Chhota haazri or Chota hazri (, from the
Hindustani words for "small" and "presence") was a meal served in households and barracks, particularly in northern
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
, shortly after dawn.
In subsequent years, the tradition of such a meal has disappeared, but the phrase lives on in
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...
households, certain regiments of the
Indian Army
The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
, and in
public schools —such as
Bishop Cotton School Shimla, The
Doon School
The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys private boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, as a school model ...
,
Dehradun
Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...
,
Colonel Brown Cambridge School,
Dehradun
Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...
,
Mayo College,
Ajmer
Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...
, and
St. Paul's School, Darjeeling
St. Paul's School is a private boarding school for boys in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is known as "Eton of the East" because it is thought to follow the similar cultural and traditional values of Eton College. St. Paul's is ...
, where it has come to refer to a cup of tea or hot milk with biscuits served early in the morning at around 6:00 a.m.
Historical use of the word
The Russian traveller and writer Princess Olga Alexandrovna Shcherbatova (1857-1944) mentions partaking of "''Chota Hazri''" while visiting Mumbai in January 1891. She describes the meal, in Russian, as "the first morning tea, which in addition to biscuits and tea is always served with fruit: bananas, pineapples, etc." ("первый утренный чай, за которым кроме чая и бисквитов всегда подают и фрукты: бананы, апельсины и пр.")
In 1912 explorer
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
(; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities.
...
wrote the following during an expedition across the mountains of
Pashtunistan
Pashtunistan () or Pakhtunistan is a historical region on the crossroads of Central and South Asia, located on the Iranian Plateau, inhabited by the Pashtun people of southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, wherein Pashtun cu ...
:
In The Jim Corbett omnibus in the man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag
Jim Corbett
Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was an Anglo-Indian hunter and author. He gained fame through hunting and killing several man-eating tigers and leopards in Northern India, as detailed in his bestselling 1944 memoir '' M ...
wrote the following during the leopard hunt:
In 1947, during the
political integration of the Indian
princely states, the word 'Chhota Hazri' was used as a
pun
A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...
to refer to a small princely state in an ironic way.
'Chota Hazri' was the name of a highly successful
thoroughbred horse in British
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
around mid twentieth century.
References
;Bibliography
''Chhota Hazri Days: A Dosco's Yatra''by Sanjiv Bathla,
Rupa & Co., 2010 .
External links
St. Paul's School, Darjeeling Encyclopedia - Chota HazriChhotahazri
Indian cuisine
Hindustani language
Historical foods
North Indian cuisine
Indian English idioms
{{india-cuisine-stub