Highly regarded in India to this day, Sir John Malcolm is remarkably little known in his native Scotland. This book describes his extraordinary journey from humble origins to become a leading player in the transformation of the East India Company from a largely commercial enterprise into an agent of imperial government, during a crucial period of British and Indian political history. Born in 1769, Malcolm was one of 17 children of a tenant farmer in the Scottish Borders. Leaving school, family, and country at the age of 13, he achieved distinction in India over the next half-century. A quintessential Renaissance man, he excelled in many fields: as a professional soldier he campaigned with Wellington in south India and rose to major-general; as an administrator, he pacified central India and later became governor of Bombay. He led three company missions to Persia in the early stages of the Great Game of diplomatic rivalry between Britain and Russia. He was fluent in several languages and wrote nine influential books, including The History of Persia. Based on extensive research in Britain and India, this biography brings to life the story of a talented and ambitious man living in a dramatic era of imperial history.

Through his writings, the leading East India Company servant, Sir John Malcolm helped to shape the historical thought of British empire-building in India. This book uses his works to examine the intellectual history of British expansion in South Asia, and shed light on the history of orientalism and indirect rule and the formation of British power.

Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833) was a British soldier, colonial administrator, diplomat, linguist, and historian. He was born in Scotland, left school at age 12, and, through an uncle, secured a position in the East India Company. While stationed in various parts of India as an officer in the company's military forces, he became interested in foreign languages, which he studied diligently. He became fluent in Persian and, over the years, served as an interpreter and British envoy to Persia in various capacities. In 1815, he published his The History of Persia, From the Most Early Period to the Present Time, which earned him literary fame and an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. In two volumes, the book covers the period from the legendary Pishdadian Dynasty to the early 19th century. Malcolm drew on both written sources and his own extensive experiences in India and Persia. Volume 2 is particularly valuable as an account of Persia in the early 1700s, with descriptions of the country's rulers, religions, government, and society. Although Malcolm deeply admired Persian culture and civilization, he believed that the country badly needed political reform, a subject that he addressed in the concluding section of the book. Translated into French in 1821 and German in 1830, The History of Persia was the standard Western work on Persia until the appearance, in 1915, of Percy Molesworth Sykes's A History of Persia.