Henry Beveridge (9 February 1837 – 8 November 1929) was an

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 Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

officer and orientalist in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Life and career

Born in Inzievar,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland, Beveridge studied at the Royal Circus School, Fife,

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. In 1856 he entered

Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, where his father had been appointed editor of The Banner of Ulster. In July 1857 he successfully passed the public examinations for the

, joining the service in 1857. He left for India in 1857 and reached Calcutta in January 1858. After training he was posted to

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

as Assistant Magistrate and Collector and was then transferred to Jhenaidah in 1861, to

Jessore Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...

in January 1862, to Nadia in April 1862, to Midnapur in January 1863, and to

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

in February 1863. From November 1863 he was posted for one year to the Foreign Department, serving in

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

on special duty, after which he was sent to Kuch Behar as Joint Magistrate and Deputy Collector and then successively transferred to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Noakhali Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

, Hughli,

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

and back to Barisal in June 1871. In 1875 he entered the judiciary and was posted to Rangpur as District and Sessions Judge in December 1876. He served in the same capacity in the districts of

Pabna Pabna () is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the historian Radharaman Saha ...

, 24 Parganas, Faridpur,

Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...

, Hughli, and

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

until his retirement in 1893. He was elected President of The Asiatic Society (of Bengal) for 1890–91.

Private life

He married Annette Akroyd, one of the first graduates of Bedford College and translator of

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 Turki (Chagatai) texts. Her known works are the translations of the

Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' (; ) is the memoirs of Babur, Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur. It is written in the Chagatai language, known to Babur as ''Türki'' "Turkic ...

from the Turki language, and the Humayun-nama from

. The couple had two children: a daughter, Annette Jeanie Beveridge (d. 1956), who married R. H. Tawney, the acclaimed economic historian, and a son,

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...

(1879–1963), a noted economist who gave his name to the report associated with the foundation of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

. Beveridge retired to Pitfold, Shottermill,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England, where he devoted his time to studying and writing about India before dying in 1929. Beveridge was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and "an ardent discipline of the French positivist philosopher

Auguste Comte Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (; ; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the ...

" and his theories of

altruism Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity. The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...

and the religion of humanity.

Works

* * ;Translations * ''The Tūzuk-i-Jahangīrī Or Memoirs of Jahāngīr'', Alexander Rogers and Henry Beveridge. London, Royal Asiatic Society, 1909–1914. * ''The Akbarnama of Abu-L-Fazl'', Vol. I & II, Delhi: Low Price Publications, (1902–39, Reprint 2010). . * ''The Akbarnama of Abu-L-Fazl'', Vol. III, Delhi: Low Price Publications, (1902–39, Reprint 2010). . * ''The Akbarnama of Abu-L-Fazl'', Set of 3 Volumes, Bound in 2, Delhi: Low Price Publications, (1902–39, Reprint 2010). .

References

, India Called Them, London, 1947; *M D Hussain, 19th Century Indian Historical Writing in English, Calcutta, 1992.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beveridge, Henry 1837 births 1929 deaths Scottish orientalists Scottish atheists Scottish humanists Indian Civil Service (British India) officers British Indologists British translators Translators from Persian British social reformers Presidents of The Asiatic Society People from Fife Scholars from British India

Life and career

Private life

Works

See also

Further reading

References

External links