Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/35

 Census officer in the N.W.P., 1881: compiled the Gazetteer of the N.W.P.: Accountant-General of the N.W.P., and of Bengal: President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: took a keen interest in intellectual pursuits: died Sep. 18, 1890.

ATKINSON, JAMES (1780–1852)

Born March 9, 1780: studied medicine at Edinburgh and London: joined the Bengal Medical service, 1805: Civil Surgeon at Backerganj, to 1813: studied Persian: Assay Master of the Mint, 1813–28: officiating Deputy Professor of Persian at Fort William College, 1818, Superintendent of the Government Gazette, 1817, and of the Press from 1823: commenced the Calcutta Annual Register, 1823: in 1833, became Surgeon to the 55th N.I.: in 1838–41, went to Kabul with the Army of the Indus, as Superintending Surgeon: returned to Bengal in 1841: member of the Medical Board, 1845: retired, 1847: died Aug. 7. 1852: published a number of translations from the Persian classics, many of them inverse, including a portion, and an epitome, of the Shah Nameh: edited the Persian Hatim Tai: contributed publications to the Oriental Translation Fund: e.g. On the Loves of Laili and Majnun: wrote, 1842, an illustrated narrative of the expedition into Afghanistan: was also an artist of considerable merit: brought out lithographed Sketches in Afghanistan.

AUBER, PETER (1770–1866)

Entered the India House at 16: rose to be Assistant Secretary, and afterwards Secretary to the E. I. Co., 1829–36; after 50 years' service, retired in 1836, on a pension of £,2000 a year, thus drawing £60,000 as pension. His name stands as the author of two important works, viz., an ''Analysis of the Constitution of the E.I.Co. with supplement, 1826–8: and Rise and Progress of British Power in India'', 1837: but his claim to have written the firstnamed has been disputed: died 1866.

AUCHMUTY, SIR SAMUEL (1756–1822)

General: born in New York, 1756, the grandson of a Scotch settler in Boston: saw service, first as a volunteer, from 1777 in the Army, in N. America: went to India in 1783 in the 52nd regt.: became Adjutant: promoted to Captain in the 75th, in 1788: was in the campaigns of 1790– 1 against Tippoo, and at the first siege of Seringapatam under Lord Cornwallis in 1792: D.Q.M.G. at Calcutta: Military Secretary to Sir (q.v.) when C. in C., 1795–7: in his campaign against the Rohillas: returned to England in 1797: commanded a force from the Cape to Egypt to cooperate with Sir D. Baird and Sir Ralph Abercromby against the French: Adjutant-General in Egypt: K.C.B. in 1803: in 1806–7, Brig-General in S. America at Monte Video and Buenos Ayres: Maj-General in 1808: went out to Madras as C. in C., May, 1810: in 1811 took Java and Batavia, and defeated the Dutch at Cornells and Samarang: left Madras for England in March, 1813: Lt-General: G.C.B., 1815: C. in C., and Privy Councillor in Ireland, 1821: died Aug. 11, 1822.

AUCKLAND, GEORGE EDEN, EARL OF (1784–1849)

Governor General: second son of the first Lord Auckland: born Aug. 25, 1784: educated at Christ Church, Oxford: called to the bar, 1809: President of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint, 1833: First Lord of the Admiralty, 1834–35: G.C.B.: appointed Governor-General of India, April 4, 1836. In 1836–7 he sent (q.v.) on a mission to Kabul: in distrust of the Amir, Dost Muhammad, who received in 1837 the Russian officer, Vitkievitch, at Kabul, and with a view to counteract Russian influence there, Auckland, under pressure of the English Government, decided to dethrone  (q.v.) and reinstate  (q.v.) as Amir: his declaration of war was issued on Oct. 1, 1838: the facts of the first Afghan War are well known: Dost Muhammad fled in Aug., 1839: Shah Shuja, though set up in 1839, and supported till 1841, was unpopular as a ruler: the British force was reduced: the subsidies were diminished: the Afghans rose in 1841: Sir A. Burnes was murdered on Nov. 2, 1841, and the envoy. Sir W. Macnaghten on Dec. 23,: the British army was destroyed in its retreat from Kabul to the Khyber. Lord Auckland was made an Earl in 1839, on the capture of Kabul: he had left India on March 12, 1842, before Pollock's avenging Army had advanced