Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Craven Phillott (28 June 1860 - 11 September 1930) was a British army officer who served in India and later as Consul in Persia. A scholar of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Hindustani, he published numerous translations of literary and historical works. He was also interested in

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

and wrote a translation of a Persian treatise on the subject.

Biography

Phillott, born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was the third son of Lt. Col. Henry Rodney Phillott of the Indian army and Lilias Syme. He went to school in

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

in Essex from 1874 to 1878 before received commission to the Indian army on 14 January 1880 and later trained at Sandhurst. He saw action in the campaigns in Zhob Valley, Hazara and received the General Service Medal in 1891. He also served in the Ublan Pass operation at Samana and in the Kurram valley for which he received a medal with two clasps. He became

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 1 July 1881,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 14 January 1891,

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 14 January 1900, and

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

on 14 January 1906. He retired in 1906 from the 3rd Punjab Cavalry (later 23rd) and became Secretary to the Board of Examiners in Calcutta. He served as a Consul in Persia (Iran) from around 1901 to 1903. Tauba_tauba

During the First World War, he served as chief censor for prisoners in Cairo and Port Said. He then returned to England living in Maida Vale and later Felsted and was examiner in Urdu and Persian at the University of Cambridge until his death in 1930. Phillott published on Persian grammar, Egyptian Arabic and on falconry. He also contributed a few notes on ornithology. Phillott was elected member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in November 1889 and a fellow in 1910; and he published in its journal and served as secretary to the Philological Committee. He also served as vice president of the Hindi ek-lipi society which aimed to standardize the use of Devanagari. D_C_Phillott

He translated several works into English, popular among which was ''From Sepoy to Subedar'', a work supposedly written by an Indian soldier and included reminiscences of the 1857 mutiny. He published ''The Bāz-nāma-yi Nāṣirī, a Persian treatise on falconry'' which was a major work on the traditional falconry of Iran as well as a translation of the Ain-i-Akbari. He also played a major role in the publication of a Persian translation of ''The Adventures of Haji Baba of Ispahan'' written by

James Justinian Morier James Justinian Morier (15 August 1782 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the Qajar dynasty in Iran, most famously for the ''Hajji Baba'' series. These were filmed in 1954. Early life Morier was bo ...

. The translation, which was originally done by Mirza Habib Esfahani, was wrongly attributed to Sheykh Ahmad Ruhi Kermani whose image appeared as the frontispiece of the book. Research has shown that Esfahani's translation, though highly praised for its fluency and innovations, included editorial additions and modifications to suggest that Persia was backward, ruled by despots unlike the advanced culture of Constantinople. The aim of Esfahani is unclear but is thought to be politically motivated satire. Phillott received an honorary Ph.D. from the Calcutta University in 1912.

Publications

Some of the books edited, translated and written by Phillott include:
The Adventures of Haji Baba of Ispahan (1905)

The Baz-nama-yi Nasiri, a Persian treatise on falconry (1908)

Hindustani Stumbling Blocks (1909)

Annotated English translation of Urdu roz-marra, or "Every-day Urdu", the text-book for the lower standard examination in Hindustani (1911)

The Faras-nāma-e Rangīn : or, The book of the horse (1911)alternate
* The Faras-Nama of Hashimi (1910) (edited)
Khazina-e Muhawarat; or Urdu idioms (1912)

Hindustani Manual (1913 2e) (1918)

Colloquial English-Persian dictionary in the Roman character, containing all English words in common use with their meanings in modern Persian, with numerous examples

Higher Persian Grammar (1919)
Publications in journals include those on falconry, birds and references in Persian literature: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Felsted Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillott, Douglas Craven Linguists 1860 births 1930 deaths British people in colonial India British expatriates in Iran