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 Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland) |
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 Dictionary of Indian Biography D to F
| Date transcribed | 2011-03-01 | | Transcribed by | Peter Bailey | | Comment | Note that notables of Indian, Afghan, etc. origin do not always follow the alphabetical name pattern established by Buckland in his original work. |
| | Surname | Edwardes | | | First Name(s) | Herbert Benjamin | | | Titles | Sir | | | Year of Birth | 1819 | | | Year of Death | 1868 | | | Entry | Maj-General : son of the Rev. B. Edwardes : born Nov. 12, 1819 : educated at Richmond and King's College, London, where he distinguished himself in the debating society : obtained an Indian cadetship from Sir R. Jenkins {q.v.) : reached India in 1841 : sent to the Panjab. Early in his career he published Brahmini Bull's Letters in India to his cousin John Bull in England in the Delhi Gazette, criticising the military and political system. He was A.D.C. to Sir Hugh Gough at Mudki and Sobraon in 1845-6 : after which Sir Henry Lawrence, Resident at Lahore, took him as an Assistant. Edwardes, in 1847, pacified the district of Bannu, levelled 400 forts, and initiated civilization. On the murder of Vans Agnew and Anderson at Multan and the rebellion of Mulraj in April, 1848, Edwardes collected a force of tribesmen and, with the aid of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, and Colonel Van Cortlandt of the Sikh service, attacked Mulraj and the rebels, defeating them at Kineyri and Sadusain, maintaining the war for months until General Whish arrived and took Multan. He was made Brevet-Major and C.B. : received the thanks of Parliament and a special gold medal from the Court of Directors : D.C.L. of Oxford : after holding charge of the Jalandhar and Hazara districts, he was in 1853 made Commissioner of Peshawar. He proposed to Government to make a treaty with Dost Muhammad, the Amir of Afghanistan : with Lord Dalhousie's approval, but after some doubts on Sir John Lawrence's part, treaties were made with the Amir in March, 1855, and 1857, really the work of Edwardes. The Amir and the Afghans remained quiet during the mutiny of 1857. On its outbreak, Edwardes suggested the formation of a movable column for the Panjab : he was told by Lord Canning to hold on to Peshawar."" He zealously, at this time and after, advocated the adoption of a more Christianizing policy in the government of India. While on furlough he was made K.C.B. in 1860 : LL.D. of Cambridge : Commissioner of Umbala, 1862-5 : and then left India for his health : K.C.S.I. in 1866 : he took much interest in mission work in his retirement, and wrote part of the life of Sir Henry Lawrence : died Dec. 23, 1868 : a memorial was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. He wrote also A Year on the Panjab Frontier in 1848-9. He has been described as one of the most remarkable men that the Indian Army has ever produced. His bravery and brilliancy were universally recognized. Sir John Lawrence wrote of him as a born ruler of men. |
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A List of eminent persons who served in British India, together with short biographical notes of each
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