SaifurRahaman at 17:53, 19 September 2024

2024-09-19T17:53:42Z

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{{Short description|Colonial administrator in British India}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Alexander Kinloch Forbes
| image =Alexander Kinloch Forbes.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Portrait and signature of Alexander Kinloch Forbes
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date ={{Birth date|1821|7|7}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1865|8|31|1821|7|7}}
| death_place = Poona (now [[Pune]]), British India
| occupation = Writer, judge
| language = English, [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| nationality = British
| education =
| alma_mater = [[East India Company College|Haileybury]]
| period =
| genres =
| movement =
| notableworks = [[Ras Mala|Râs Mâlâ]]
| spouse = Margaret Moir Forbes-Mitchell
| partner =
| children = Six
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| years_active =
}}
'''Alexander Kinloch Forbes''' (7 July 1821 – 31 August 1865) was a colonial administrator in [[British India]].

==Early life==
Forbes was born in [[London]] on 7 July 1821 to John Forbes-Mitchell (1786-1822) of Thainston and Ann Powell (m. 1809 d. 1861). He was the youngest among six siblings.<ref name="Ranieval2013"/> He was christened on 9 August 1821 at St. Mary, St. Marylebone, London.<ref>"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NYRF-CTY : 30 December 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721212316/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NYRF-CTY |date=21 July 2017 }}, Alexander Kinlock Forbes Mitchell, Alexander Kinlock Forbes Mitchell; citing, reference; FHL microfilm 580,910, 580,911, 580,912.</ref> He was educated at a school in [[Finchley]]. He articled to [[George Basevi]], an architect, for eight months but later joined a college [[East India Company College|Haileybury]] as he was appointed to Bombay Civil Service by [[Sir Charles Forbes, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Forbes]] in 1840. He left it in 1842 and arrived in [[Bombay]], India in November 1843.<ref name="Shastriv2015">{{cite web | last=Shastri | first=Paul John & Parth | title=Forbes, Gujarati's renaissance man | website=The Times of India | date=31 August 2015 | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Forbes-Gujaratis-renaissance-man/articleshow/48737160.cms | access-date=1 September 2015 | archive-date=3 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903041554/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Forbes-Gujaratis-renaissance-man/articleshow/48737160.cms | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ForbesNairne1878">{{cite book|last1=Forbes|last2=Nairne|title=Râs Mâlâ: Hindoo Annals of the Province of Goozerat, in Western India|url=https://archive.org/details/rsmlhindooannal00forbgoog|year=1878|publisher=Richardson|pages=xv–xvi}}</ref>

==Administrative career==
[[File:Alexander Kinloch Forbes Handwriting.png|thumb|Handwriting of Forbes]]
Forbes was appointed in 1842 to the [[Indian Civil Service|Civil Service]] of the [[East India Company]], later moved to [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] in 1843.<ref name="Chotai2016">{{cite thesis|last=Chotai|first=Dhara Kantibhai|title=Literary Historiography in Gujarati in The 19th century Issues in Ideology, Identity and Representation|chapter=Chapter 3|type=PhD|publisher=[[Central University of Gujarat]]|location=Gandhinagar|date=2016|chapter-url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/192581|pages=113–140|hdl=10603/192581|access-date=2020-05-08|archive-date=2021-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022075714/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/192581|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Jhaveri19562">{{cite book|last=Jhaveri|first=Krishnalal Mohanlal|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.143057/2015.143057.Further-Milestones-In-Gujarati-Literature#page/n23/mode/2up|title=Further milestones in Gujarāti literature|publisher=N. M. Tripathi & Co.|year=1924|location=Bombay|pages=14–15}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> He spent his initial two and half years as Assistant Collector of [[Ahmednagar]] and [[Khandesh]]. Later he was appointed as Assistant Judge in [[Ahmedabad]] in November 1846 where he noted the absence of literary society.<ref name="Shastriv2015"/> He served in different departments in Gujarat such as First Assistant Collector of Ahmedabad and Political Agent to [[Mahi Kantha Agency|Mahi Kantha]] until he went home in March 1854. During this period he collected material which was later published as ''[[Ras Mala]]'' in 1856.

He went back to England in 1854 and returned at the end of 1856. He was appointed as Assistant Judge at [[Surat]] and later, in 1858, appointed to the same post at [[Khandesh]]. He returned to Gujarat and applied for the vacant [[Kathiawar Agency|Political Agency of Kathiawar]]. He was turned down but later moved to Kathiawar in September 1859 to subdue the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]] by the [[Vagher]]s. The rebellion subdued by March 1860 and he returned to Surat as the Acting Judge. He was appointed Secretary to the Government in March 1861.

He accepted a post in [[Sadr Diwani Adalat|Sudder Court]] which made him one of the first six Judges of the [[Bombay High Court]] in August 1862. He served there until his death in 1865. He also held the honorary post of Vice Chancellor of the [[University of Bombay]]. The A. Kinloch Forbes Gold Medal was awarded for proficiency in law at LL.B. Examination of the university.<ref name="ForbesNairne1878"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/puisnejudge/judges/ForbesAK.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=bombayhighcourt.nic.in |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721201601/http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/puisnejudge/judges/ForbesAK.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Literature==
Forbes was introduced to Indian languages and literature through the works of [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]] and was inspired to learn Indian languages. So after moving to Ahmedabad, he began to learn [[Gujarati language]] first from Rao Saheb Bhogilal Pranavallabh (1818–1889), and then from [[Dalpatram]], a Gujarati poet. He came into contact with Dalpatram through [[Bholanath Divetia]] in 1848.<ref name="Chotai2016" /><ref name="Jhaveri19562"/> Dalpatram taught him Gujarati while Forbes encouraged him to write in Gujarati. They became close friends. He inspired Dalpatram to write ''Laxmi Natak'' published in 1849, the first play in Gujarati, based on Greek drama [[Plutus (play)|''Plutus'']].<ref name=toi>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Briton-inspired-Dalpatram-to-write-in-Gujarati-language/articleshow/30639604.cms|title=Briton inspired Dalpatram to write in Gujarati language|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=2014-02-22|access-date=2014-02-22|last=Unnithan|first=Chitra|archive-date=2014-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221095007/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Briton-inspired-Dalpatram-to-write-in-Gujarati-language/articleshow/30639604.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Datta1988">{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1319|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|page=1319}}</ref>

On 26 December 1848 he started the [[Gujarat Vernacular Society]] in [[Ahmedabad]], which contributed to a literary renaissance in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]. The fund of Rs 9601 was raised from locals, [[Baroda State]] and British officers. The society started the first public library, first school for girls, first periodical, first newspaper and first literary magazine of Gujarat.<ref name="Shastriv2015" /> He was the president of Andrews Library in [[Surat]] in 1850 and founded Gujarati Sabha in [[Bombay]] in 1865. Gujarati Sabha was later renamed Farbas Gujarati Sabha after him. He organized conclave of Gujarati poets in 1852 at [[Idar State]]. Dalpatram's ''Farbesvilas'' was an account of this conclave.<ref name="toi" /><ref name="Datta1988" />

Forbes also had a deep interest in archaeology, ancient monuments and manuscripts, which made him intensely interested in the old archaeological and historical remains of Gujarat.<ref name="Chotai20162">{{cite thesis|last=Chotai|first=Dhara Kantibhai|title=Literary Historiography in Gujarati in The 19th century Issues in Ideology, Identity and Representation|chapter=Chapter 3|type=PhD|publisher=[[Central University of Gujarat]]|location=Gandhinagar|date=2016|chapter-url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/192581|pages=113–140|hdl=10603/192581|access-date=2020-05-08|archive-date=2019-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430205048/http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/192581|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Jhaveri19562"/> In 1856, he published ''[[Ras Mala]]'' in two volumes which documented the history and chronicles from 8th century to arrival of British and folk literature of Gujarat as well as an historical account of the place and people he came to know during his stay in Gujarat.<ref name="toi" /><ref name="SinghGaur2008">{{cite book|author1=Surinder Singh|author2=I. D. Gaur|title=Popular Literature and Pre-modern Societies in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVA0JAzQJkYC&pg=PA181|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1358-7|pages=181–182}}</ref><ref name="Chotai20162" /><ref name="Jhaveri19562" />

He also translated Dalpatram's essay ''Bhoot Nibandh'' as ''Demonology and Popular Superstitions of Gujarat''.

==Death==
Forbes died in Poona (now [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India) on 31 August 1865 after a brief illness.<ref name="Ranieval2013"/><ref name="ForbesNairne1878"/> Dalpatram composed ''Farbes viraha'', a Gujarati [[elegy]] in his memory.<ref name=toi/><ref name="Datta1988"/><ref name="HallWrigley2007">{{cite book|author1=Edith Hall|author1-link=Edith Hall |author2=Amanda Wrigley|title=Aristophanes in Performance, 421 BC-AD 2007: Peace, Birds and Frogs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAjUXmBnNYUC&pg=PA117|year=2007|publisher=MHRA|isbn=978-1-904350-61-3|page=117}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Forbes married Margaret-Moir Forbes-Mitchell (1825-1 November 1904), daughter of Henry David Forbes-Mitchell of Bawlgownie, in Bombay on 25 March 1846.<ref>{{cite book|last=Urban|first=Sylvanus|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|volume=XXV|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dewIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA639|year=1846|publisher=John Bowyer Nichols and Son|location=London|page=639}}</ref> They had six children; Edward Esme Forbes (1855-1920), Emmeline Maria Elizabeth Forbes, Margaret Theodora Lawrence Forbes (d. 1939), John Fraser Forbes (1847-1887), Henry David Erskine Forbes (1849-1920), and Alexander Abernethie Forbes (b. 1851).<ref name="Ranieval2013">{{cite book|author=The Marquis of Ruvigny and Ranieval|title=The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Mortimer-Percy Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOHHuwI8tD4C&pg=PA228|date=May 2013|publisher=Heritage Books|isbn=978-0-7884-1872-3|pages=228–230}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Ras Mala|Râs Mâlâ:Hindoo Annals of the Province of Goozerat, in Western India]]''

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Mehta |first=Dipak |title=Arvachintana Suryodayna Chhadidar (Life and Works of Alexander Kinloch Forbes) |language=gu |date=2015 |publisher=[[Gujarat Vidhya Sabha|Gujarat Vidyasabha]] |location=Ahmedabad |isbn=978-93-83814-45-9}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Alexander}}
[[Category:1821 births]]
[[Category:1865 deaths]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:People from Finchley]]

Alexander Kinloch Forbes - Revision history

SaifurRahaman at 17:53, 19 September 2024