2.5cm (1in) x 10cm (4in) x 5.5cm (2.3in)
Provenance: Gift of Sir Pertab Singh (1845-1922), Maharaja of Idar.
Indian silver. Three finger cigarette or cigarillo case, of rectangular form with round corners, the front and back repoussé with foliate decoration, containing period manuscript note inscribed in ink ‘Xmas 1906. This cigarette case was presented to me by Major General Sir Pertab Singh, Prince of Idar, who was the King's Native Aide-de-Camp at the time of the Coronation in London’.
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Lieutenant-General Sir Pratap Singh, GCB, GCSI, GCVO (1845-1922), Maharaja of Idar (Gujerat), Regent of Jodhpur. He was the third son of Takht Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur, and his first wife, Gulab Kunwarji Maji. He was educated privately, and received administrative training under Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur. After his father's death in 1873, he assisted his elder brother as Chief Minister Jodhpur state. After his brother's death in 1895, he was regent for his fifteen-year-old nephew and heir to the Jodhpur throne Sardar Singh of Jodhpur until 1898, then again for his grandnephew Sumer Singh of Jodhpur from 1911 to 1918 and finally for his second grandnephew Umaid Singh from 1918 until his own death in 1922. Following the death of the ruler of Idar state in 1901, Pratap Singh was Maharajah until resigning in favour of his adopted son in 1911 to return to Jodhpur to be regent. He travelled to Europe often and was close to Queen Victoria and her family, serving as aide-de-camp to Edward VII from 1887 to 1910.
Sir Pratap Singh had a notable military career. Commissioned in the Jodhpur Risala in 1878, he served during the Second Afghan War and was mentioned in dispatches. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1887, he served under General Ellis in 1897 and served in the Tirah Campaign in 1898 under General Lockhart, during which he was wounded. Promoted to an Honorary Colonel the same year, he commanded the Jodhpur contingent during the Boxer Rebellion and made Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. In late 1901 he accepted the post of honorary commandant of the Imperial Cadet Corps under Lord Curzon, and was promoted to the Honorary Major-General. He attended the 1903 Delhi Durbar as an Aide-de-Camp to the Emperor, riding as part of the Viceroy's main entourage. On the outbreak of the First World War, Sir Pratap Singh, though aged 70, commanded Jodphur Lancers in France and Flanders from 1914 to 1915 and in the Palestine Mandate at Haifa and Aleppo.