Thanks to Peter Johnston Freyer for surgical treatment of Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan Bahadur, Nawab of Rampur. Photograph.

Photograph of certificate in Hindi, signed by Hamid Ali Khan (1875-1930), presented to Freyer on 5 August 1888 certifying that His Highness the Nawab, Mohamad Mushtag Ali Khan Bahadur, of Rampur in Kohil Khund, presented two notes amounting to Rs. 100,000 (1 lakh) to Dr P.J. Freyer, Civil Surgeon, Moradabad, an Officer of the British Government, for the treatment and recovery of His Highness and of General Mohamad Azim Uddin Khan Bahadur, Vice President of the Council of His Highness

"Nawab Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan Bahadur, (1856-25 February 1889) was a Nawab of the princely state of Rampur from 1887 to 1889, succeeding his father Sir Nawab Kalb Ali Khan Bahadur. Owing to continued ill-health, he was unable to properly rule the state and so left its affairs in the hand of an administrative council. However, he was successful in continuing the beneficiaries of his predecessors, particularly in the areas of agriculture and irrigation. He died at the age of 32 in 1889 and was succeeded by his son, Sir Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur" (Wikipedia). General Mohamad Azim Uddin Khan Bahadur (Azimuddin Khan) acted as Regent during the Nawab's illness

"Peter Freyer (1851-1921) was born on 2 July 1851 in Co Galway, Ireland. Freyer went to the Erasmus Smith School in Galway, winning a scholarship to Queen's College, Galway. In 1872 he obtained a first class honours degree, winning the gold medal. He then studied medicine for another two years, being a resident pupil at Dr Steven's Hospital in Dublin. He won another gold medal when conferred with his MD in 1874. He came first in the competitive examination for a commission as a medical officer in the Indian Medical Service travelling to India as acting civil surgeon at Azamgarh in 1877. In India, Freyer became proficient in operating on bladder stone and, while based at Moradabad, attended the Nawab of Rampur, crushing his stone with a lithotrite. In gratitude for his services, the Nawab gave Freyer a lakh (100,000) of rupees, equivalent to £6,600. This caused trouble with his superiors and he subsequently returned to England to set up a private practice at 46 Harley Street where he rapidly established a reputation as a surgeon specializing in the treatment of urinary problems. ... In December 1900, he first performed a total extirpation of the prostate using a transvesical method at St Peter's Hospital. Although he was not the first to do this, he certainly popularised this procedure. In 1912, he published his first 1000 cases in the BMJ. Remarkably, he only had a mortality of 3% in his last 200 cases. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath in 1917" (website of the British Association of Urological Surgeons)

[1888?]

1 photograph : photoprint ; image 20.4 x 14.6 cm

A printed label on the verso of the mount contains an English translation of the Hindi certificate

Wellcome Collection 3043164i