Claude Martin
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Major General Claude Martin (January 4, 1735 - September 13, 1800) was an officer in the French, and later the British, army in India. He rose to the position of Major General in the English East India Company. He was born at Lyon, France, and was the son of a cooper.
While in school, Martin showed a special interest in mathematics and science. At the age of 16, he enlisted in the French army, was posted to India in 1751 serving under, Commander and Governor, Joseph François Dupleix and General Thomas Arthur Lally in the Carnatic wars against the British East India Company. When the French lost their colony of Pondicherry in 1761, he accepted service in the Bengal army of the British East India Company in 1763, ultimately rising to the rank of major-general.
He was initially employed at the then-new Fort William in Calcutta, Bengal (now, West Bengal), and afterwards on the survey of Bengal under the English Surveyor General James Rennell. In 1776, Martin was allowed to accept the appointment of Superintendent of the Arsenal for the Nawab of Awadh Asaf-ud-Daula at Lucknow, retaining his rank but being ultimately placed on half pay. He resided in Lucknow from 1776 till his death.
While serving under the Nawab of Awadh, Martin acquired a massive fortune of about 40,000,00 Rupees. He built the palace of 'Constantia' and his fine house of Farud Baksh, both of which he equipped with luxuries that included a library of some 4,000 volumes written in many languages and a picture gallery containing a fine collection of works of art.
After his death, he willed his entire fortune to the creation of three institutions of French learning in Calcutta, Lucknow and in his birth town of Lyon, France, named La Martiniere College.
According to his last wishes, he was buried in the vault specially prepared for his remains in the basement of the branch in Lucknow.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
