Thomas Duer Broughton (1778–1835) was an English soldier and writer on

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 ...

Life and writings

Thomas Duer Broughton, son of the Rev. Thomas Broughton, Rector of St Peter's Church, Castle Park, Bristol, was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, and went to India in 1795 as a cadet 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 South ...

's Bengal Army. He became a lieutenant in 1797 and fought at the siege of Seringapatam in 1799. He was later appointed adjutant and assistant teacher of Hindi to the Cadet company at Barasett.(described in his obituary in the ''United Services Magazine'' as " a sort of college formed to receive the cadets, and teach and discipline them on their first arrival in the country") In 1802 Broughton was appointed military resident with the Mahrattas. He published his experiences in a book entitled ''Letters Written in a Mahratta Camp During the Year 1809, descriptive of the character, manners, domestic habits, and religious ceremonies of the Mahrattas'' (1813). During this period he also collected Hindi poems from oral tradition, publishing his transcriptions and translations as ''Selections from the Popular Poetry of the Hindoos'' (1814). He left for England at the end of 1811 and returned to India in August 1815, having been promoted to the rank of major. He was then appointed to the command of Weltevreden on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, but by the time he arrived on the island in April 1816, preparations were being made to hand it back to the Dutch, and so he was returned to Bengal. In 1822 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On his return from India he became honorary secretary 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 ...

, and travelled widely in Britain and southern Europe. He also published ''Edward and Laura'', a free translation of a French novel by a follower of

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, and translations of Persian poetry. Thomas Duer Broughton died in Dorset Square, London, on 16 November 1835.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brougton, Thomas Duer 1778 births 1835 deaths 19th-century English non-fiction writers Military personnel from Bristol People educated at Eton College British East India Company Army officers British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers