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{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = John William Kaye
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
| image = J W Kaye.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1814|06|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[London]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1876|07|24|1814|06|03|df=y}}
| death_place = [[London]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
| nationality = British
| relations = Sir [[Cecil Kaye]] (first cousin), [[M. M. Kaye]] (novelist, first cousin once removed)
| notable_works = History of the War in Afghanistan, A History of the Sepoy War in India
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}

'''Sir John William Kaye''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCSI|FRS}} (3 June 1814 – 24 July 1876) was a British military historian, civil servant and army officer. His major works on military history include a three-volume work on ''The History of the Sepoy War in India''. This work was revised later by [[George Bruce Malleson]] and published in six volumes in 1890 as ''Kaye and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny''.

== Biography ==
The second son of Charles Kaye, a solicitor, and Eliza, daughter of Hugh Atkins, he was born in London on 3 June 1814<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=11|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> and baptized on 30 June 1814. He was educated at [[Eton College]] (1823–1826) and at the [[Addiscombe Military Seminary|Royal Military College, Addiscombe]] (1831–1832).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=13–16|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref>

From 1832 to 1841 he was an officer in the [[Bengal Artillery]] commissioned on 14 December 1832 as a Second-Lieutenant<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=16|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> and on 19 August 1840 promoted to Lieutenant.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=18|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> During his time in the Army he began following literary pursuits both in [[India]] and in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]].<ref>{{cite journal|year=1839|title=Biographical Sketches No. III - Lieut. J. W. Kaye|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBYYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA31|journal=Calcutta Monthly Journal|location=Calcutta|publisher=Samuel Smith and Co.|volume=For the year 1838|pages=33–84|ref={{harvid|CMJ|1839}}}}
</ref>

In 1839 he married Mary Catherine (1813–1893), daughter of Thomas Puckle of Surrey. He resigned his commission in the army on 1 April 1841<ref name=":3">{{Cite ODNB|id=15201|title=Kaye, Sir John William}}</ref> and began to write for newspapers such as the ''[[The Bengal Hurkaru and Chronicle|Bengal Hurkaru]]'', which he edited.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gibson|first=Mary Ellis|title=Anglophone Poetry in Colonial India, 1780–1913: A Critical Anthology|publisher=[[Ohio University Press]]|year=2011|pages=196–202|chapter=Sir John William Kaye|jstor=j.ctt1j7x7m1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=31|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> In 1844 he started the ''[[Calcutta Review]]'' and contributed about 50 articles to it<ref name="odnb" /> while also writing a novel based in Afghanistan.

In 1845 Kaye returned to England to follow a professional literary career. He worked on his ''History of the War in Afghanistan'', an account of the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]]. The book was well received: [[John Clark Marshman]] regarded it as "the most interesting of all works which have hitherto appeared on British Indian history".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marshman|first=John Clark|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsmajorgen01marsgoog/page/n71/mode/2up|title=Memoirs of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock|publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts|year=1860|location=London|pages=58|author-link=John Clark Marshman}}</ref>

Kaye entered the Home Civil Service of the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in 1856.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=237|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> As [[John Stuart Mill]] was promoted to the post of Examiner of Indian correspondence, Kaye succeeded him as Political Assistant in the Examiner Department at [[East India House]].<ref name=":0" /> During this time, he wrote the ''History of the Sepoy War in India'', his history of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It is considered a "well-ordered and comprehensive narrative".<ref name=":3" /> This work was later revised and continued by [[George Bruce Malleson]] as ''Kaye and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny'' and published in six volumes. It was completed in 1890.<ref name=":3" /> The [[Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] considers Kaye's ''History of the Sepoy War in India'' still to be a standard work.<ref name=":3" />

When in 1858 the government of India was transferred to the [[British Raj|British crown]], Kaye succeeded as Secretary in the Political and Secret Department of the [[Secretary of State for India|Office of the Secretary of State for India]].<ref name=":1">{{London Gazette
| issue = 23739
| date = 20 May 1871
| page = 2474
}}</ref> In 1866 he became a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Kaye; Sir; John William (1814 - 1876)|url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA3806&pos=3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226221628/https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA3806&pos=3|archive-date=26 December 2020|access-date=26 December 2020|website=[[Royal Society]]}}</ref> In the [[1871 Birthday Honours]] he was made a [[Order of the Star of India|Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (KCSI).<ref name=":1" />
[[File:John William Kaye retouched.jpg|thumb|Pen sketch of John William Kaye by [[Colesworthey Grant]], circa 1838]]

After retiring from the [[India Office]] in 1874 due to ill health,<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876)|publisher=University of London|year=1977|location=London|pages=240|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}</ref> he died in London at his home at Rose Hill on 24 July 1876.<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB|author=Rapson, E. J. (revised by Roger T. Stearn) |chapter= Kaye, Sir John William (1814-1876)|title= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year= 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/15201 }}</ref><ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=Kaye, Sir John William|volume=15|page=703}}</ref> An obituary in the ''[[The Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]]'' praised him as a "household word in the East".<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 July 1876|title=Sir J. W. Kaye, F.R.S.|page=146|work=The Athenaeum|issue=2544|hdl=2027/uc1.c3470736?urlappend=%3Bseq=118|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c3470736?urlappend=%3Bseq=118}}</ref>

== Published works ==
* {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-IDAAAAQAAJ|title=Peregrine Pultuney: Or, Life in India|publisher=John Mortimer|year=1844|volume=I|location=London}} A novel in three volumes, published anonymously.
* {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LMLAQAAIAAJ|title=Peregrine Pultuney: Or, Life in India|publisher=John Mortimer|year=1844|volume=II|location=London|author-mask=9}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7QLAQAAIAAJ|title=Peregrine Pultuney: Or, Life in India|publisher=John Mortimer|year=1844|volume=III|location=London|author-mask=9}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7umbq_NWxYYC|title=Long Engagements: A Tale of the Affghan Rebellion|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1846|location=London|author-mask=9}} A novel in one volume, published anonymously.
* {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/17712/|title=History of the War in Afghanistan|publisher=Richard Bentley|year=1851|edition=1|location=London|author-mask=9}}
** {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwarinaf01kayeuoft|title=History of the War in Afghanistan|publisher=Richard Bentley|year=1874|volume=I|location=London|edition=3}}
** {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwarinaf02kayeuoft|title=History of the War in Afghanistan|publisher=Richard Bentley|year=1874|volume=II|location=London|author-mask=9|edition=3}}
** {{Cite book|last=Kaye|first=John William|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwarinaf03kayeuoft|title=History of the War in Afghanistan|publisher=Richard Bentley|year=1874|volume=III|location=London|author-mask=9|edition=3}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Administration of the East India Company: A History of Indian Progress|first=John William|url=https://archive.org/details/administrationof00kayeuoft|year=1853|location=London|author-mask=9|publisher=Richard Bentley}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe|url=https://archive.org/details/lifecorresponden01metcuoft|year=1854|publisher=Richard Bentley|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=I}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe|url=https://archive.org/details/lifecorresponden02metcuoft|year=1854|publisher=Richard Bentley|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=II}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Life and Correspondence of Henry St. George Tucker|first=John William|url=https://archive.org/details/lifecorresponden00kayerich|year=1854|location=London|author-mask=9|publisher=Richard Bentley}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G. C. B.|url=https://archive.org/details/lifecorresponden01kaye|year=1856|publisher=Smith, Elder, and Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=I}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G. C. B.|url=https://archive.org/details/lifecorresponden02kaye|year=1856|publisher=Smith, Elder, and Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=II}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=Christianity in India: An Historical Narrative|url=https://archive.org/details/christianityinin00kaye|year=1859|publisher=Smith, Elder and Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=A History of the Sepoy war in India: 1857–1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5BI3AQAAMAAJ|year=1864|publisher=W. H. Allen & Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=I|edition=1}} The ''History of the Sepoy War in India'' (1864–1876), was later revised and continued by [[George Bruce Malleson]] and published in six volumes (1888–1889). A transcription of this later work is available [http://www.ibiblio.org/britishraj/KayeMalleson.html online].
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=A History of the Sepoy war in India: 1857–1858|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.19814|year=1870|publisher=W. H. Allen & Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=II|edition=1}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=A History of the Sepoy war in India: 1857-1858|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorysepoywa04kayegoog|year=1876|publisher=W. H. Allen & Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=III|edition=1}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=Lives of Indian Officers|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofindianoff01kayeiala|year=1867|publisher=A. Strahan and Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=I}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=Lives of Indian Officers|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofindianoff02kayeiala|year=1867|publisher=A. Strahan and Co.|first=John William|location=London|author-mask=9|volume=II}}
* {{cite book|author=Kaye|title=The Essays of an Optimist|url=https://archive.org/details/essaysofoptimist00kaye|year=1871|publisher=J. B. Lippincott & Co.|first=John William|location=Philadelphia|author-mask=9}}
Kaye further edited several works dealing with Indian affairs and was a frequent contributor to periodicals.

== Awards ==
* 1866: [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS)<ref name=":2" />
* 1871: [[Order of the Star of India|Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (KCSI).<ref name=":1" />

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Kaye, John William|last=Rapson|first=Edward James|author-link=E. J. Rapson|volume=30}}
* {{Cite ODNB|id=15201|title=Kaye, Sir John William}}
* {{Cite book|last=Gibson|first=Mary Ellis|title=Anglophone Poetry in Colonial India, 1780–1913: A Critical Anthology|publisher=[[Ohio University Press]]|year=2011|pages=196–202|chapter=Sir John William Kaye|jstor=j.ctt1j7x7m1}}
* {{Cite thesis|last=Singh|first=Nihar Nandan Prasad|title=The Life and Writings of Sir John William Kaye (1814–1876).|year=1977|degree=Doctor of Philosophy|publisher=University of London|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/33547|doi=10.25501/SOAS.00033547}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Gutenberg author|id=44618}}
* [http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/19312 Thesis by Christina Lee Fairchild (2017) "Because we were too English:" John Kaye and the 1857 Indian Rebellion. University of Maryland.]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, John William}}
[[Category:1814 births]]
[[Category:1876 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Bengal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:British military historians]]
[[Category:Indian magazine founders]]
[[Category:Indian magazine editors]]
[[Category:19th-century British journalists]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century British male writers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]

John William Kaye - Revision history

Bot at 10:52, 1 June 2022