John Malcolm

Samuel Lane (1780–1859): John Malcolm, around 1830

Sir John Malcolm GCB (born May 2, 1769 in Farm Burnfoot, Westerkirk , Dumfriesshire , † May 31, 1833 ) was a British soldier, historian and diplomat of the British East India Company and Governor of Bombay .

Life

Origin and education

Malcolm was the fourth son of a speculative Scottish farming family. He had seventeen siblings, fifteen of whom reached adulthood; four of which were to knighthood ( Knight applicable): Sir Pulteney (1768-1838), Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy; Sir James (1767–1849), Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines , Sir Charles (1782–1851), Vice Admiral, and John Malcolm himself.

On the recommendation of an uncle, the enterprising boy left school at the age of thirteen and became a cadet in the British East India Company in 1782 , where he served first in Vellore , then in Machilipatnam in a sepoy unit and soon became known as a good rider and marksman . After turbulent military years with gambling and debts, his regiment was relocated to Hyderabad in 1790 , where he came into contact with the British diplomatic corps, which in the lively and bright, but almost uneducated young man's interest in foreign languages, especially in court. and the diplomatic language Persian , which he soon mastered fluently, awakened and aroused the ambition for a career in the diplomatic service.

Service in India, stay in England

In 1792 his skills were used in the Third Mysore War at the siege of Shrirangapattana , when Cornwallis used him as a liaison between the Nizam of Hyderabad and the company forces due to his military and language skills . Since that time, Malcolm was not available to the active force, but was only active in staffs and diplomatic missions or under his own command. To restore his health, he returned to England in 1794, where he last met his parents alive.

A memorandum on the poor professional conditions of the officers caught the attention of the Secretary of War and President of the Governing Body of the East India Company, Lord Dundas , whereupon Malcolm was allowed to participate in an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope as a member of General Alured Clarke's staff in 1795 . The governor of Madras , General George, appointed the 27-year-old lieutenant in 1796 as his secretary and city commander of Fort St. George (Madras / Chennai), and in 1797 he was promoted to captain . When Lord Mornington, 1st Marquess Wellesley , arrived in India as Commander-in-Chief in 1798 , he sent him a memorandum on dealing with the Indian princes. He was able to avert an uprising by the sepoys who had been dismissed from the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad with the help of some soldiers who were devoted to him; He personally presented the report of the events to the Governor General in Calcutta. During the armed conflict surrounding the capture of Srirangapatnam , the capital of Tipu Sultan , Malcolm already played a key role as liaison officer between the troops and the governor-general. After the end of the Fourth Mysore War and the British victory in 1799, the commander in chief of the troops, Sir Thomas Munro (1761-1827) recommended him to the governor general as his confidante, who played a decisive role in the government of the re-established Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore .

Embassy to Persia

In the same year 1799, Lord Wellesley , with whom he was lifelong friend, sent him from his current place of employment, Calcutta , as the first envoy since the time of Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to Tehran to conclude an alliance with Shah Fath Ali Shah . In 1796, Paul I of Russia had Georgia , which was claiming Persia, occupied by his troops and annexed it. The British East India Company, for its part, was threatened by plans for a Franco-Russian expedition to British India . From Madras via Hyderabad, Pune and Bombay, Malcolm reached Shiraz , Isfahan and finally Tehran via Muscat and Bushehr in 1800 , where he was received by the Shah in December. In 1801 he was able to conclude a trade and assistance agreement, the first ever alliance between Persia and a European state. The two (never officially ratified) treaties enabled the East India Company to establish trade settlements ( factories ) on the coast and inland and were intended to secure India against attacks by France and Afghanistan under Zaman Shah (1770–1844). Malcolm returned to Bombay via Baghdad, Turkey, in the same year .

As the Afghan threat from the fall of Zaman Shah (1800) diminished and the French threat from the Peace of Amiens (1802) diminished, the treaty lost value for the British. When a war between Persia and Russia over the spheres of influence in the Caucasus became apparent ( Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) ), the British referred to the wording of the treaty, which provided for an alliance only in conflicts with Afghanistan and France. The Persians then turned to Napoleon Bonaparte , with whom they signed the Treaty of Finckenstein in 1807 .

Second Marathas, again envoy to Persia

In 1802, Malcolm had already become indispensable for Wellesley as a private secretary, he was considered his "factotum and the greatest man in Calcutta"; diplomatic missions took him to Bombay as well as to Hyderabad and Pune , where he sounded out the political situation at the courts of the Nizam and the Marathen - Peshwa . When the Persian ambassador Haji Halil Khan was killed in a dispute with company soldiers in Bombay in 1802, Malcolm arranged for an embassy to be sent from Bushehr to the Shah's court with a gift of compensation.

In the meantime, the Marathenpeshwa Baji Rao II had sided with the British in the Treaty of Bassein (1802). In the resulting Second Marathan War (1803-1805) between the company and the Marathas Holkar , Sindhia and the Peshwa , Malcolm took part, but diarrhea and fever so annoyed him that he healed himself in Bombay and temporarily held his adjutant post at Wellesley's side Elphinstone had to resign. He thereby missed the crucial battles of Assaye and Argaum . At the peace treaty in 1804, Malcolm came through his commitment to the defeated Sindhia, to whom he left his main fortress and residence Gwalior , in conflict with his commander-in-chief, Lord Wellesley, whose rebuke hit him hard. Nevertheless, one could not do without his expertise at the final peace agreement in 1806 and honored him for his services retrospectively.

In 1807, after a stay with the Governor General in Calcutta, Malcolm was appointed resident in the princely state of Mysore . Although the missions of the past few years, arduous in every respect, had left their mark on him financially and healthily, at the age of 38 (1807) Malcolm married Charlotte, the daughter of the colonel and later commander-in-chief of the army of the Madras presidency, Alexander Campbell. He continued to pursue his plan to lead a military mission to Basra . Instead, in 1808, the new governor-general, Earl of Minto , sent him again to Persia, because as a result of the Tilsit peace between Russia and France - as in 1803 - there were again fears of plans for an invasion of northern India by Russian-French troops. Equipped with a small force of three frigates and 500 marines and sepoys, he tried in vain to get from Bombay via Bushehr via Shiras to Tehran. However, Fath Ali Shah preferred the French military mission headed by General Claude Mathieu de Gardane and referred him to the governor of Fars . Angry, Malcolm withdrew and proposed the occupation of the Gulf island of Charg to the Earl of Minto as a warning to Persia and to curb France's influence . In 1809 Malcolm returned to Bombay empty-handed. A new Persia embassy in the same year 1809 was broken off in the early stages.

The English delegation to the court of Fath Ali Shah 1808: John Malcolm, Harford Jones and Gore Ouseley .

Military unrest in Madras

Back in Calcutta, he was tasked with suppressing a revolt by British officers in Machilipatnam in the Madras presidency, the "white mutiny", which he successfully negotiated, but to the displeasure of the governor of Madras, Barlow ; he wanted the mutineers to be severely punished, while Malcolm resolved the conflict through arguments.

Renewed embassy to Persia

When Malcolm set out on another mission (again via Bushehr) to Persia in 1810 - the Shah had meanwhile been disappointed by the French - he was covered over by the State Department in Whitehall through the government envoy, Harford Jones- Brydges, because the negotiations were no longer to be negotiated run by the British East India Company but directly by the government. The tension between the two rival English embassies almost resulted in a duel . Malcolm's lasting merit was the introduction of the potato to Iran, which for a long time was called Malcolm's plum (pers. Atuyi Malkam ) there. Despite a tempting offer from the Shah to serve as a military advisor in Persia and the warm welcome he received, Malcolm returned to Bombay via Baghdad, where he - who was now considered a notorious spendthrift by the stingy company directors in England - was for reproached his high expenses.

Return to England, publications

Malcolm returned to England in 1812 and published in the following years during his home leave a. a. the Political History of India and the History of Persia . His political and scientific achievements were recognized in 1815 by being knighted as the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) and in 1816 by being awarded the legal (!) Doctorate from Oxford .

Signature of John Malcolm, around 1815

John Malcolm, around 1815

"" The author is likely to be accused of being biased towards India, and since he does not claim to be an exception to the general weaknesses of human nature, he is happy to admit that in view of the measures that are to be taken He has contributed is positively biased, but the English reader will do well to remember that there are also English prejudices, and that those who have never seen a land so far away let alone one that is so completely different from everything we know from Europe, like India, that someone like that has to admit to at least be clearly inferior in such discussions. ""

- John Malcolm, 1811

Return to India, Marathas

Mainly for financial reasons, the 46-year-old returned to India in 1816 - the family stayed in England - and served as brigadier general in the Third Marath War 1817-1818. The then Governor General, Marquess of Hastings (Lord Moira), not only commissioned him with political explorations at the royal courts of the Nizam of Hyderabad , the Peshwa in Pune and the Bhonsle of Nagpur , he also led the troops in the campaign against the cavalry Pindaris , the predatory auxiliaries of the Marathas. In the resulting war against their Marathic patrons in Indore and Gwalior , Malcolm was largely responsible for the victory over Holkar and the Peshwa, which resulted in a peace treaty in 1818. His subsequent activity as Political Agent and Deputy Governor General in Central India ( Malwa ) was of great importance for the pacification of the region, although his conditions - especially with regard to the pension of Peshwa Baji Rao II - were felt to be too generous. After a few more skirmishes, calm returned to the region, and Malcolm was henceforth a successful and popular administrator.

"Malcolm's vaunted Malwa settlement achieved immediate results, and within a short time peace returned to this troubled country of former size and importance, and the most troubled population in all of India at the time became a reasonably law-abiding community in a few months."

- Raghubir Sinh, 2001

Disappointed that he had been passed over to governor of Bombay and Madras - Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859) became governor of Bombay in 1820, Thomas Munro (1761–1827) of Madras in 1819 - Malcolm left India in 1820 again; not until 1822 did he reach England via Suez and the Mediterranean. On the way he wrote the study on Central India and Malwa, published in 1823.

England stay

Malcolm spent the next five years until 1827 with his family and maintained or renewed his contacts in politics, literature (including Walter Scott , Madame de Staël ) and science (including Wilhelm von Humboldt , August Wilhelm Schlegel ). His attempts to overcome the differences between the company and the crown in the occupation of an embassy to Tehran failed; the now over fifty-year-old was increasingly considered to be a nuisance and too self-absorbed.

Governor of Bombay

Eventually the governor's post in Bombay was vacated again, which he then held from 1827 to 1830. On the voyage there, he wrote his “Life of Clive” on the weekdays and a metrical paraphrase of the Psalms on Sundays . In the conflict of competencies that broke out shortly after taking office in Bombay between the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Bombay, which at that time consisted of only one judge, and him as governor and representative of the executive branch, Malcolm was able to assert himself with brute force, but his reputation was Damaged by own indiscretions to the press, there was even talk of a scandal .

Return to England, death

After his return to England in 1831 Malcolm was for a short time for the Torys Member of Parliament (1831-1832 for Launceston ), but could not win the elections after the Reform Act 1832 for themselves. After a trip to France, the conservative Malcolm was convinced that a revolution was about to break out in England too. In 1833 he suffered from a severe flu while attending a meeting of the Court of Proprietors , the board of directors of the East India Company, an attack of weakness, shortly afterwards a stroke from which he no longer recovered. Malcolm died in 1833 at the age of 64.

A statue by the sculptor Francis Leggatt Chantrey , financed by donations from Bombay citizens, stood in the town hall, a larger than life statue by the same artist has been in Westminster Abbey in the north (left) transept, on Langholm Hill , Dumfriesshire, has been a memorial since 1835 an obelisk on him.

The Malcolm Obelisk, Langholm

family

Sir John married Charlotte Campbell on June 4, 1807, daughter of Sir Alexander Campbell, the commander in chief at Madras. The couple had several children including:

• Margaret (May 17, 1808 - February 6, 1841) ⚭ Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, (1807 - April 23, 1871), a cousin
• George Alexander (January 21, 1810 - June 2, 1888), British general ⚭ Georgiana Vernon
• Charlotte Olympia (* December 10, 1811; † October 1886) ⚭ August 8, 1849 Guido von Usedom (diplomat) (1805-1884)
• Anne Amelia (April 30, 1814 - July 25, 1873)
• Catherine Wellesley (October 30, 1815 - May 24, 1891)

Aftermath

Four principles of British policy towards India can largely be traced back to Malcolm:

• politics is in the service of the East India Company, but also of the Indians (no British settlers);
• Indirect government ( indirect rule ): Retention of the Indian royal houses, with as little interference as possible in the traditional structures of administration, in religious matters and morals;
• Introduction and promotion of District Officers , a small group of senior officials who were empowered to represent British power but who refrained from the open display of military power;
• Pursuing an active foreign policy towards the neighboring countries Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Appreciation, character

Tall Malcolm was considered a hardworking, enthusiastic team worker, was productive and instilled confidence. His ambition, sensitivity and (sometimes exaggerated) self-confidence were the keys to numerous diplomatic and political successes. He was accused of a lack of hardship and excessive financial generosity towards the Indian princes.

• "... one of the most skilled officials the East India Company and the British Empire have ever owned"; Frykenberg 2004
• "He is said to have remained" Boy Malcolm "until the end ... he had the same qualities ... as hundreds of other English officers in the days of the early Empire: energy, high spirits, humor, a sense of justice and decency, a quick grasp and the gift To lead people and get obedience from them - but he had more of it all. That was all "; Mehra 1987
• “In 1823 an era ended. … Prudent bureaucrats replaced people like the flamboyant Ochterlony and the adventurous, sensitive Malcolm. ... who showed understanding for the Indian rulers, were willing and able to propose alternative political paths and even make concessions to the Indian princes that were recognized, even if a governor general disagreed with them. ... At the beginning of the 19th century, a number of political officers, including John Malcolm, were known for their mild attitude towards their protégés ”; Ramusack 2004
• “Elphinstone absolutely disagreed with Malcolm's suggestion that Bajirao [II, Peshwa of Pune] be treated mildly. He knew very well that only because of his many years of close experience understood the profound disguise the Peshwa was capable of ... On Malcolm's advice, Elphinstone dampened his previous severity towards the Peshwa, with the result that - as he himself writes - both the fire of the [English] residence and everything that followed was only possible. ”- GS Sardesai , 1948

Works (in selection)

• The History of Persia, from the Most Early Period to the Present Time. Containing an Account of Religion, Government, Usages, and Character of the Inhabitants of that Kingdom. A New Edition, Revised in Two Volumes . London: Murray 1829 (first edition 1815) digitized volume 1 , volume 2
• Sketch of the Political History of India, from the Introduction of Mr.Pitt's Bill, AD 1784, to the Present Date . London: Miller 1811 digitized
• The Political History of India, from 1784 to 1823. In two volumes . London: Murray 1826 digitized volume 1 , volume 2
• A Memoir of Central India, including Malwa, and Adjoining Provinces. With the History and Copious Illustrations, of the Past and Present Condition of that Country. 2 vols. 3rd ed. London: Parbury, Allen 1832 (1st ed. 1823) digitized vol.1 , vol.2
• Sketch of the Sikhs; a Singular Nation, who inhabit the Provinces of the Penjab, situated between the rivers Jumna and Indus . London: Murray 1812 digitized
• Observations on the Disturbances in the Madras Army in 1809. In two parts . London: Miller. Murray 1812, v. a. P. 94 digitized
• The Government of India . London: Murray 1833 digitized
• The Life of Robert, Lord Clive. Collected from the Family Papers, Communicated by the Earl of Powis . 3 vols. London: Murray 1836 ( posthumous ) digitized vol. 1 , vol. 2 , vol . 3

literature

• John Malcolm: Malcolm: Soldier, Diplomat, Ideologue of British India . New York: Birlinn 2014, ISBN 1-907909-24-9
• Robert Eric Frykenberg: Malcolm, Sir John (1769-1833) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 36 (2004), pp. 292-295
• John Andrew Hamilton: Malcolm, Sir John . In: Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Vol. 35 (1893), pp. 404-412 digitized
• Parshotam Mehra: John Malcolm (1769-1833) . In: A Dictionary of Modern Indian History 1707-1947. Reprinted with corrections . Delhi. Bombay. Calcutta et al. a .: OUP 1987 (EA 1985), pp. 427-428
• John William Kaye: The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm, GCB, late envoy to Persia, and Governor of Bombay. From unpublished letters and journals. In two volumes . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1856 - Kaye's work is based on Malcolm's correspondence; he had "literally a whole room full" of private and business correspondence at his disposal, which Malcolm had apparently kept complete and in good condition since his youth (his own letters as copies); Kaye also interviewed contemporary witnesses. Digitized volume 1 , volume 2

Web links

• General Sir John Malcolm, on thepeerage.com , accessed September 14, 2016.

swell

1. ↑ According Frykenberg, Malcolm , in ODNB 2004, p 295; Kaye and JAH both state May 30th
2. ↑ JAH in DNB, p. 404
3. ^ John Holland Rose, Ernest Alfred Benians, Arthur Percival Newton: The Cambridge history of the British Empire. P. 331.
4. ↑ JAH in DNB, p. 406
5. ↑ On European-Persian relations at that time see G. [ustav] E. [dmund] von Grunebaum (ed.): Der Islam II. The Islamic empires after the fall of Constantinople . Augsburg: Weltbild 1998 ( Weltbild Weltgeschichte Vol. 15, reprint of Fischer Weltgeschichte Vol. 15, Frankfurt: Fischer 1971), Chapter 2 Iran and Afghanistan , pp. 179–182
6. ↑ JAH in DNB, p. 406
7. ↑ Napoleon in 1803 the Savoiarda -französischen General and connoisseurs of India, Benoit de Boigne, proposed as commander of a Russian-French invasion force from Russia via Afghanistan to invade northern India; de Boigne had rejected the chimerical plan at the time. - Gabrielle Sentis: Un nabab savoyard - le général de Boigne , éd. Didier-Richard, p. 131
8. ^ Farhang More: A colonial legacy. The dispute over the islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tumbs. Lanham. New York. Oxford 1997, p. 101.
9. ^ CU Aitchison: A Collection of treaties, engagements, and sunnuds, relating to India and neighboring countries. Vol. 7. OT Cutter, Military Orphan Press, Calcutta 1865, p. 93.
10. ^ John Malcolm, Observations on the Disturbances in the Madras Army in 1809. In two parts . London: Miller. Murray 1812, v. a. P. 94 digitized
11. ↑ Malcolm writes in his “Geschichte Persiens” (EA 1815, vol. 2, p. 514, footnote): “I have tried very hard to introduce the potato into Persia, and the soil has proven to be suitable for the plant in many parts of the country attractively priced". Sa Frykenberg, p. 293 and Berthold Laufer: The American Plant Migration. Part I: The Potato . Chicago: Field Museum 1938, p. 88
12. ↑ On Malcolm's Persian mission, see The Cambridge History of Iran , Vol. 7: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic . Cambridge: CUP 1991, Chapter II, 10 and 11 (pp. 350–425)
13. ↑ JAH in DNB, p. 408
14. ^ Foreword to Sketch of the Political History of India , 1811
15. ↑ The Peshwa Baji Rao II (1775-1851) renounced all political and military offices in exchange for a pension and retired to Bithur north of Kanpur ; when he died 33 years later it had cost the Indian taxpayer £ 2 million; JAH in DNB, p. 410
16. ↑ Raghubir Sinh: Malwa . In: The Maratha Supremacy . ( History and Culture of the Indian People, Volviii ). P. 151
17. ↑ Frykenberg, p. 294, JAH in DNB, p. 411
18. ^ Significant Scots: Sir John Malcolm.
19. ↑ Kaye, Malcolm , Vol. 2, p. 606
20. ↑ JAH in DNB, p. 412
21. ↑ Frykenberg, p. 295
22. ↑ Quoting from Mehra, Dictionary , p. 428; "Boy Malcolm": after JAH in DNB, p. 404
23. ↑ Barbara Ramusack: The Indian Princes and their States. Cambridge: CUP 2004. ( The New Cambridge History of India , Vol III, 6). Pp. 80, 86, 105
24. ^ Govind Sakharam Sardesai : New History of the Marathas . 3 Vol. III: 1772-1848, p. 486 ff.
25. ↑ Kaye, Malcolm, Vol. 1, Preface, pp. Viii

predecessor	Office	successor
Jonas Hanway	British ambassador to Tehran 1799–1801	Harford Jones
Mountstuart Elphinstone	Governor of Bombay 1827–1830	Thomas Sidney Beckwith