Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 16.djvu/252

 vernor-general throughout the Gwalior campaign, and was present with him at the battle of Maharajpore, for which he received the decoration. On the recall of Ellenborough in 1844 Durand accepted the post of commissioner of the Tenasserim provinces, offered him by Lord Hardinge, the new governor-general. In this appointment his energy and hatred of corruption brought him into collision with influences which led in 1846 to his removal by Sir Herbert Maddock, who was then acting as president of the council. Lord Hardinge, on his return to Calcutta, endeavoured to make amends to Durand by at once offering him the post of chief engineer at Lahore, the advanced post of the army, but Durand, indignant at his removal from Tenasserim, resolved to proceed to England in order to lay his grievances in person before the court of directors. He obtained little satisfaction from the court. The fact of his having been secretary to Lord Ellenborough had created prejudices against him. He, however, obtained counsel's opinion in favour of his decisions in the Tenasserim court, and the president of the board of control promised that when he returned to India he should not be a loser on account of his removal from the commissionership of Tenasserim. During this visit to England he began to write a history of the Afghan war, a work which remained in manuscript for more than thirty years, and was published in 1879, when public attention was engaged with another campaign in that country.

Durand returned to India again towards the end of 1848, and, arriving in Calcutta shortly after the outbreak of the Sikh war, found orders awaiting him to join the commander-in-chief, Lord Gough, at Ramnuggur. Durand was present at the engagements of Chilianwallah and Gujerat, serving on the staff of Brigadier-general Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde), who expressed in his despatch his warmest acknowledgments of Durand's valuable assistance. For his services in this campaign Durand was made a brevet major, and received the war medal with two clasps. On the termination of the campaign he was disappointed at not receiving a civil appointment equal to the commissionership of Tenasserim. After refusing several minor appointments he was induced to accept the post of assistant political agent at Gwalior, from which he was soon after transferred to a similar appointment at Bhopal. Here he remained till the end of 1853, inspiring the ruler of this native state, the Secunder Begum, with very friendly feelings towards the government, a work which bore good results throughout the mutiny. At this time he contributed many articles to the ‘Calcutta Review,’ some of which have been separately published.

Durand, indignant at continued neglect, resigned his post at Bhopal, and took his young family to England. His early appointment to so important a post as that of private secretary to the governor-general, while fully justified by his abilities, had given him an exaggerated sense of his own importance, and engendered expectations of rapid advancement which were not realised. As the dispenser of Lord Ellenborough's patronage he shared his unpopularity, while his own straightforward character, combined with strong partialities, brought him into opposition and differences with many, which retarded his advancement. After two years at home Durand returned to India, leaving his children in Switzerland, and seeing no chance of political employment, accepted in April 1856 the appointment in the public works department of inspecting engineer of the presidency circle. He at this time obtained his brevet lieutenant-colonelcy. His appointment took him to Calcutta, where he made the acquaintance of the governor-general, Lord Canning. Canning was so much impressed with his abilities and with a memorandum by him on the relations of India with Persia and with Afghanistan, that he selected him in the spring of 1857 to succeed Sir R. Hamilton in one of the most important political posts in India, the Central India agency. This was the turning-point in Durand's career.

It was well that so strong a man was at the court of Holkar at Indore when the Indian mutiny broke out. Without the aid of European soldiers he contrived, by isolating the contingent troops and playing them off against the native regulars, to maintain himself at Indore for many weeks after the outbreak at Delhi; but when, in spite of his efforts, these forces came into contact, then the fidelity of the contingents gave way, and the circle of insurrection closed around Indore. At length, driven out of the residency by a combination of treachery and cowardice, he made good his retreat in the face of overwhelming numbers. Hiding his weakness by a show of force, he marched without loss to Sehore, and thence to Hoshungabad, resolutely held the great natural barrier of the Nerbudda, forced up Woodburn's hesitating column to Mhow, and with it took a strong fort, gained three actions, captured more than forty guns, and dispersed or disarmed forces far exceeding his own in numbers, thus by the reconquest of Western Malwa clearing the way for Sir Hugh Rose's campaign in Central India. During the forced