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

Biography

Kaye was born in Madron,

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 Atlan ...

, the son of William Kaye, of the Bengal Civil Service, 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 ...

, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment,Popplewell (2014) receiving promotion to lieutenant on 1 November 1890. On 26 June 1892 Kaye was seconded for service with the Indian Staff Corps, later seeing active service at the North-West Frontier in 1897–1898, and being awarded the India Medal. 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, b ...

in China in 1900–1901. While at Tientsin he met Margaret Sarah Bryson, whom he married in 1905, having a son and two daughters, including M. M. Kaye. He was promoted to major in the

21st Punjabis The 21st Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 21st Punjabis in 1903 and became 10th (Training) Battalion of 14th Punjab Regiment in ...

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. 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 app ...

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

. 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) The 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis) was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Pu ...

, 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 appointmen ...

(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 ...

(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 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 Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

of Tonk until 1930. After his retirement he lived in Srinagar, 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 m ...

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

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