Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/258

 of the Punjab, 1865 : C.S.I., 1866 : retired as Maj-General, 1870 : became Honorary Secretary of East London Mission Relief Fundin 1868: and Honorary Lay Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, 1869 to 1876 : edited the Church Missionary Record, 1871–4 : died June 7, 1877.

LAKE, GERARD, FIRST VISCOUNT (1744–1808)

Son of Launcelot Charles Lake : born July 27, 1744 : entered the first Foot Guards in 1758 : rose to be General in 1802 : served in N. Carolina under Cornwallis, 1781 : M.P. for Aylesbury, 1790–1802 : was in the war with France, 1793–4 : commanded in Ulster, 1796, and in Ireland, 1798, seeing active service there during the rebellion : was C. in C in India and Member of Council from July, 1801, to July, 1805 : introduced some improvements : in 1802 took Sasni, Bijghar, Catchoura : in 1803 in two months he engaged the Mahrattas at Coel : stormed Alighar, Sep.4 : took Delhi,Sep. 13 : defeated Sindia's forces under Perron : took Agra, Oct. 18 : won at Laswari, Nov 1, thus conquering Sindia : made a Peer in Sep. 1804 : defeated Holkar at Farrukhabad, Nov. 17, 1804 : took Deeg, Dec. 1804 : made four attempts to storm Bhartpur early in 1805 without success, but the Raja gave in and made peace. Lord Cornwallis was C. in C. from July to Oct. 1805 : on his death. Lake again commanded till Oct. 1807 : Holkar surrendered to Lake at Umritsar in Dec. 1805 : he returned to England and was made Viscount : died Feb. 20, 1808 : very popular as a commander with all ranks, and a great General in the field.

LAKSHMI CHAND, RAO BAHADUR (1810–1866)

A member of the famous family of Seths of Mathura, celebrated as the leading bankers in N. India, and for their charity and beneficence : eldest son of Mani Ram (died 1836), founder of the firm, under whom the business flourished greatly, and the wealth and influence of the family rapidly increased. During the mutiny, Lakshmi Chand and his brothers, Radha Krishan and Gobind Das, displayed conspicuous loyalty. They warned the Collector of the impending outbreak, and sent information to Agra, which enabled the authorities there to disarm the native troops. When the station of Mathura was burnt, the Seths sheltered the European residents and conveyed them by boat to Agra : took charge of the treasure, maintained public order : made large advances of money to Goverment, when none was procurable elsewhere, and throughout the mutiny maintained communication between Agra and Delhi at their own expense. For these services, Lakshmi Chand was "made Rao Bahadur and presented with confiscated estates assessed at over Rs. 16,000, on favourable terms. Many of the religious and other buildings in Mathura were erected by the Seths, whose liberality was proverbial. Lakshmi Chand remained a Jain, but his brothers were converted to Vaishnavism : he left an only son, Raghunath Das.

LALLY, THOMAS ARTHUR, COUNT DE— AND BARON DE TOLLENDAL (1700–1766)

French General : born 1700 : son of Sir Gerard O'Lally, an Irish exile, inheriting an implacable hatred of England : distinguished himself in the French-Austrian war of 1734 at Philipsburg, and later at Fontenoy, Laffelat, Bergen-op-Zoom : to England in 1745, possibly as a spy : on the declaration of war between France and England in May, 1756, Lally was appointed, as one of the most promising French officers, to be Governor-General and C. in C, to command the French expedition to India, to expel the British thence : he, with Count d'Ache, reached Pondicherry in April-May, 1758, at once took Cuddalore, Fort St. David and Devikota : unsuccessfully attacked Tanjore : captured Arcot in Oct. 1758 : was joined by Bussy : besieged Madras for two months from Dec. 12, 1758, but retired on the appearance, in Feb. 1759, of an English fleet, under Admiral Pocock. Lally took the field in 1759, and met Colonel Eyre Coote at Wandiwash, was defeated there on Jan. 22, 1760, and lost other towns. Lally was then besieged from May, 1760, in Pondicherry by Coote, and forced to capitulate on Jan. 14, 1761, the French power in India thus collapsing, chiefly through want of proper support from France. Lally was sent to Madras, and to England as a prisoner of war : on his return to France, he was thrown into