View source for James Abbott Indian Army officer

{{Short description|British military officer and administrator in British India}}
{{refimprove|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
| name                = Sir James Abbott
| image               = Sir James Abbott von B Baldwin.jpg
| caption             = James Abbott in Afghan dress. (B. Baldwin, 1841)
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1807|03|12|df=y}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1896|10|06|1807|03|12|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial       = Guildford Cemetery, [[Guildford]], [[Surrey, England|Surrey]], England
| birth_place         = [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], [[Kent]], [[United Kingdom]]
| death_place         = [[Ryde]], [[Isle of Wight]], United Kingdom
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| birth_name    =
| allegiance    = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|22x25px]] [[East India Company]]<br>{{flagicon|British India}} [[British India]]
| branch        = [[Bengal Army]]
| serviceyears  =
| rank          = General
| servicenumber =
| unit          = [[Bengal Artillery]] 
| commands      = 
| battles       = [[First Anglo-Sikh War]]<br>[[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
| battles_label =
| awards        = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath|KCB]]
| relations     = Major General [[Augustus Abbott]]<br>Major General Sir [[Frederick Abbott (British Army officer)|Frederick Abbott]]<br>Major General [[Saunders Alexius Abbott]]<br>[[Keith Edward Abbott]]
| laterwork     = Colonial administrator
}}

[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir James Abbott''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB}} (12 March 1807{{snd}}6 October 1896) was a British military officer in the [[Bengal Army]] of [[British India]] and an administrator in [[British Raj|British India]]. The city of [[Abbottabad]], in [[Pakistan]], was founded by and named after him.

==Early life==
James Abbott was the third son of  Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired  [[Calcutta]] merchant of [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], [[Kent]],<ref>Biog. Of Henry Alexius Abbot per the obituaries of his prominent sons</ref> and his wife Margaret Welsh, the daughter of William Welsh of [[Edinburgh]]. Abbott was educated at a school in Eliot Place, Blackheath and at the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] in [[Addiscombe]], [[Surrey]].<ref>Nicholas Storey, Great British Adventurers, 2012, Casemate Publishers, page 29</ref>

A number of his siblings achieved distinction, notably [[Augustus Abbott]], [[Frederick Abbott (British Army officer)|Sir Frederick Abbott]], [[Augustus Abbott|Saunders Alexius Abbott]] and [[Keith Edward Abbott]].

==Early career in India==
He was commissioned as a cadet in the [[Bengal Artillery]] at the age of sixteen, arriving in [[India]] in 1823.<ref name="CBD">[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]], {{ISBN|0-550-18022-2}}, page 2</ref> He first saw action at the [[Siege of Bharatpur]] under the command of his older brother Augustus. In 1827 he was promoted to lieutenant and made adjutant to the [[Sirhind]] division of artillery. During this period he saw little action, and between 1835 and 1836 was assigned to the revenue surveys in [[Gorakhpur]] and later [[Bareilly]].<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30">Nicholas Storey, Great British Adventurers, 2012, Casemate Publishers, page 30</ref> In June 1838 he was promoted to [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] captain.<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/>

==The Great Game==
{{Main article|The Great Game}}
In November 1838, Abbott served in the army of Sir [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane|John Keane]], who had been tasked with supporting [[Shuja Shah Durrani]] in his bid to wrest power from [[Dost Mohammad Khan (Emir of Afghanistan)|Dost Mohammad Khan]] in [[Afghanistan]]. The British had been eager to secure [[Afghanistan]], the gateway to India, in light of increasing [[Russian Empire|Russia]]n influence in [[Central Asia]].<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/>

In 1839 the British learned that Russia was planning an [[Khivan campaign of 1839|invasion of the Khanate of Khiva]]. In December 1839 acting Captain Abbott was sent from [[Herat]] to [[Khiva]] in an attempt to negotiate the release of Russian slaves and thereby deny the Russians a pretext for invasion. If war had already broken out, Abbott was instructed to attempt to negotiate a settlement. Abbott reached Khiva in late January, a week or so before the Russians were forced to turn back due to an unusually cold winter. The Khivans knew little of Britain and he was hampered by a lack of understanding of Khivan language and culture. The attempt to release Russian slaves failed.  He did agree with the Khivan ruler, Allah Quli Khan, to establish a British agent in Khiva and to travel to Russia to negotiate between the two powers. He had no authorisation to serve as the Khan's agent, but had no way to communicate with his superiors in India. In March 1840 Abbott set off from Khiva to [[Fort-Shevchenko|Fort Alexandrovsk]] on the [[Caspian Sea]]. His caravan was attacked by [[Kazakhs]] and he was wounded in the hand and taken hostage, but he and his party were released because the Kazakhs feared British retribution. He reached [[Saint Petersburg]] but the attempt at mediation failed. His bravery was recognised through promotion to full Captain.<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Tf2CAs85w-AC&pg=PA29 Great British Adventurers] by Nicholas Storey. Pen and Sword Books Ltd, Yorkshire, UK, 2012. {{ISBN|9781844681303}} p29-32</ref>

In May 1840 Lieutenant [[Richmond Shakespear]] of the Bengal Artillery went from [[Herat]] via [[Merv]] to [[Khiva]]. He was successful and escorted 416 Russian captives to the Caspian.<ref name=aberigh1875>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=3SsPAAAAYAAJ&q-AC&pg=PA42 Notes on Western Turkistan: Some Notes on the Situation in Western Turkistan] By George Aberigh-Mackay. Thack, Spink & Co, Calcutta, 1875. p42</ref> Shakespear was knighted for this undertaking.

==The Paladins of the Punjab==
In 1841, Abbott returned from Britain to India. He first held a post with a local battalion in [[Mewar]] before becoming assistant to the [[Indore Residency|Resident in Indore]] in 1842. Following the conclusion of the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1846, Abbott was hand picked to become one of Sir [[Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"]], also known as The Paladins of the Punjab. These were East India Company officers sent to act as "advisers" to the Sikh ruler.<ref name="Isobel Shaw 1998 P.519">Isobel Shaw, ''Pakistan Handbook'', Hong Kong, Local Colour Limited, (1998) p.519</ref>

Sir [[Henry Montgomery Lawrence|Henry Lawrence]] remarked of him:<ref>H. Allen, Narrative of a Journey from Heraut To Khiva, Moscow and St. Petersburgh, During the Late Russian Invasion of Khiva; with Some Account of the Court of Khiva and the Kingdom of Khaurism</ref>
{{bquote|Made of stuff of the true knight errant, gentle as a girl in thought, word and deed, overflowing with warm affection, and ready at all times to sacrifice himself for his country or his friend. He is at the same time a brave, scientific and energetic soldier, with a peculiar power for attracting others, especially Asiatics to his person.}}

As part of the terms of the [[Treaty of Lahore]] signed after the defeat of the Sikhs in the First Anglo-Sikh War, [[Hazara, Pakistan|Hazara]] and [[Kashmir]] were to be transferred to [[Gulab Singh|Raja Gulab Singh]]; Hazara, however, proved an intractable charge and was returned to the Lahore government by Gulab Singh in January 1847, in exchange for [[Jammu]].<ref>The Hazara District Gazetteer, 1883-84, Pub. by the Government of the Punjab, Lahore, 1884, pp.41-47</ref> Abbott was appointed assistant to [[Chattar Singh Attariwalla]] to quell unrest and undertake a survey of revenues.<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/> Abbott succeeded in this by learning the language, culture and religion of the local people and promoting their social and economic interests.<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/> He made himself popular with [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] elders by permitting the call to prayer, which had been banned by the Sikhs.<ref>David Loyn, Butcher and Bolt, Random House, 27 May 2009, page 88</ref>

During the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]], cut off from all communication with British troops, and dependent upon his own resources, Abbott held the [[Margalla Hills]] with a vastly inferior force until the conclusion of the war, a feat for which he was thanked by the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]], [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|The Earl of Dalhousie]]:<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/><ref name="Abbott, Augustus 1879">Abbott, Augustus, [[Charles Rathbone Low|Low, Charles Rathbone]], ''The Afghan war, 1838-1842 : from the journal and correspondence of the late Major-General Augustus Abbott'', 1879, London : R. Bentley and son</ref>

{{bquote|It is a gratifying spectacle to witness the intrepid bearing of this officer in the midst of difficulties of no ordinary kind, not merely maintaining his position, but offering a bold front, at one time to the Sikhs at another to the Afghans. He must have secured the attachment of the wild people amongst whom he was thrown by his mild and conciliatory demeanour in times of peace, as well as by his gallantry as their leader in action, thus enhancing the credit of our national character.}}

==Abbottabad and later life==
After the British had annexed the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]] in the aftermath of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Abbott was promoted to brevet major and appointed First Deputy Commissioner of [[Hazara, Pakistan|Hazara]]. In 1852, he successfully commanded an expedition to the Black Mountain following the murder of Mr Carne and Mr Tapp, collector and sub-collector of the salt tax by a party of sixty Hussunzyes.<ref name="Abbott, Augustus 1879"/>

Abbott's original seat of government in the Hazara was at [[Haripur, Pakistan|Haripur]] but he eventually decided to shift this up into the hills for climatic and strategic reasons.<ref>Omer Tarin and SD Najmuddin, "Five Early Military Graves at the Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad, c 1853-1888", in the 'Kipling Journal', December 2010, Vol 84 No 339, p.37 {{ISSN|0023-1738}}</ref> Thus, a site was selected and acquired in late 1852, and Abbott thereafter shifted his headquarters there in January 1853, founding a small town and military cantonment which was to grow over time. Abbott himself could not long witness the growth of his town, which was later named after him by his colleague [[Herbert Benjamin Edwardes]]. In April 1853 he was removed from his post and transferred back to the [[Bengal Army]], where he was placed in charge of a gunpowder factory in [[Calcutta]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Charles Allen, Soldier Sahibs: The Men Who Made the North-West Frontier, Hachette UK, 21 Jun 2012</ref> His transfer came amid concerns from Lahore over the methods of his governance, fears of divided loyalty, and antagonistic relationships with certain fellow officers.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

His last public act as Deputy Commissioner was to invite every person in the district to a party he was holding at Nara Hills. The party lasted three days and nights and was attended by 'a large and lamenting crowd of people'.<ref>Nicholas Storey, Great British Adventurers, 2012, Casemate Publishers, page 32</ref> Abbott reportedly spent all of his savings on the party save for one month's pay.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His affection for the local Hazaras was noted by his successor Herbert Edwardes who wrote:<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

{{bquote|He had literally lived among them as their patriarch – an out of the door, under tree life. Every man, woman and child in the country knew him personally, and hastened from their occupations to salute him as he came their way. The children especially were his favourites.  They used to go to "Kaka Abbott" whenever their mouths watered for fruit or sugar plums. He spent all his substance on the people.}}

Before he left he also penned an ode to his new settlement:

<blockquote><poem>I remember the day when I first came here
And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air
The trees and ground covered with snow
Gave us indeed a brilliant show
To me the place seemed like a dream
And far ran a lonesome stream
The wind hissed as if welcoming us
The pine swayed creating a lot of fuss
And the tiny cuckoo sang it away
A song very melodious and gay
I adored the place from the first sight
And was happy that my coming here was right
And eight good years here passed very soon
And we leave you perhaps on a sunny noon
Oh Abbottabad we are leaving you now
To your natural beauty do I bow
Perhaps your wind's sound will never reach my ear
My gift for you is a few sad tears
I bid you farewell with a heavy heart
Never from my mind will your memories thwart.</poem></blockquote>

In 1857, Abbott was promoted to [[lieutenant-colonel]], made a [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 24 May 1873 and a [[general]] on his retirement in 1877. He settled in [[Ryde]] on the [[Isle of Wight]] in 1890 and was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Commander]] on 26 May 1894. He died on the Isle of Wight in 1896.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://history1800s.about.com/b/ |title=19th Century History |accessdate=2011-05-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717110506/http://history1800s.about.com/b/ |archivedate=2011-07-17 }}</ref> He is buried with his second wife in [[Guildford]], Surrey.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35049152|title= Sir James Abbott|publisher= findagrave.com|accessdate= 17 December 2015}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Abbott married Margaret Anne Harriet in 1844. She gave birth to their daughter Margaret but died in connection to the birth. He later married Anna Matilda de Montmorency in 1868, who died shortly after having given birth to a son, James Reymond de Montmorency Abbott.<ref name="Nicholas Storey 2012, page 30"/>

==Legacy==
The [[Pakistan]]i city of [[Abbottabad]]<ref name="Isobel Shaw 1998 P.519"/> as well as the [[Abbottabad District|district]] is named after him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abbottabad.gov.pk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2|title=About Abbottabad - Abbottabad District website|access-date=2010-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124085306/http://abbottabad.gov.pk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2|archive-date=2010-01-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A portrait of James Abbott dressed as an Afghan noble and relating to his Central Asian journey, was painted in watercolour in 1841 by B. Baldwin (see illustration), now in the collection of the [[National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom)|National Portrait Gallery]] in London, though it is not currently on display.

==See also==
*[[John Nicholson (East India Company officer)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{DNB01 poster|Abbott, James}}
*[http://www.bl.ac.uk/ British Library website]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{NPG name}}
*[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=59 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk]
*[[Fareed Zakaria|Zakaria, Fareed]]. "[http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/11/the-man-who-put-abbott-in-abbottabad/ The man who put Abbott in Abbottabad]." ''[[CNN]]''. 11 May 2011.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, James}}
[[Category:1807 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:City founders]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:Bengal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:The Great Game]]
[[Category:History of Punjab]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]