Our second clue was actually a very fiendish one, for though many of you may have thought that the curry comes from India, it does not. Most of the curries that we eat are really from Bangladesh. And the two favourites are both British versions of the theme, Tikka Masala being from Glasgow and Balti from Birmingham.
The true missing link is on the reverse where it says that this fine man is serving with the 2nd Queen`s Own Sappers and Miners. And this year`s winner of the Local Restaurant of the Year at the renowned English Curry Awards was "The Indian Queen" near Banbury.
A Jemadar, or sometimes Jamadar, showing here, is actually a junior native officer, in any of the regiments serving under the British Army in India. Some places will tell you that the title disappeared in 1947, but it actually stayed on, probably just through usage, or as almost slang, until the mid 1960s. However it is still used in the Nepalese Army.
Now this card comes at rather an interesting time for this regiment, which only received the "Queen`s Own" part of their title in 1876, when Queen Victoria was granted the title "Empress of India". They were then renamed the 2nd Queen`s Own Madras Sappers and Miners in 1903, as part of Kitchener`s attempt to unify several local forces into one Indian Army. Then in 1911 the name was changed again, to the 2nd Queen Victoria`s Own Madras Sappers and Miners.
This set is described in our Wills reference book part IV as :
239. 50. INDIAN REGIMENTS SERIES. Size 64 x 37 m/m. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in red, with details of subject. Issued between 1905-1910.
A. "SCISSORS" ISSUE. Backs with illustration of open packet.
GENERAL OVERSEAS ISSUES ;-
B. Back with star and circle trade mark
C. Anonymous backs.
Their appearance in our original World Tobacco Issues Index is more concise, and also the entry for Wills` "Scissors" is only that, reading just : "INDIAN REGIMENTS SERIES. Size 63 x 36. Nd. (50) See W/239.A".
However if you flip the page you will find the "star and circle" variety under W62-417, catalogued as "INDIAN REGIMENTS SERIES. Size 63 x 36. Back in red. Nd. (50). See W/239.B". The main header tells us this was issued through British American Tobacco.
As for the anonymous version, after a bit of a hunt, that is coded as ZB4-21 and again cited as being issued through B.A.T. The text is the same as for the Wills issue above, but the code is "See W/239.C"
As for the updated version of our World Tobacco Issues Index, the text remains the same but the codes have changed - the "star and circle" changing to W675-590 and the anonymous to ZB04-440