ABSTRACT
The flamboyant six-foot-tall Maharaja, known for his sartorial elegance and carefully chosen turbans, had been an aide-de-camp to King George V longer than any other Indian chief. The 33-year-old Maharaja declared that the personal military service was the ‘highest ambition of a Rathore Rajput chief’ and that he was prepared to go anywhere and in any capacity to serve the King. The Bengalee newspaper edited by Congress leader Surendranath Banerjee, declared: Behind the series ranks of one of the finest armies in the world, there stand the multitudinous people of India, ready to co-operate with the government in the defence of Empire, which for them means, in its ultimate evolution, the complete recognition of their rights as citizens of the freest state in the world. The most resounding voice of support came from Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Indian to win a seat in the House of Commons.
