FORSTER, George. 1752 — Nagpur 5.1.1792. British Civil Servant and Traveller in India. Served in Madras as early as 1776. In 1782 he travelled from India using the unusual route through Kashmir, Afghanistan, Herat, by the Caspian Sea to Baku, then to Astrakhan and Moscow and by ship from St.Petersburg…
FORREST, George William David Stark. Nusserabad (Nasirabad), Rajasthan 8.1.1846 — Oxford 28.1.1926. Sir. British Civil Servant in India, Historian of the Colonial Period. Son of Captain George Forrest (1800–1859) of Indian army and Ann Edwards, younger brother of —> R. E. Forrest. Educated privately and at St. John’s College, Cambridge…
FORLONG, James George Roche. Springhall, Lanarkshire 11.1824 — Edinburgh 29.3.1904. British (Scottish) Military Engineer and Scholar of Religion in India. Major-General. Son of William Forlong (1790–1878), of Erines, and Crawfurd Pollock Gordon. Educated as an engineer, joined Indian army in 1843. “In the S. Mahratta Company, 1845-6, in the Madras…
FORBES, James. London 19.5.1749 — Aix-la-Chapelle 1.8.1819. British (Scottish) Civil Servant and Artist in India. Son of Timothy Forbes and Elizabeth Crow. In 1765 he came to Bombay as a writer, 1775 private secretary to Lieutenant-Colonel Th. Keating. After a visit to England in 1780 collector and resident in Dabhoy.…
FORBES, Duncan. Kinnaird, Pertshire 28.4.1798 — London 17.8.1868. British (Scottish) Oriental Scholar (Persian and Urdū). Born in a poor family, in 1801 remained with his grandfather, when the parents moved to the U.S.A. In the age of 12 he still knew not English (or was illiterate in it), but as…
FORBES, Charles James Forbes Smith- (C. J. F. Smith). 1834 — Tharrawaddy, Burma 28.11.1879. British Colonial Officer in Burma, Pāli and Burmese scholar. Came to the East in 1858 as Captain of Queen’s Army, and was sent to Burma with his regiment. He soon became so fascinated with the country…
FORBES, Alexander Kinloch. London 7.7.1821 — Poona (Pune) 31.8.1865. British (Scottish) Civil Servant in India and Pioneer of Gujarātī Studies. Son of John Forbes-Mitchell (1781–1822) and Ann Powell. Educated in Finchley (London) and Haileybury. Arrived at Bombay in 1843 and became Assistant Judge in Ahmedabad, then in Surat, later Commissioner…
FOOTE, Robert Bruce. Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 22.9.1834 — Calcutta 29.12.1912. British Geologist in South India, a Pioneer of Indian Prehistoric Archaeology. Son of physician Dr. William Henry Foote (1785–1835) and Sophia Wells. Joined the Geological Survey of India 1858 at the age of 24, remained there 33 years, working in South…
FOLEY, Mary Cecilia. Wadhurst, Sussex 8.10.1859 — London 22.10.1925. British Geologist interested in Pāli. Daughter of Rev. John Foley (1805–1888) and Caroline Elizabeth Windham, sister of —> C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1858–1942), whom she then assisted in Pāli editions. Studied geology at London University College, B.Sc. 1891, Chief Lady…
FLEET, John Faithfull. Royston (Chiswick) 1.5.1847 — London 21.2.1917. British Indologist (Epigraphist and Historian). Son of John George Fleet (1818–1902), a wholesale sugar dealer, and Esther Faithful, educated at Merchant Taylor’s School in London. In 1865 he passed the I.C.S. examination and began studies at University College in London, including…