.jpg) |
| playboy Sir David Ouchterlony EIC, India wwwBing.com |
Sir David Ouchterlony, born in 1758 in Boston, Massachusetts, was an American-born British military commander known for his unique role and lifestyle in British India. Despite his New England origins, Ochterlony’s career unfolded largely within the British East India Company, where he rose to prominence. Of Scottish descent, he was raised in England after his father's death, with his stepfather Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King-of-Arms, providing guidance. His background made him a distinctive figure among British officers, yet it was his life in India that would define his legacy.
 |
| colonial India ,Ouchterlony Indian wives.en.wikipedia.org |
In India, Ochterlony embraced Mughal and other Indian customs and became the first British Resident in Delhi, a position of diplomatic importance within the East India Company. Known for his affinity for Indian traditions, he dressed in Indo-Mughal attire, enjoyed Indian cuisine, and adopted an opulent lifestyle that sharply contrasted with his British peers. Ochterlony was celebrated for his unusual family arrangement, maintaining a harem of around 13 Indian concubines, whom he paraded on elephants near the Red Fort in evening processions. His open display of this harem shocked some of his contemporaries, but he had a strong influence in Delhi and among the local elite. This connection to Indian culture earned him the nickname "Luni Akhtar" or "Crazy Star."
 |
| .Ochterlony Monument,1828 adobe.com |
Above image: Shaheed Minar formerly known as the Ochterlony Monument, was erected in 1828 in memory of Major-general Sir David Ochterlony, commander of the British East India Company in Kolkata, India
One of his closest companions was Mubarak Begum, a former dancing girl who became his partner and wielded significant influence over him. Mubarak was an assertive woman known for her audacity—she styled herself “Lady Ochterlony” to match British conventions and adopted the title “Qudsia Begum,” traditionally reserved for Mughal royalty. She was a controversial figure, opposed by both the British and Mughal authorities, and later supported the Indian side during the 1857 Rebellion, underscoring the strains in British-Indian relations.
Despite his esteemed military service, Ouchterlony’s career ended on a bitter note when he resigned after clashing with Governor-General Lord Amherst, who overruled his military strategies. Disheartened and in poor health, Ochterlony died shortly afterward at his residence in Shalimar Bagh. His tomb, known as Mubarak Bagh, later became a site of controversy due to Mubarak’s background, and was largely ignored by Mughal royalty.
Ochterlony’s legacy is complex. Remembered in India with the Ochterlony Monument (now Shahid Minar) in Kolkata, he symbolizes both the fascination and tensions of the British colonial period. His Anglo-Indian descendants embodied the cultural fusion he himself lived, navigating the delicate social boundaries between British and Indian societies. In between his military services, etc, he took refuge in the harem to be free from stressed life in a tropical foreign land.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/ochterlony-and-his-bibis
https://www.masshist.org/database/822
http://masshist.org/database/822
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ochterlony
http://navrangindia.blogspot.com. (modified:21 June 2020)
.jpg)
.jpg&description=Sir David Ochterlony American Military Commander of English Company, India, a cheerful playboy){kind=link}