In 1896 Harcourt joined the
Indian Civil Service, serving in India from 1897 to 1923. He was District Judge, in
Delhi, 1904–06 and Deputy Commissioner, in
Rohtak, 1914–19. He was a Captain in the
Indian Defence Force, Voluntary Division. In 1920 he received a
call to the bar and joined the South East Circuit. In 1924, his work
Sidelights on the Crisis in India was published. ==Political career==