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{{Short description|Indian soldier and author (1869 - 1920)}}
{{Orphan|date=October 2025}}

'''Thakur Gadadhar Singh''' (1869–1920) was a [[British Raj]] Indian soldier and author. He wrote several travelogues and commentaries. Singh is considered to be the founder of the [[Hindi]] [[travel literature]] genre alongside [[Bharatendu Harishchandra]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian literature, vol. 5, Sasay to Zorgot |date=2009–2016 |editor1=Indranātha Caudhurī|editor2=Amaresh Datta|editor3=Mōhanlāl|editor4=Param Anand Abichandani|editor5=K. C. Dutt|editor6=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-2384-4 |edition=Revised |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |location=New Delhi |pages=4371 |oclc=430192715}}</ref> and his travelogue ''Chin Me Terah Mas (Thirteen Months in China)'' is often considered one of the first book-length overseas travel narratives written in Hindi.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Anand A. |author-link=Anand Yang |title=Thirteen Months in China: A Subaltern Indian and The Colonial World: An Annotated Translation of Thakur Gadadhar Singh's Chīn Me Terah Mās |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-947646-6 |edition=1st |series=Oxford series on China-India studies |location=New Delhi, India |pages=4 |translator-last=Sheel |translator-first=Kamal |translator-last2=Sheel |translator-first2=Ranjana}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Gadadhar Singh was born during the [[British Raj#Famines, epidemics, and public health|British Raj era]] in October 1869 in village Sanchedi, now in [[Kanpur Dehat district]] to a [[Rajput]] family of the [[Chandel (Rajput clan)|Chandel]] clan.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Various authors |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/images/pdf/India-ChinaEncyclopedia_Vol-2.pdf |title=Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts Volume II |last2=Sheel |first2=Kamal |last3=Sheel |first3=Ranjana |publisher=The Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, India |year=2014 |location=New Delhi |pages=596–597}}</ref> His father, [[Thakur (title)|Thakur]] Dariyao Singh, was also a soldier in the [[5th Bengal Native (Light) Infantry]] from 1864 to 1878. After completing his secondary school education, he enlisted in the [[7th Rajput Regiment]] (also known as the [[7th (Duke of Connaught's Own) Rajputs]]) in 1886 when the regiment was stationed at [[Fort William, India]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Chandra 'Suman' |first=Kshem |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.320112 |title=Divamgat Hindi-Sevi (vol. 1) (The Encyclopaedia of Late Hindi Litterateurs and Devotees) |publisher=Shakun Prakashan |year=1981 |location=New Delhi |pages=164–5 |language=}}</ref> That same year he was dispatched to [[Burma|Burma (now Myanmar)]] as part of a force sent to quell the resistance after the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]]. As he was literate he was made a teacher in the [[British Indian Army]].<ref name=":3" /> He was not a [[commissioned officer]]. Singh was among the 500 7th Rajput soldiers, who along with other Indian troops, made up most of the 3,000 strong British men in the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] forces numbering about 20,000 men. The 7th Rajput left [[Calcutta]] on 29 June 1900. Singh returned to India from [[Beijing]] in September 1901.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rawlinson |first=H. G. |date=1941 |title=The history of the 3rd battalion, 7th Rajput regiment (Duke of Connaught's own) |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/4286242 |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=www.worldcat.org |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=London |at=Pages 77-80, Chapter 'Digest of Service' |language=en}}</ref>

Singh was one of the 27 men who represented the 7th Rajput in England at the [[Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra|coronation ceremonies]] of [[Edward VII]] as part of a larger [[British Indian Army]] contingent. He & another [[Naik (military rank)|naik]] (rank equivalent to corporal), 21 [[sepoy]]s and 3 [[havildar]]s (rank equivalent to sergeant) were part of this unit headed by [[Subedar]] Adhar Singh. This contingent left [[Lucknow]] on 10 May 1902, sailed from [[Bombay]] on 24 May, arrived in [[Southampton]] on 12 June, participated in the coronation on 9 August, then returned to India.<ref name=":1" /> He lived in the [[Dilkusha, Lucknow|Dilkusha]] neighborhood in [[Lucknow]] till November 1905, when his regiment was dispatched to the [[North-West Frontier Province]].<ref name=":1" />

Singh self-published his account of his experiences in China in 1902 from Lucknow. He wrote a book about his experiences in England in 1903. He wrote at least 9 other commentaries on England and Japan, and others mainly focused on social reform and women's issues.<ref name=":2" />

He died in [[British Raj#Famines, epidemics, and public health|British ruled India]] in October 1920 at the age of fifty before his 51st birthday.<ref name=":0" />

== Works ==
Source:<ref name=":3" />

List of works
* ''Chin Me Terah Mas (1902; self-published) -'' English Translation, edited by [[Anand Yang]], translated by Kamal Sheel & Ranjana Sheel: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=OlNUDwAAQBAJ Thirteen Months in China: A Subaltern Indian and the Colonial World].'' [[New Delhi]]: [[Oxford University Press]]. 2017. {{ISBN|9780199476466}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Menon |first=Vandana |date=2017-10-02 |title=How a British Indian soldier viewed India-China relations |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/afterword/how-a-british-indian-soldier-viewed-india-china-relations/11063/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Hamari Edward Tilak Yatra (My Journey to the Coronation of Edward)''
* ''Bushido (the Japanese Way of the Warrior)''
* ''Karuna Kahani (1916, A Tale of Compassion)''
* ''Vilayati Ramaniya/Bhraman (1918, Happy Wonderings in Foreign Lands)''
* ''Japan Ki Raj Vyavastha (The Political Administration of Japan)''
* ''Rus-Japan-Yudh (Russo-Japanese War), vols. 1 & 2''
* ''Parivarik Upasna (Famililal Worship)''
* ''Buddhadeo Darshan'' ''(The Philosophy of Lord Buddha)''
* ''Yuddha aur Shanti Parichaya (Introduction to War and Peace)''
* ''Chashma aur Chakshu (Spectacles and Eyes)''
* ''Vanita Hitaishi (Friends of Woman) -'' Periodical [[Literary magazine|journal]] on woman's issues, education and empowerment

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Thakur Gadadhar}}
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel]]
[[Category:Indian travel writers]]
[[Category:1869 births]]

Thakur Gadadhar Singh - Revision history

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