Military Headquarters Of War (MHOW) collection

A very scarce and interesting collection relating to the historic British military cantonment which is in modern day Madhya Pradesh, India.  Established in 1818, MHOW was extremely important during the days of the British Raj as a training base and administrative focal point.  It is still, today, associated with the Indian army and is called Dr. Ambedkar Nagar.

The collection

2 x silk maps, 1 x paper/card map, 1 x book ‘Last Post at MHOW’ outlining the historical account of a sensational scandal of the times in MHOW.

Despite obvious wear and tear and foxing these are rare and important military artifacts. They are early 20th-century British military intelligence cloth operational maps.  These were often printed on a woven textile commonly referred to as ‘silk’ and designed specifically for field commanders and staff officers.

Being printed on cloth/silk these maps had fantastic durability especially in the harsh environment of the area.  They didn’t disintegrate or rip when wet and were completely silent to use in military contexts which called for stealth.  Many will be familiar with WW2 M19-produced silk escape maps but these are much earlier and rarer collectors’ pieces.

The 3 maps are: 1. A large-format operational grid titled the MHOW Manoeuvre Map (paper/card) 2. A detailed tactical map of the environment 12 miles around MHOW and 3. A topographical layout titled Manoeuvre Map of MHOW.

Some detailing on the ‘silk’ maps reveals:

District Staff Office, Mhow, 17th July 1902 — This marks the initial military authorization and localized compilation of the data

D.A.G. (Deputy Adjutant General), Mhow Dt. — Oct. 02 — 110

No. 10 A.A.G. (Assistant Adjutant General), Mhow Dist. — Mar. 04. — 150. (‘150’ indicates an extremely low print run of just 150 copies for that specific revision cycle; and

Div. Staff Officer, Mhow. — Dec. 04. — 100. This indicates a later winter revision cycle where only 100 copies were produced.

The paper/card maps shows the following:

The cover states a scale of 1 inch = 1 mile (1:63,360), which was the standard scale used by the Survey of India to provide precise topographic details like roads, elevation contour lines, water sources, and vegetation for tactical training.

Printed at the Map Sales Office located at 13, Wood St., Calcutta (Kolkata). The crest on the cover honours William Lambton and George Everest, the pioneering cartographers of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. Similar editions of this specific sheet were actively produced and used around the 1920s to 1940s.

While standard Survey of India regional topographic maps were widely printed for administrative use, specialized Manoeuvre Maps were printed in much smaller quantities. Because they were explicitly created for field exercises, they were heavily used outdoors by officers, frequently marked up, and usually discarded or worn out rather than archived.  Therefore, surviving original copies are pretty rare items today

As a trio of maps of the MHOW area and because they were printed in batches of only 100 to 150, over 120 years ago for the exclusive use of colonial Staff Officers, on top of the fact that almost none survived the harsh climate of Central India and subsequent military decommissioning, to find a set like this is an incredible opportunity to own a rare collection.

The Book

Complimenting this collection as an interest piece is ‘Last Post at Mhow’, written by Arthur Hawkey and published in 1969.  It tells the dramatic true historical account of the Mhow Court Martial - one of the most sensational scandals of the British Raj during the Victorian era.

The book details the severe breakdown of command, arrogance, and abuse of power within an elite British cavalry regiment stationed in central India.

The narrative centres around the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, a regiment dispatched to the military cantonment town of Mhow (located in Madhya Pradesh, India) following the Indian Uprising of 1857. The newly appointed commanding officer subjected his men and officers to extreme tyranny, resulting in systemic insubordination, illegal imprisonments, a tragic death, and a public trial that eventually shook the highest echelons of the British government and military hierarchy.

Key figures in the book include:

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Robert Crawley: Highly tyrannical, arrogant, and unpopular, his aggressive management style and abrasive behaviour single-handedly sparked the entire conflict within the regiment.

Regimental Sergeant-Major John Lilley: A deeply respected, veteran non-commissioned officer who became the tragic focal point of the scandal. He was illegally placed under close arrest by Crawley and died in captivity.

Lieutenant John Fitzimon: A primary target of Crawley’s hostility who was unjustly suspended, escalating the infighting among the regiment's elite officer class.

As a full set this is extremely attractive to those with keen historical interest in this period of the British Raj in India.  A rare set to acquire.