Framed by the sun stands a small Arab girl, unadorned and alone, in a slightly frayed thwab and sporting a tarboosh (Figure 6.1). 1 Remarkably composed, even slightly quizzical, for someone so young, she stands her ground, with the right foot thrust forward, hands fi rmly clasped together and the face slightly askance. 2 Th e punctum , one may say, lies in the unsmiling eyes and mouth as they hold the camera's gaze at an angle. Th e eff ect is rare. Curiosity, suspicion, trepidation, war-weariness: it is diffi cult to read the expression but childlike delight or ease is not one of them. It is the knowing look of someone much older than her years. Th e photograph would have been striking even in the collection of Ariel Varges, but what makes it remarkable is that I came across it in the 'war album' of Captain Dr Manindranath Das, mentioned in the Introduction, who served as a doctor in Mesopotamia in 1916-1918. We know very little about his war experiences, except that he was a distinguished doctor, and that he pretended to be dead and stayed behind to treat wounded soldiers when others had retreated after an attack. He risked his own life to bandage their wounds, for which he was given the Military Cross. 3 Family lore has it that he would have got the Victoria Cross, had he been white. But we know hardly anything beyond these details. Th e story is typical of how little is known of the experiences of the participants of the Mesopotamia campaign, even when the subjects were educated, articulate and decorated. For the Indians, Mesopotamia was the main ground of battle: the largest number of Indians-some 588,717, including 7,812 offi cers, 287,753 other ranks and 293,152 non-combatants (often forming porter and labour corps)-served there between 1914 and 1918. 4 Th e campaign, which was 1 A thwab is an ankle-length Arab garment, akin to a robe, while a tarboosh is a close-fi tting, fl attopped brimless hat.
