For a Rajput who never went to a formal school in the waning days of the Victorian era, passion for reading and writing, was an immense achievement. But Amar Singh Thakur of Kanota, did just what his contemporaries had unheard of, read 60 books a year, meticulously wrote 89-bound volumes of personal diaries, each consisting of nearly 800 to 900 pages. His efforts, even by generous standards of the 17th and 18th century Europe, is one of the longest continuous diaries ever written, according to Oxford University Press.
The well preserved diaries of Amar Singh from 1898 to 1944 are today housed in the General Amar Singh Kanota Library & Museum at Castle Kanota. Situated about 30 minutes from Jaipur Kanota Garh, Castle Kanota was built in 1872 and was the seat of the Thakurs of Kanota. Read more