The Mysterious Mr Jacob: Diamond Merchant, Magician and Spy
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing this book has been a collaborative effort, involving many extraordinary people in many parts of the world. First, I am indebted to Anita M. Jacob, whose initial burst of research at the National Archives of India convinced me that piecing together Jacob’s life story was achievable. Despite the bizarre coincidence of having the same initials and last name as my protagonist, Anita is no relation to my diamond merchant, magician and spy, but she shared his tenacity in tracking down secret Raj-era files.
In Istanbul, I wish to acknowledge Ozcan Gecer, who gave invaluable information on Jacob’s early life and on the extraordinary story of his brother, John Louis Sabunji. Also, for introducing me to Mehmet Simsek, my guide in Diyarbakir. In Beirut, the helpful staff at the Arab Image Foundation aided my ultimately fruitless search for a photograph of Jacob. In Damascus, my gratitude goes to Radwan Sabbagh for immersing me in the rich culture of the region’s Syrian Christian community. In London, the staff in the India Office Records at the British Library gave invaluable help, as always, in guiding my research. I would also like to thank Peter Lamont and Peter Hopkirk for answering my queries on magic and Jacob’s life in Simla.
In Bombay, I owe Usha Balakrishnan, Uma and Gerson da Cunha, the staff at Sewri Cemetery, Farooq Issa, the proprietor of Phillips Antiques, and R.H. Parve for taking me around the block of flats where Jacob lived. In Calcutta, C.R. Addy of the law firm, Sanderson and Morgan, went out of his way to help source material on Jacob’s trial. The staff at the National Library’s reading room was courageous in battling dust and mildew to bring me copies of nineteenth-century periodicals. In Simla, my special gratitude goes to Raja Bhasin and his family for their hospitality and generosity in sharing information about Simla and Jacob. My warmest thanks to Godwin Bindra for allowing me to peruse his stock of old photographs, and to Rajiv and Rajesh Sud of Maria Bros for allowing me to reproduce Jacob’s sketch. Also to the staff at the Himachal Pradesh State Archives and the Simla Municipal Library.
In New Delhi, Bindu Batra, Tarquin Hall and Pamela Kanwar offered advice and support. I would like to thank the staff at the National Archives of India and the Nehru Memorial Library, and Shilpi Goswami at the Alkazi Foundation for permission to reproduce rare photographs of Simla.
At Random House India, my praise goes to Chiki Sarkar for taking on this project, to Meru Gokhale for seeing it through, to Meena Bhende for her excellent copy-edit, and to Gurveen Chadha for her patience. I am grateful as always to William Dalrymple for his encouragement and enthusiasm, and to Louise Thurtell for her helpful comments on the manuscript. My thanks must be shared with Omar Khalidi, Edmond Roy, Helen Vatsikopulous, Benjamin Gilmour and Reuben Brand for their contacts and support, as well as to Colette Vella and Melanie Ostell at Murdoch Books for their input and suggestions.
For their over-generous hospitality in various parts of the world, I am beholden to Emma Tarlo and Deni Vidal in London, Whit Mason in Istanbul, Gayatri Batra and Andi Puhringer in Calcutta, K. Mohanchandran and his wife Seema at the Taj Bengal, Savitri Chaudhry and Vikram Chhatwal in Bombay, and Aman and Christine Rai in New Delhi.
In Australia, my highest praise must go to my agent Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown who helped negotiate the twists and turns of a very unsettling time in the publishing industry. Finally, my deepest appreciation goes to my family—Alexandra, my mother, for believing I would do it; Niki, my wife, for her endless support, inspiration, enthusiasm for the project, wonderful honesty and brilliant ideas when reading early drafts of this book; Alexander, Jonathon and Nicolas for their patience and encouragement; and Adele, my daughter, who made a great travelling companion as we searched for clues to Jacob’s life in the ruins of his mansion, the dusty stairwells of his Bombay apartment, and in wonderfully eccentric curio and antique shops scattered around the subcontinent.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
John Zubrzycki is the author of The Last Nizam. He is also an award-winning journalist whose long association with India has included stints as a Hindi student, diplomat, consultant and foreign correspondent. He is the world commentary editor at The Australian newspaper and lives in Sydney.
The only known sketch of Alexander Malcolm Jacob
Courtesy: Raja Bhasin
Lowries Hotel c1880
Courtesy: Godwin Bindra
Albert Abid, his wife Annie and their children
Courtesy: the Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad
Interior of Belvedere showing the drawing room, 2011
Photograph: John Zubrzycki
Exterior of Belvedere in 2011
Photograph: John Zubrzycki
Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad
Courtesy: Fotocrafts, Hyderabad
Denis Fitzpatrick, British Resident in Hyderabad (front row, second left) and the Nizam’s minister Asman Jah (front row, third left)
Courtesy: the Alkazi Foundation, New Delhi
High Court of Calcutta
Waterloo Mansions, Bombay, where Jacob lived from approximately 1902 until 1911
Photograph: John Zubrzycki
Steel peacock, Iran, 19th century, that once belonged to Jacob now in the collection of the British museum
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Jacob’s brother John Louis Sabunji
Courtesy: Ozcan Gecer
Jacob’s passport application, May 1899
National Archives of India
Jacob’s grave, Sewri cemetery, Bombay, in 2005
Courtesy: David Morphet