3 Review(s)

About The Book : For Many Years a Distinguished Officer Commanding a Corps of Irregular Cavalry in the Service of the H. E. I. C., Interspersed With Notices of Several of the Principal Personages Who Distinguished Themselves in the Service of the Native Powers in India Skinner. We regret to say that these are some what scanty. The principal part of this work is taken from ams. Placed in the hands of the writer by a son of the late Colonel, now a Captain in the service of his highness the Nizam. It is in the writing of a native, no doubt copied from the notes of the Colonel himself, who was in the habit of keeping a journal in Persian - or from his pamonal dictation; but it abounds in clerical. Born to a Scottish father and an Indian mother, the military adventurer James Skinner (1778-1841) acquired wealth and fame in India for raising and leading regiments of irregular cavalry, aiding the British in their wars against the Marathas and Pindaris. Distinguished in battle and generous as a host and patron, Skinner was also fluent in Persian and highly regarded by his men and his superiors. Based on first-hand acquaintance and Skinner's own journal, this two-volume work, published in 1851 by the Scottish traveller and artist James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856), who aimed to represent Skinner 'such as he was in truth, a gallant soldier, a zealous officer, a steady friend, a worthy noble-minded man; and spite of his dark complexion, a true and loyal Briton'. Volume 1 sketches the historical background to Skinner's exploits, and includes his account of his activities up to 1804 and the Second Anglo-Maratha War. About The Author : James Baillie Fraser (11 June 1783 – January 1856) was a Scottish travel writer, and artist who illustrated and wrote about Asia Minor and India. Some of his watercolours made in the picturesque style represent early views of India and Persia. He was a brother of William Fraser. James was born at Reelig in the county of Inverness. He was the eldest of five sons of Edward Satchel Fraser (1751–1835) and his wife Jane. He grew up on the family estate and studied under a tutor in Edinburgh. He lived from 1799 to 1811 in Guiana to oversee the sugar plantations that they owned in Berbice. He returned from the West Indies in 1806 due to ill health. All of his brothers travelled in the East and had successful careers. He also wrote An Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia (1834); A Winter's Journey (Tatar,) from Constantinople to Teheran (1838); Travels in Koordistan, Mesopotamia, etc. (1840) Mesopotamia and Assyria (1842); and Military Memoirs of Col. James Skinner (1851).