Highly regarded in India and Persia to this day, Sir John Malcolm is remarkably little known in his native Scotland. This book describes his extraordinary journey from modest origins to become a leading player in the transformation of the East India Company from a largely commercial enterprise into an agent of imperial government, during a crucial period of British and Indian political history. Born in 1769, Malcolm was one of seventeen children of a tenant farmer in the Scottish Borders. Leaving school, family and country at thirteen, he achieved distinction in India over the next half-century. A quintessential all-rounder, he excelled in many fields: as a professional soldier he campaigned with Wellington in south India and rose to Major-General; as an administrator, he pacified Central India and later became Governor of Bombay. He led three Company missions to Persia in the early stages of diplomatic rivalry between Britain and Russia, the Great Game. He was fluent in several languages, and wrote nine influential books, including The History of Persia. Based on extensive research in Britain, India and Iran, this biography brings to life the story of a talented and ambitious man living in a dramatic era of imperial history.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part One: Scotsman
  • 1 Eskdale Childhood, 1769–1782
• Part Two: Soldier
  • 2 The Madras Army, 1783–1794
  • 3 Britain, The Cape and Madras, 1794–1798
  • 4 Hyderabad, 1798
  • 5 Mysore, 1779
• Part Three: Diplomat
  • 6 Envoy to Persia, 1799
  • 7 The First Persian Mission, 1800–1801
  • 8 Private Secretary – ‘Send Malcolm’, 1801–1802
  • 9 Private Secretary – Scandal in Hyderabad
  • 10 Private Secretary – Lord Wellesley’s Factotum, 1801–1802
  • 11 Private Secretary – The College of Fort William, 1801–1802
  • 12 The Mahrattas – Peace and War, 1803
  • 13 The Mahrattas – Scindiah, 1804
  • 14 The End of the Wellesley Era, 1805
  • 15 The Mahrattas, 1805–1807
  • 16 Mysore – Love and Marriage, 1807–1808
  • 17 The Second Persian Mission, 1808
  • 18 Mutiny at Masulipatam, 1809
  • 19 The Third Persian Mission, 1810
  • 20 Baghdad and Back, 1810
  • 21 Persian Postscript, 1811–1833
• Part Four: Author
  • 22 Bombay, 1811
  • 23 England – Family, Career and the Literary World, 1812–1816
• Part Five: Proconsul
  • 24 India – Shuttle Diplomacy, 1817
  • 25 India – War, 1817–1818
  • 26 India – Surrender of the Peshwah, 1818
  • 27 India – Ruler of Central India, 1818–1821
• Part Six: Ideologue
  • 28 Civil Governance – Three Scots in Western India
  • 29 England – Country Gentleman, 1822–1827
  • 30 Governor of Bombay – Events, 1827–1830
  • 31 Governor of Bombay – Quarrel with the Judges
  • 32 England – Last Days, 1831–1833
• Postscript
• Appendices
  • 1. British Government and EIC Office Holders between 1783 and 1833
  • 2. Horses – ‘The Khan’
  • 3. Estimated Population of British India, c.1825–1830
  • 4. Finances of Bombay Territories, 1827–1832
• Glossary, Terminology and Spelling
  • Glossary of Indian, Anglo-Indian and Persian Words and Phrases
  • Note on Terminology
  • Note on Spelling
  • Spelling of Indian and Persian Names
• Family Tree
  • Malcolm of Burnfoot Family
• Abbreviations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index of People
• General Index
• Plate Section