PRICE, David. Merthyr Cynog near Brecon, Powys 1762 — 16.12.1835. British Colonial Officer in India, Persian Scholar and Historian. Major. Served in India in 1781–1805. Son of Rev. David Price (d. 1775), a curate, lost early his father. “Educated at Brecknock and Jesus College, Cambridge; Sizar; enlisted the E.I.Co.’s service, went to India, 1781; served under Sir Hector Munro in Madras and against Tippoo up to 1783; at the siege of Dharwar, Feb. 1791, lost a leg. Judge Advocate of the Bombay Army, 1795. Served in Poona, Surat, Seringapatam, and Malabar in 1797-98. Studied Persian; collected MSS. at Surat. Persian Translator to General James Stuart in the Mysore war. Left India 1805. Wrote works on Indian, Persian and Arabian history.” Lived in Brecon, South Wales, his native country. Married 1807. Bequeathed his manuscripts to R.A.S.
Publications: A Chronological Retrospect of Muhammadan History, or, Memoirs of the principal events of Mahommedan history: from the death of the Arabian legislator, to the accession of the Emperor Akbar, and the establishment of the Moghul Empire in Hindustaun: from original Persian authorities. 1-3. L. 1811-21.
– Essay towards the History of Arabia antecedent to the Birth of Mahommed. 248 p. L. 1824 (from the Persian of Al-Tabarī).
– Memoirs of the Emperor Jehangir, written by himself and translated from a Persian manuscript. 141 p. L. 1829.
– The last days of Krishna and the Sons of Pandu, from the concluding section of the Mahabharat. Translated from the Persian version made by Nekkeib Khan. 75 p. London 1831; “Extracts from the Mualiját-i-Dárá Shekohi”, TrRAS 3, 1835, 32-56.
– An Account of the siege and redaction of Chaitúr, by the Emperor Akbar. From the Akbar-Namah of Shaikh Abul-Fazl. 42 p. Oriental Transl. Fund: Misc. Translations from Or. Lang. 2:2. L. 1834.
– Memoirs of the early life and service of a field officer. 538 p. L. 1839 (anonymously published).
Sources: JRAS 3, 1836, Proc. lx; Buckland, Dictionary; S.L[ane]-P[oole], D.N.B. 46, 1896, 325f.; Dafydd Rhys ap Thomas, Dict. of Welsh Biogr. in https://biography.wales/article/s-PRIC-DAV-1762; Oxford D.N.B.; Wikipedia.
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