Friday, April 25, 2008

I Have Riddled...

You with wordplay using this blog as my weapon. Now you've started doing it back. Props to the Prof for this apocryphal story:

In 1842, Sir Charles Napier was appointed as Major-General to the command of the Indian army within the Bombay Presidency. Here British foreign policy led Napier to the province of Sindh, for the purpose of quelling the Muslim rulers of the region; who had made various hostile demonstrations against the British government after the termination of the First Anglo-Afghan War.

Nevertheless, there were those in Britain who doubted the wisdom of too rapid an advance, and in particular, the capture of the province of Sindh, which was thought likely to lead to an overextension of lines of communication. Napier was therefore under express orders not to capture the territory. Once he discovered, however, how little resistance there was, he took the province with ease. His campaign against these chieftains resulted in the complete subjugation of the province of Sindh, and its annexation to eastern dominions.

Napier dispatched to headquarters a one-word message expressing his sorrow for having disobeyed his commanding officer, and yet the same time expressing the reality of his victorious action in the taking of Sindh. What was that one word? Post your answers in the comments below.

2 comments:

Ignoramus said...

Sinned.

The Vitruvian Duck said...

Short answer: Nope.

Long answer: Not yet, the long answer would give it away.