David Price (1762 – 16 December 1835) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

orientalist and officer in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Life

Price was born at Merthyr Cynog, near

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

. After the death of his father, a curate, Price was educated at

Christ College, Brecon Christ College, Brecon, is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school, located in the cathedral and market town of Brecon in mid-Wales. It currently caters for pupils aged 7–18 years. History Christ College was founded by Roya ...

, before matriculating on 5 November 1779 as a sizar of

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, but was nearly penniless by summer 1780 and had to leave the University. He decided to join the

's army, becoming a cadet in it due to his father's friends' influence, sailing for India on the ''Essex'' in 1781 and reaching

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in August that year before volunteering to serve in southern India and returning to the ''Essex'' to take him there. He participated in the

siege of Negapatam The siege of Negapatam was the first major offensive military action on the Indian subcontinent following the arrival of news that war had been declared between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, beginning the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. A Brit ...

and the capture of Trincomali in Ceylon during the passage to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, arriving on 22 April 1782 and being appointed the following November to command the 2nd Battalion of Bombay

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...

s. He then served in the wars on

Tippu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...

in 1782-84, 1790–92 and 1799, losing a leg at the siege of Dharwar in 1791 and thus being re-posted to the guard of Sir Charles Malet, political minister at

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, then in 1792 to a staff appointment at

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

by the Bombay governor Jonathan Duncan the elder. During his time at Surat he had enough free time to become keenly interested in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n culture, collecting manuscripts and studying its historical classics, including the '' Akbarnama'' by Abu'l-Fazl, though he also rose to become the Bombay Army's judge-advocate-general from 1795 to 1805. A

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

captain by 1795, he was promoted to full captain two years later. He also served as military secretary and interpreter to Colonel

Alexander Dow Alexander Dow (1735/6, Perthshire, Scotland – 31 July 1779, Bhagalpur) was a Scottish Orientalist, writer, playwright and army officer in the East India Company. Life He was a native of Crieff, Perthshire. Alexander Dow's father worked at th ...

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

(1797–8) and then as Persian translator to General James Stuart, commander of the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India A ...

(1799), being present at

Seringapatam Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...

's capture and acting as the army's prize agent (thus making his own fortune). Next he returned to Bombay to continue his studies of Persia, being promoted to major in March 1804 before finally returning to Britain in February 1805, though he only retired from the Company in October 1807, on his marriage to a relative. He lived in retirement at Brecon, writing works on oriental history and serving as magistrate and deputy lieutenant of

Brecknockshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

. He was also a committee member of the

Oriental Translation Fund The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, winning its gold medal in 1830, and of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

(bequeathing the latter over 70 oriental manuscripts). He died at his home, Watton House, Brecon.

Works

*''Chronological retrospect, or, Memoirs of the principal events of Mahommedan history … from original Persian authorities'' (3 vols., 1811, 1812, 1821), which soon became a reference work, covering the period from

Muhamed Muhammad (), also spelled Muhammed or Muhamad or Mohammad or Mohammed or Mohamed or in a variety of other ways, is an Arabic given male name literally meaning 'Praiseworthy'. The name comes from the passive participle of the Arabic verb (حَم� ...

's death of Muhammad to

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

's accession, with the earlier volumes mainly based on the Persian chronicles of Mirkhond and

Khwandamir Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Khvandamir (also spelled Khwandamir; 1475/6 – 1535/6) was a Persian historian who was active in the Timurid, Safavid and Mughal empires. He is principally known for his Persian universal history, the ' ...

, and the final volume mainly on Abu'l-Fazl *''Essay towards the History of

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

antecedent to the Birth of Mahommed'' (1824, from the Persian text of Et-Tabari) *translation of the ''Memoirs of the Emperor Jahangueir'' (1829; new edn, 1972) *''Account of the Siege and Reduction of Chaitur … from the Akbar-namah'' (1831) *''The Last Days of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

'' (1831) *''Memoirs of the early life and service of a field officer'' (1839) - published anonymously

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price 1762 births 1835 deaths British East India Company Army officers British orientalists People from Brecon Iranologists Deputy Lieutenants of Brecknockshire