Captain James MacMurdo was the first political resident of

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Cutch State Cutch State, also spelled Kutch or Kachchh and also historically known as the Kingdom of Kutch, was a kingdom in the Kutch region from 1147 to 1819 and a princely state under British rule from 1819 to 1947. Its territories covered the present ...

. He played important role in bringing Cutch under British

suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

Biography

MacMurdo was born on 30 November 1785 in

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Lieutenant MacMurdo entered the military service in 1801; commanded the Resident's Guard at

Baroda State Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

and served as Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant-General

Oliver Nicolls General Oliver Nicolls (c.1740 – 1829) was a British Army officer. Military career Nicolls was commissioned into the 1st Regiment of Foot in November 1756. Richard Cannon''Historical record of the Life Guards containing an account of the format ...

, Commander-in-Chief of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He entered Cutch in the guise of

Ramanandi The Ramanandi (), also known as Ramavats (), is one of the largest sects of Vaishnavas. Out of 52 sub-branches of Vaishnavism, divided into four Vaishnava ''sampradayas'', 36 are held by the Ramanandi. The sect mainly emphasizes the worship ...

monk. He resided at Madhavrai's Temple in Anjar and his religious activities earned him nickname, ''Bhuriya Bava''. He spoke local language and had understanding of local customs. In 1816, he was sent to Rao of Cutch State for issues regarding piracy in

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

and bandits from Vagad region entering into North Gujarat. In 1816, the Rao Bharmalji II agreed to the suzerainty of the British and he was appointed as the British Resident at

Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...

and Collector of Anjar. With support of some

Jadeja Jadeja ( Gujarati, Sindhi: , or ''Jāṛejā'') is a Samma Rajput clan that inhabits the Indian state of Gujarat and the Tharparkar district of Sindh, Pakistan. They originated from Sammas of Sindh, a pastoral group, and laid a claim on the ...

chiefs, the British troops led by Colonel East attacked Bhuj on 25 March 1819, and disposed Rao Bharmalji II and his son Deshalji II, a minor was made the ruler of Cutch State. In 1819, MacMurdo was posted as British Political Resident stationed at

. During Deshalji's minority, the affairs of the State were managed by Council of Regency, which was composed of Jadeja chiefs and was headed by MacMurdo. During his stay in Anjar, he built MacMurdo's Bungalow with wall paintings which has the themes from

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. It is the state protected monument now. In 1819, he experienced the earthquake in Anjar and sent detailed reports regarding it to Bombay. He wrote several books and reports regarding

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and Kutch regions. He died on 28 April 1820 at

Varnu Varnu is a village in Rapar Taluka in Kutch district of Gujarat, India. The village is on the west bank of Little Rann of Kutch. Demographics The village has population of about 600 people. Main communities residing here are Gadhvis, Rajgor, ...

near

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located mostly in the Kutch district of the Indian state of Gujarat, with a minor portion extending into the Sindh province of Pakistan. ...

and was buried near the temple of Venudada located in the village. The people of village believe that he slept in the Venudada temple which resulted in his death though his tomb is marked that he died of

Cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, probably during the first Asiatic cholera pandemic. His tomb reads,

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacMurdo, James 1785 births 1820 deaths British East India Company Army officers People from Dumfries and Galloway Deaths from cholera People from Cutch State

Biography

Further reading

References

Notes

Bibliography