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Sir James Macnabb Campbell, KCIE (1846–1903) was a Scottish administrator in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...
. During the 1890s he was a leading figure in the intellectual life of British
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-m ...
.


Life

Born at
Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...
,
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
, on 4 October 1846, he was a younger son among the six children of John McLeod Campbell and his wife Mary Campbell. Of his three brothers, the eldest, Donald (d. 1909), was rector of
Oakford, Devon Oakford is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It is located south west of Bampton, Devon, Bampton and north north west of Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton. Oakford is near the river Exe. In 1870, John Marius Wilso ...
. Campbell was educated at
Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...
and
Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
, graduating M.A. in 1866. Passing the
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
examination in 1867, he went out to Bombay in November 1869, and served as an assistant collector. Two of his brothers lived with him in Bombay, John McLeod Campbell (d. 1888) of the Bombay civil service, and Robert Story Campbell, a merchant. From April to August 1877 Campbell was on famine work in the Kaladgi district. From April 1880 to near the close of 1881 he held successively the posts of municipal commissioner of Bombay, under-secretary to government in the political, judicial, and educational departments, and collector of Bombay. Campbell was made CIE in January 1885, and going home on his first furlough in that year was created hon. LL.D. of Glasgow University. After serving as collector of various districts, Campbell was from November 1891 stationed at Bombay as collector of land revenue, customs, and opium. In 1895 and 1897 he acted also there as commissioner of customs, salt, opium, and abkari. At times he served also as chairman of the port trust. Campbell was recalled from furlough early in 1897 to aid in measures against the
third plague pandemic The third plague pandemic was a major bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan, China, in 1855. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents, and ultimately led to more than 12 million deaths in India and China (and perha ...
. In June 1897 he succeeded General Sir William Gatacre as chairman of a new plague committee at Bombay, and was made KCIE The committee's measures of sanitation provoked rioting and attacks against officers on plague duty (22 June 1897). There was famine in the country and thousands of refugees in Bombay. Campbell encouraged voluntary co-operation in inspection and other work. In June 1898 the plague administration was restored to the municipality.


Last years

On 29 April 1898 Campbell left Bombay in bad health, resigning, on the expiry of his furlough, in April 1900. Residing with his brother Robert at his father's old home, Achnashie,
Rosneath Rosneath (''Ros Neimhidh'' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited ...
, Dumbartonshire, he found recreation in gardening. He died unmarried at Achnashie on 26 May 1903, and was buried in Roseneath churchyard, beside his parents.


Legacy

A memorial tablet on the ruined wall of the old Rosneath church paid tribute to the example set by Campbell during the plague outbreak in Bombay, attributing to it his premature death. Friends also founded a gold medal, conferred triennially by the Bombay branch 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 ...
, for work on Indian folklore, history, or ethnology. The first medal was presented on 1 March 1909 to
Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
, for his ''Ancient Khotan''.


Works

In June 1873 Campbell was asked to taken on the compilation of the ''
Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency ''Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency'' is a publication of the erstwhile British India first published in the year 1884 and printed at the Government Central Press, Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1884. Since the early 19th Century the English East India ...
''. By August 1884 the statistical accounts alone occupied 27 volumes averaging 500 pages each.
William Wilson Hunter Sir William Wilson Hunter (15 July 18406 February 1900) was a Scottish historian, statistician, a compiler and a member of the Indian Civil Service. He is most known for '' The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' on which he started working in 1869 ...
as editor of ''
The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'' largely based the Bombay portions on Campbell's work. Campbell completed his ''Bombay Gazetteer'' at the end of 1901, in 34 volumes, and 26 sections; he himself wrote in those dealing with ethnology. In 1904 Reginald Edward Enthoven added an index volume, and updated some earlier statistics; in 1910 Stephen Meredyth Edwardes added three further volumes on the history of the town and island of Bombay. Campbell collected material on Indian history and folklore. He published a history of Mandogarh in the ''Journal of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Society'' (vol. xix. 1895–7); papers in the proceedings of the Bombay Anthropological Society; and studies of
demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may ...
, under the title of ''Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom'', in the ''Indian Antiquary'' from 1894.


Notes

;Attribution


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, James Macnabb 1846 births 1903 deaths Indian Civil Service (British India) officers British ethnologists Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at the Glasgow Academy