For Vikram: Tried sending you a PM, Vikram, but as a newer member I don't have that capability so just posting here. Just checking in to see if any of your sources have gotten back to you with anything (positive or negative) on our attempts to identify the original owner of this Rigby? I assume you haven't heard anything definite back yet, but hopefully your/their efforts may meet with some success in the near future. Look forward to any news when you do hear back, and once again your assistance is sincerely appreciated! Regards, Mark

[Vikram]

Hi Mark,

I have not yet heard from the people I contacted. But, it is good that you reminded me. I will try a couple more people. I am positive that the owner was from one of the feudal estates (Zamindaris) from Andhra Pradesh. I will keep you posted once I hear anything. Do remind me in case I get sidetracked. Cheers.

[MCJ]

Fantastic, Vikram -- thank you very much! Regards, Mark

[ckkalyan]

Hi Vikram,

I think you are on the right track, re Andhra ... an exciting task to track this Rajah down! Very cool!

I found some similarly named Zamindars in Nuzvid (Kapileswarapuram). Take a look at this gentleman



MCJ Congratulations on the lovely rifle!