He was known as a firebrand barrister but not many would believe that Motilal Nehru was also an impresario who sent a troupe of magicians and performers to Paris in 1900 for a grand exhibition.
Australian author John Zubrzycki, who dedicates a whole chapter to this fascinating facet of Nehru in his new book "Jadoowallahs, Jugglers and Jinns", says finding his story was truly a fortunate "stroke of serendipity".
In the tenth chapter of the richly illustrated volume -- "Motilal's Magical Menagerie", the author describes about a letter written by him to the immigration authorities in Bombay on April 1, 1900.
"I have just learnt that in order to send a party of Indians consisting of performers, musicians, acrobats and artisans to the ensuing Paris Exhibition it is necessary to obtain a permit from the Protector of Emigrants," the letter reads.
"As I about to send such a party, I beg to state the necessary particulars for your information," says the letter written by Nehru to J Walsh, the Protector of Emigrants in Bombay.
The Exposition Universelle or Paris Univeral Exhibition was a world fair held in the French capital from April 14-November 12 in 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next.
According to Zubrzycki, it was the most ambitious world fair ever staged, and more than 50 million visitors passed through the 108-acre site that spanned both banks of the Seine.
British India and Ceylon pavilion of the grand event was built in an oriental style, reflecting the architecture of the Indian region.
The Sydney-based author, in an interview to PTI, said he chanced upon that rare original letter at the repository of the Maharashtra State Archives housed in Elphinstone College in Bombay.
"The letter was found in the labyrinthine sections of archival records in a file titled 'Ruling of the Govt of India regarding the Departure from Bombay of a Party of Indian Jugglers and Dancers for Service in Connection with the Exhibit in Paris'," he said.
The author writes in the book, published by Pan Macmillan India, that Nehru was an "admirer of French culture" and displayed the "same meticulous planning" in sending the troupe to Paris as he did when preparing his briefs as a barrister at the Allahabad High Court.
The Australian author said Nehru had taken time out from his successful legal career to follow in the footsteps of the world's greatest showbiz entrepreneur, Phineas Taylor Barnum, famously known as P T Barnum.
"Attached to the files of the Maharashtra State Archives is a 37-page document laying out the memorandum and articles of association of the Societe des Grandes Attractions, a company formed in Paris 'to carry on the business of caterers for public amusements in France'," he said.
Zubrzycki said that though Nehru's troupe set sail for Trieste on board SS Amphitrite, a major roadblock had almost wrecked the plan.
"Under the Emigration Act of 1883, the emigration of Indian was prohibited except to specified countries as manual labourers. These restrictions were tightened after an outbreak of plague in Bombay in 1896.
"Nehru's jugglers, dancers and performers were considered itinerants and therefore at the high risk of carrying the plague, so he had to apply for clearance. Complicating his plan was almost simultaneous application from Professor Deval's Great Indian Circus," he said.
The circus was to take about 60 artists as well as elephants, lions and tigers for a month-long season in Egypt, before proceeding to the Paris Exhibition, the author said.
"Both applications sent to the authorities were to be considered for whether magicians and circus artists could be classified as emigrants, i.e., manual labourers, or not. If they were, they would stopped from travelling under the Plague Act," he said.
The matter went all the way up to the then Viceroy Lord Curzon to decide if magicians tricks since it involved sleight of hand, amounted to manual labour or not.
"The authorities finally said, it did not constitute manual labour, and therefore Nehru's troupe were luckily able to set sail. But, Prof Deval's circus was, a week later denied permission to depart to Egypt under the Epidemic Diseases Act," he said.
The 450-page book, also draws from repositories located at the National Archives in Delhi, Library of Congress in the US, India Office Records, British Library, Wellcome Library, besides collections at several libraries. Private collections of Priya Paul and others have also been used.
Zubrzycki in his book also pays homage to great Indian magicians like P C Sorcar and Gogia Pasha.
"India had been stereotyped by the West as the land of snake charmers, and therefore I believe many of the Indian magicians did not get their due, though they were in many ways ahead of their western counterparts. This book is an attempt to give theme their due," he said.
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