Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Cecil Kaye (27 May 1868 – 5 March 1935) was an officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

Biography

Kaye was born in

Madron Madron ( kw, Eglos Madern) is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, Great Britain. Madron is named after Saint Madern's Church. Its annual Trafalgar Service commemorating the death of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was started on 27 Octo ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, the son of William Kaye, of the

Bengal Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

, and Jane Margaret (née Beckett). He came from a family with a strong tradition of seeking careers in the British civil or military service in India; he was a first cousin of the historian Sir

John William Kaye Sir John William Kaye (3 June 1814 – 24 July 1876) was a British military historian, civil servant and army officer. His major works on military history include a three-volume work on ''The History of the Sepoy War in India''. This work was r ...

.M.M. Kaye, ''The sun in the morning'', p. 21. Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1992. In 1889, after attending

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion,

Derbyshire Regiment The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...

,Popplewell (2014) receiving promotion to lieutenant on 1 November 1890. On 26 June 1892 Kaye was seconded for service with the

Indian Staff Corps The Indian Staff Corps was a branch of the Indian Army during the British Raj. Separate Staff Corps were formed in 1861 for the Bengal, Madras and Bombay Armies, which were later combined into the Indian Army. They were meant to provide officers f ...

, later seeing active service at the North-West Frontier in 1897–1898, and being awarded the

India Medal The India Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1896 for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. The India Medal was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India, chiefly for service on the North-West Frontier durin ...

. He was promoted to captain on 6 March 1900, and served during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

in China in 1900–1901. While at

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

he met Margaret Sarah Bryson, whom he married in 1905, having a son and two daughters, including

M. M. Kaye Mary Margaret ('Mollie') Kaye (21 August 1908 – 29 January 2004) was a British writer. Her most famous book is ''The Far Pavilions'' (1978). Life M. M. Kaye was born in Simla, British India, and lived in an Oakland, Shimla, a heritage proper ...

. He was promoted to major in the 21st Punjabis on 6 March 1907. In 1908 Kaye was appointed deputy adjutant to the Quartermaster-General in the Intelligence Branch of the General Staff at Indian Army Headquarters in

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

. He was made a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(CIE) on 1 January 1913. In August 1914, he was appointed Deputy Chief Censor, working closely with the

Department of Criminal Intelligence The Department of Criminal Intelligence (DCI) was established in April 1904 under Sir Harold Stuart on recommendations of Sir Andrew Fraser, following the report of the 1903 Police Commission instituted by the then Viceroy of India Lord Curzon. ...

, and gaining a reputation as a skilled

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

. On 6 October 1914 he was promoted from major to temporary lieutenant-colonel in the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis), and this was confirmed on 6 March 1915. On 1 January 1917 he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

(CSI) in recognition of his "meritorious services ... in connection with the war", and was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1919. On 29 September 1919 he was appointed temporary Director of the Department of Central Intelligence, and this was confirmed on 7 May 1920. He retired from that post in 1924. He was awarded a knighthood on 1 January 1925, receiving his accolade from the King at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 12 February 1925. He retired from the Indian Army on 13 April 1925. In 1925 he wrote ''Communism in India'', in which he described the operations of the DCI against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

during his time in office. Kaye then served as a minister in the Indian

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

of Tonk until 1930. After his retirement he lived in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

, and was a regular contributor to the journal ''Near East and India''. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

on 5 March 1935.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, Cecil 1868 births 1935 deaths People from Penzance People educated at Winchester College Sherwood Foresters officers Indian Staff Corps officers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Companions of the Order of the Star of India Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion Military personnel from Cornwall