The rulers of princely states who maintained their own armies, often vied with each other to win favours from the British rulers. Most of them were very prompt to offer their regiments and battalions to the British in case any such requirement arose.
Apart from demonstrating their undying loyalty to the British rulers, these princes also attempted to extract more concessions from their colonial masters in the shape of higher honourary military rank, greater number of gun salutes etc.
In 1911, the then Maharaja of Jaipur decided to make a similar approach towards ingratiating the British, albeit for a regiment which was now a part of the regular Indian Army .
He wrote to the Foreign Department of the Government of India asking them to obtain the title ‘King George’s Own’ for 13th Rajputs (The Shekhwati Regiment) of the Indian Army. The Maharaja was the honorary colonel of the 13th Rajputs. He wrote that the title has recently been bestowed on certain other regiments of the Indian Army and so he wanted it for his regiment too.
The archives show that the British bureaucracy was not very pleased with his approach. “It may first of all be observed that, as honorary colonel of the regiment His Highness the Maharaja need not have troubled the Foreign Department at all, but have addressed the Adjutant General in India, through the General Officer Commanding Meerut Division, the question being a military one, and he being (as honorary colonel) in the position of a military officer,” noted a British official.
The file reveal that the British officials pointed out that the principle governing the selection of a regiment for a royal title is that the corps must have a very distinguished record.
“The historical record of the ’13th Rajputs’, from the time of its formation to 1880, is placed below. Since 1880, the only field service the regiment has seen was with the Chitial Relief Force in 1895. A perusal of the record below does not appear to indicate any thing very distinguished in the history of the regiment, such as would place that regiment’s record on the same level as those of the 2nd Rajputs, 2nd Gurkhas, 2nd Sappers and Miners, 14th Sikhs, 61st Pioneers, etc., all of which were specially selected for royal titles,” it states.
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There were further remarks that there are several regiments of the Indian Army with a far more distinguished record of service than the 13th Rajputs, which have not yet got a royal title, e.g., the Ist Brahmans and the 12th Pioneers, regiments that have not only greatly distinguished themselves in the field, “but were also the only two Indian regiments that remained true to their colours among all the Purbeah regiments that were stationed at, and around, Peshawar in 1857”.
“There are other regiments too, for example, the 8th Rajputs [who as the 59th Native Infantry) were one of the four regiments that carried the Sikh entrenchments at Sobraon at the point of the bayonet without firing a shot, the 11th Rajputs (Chillianwallah) and the 16th Rajputs (defence of the Residency at Lucknow) which have no royal titles, also the 3rd Sappers and Miners, etc,” the archives file record states.
The British officials stated that another point to be observed is that if the request of the Maharaja of Jaipur is acceded to in the case of the 13th Rajputs, a precedent will be created for other Indian protentates, who happen to be honorary colonels of Indian regiments, to ask for similar treatment and it will be difficult to refuse their requests.
The other regiments (which already had no royal title) of which Indian princes were honorary colonels at the time were 2nd Lancers-Honorary Colonel, the Maharajah of Bikaner, 9th Hodson’s Horse-Honorary Colonel, the Nawab of Rampur, 15th Lancers-Honorary Commandant, Nawab Sir Hafiz Muhammad Abdullah Khan, 20th Deccan Horse-Honorary Colonel, Nawab Sir Muhammad Ali Beg, 37th Dogras-Honorary Colonel, the Maharaja of Kashmir, 42nd Deoli Regiment-Honorary Major, the Maharao of Kotah and 4th Gurkha Rifles-Honorary Colonel, the Prime Minister of Nepal.
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Turning down the proposal of the Maharaja of Jaipur, the British noted that royal titles are very highly appreciated, and are much sought after by regiments. If granted to corps without regard to their previous record, it would tend to cheapen the value of such honours, and would probably also cause invidious comparisons to be drawn by regiments which, though possessing better records, were not favoured.
As a via media, one British official suggested that a recommendation be made that the British King be asked to accept the appointment of Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment, as in the case of other regiments designated ‘King George’s Own’.
This proposal was shot down by another official who noted, “The King exercises His Royal Pleasure in appointing himself Colonel-in-Chief of a regiment. It would be unusual in any case to make any uninvited recommendation on the subject, and in the case of the 13th Rajputs there are no special grounds on which such recommendation could be submitted. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief does not consider that there are any special grounds for recommending the bestowal of the title ‘King George’s Own’ upon the 13th Rajputs, or for asking His Majesty the King to become Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment,”. The website Britishempire.co.uk notes that the Shekhawati Regiment were raised in 1835 as part of the Jaipur contingent and were taken into the East India Company’s service as a local battalion 8 years later. They fought with distinction at Aliwal (against the Sikh Khalsa Army) under Maj Gen Harry Smith in 1846. Remaining loyal during the 1857 Mutiny, they were taken into the Bengal line as the 13th Bengal Native Infantry and subsequently known as 13the Rajputs (Shekhawati) .
In 1922 the Regiment became the 10th Battalion (Training Battalion) 6th Rajputana Rifles. The present Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre now represents that battalion and hence the 13th Rajputs (Shekhawati).