Sir Robert Nathan (1868–1921) was a British intelligence official notable for his work against the

Indian revolutionaries Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, Britain and North America.

Early career in India

Nathan was educated at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, before joining the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

in 1888. He was appointed secretary of the Indian Universities Commission in 1902, for which he was created a Companion of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...

(CIE) in the 1903 Durbar Honours. In 1905, he was asked to become Private Secretary to the Viceroy,

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

, but only two years later, in 1907 Nathan was made Chief Secretary to the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam, and Commissioner of Dhaka Police. In 1908, Nathan, then the

Police Commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, was responsible along with the district collector H.L. Salkeld for uncovering the revolutionary organisation of the ''

Anushilan Samiti () was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India. The ...

'', and for instituting the measures to suppress the organisation.

Return to Britain

Nathan was appointed Vice Chancellor of

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1914, and the same year returned from India on account of ill-health. He began his work for British intelligence against Indian revolutionaries in October 1914. After retiring from the ICS in 1915, Nathan joined the

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

's section dealing with the Indian seditionist movement in Europe, called MI5(g), that was formed at the time headed by

Vernon Kell Major General Sir Vernon George Waldegrave Kell, (21 November 1873 – 27 March 1942) was a British Army general and the founder and first Director of the British Security Service, otherwise known as MI5. Known as K, he was described in ' ...

. Nathan's fellow officer at the time was another ex-Indian police official, H. L. Stephenson. He headed at the time the political branch of the Secret Service, and along with

Basil Thomson Sir Basil Home Thomson, (21 April 1861 – 26 March 1939) was a British colonial administrator and prison governor, who was head of Metropolitan Police CID during World War I. This gave him a key role in arresting wartime spies, and he was c ...

who headed the Special Branch of the

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

, Nathan was closely involved in the interrogation of Indians who worked along with the Germans during the war. Nathan's efforts, along with those of

John Wallinger Major Sir John Arnold Wallinger (25 October 1869 – 7 January 1931) was a British Indian intelligence officer who led the Indian Political Intelligence Office from 1909 to 1916. As a colonial policeman and counter-intelligence officer he becam ...

's Indian Political Intelligence Office (with whom Nathan worked closely), were key in the British counter-espionage work. Nathan identified plans by

Ghadar Party The Ghadar Movement or Ghadar Party was an early 20th-century, international political movement founded by expatriate Panjabi s to overthrow British rule in India. Many of the Ghadar Party founders and leaders, including Sohan Singh Bhakna, ...

and the

Berlin Committee The Berlin Committee, later known as the Indian Independence Committee () after 1915, was an organisation formed in Germany in 1914 during World War I by Indian students and political activists residing in the country. The purpose of the committe ...

to assassinate Lord Kitchener in 1915 through an associate of

Har Dayal Lala Rudra Dayal Mathur ( Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His si ...

Gobind Behari Lal Gobind Behari Lal was an Indian-American journalist and independence activist. A relative and close associate of Lala Har Dayal, he joined the Ghadar Party and participated in the Indian independence movement. He arrived the United States on a ...

. He was also responsible at this time, along with Basil Thomson, to turn Harish Chandra (who was associated with the

) into a double agent. Nathan was also responsible for the plans made by British intelligence in late 1915 to assassinate

Virendranath Chattopadhyaya Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (31 October 1880 – 2 September 1937), also known by his pseudonym Chatto, was a prominent Indian revolutionary who worked to overthrow the British Raj in India using armed force. He created alliances with the German ...

through agent Donald Gullick.

Work in North America

Later, on instructions from British secret service, Robert Nathan transferred to the Pacific coast of North America where the

worked closely with the German consulate at San Francisco to obtain arms and men for what came to be known as the

Ghadar Conspiracy The Ghadar Mutiny, also known as the Ghadar Conspiracy, was a plan to initiate a pan-India mutiny in the British Indian Army in February 1915 to end the British Raj in India. The plot originated at the onset of World War I, between the Ghadar Pa ...

. Nathan successfully brought the Ghadarites and staff at the German consulate to trial following the ''Annie Larsen'' arms plot. He organised the

Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial The Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial commenced in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on November 12, 1917, following the uncovering of the Hindu–German Conspiracy (also known as the Indo-German plot) for initiating a revolt in British Indi ...

, which at the time was the longest in American legal history. He was responsible for the arrest of Chandra Kanta Chakraverty and his subsequent interrogation, along with that Ernst Sekunna. Through March 1917, Nathan worked closely with William Wiseman, and negotiated with the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

the details of the case against the Indian conspirators. He strongly supported granting a guarantee to the United States not to be held responsible for violation of neutrality.

Later life

Nathan returned to Britain at the end of World War I where he died in 1921.

Publications

Official History of Plague in India; Progress of Education in India, 1897-8, etc. "Nathan, Robert (NTN885R)"
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Notes

References

*Dictionary of Indian Biography. Charles Edward Buckland. 1906. p313 * *Sir Horace Rumbold; Portrait of a Diplomat: 1869-1941. Martin Gilbert, Michael Gilbert. 1973. p52 *Who's who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary. Henry Robert Addison, Charles Henry Oakes, et al. p1117 *''

The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia Isaac Landman (October 24, 1880 – September 4, 1946) was an American Reform Judaism, Reform rabbi, author and anti-Zionism, anti-Zionist activist. He was editor of the ten-volume ''The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia''. Biography Landman was born i ...

''.

Isaac Landman Isaac Landman (October 24, 1880 – September 4, 1946) was an American Reform rabbi, author and anti-Zionist activist. He was editor of the ten-volume ''The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia''. Biography Landman was born in Russia on October 4, 1880, t ...

, Simon Cohen. 1939. p111 * *. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Robert Indian Civil Service (British India) officers British police officers in India Hindu–German Conspiracy World War I spies for the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire 1868 births 1921 deaths