Century-Old Wartime Loan Resurfaces: MP Family Seeks Settlement from Britain Over 1917 Advance
More than a hundred years after the First World War reshaped global politics, a family in Madhya Pradesh has reopened a financial chapter they say was never closed.
The Ruthia family of Sehore claims that a significant sum extended to the British Indian administration during World War I was never reimbursed — and they are now preparing to formally pursue the matter.
According to family accounts and archival documents they say they possess, an amount of ₹35,000 was advanced in 1917 by Seth Jummalal Ruthia, a well-known trader and landholder from the Sehore region, then part of the princely state of Bhopal.
The funds, they contend, were provided to assist the colonial government with wartime administrative expenses at a time when the British Empire was deeply engaged in the global conflict.
A Loan from a Different Era
During World War I, the British administration in India reportedly mobilised financial resources from multiple sources, including princely states, affluent merchants, and prominent landowners.
Contributions were often framed as bonds, advances, or patriotic support for the war effort.
The Ruthia family asserts that their ancestor’s contribution fell into this category.
They describe it as a formal monetary advance intended to support governance operations during the wartime period.
Now, over a century later, Vivek Ruthia — grandson of Seth Jummalal — says the issue came back into focus after his father’s passing, when old trunks of papers were reviewed.
Among them, he claims, were certificates and official correspondence indicating that the funds had been handed over to British authorities.
He maintains that there is no indication in the available records that repayment was ever made.
According to him, the matter appears to have remained unresolved after his grandfather died in 1937 and gradually faded from family memory.
The Value Then and Now
In the early 20th century, ₹35,000 represented immense wealth — sufficient, historians note, to acquire extensive agricultural land or prime urban property.
Vivek Ruthia argues that if the sum were adjusted for inflation and historical currency value, its equivalent today would amount to several crores of rupees.
The family now intends to initiate formal communication with British authorities to seek clarity on the historical transaction and explore possible redress.
A Prominent Lineage
Before India gained Independence in 1947, the Ruthias were counted among the most prosperous families in Sehore, in present-day Madhya Pradesh.
Oral histories and regional records suggest they owned vast tracts of land, and that portions of modern Sehore’s settlements were developed on land that once belonged to the family estate.
Today, the Ruthias continue to maintain property holdings in Sehore, Indore, and Bhopal, with interests spanning farming, hospitality ventures, and real estate development.
A Question of History and Accountability
Whether the claim will find legal standing after more than a century remains uncertain.
Yet the episode offers a striking reminder of how personal archives can reopen forgotten chapters of colonial history — and how financial dealings from another era can resurface long after the empires that shaped them have vanished.
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