George Bruce Malleson

A carte-de-visite portrait of George Bruce Malleson (1825-1898), an officer in the Indian army who wrote numerous books on the history of India.

Born in Wimbledon on 8 May 1825, he was educated at Winchester. He obtained a cadetship in the Bengal Infantry in 1842, and served through the second Burmese War. His subsequent appointments were in the civil line, the last being that of guardian to the young maharaja of Mysore. He retired with the rank of colonel in 1877, having been created C.S.I. (Companion of the Order of the Star of India) in the 1872 Birthday Honours.

A voluminous writer, his first work to attract attention was the famous Red Pamphlet published at Calcutta in 1857, when the Sepoy Mutiny was at its height. He continued, and considerably rewrote The History of the Indian Mutiny 1857-8 (6 vols., 1878-1880), which was begun but left unfinished by Sir John Kaye. Among his other books the most valuable are his History of the French in India (2nd ed., 1893) and The Decisive Battles of India (3rd ed., 1888).[1]

He also wrote the biographies of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, the French governor-general Dupleix and the British officer Robert Clive for the Rulers of India series.

George Bruce Malleson, 'retired colonel in Her Majesty's Bengal-staff-corps,' died on 1 March 1898 at 27 West Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London.

Photographed by Robert Bingham of Paris.