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Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri de Polier (1741–1795) was a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
adventurer, art collector, military engineer and soldier who made his fortune in India in the eighteenth century. He was the father of Count Adolphe de Polier.


Life

Image:PolierMartinWombwellZoffany.jpg, 200px, Antoine Polier, General Claude Martin, John Wombwell, assay master, and Johann Zoffany, the painter, surrounded by servants and Polier's art collection. rect 269 140 344 305
Claude Martin Major-General Claude Martin (5 January 1735 – 13 September 1800) was a French army officer who served in the French and later British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of major-general in the British East India C ...
rect 124 147 181 298 Antoine-Louis Polier rect 208 146 253 217 Johann Zoffany desc none
Antoine-Louis was born in Lausanne from a French Huguenot family who emigrated to Switzerland in the mid 16th century to escape the wars of religion. He was the youngest son of Jacques-Henri de Polier and his wife Jeanne-Françoise Moreau. He later learned Hindi and Persian. Antoine Polier was an engineer from Lausanne who supported the military adventures of
Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...
and later became a rich trader and loyal supporter of the British Raj administration in Calcutta. He devoted his free moments to collecting rare manuscripts in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. Many were sent back to France to augment the growing collection in the Royal Library. France was now the center for the study of ancient Indian languages and its 'orientalism' spread to Germany in the early 1800s as Europe began to show a keen interest in early Indian-Persian-Zoroastrian origins.Maya Jasanoff, 'Edge of Empire: Conquest and Collecting on the Eastern Frontiers of the British Empire, 1750-1850' Fourth Estate He designed the
Bibiyapur Kothi Bibiyapur Kothi is a historic building in Lucknow, India. Built by Asaf-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh, the residence is now administered by the Indian Army. Description The ''kothi'' at Bibyapur was built by Asaf-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh The ...
, a royal residence outside of Lucknow. On learning Indian mythology, Polier notes:
When one begins such a study without the advantage of possessing the Samscrite anskrit or sacred, tongue of the Indous, which the Pundits or savants so constantly draw upon in their usual discourse that it is difficult for me to follow them in their conversation, even though I have a deep knowledge 'je possédé à fond''of the common tongue of India, called Moors by the English, and ''Ourdouzebain'' by the natives of the land.
In India, he had two Indian wives, Jugnu and Zinat, one senior and one junior and three (or possibly, four) children who were all baptized in
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. He acquired a large art collection and became rich working for the Indian royalty. In 1788 he left his Indian wives with his loyal companion and fellow enlightened adventurer, Claude Martin. and settled in France with an unfortunate timing as he arrived in time for the French revolution. Having purchased a chateau and taking a French wife and two children, Charles de Polier and Adolphe de Polier. He was assassinated in Avignon on February 9, 1795, in the terror that followed the French revolution.


Legacy

Polier's ''Mythology of the Hindus'' was edited by his cousin, Marie-Elisabeth Polier, for posthumous publication. Polier, who felt he had lost the ability to express himself easily in French or English as a result of his travels, dictated an autobiographical preface to her. Sanjay Subrahmanyam has suggested that her lack of knowledge of Indian geography may have introduced inconsistencies into the text. Polier's collection of miniatures are in Berlin.


See also

*
Claude Martin Major-General Claude Martin (5 January 1735 – 13 September 1800) was a French army officer who served in the French and later British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of major-general in the British East India C ...


References


Further reading

* A European Experience of the Mughal Orient: The I’jaz-i Arsalani (Persian Letters, 1773–1779) of Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier - Translated with an introduction by Muzaffar Alam and Seema Alavi. Pub.Oxford University Press * Jean-Marie Lafont, ''Indika. Essays in Indo-French Relations 1630-1976''. New Delhi 2000. n extremely useful book outlining French activities in India during Polier's time {{DEFAULTSORT:Polier, Antoine-Louis Articles containing image maps 1741 births 1795 deaths French explorers French businesspeople British East India Company people People from Lausanne Swiss engineers People murdered in France