John Briggs (Founders and Guardians of The Asiatic Society of Mumbai)

DETAILS: 

• Publisher: Indus Source Books
  
• Author Prabha Ravi Shankar
  
• Language: English
  
• Pages: 78
  
• Cover: Paperback
  
• Weight 120 gm
  
• Edition: 2017
  
• ISBN: 9789385509155

BACK OF THE BOOK

An attempt is made in this monograph to study the life and work of John Briggs (1785-1875), who was not only a good soldier but also an able administrator with a vision. He worked for the settlement of Khandesh, especially of the Bhils, and rendered useful service as Resident of Satara. He was chiefly responsible for setting up Mahabaleshwar as a sanatorium for the British officers of the Bombay Presidency.

Back in England in 1835, Briggs denounced Dalhousie's Doctrine of Lapse and his rapacious policy of annexation and correctly predicted its disastrous consequences. Briggs was not only an able officer but also an indefatigable student of Eastern languages, history and science. He wrote many books, pamphlets and articles, the most famous being the English translation of Ferishta's book, Tarik-i-Ferishta, and History of the Rise of Mahomedan Power in India Till the Year 1612 in four volumes. He published the Land Tax of India, one of the earliest protests against some forms of British misrule in India. He also wrote a useful pamphlet entitled Letters Addressed To a Young Person in India Calculated To Afford Instruction For His Conduct In General And More Especially In His Intercourse With The Natives, which served as an excellent guide for young men entering the army or as writers in the East India Company's service. Briggs had significant artistic talent and had donated paintings to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He was a sincere friend of India.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Prabha Ravi Shankar served as a senior college lecturer in reputed colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai and as Associate Professor in the Dept. of History, S.N.D.T. Women's University. She is teaching at the Post Graduate Centre for History in an affiliated college of the University. She was awarded the Pandit Sethu Madhavrao Pagdi Fellowship from the Department of History, University of Mumbai (2003), the Senior Research Fellowship from the ICHR, New Delhi (2008), and an Associateship at the IIAS, Simla, (2014). She has presented many research papers in national and international seminars, both in India and abroad. She had also delivered many special lectures on invitation. Her research areas include the socio-political history of Modern India, the Indian National Movement and Mahatma Gandhi. Her publications include British Committee of the Indian National Congress, 1889-1921, New Delhi, 2011, G.A. Natesan and National Awakening, New Delhi, 2015, and a monograph in the series of Founders and Guardians of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, jointly authored with Prof. J.V. Naik entitled The Jervis Brothers: George Risto Jervis & Thomas Best Jervis (Mumbai, 2014). She is currently working on Mahatma Gandhi and Henry and Millie Polak.