John Jacob (East India Company officer) - Revision history

Bot at 19:12, 17 October 2022

2022-10-17T19:12:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:42, 18 October 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=October ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2020}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name = John Jacob		\| name = John Jacob
Line 34:		Line 34:
	\| signature =		\| signature =
	}}		}}
	[[Brigadier-General]] '''John Jacob''' [[Order of the Bath\|CB]] (11 January 1812 – 6 December 1858) was an officer of the [[British East India Company]] who served in [[British India\|colonial India]] for the major portion of his career. He is known for the cavalry regiment called [[36th Jacob's Horse]], and for founding the town of [[Jacobabad]], in modern day [[Pakistan]], where he planned and supervised the transformation of thousands of acres of desert into arable land over the course of twenty years. The scale of progress and prosperity his works brought to the region can be appreciated by comparing those regions' relative prosperity compared to areas which were not under his administrative jurisdiction.<ref name="dawn.com">{{Cite web \| url=http://www.dawn.com/news/720466/remembering-general-john-jacob-an-able-administrator-and-a-master-planne \|title = Remembering General John Jacob – an able administrator and a master planner\|date = 22 May ~~2022~~}}</ref>		[[Brigadier-General]] '''John Jacob''' [[Order of the Bath\|CB]] (11 January 1812 – 6 December 1858) was an officer of the [[British East India Company]] who served in [[British India\|colonial India]] for the major portion of his career. He is known for the cavalry regiment called [[36th Jacob's Horse]], and for founding the town of [[Jacobabad]], in modern day [[Pakistan]], where he planned and supervised the transformation of thousands of acres of desert into arable land over the course of twenty years. The scale of progress and prosperity his works brought to the region can be appreciated by comparing those regions' relative prosperity compared to areas which were not under his administrative jurisdiction.<ref name="dawn.com">{{Cite web \| url=http://www.dawn.com/news/720466/remembering-general-john-jacob-an-able-administrator-and-a-master-planne \|title = Remembering General John Jacob – an able administrator and a master planner\|date = 22 May 2012}}</ref>

	==Early life==		==Early life==
	He was born at [[Woolavington]], in the county of [[Somerset]], England, where his father the Reverend Stephen Long Jacob was incumbent.<ref>{{cite web\|last1=Dunning\|first1=Robert\|title='Woolavington', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8, the Poldens and the Levels\|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol8/pp210-223\|website=British History Online\|publisher=Victoria County Histories\|accessdate=15 November ~~2022~~}}</ref> His mother was Susanna, daughter of the Reverend James Bond of [[Ashford, Kent]], England.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Shand\|first1=Alexander Innes\|title=General John Jacob Commandant of the Sind Irregular Horse and Founder of Jacobabad\|date=2013\|publisher=Forgotten Books\|page=14\|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/General_John_Jacob_Commandant_of_the_Sind_Irregular_Horse_and_Founder_1000380233}}</ref> He was schooled by his father until he obtained his cadetship to [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]].<ref>Through the good offices of his cousin, Capt William Jacob of the Bombay Artillery in February 1826. His elder brother, Herbert, was then also serving out in India as a new subaltern. HT Lambrick, ''John Jacob of Jacobabad'', reprint, Karachi, 1975, of original edition, p.7</ref> A number of the young cadets there who were his contemporaries, included such famous officers as [[Eldred Pottinger]], [[Robert Cornelis Napier]], [[Henry Marion Durand]], [[Vincent Eyre]] and others.<ref>Lambrick, p.8</ref> He was commissioned into the [[Bombay Artillery]] ([[Bombay Army]]) on his 16th birthday, and subsequently sailed for India in January 1828, never to set foot in England again.		He was born at [[Woolavington]], in the county of [[Somerset]], England, where his father the Reverend Stephen Long Jacob was incumbent.<ref>{{cite web\|last1=Dunning\|first1=Robert\|title='Woolavington', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8, the Poldens and the Levels\|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol8/pp210-223\|website=British History Online\|publisher=Victoria County Histories\|accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref> His mother was Susanna, daughter of the Reverend James Bond of [[Ashford, Kent]], England.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Shand\|first1=Alexander Innes\|title=General John Jacob Commandant of the Sind Irregular Horse and Founder of Jacobabad\|date=2013\|publisher=Forgotten Books\|page=14\|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/General_John_Jacob_Commandant_of_the_Sind_Irregular_Horse_and_Founder_1000380233}}</ref> He was schooled by his father until he obtained his cadetship to [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]].<ref>Through the good offices of his cousin, Capt William Jacob of the Bombay Artillery in February 1826. His elder brother, Herbert, was then also serving out in India as a new subaltern. HT Lambrick, ''John Jacob of Jacobabad'', reprint, Karachi, 1975, of original edition, p.7</ref> A number of the young cadets there who were his contemporaries, included such famous officers as [[Eldred Pottinger]], [[Robert Cornelis Napier]], [[Henry Marion Durand]], [[Vincent Eyre]] and others.<ref>Lambrick, p.8</ref> He was commissioned into the [[Bombay Artillery]] ([[Bombay Army]]) on his 16th birthday, and subsequently sailed for India in January 1828, never to set foot in England again.

	==Afghan War==		==Afghan War==
Line 45:		Line 45:
	He first saw active service in the summer of 1839 as a subaltern of artillery, the force led by Sir [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane\|John Keane]], sent to invade the [[Upper Sindh]]. He was given command of the [[Sind Horse]] by Sir [[James Outram (British officer)\|James Outram]] in 1841; in 1842 he was additionally placed in political charge of the whole of the Cutchee frontier. He saw his first major action as Brevet Captain at the [[Battle of Miani\|Battle of Meanee]], with the British force sent to conquer Sindh. He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]].		He first saw active service in the summer of 1839 as a subaltern of artillery, the force led by Sir [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane\|John Keane]], sent to invade the [[Upper Sindh]]. He was given command of the [[Sind Horse]] by Sir [[James Outram (British officer)\|James Outram]] in 1841; in 1842 he was additionally placed in political charge of the whole of the Cutchee frontier. He saw his first major action as Brevet Captain at the [[Battle of Miani\|Battle of Meanee]], with the British force sent to conquer Sindh. He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]].

	He set about to recruit a second regiment of Sind Horse, which Napier announced in a letter dated 28 November 1846 would be called Jacob's Horse. As Irregular Cavalry, each regiment had only three European officers, a system that Jacob argued should be extended to all Indian cavalry regiments.<ref name=ondb>{{cite ODNB\|title=Jacob, John (1812–1858)\|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14571/14571\|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14571\|year=~~2022~~}}</ref> Both regiments were absorbed into the Indian Army in 1860 and ultimately became the 35th Sind Horse and the [[36th Jacob's Horse]]. They saw active service in Northern and Central India, [[Persia]] and [[Afghanistan]], and during [[World War I]] in [[Western Front (World War I)\|France]]. They were amalgamated in 1921 and became known as the [[14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse]].		He set about to recruit a second regiment of Sind Horse, which Napier announced in a letter dated 28 November 1846 would be called Jacob's Horse. As Irregular Cavalry, each regiment had only three European officers, a system that Jacob argued should be extended to all Indian cavalry regiments.<ref name=ondb>{{cite ODNB\|title=Jacob, John (1812–1858)\|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14571/14571\|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14571\|year=2004}}</ref> Both regiments were absorbed into the Indian Army in 1860 and ultimately became the 35th Sind Horse and the [[36th Jacob's Horse]]. They saw active service in Northern and Central India, [[Persia]] and [[Afghanistan]], and during [[World War I]] in [[Western Front (World War I)\|France]]. They were amalgamated in 1921 and became known as the [[14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse]].

	==Transforming the Village of Khangarh to City of Jacobabad==		==Transforming the Village of Khangarh to City of Jacobabad==
Line 56:		Line 56:

	==Persian War==		==Persian War==
	At the outbreak of the [[Anglo-Persian War]], Jacob was put in charge of the cavalry and departed for Persia. He was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General,<ref>{{cite web\|title=Papers of Brig-Gen John Jacob, Bombay Artillery 1828-58, Commandant, Scinde Irregular Horse 1841-58, Political Superintendent of Upper Sind 1847-58\|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/b2368afc-856d-430f-9bf2-af0e7962a647\|publisher=National Archives\|accessdate=15 November ~~2022~~}}</ref> and appointed [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom\|Queen Victoria]]. When he arrived at [[Bushire]], General Stalker having suddenly died, Jacob was put in charge of 3000 men. Peace favourable to the British Government having been negotiated, Jacob was left in charge of conducting the evacuation of Bushire.		At the outbreak of the [[Anglo-Persian War]], Jacob was put in charge of the cavalry and departed for Persia. He was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General,<ref>{{cite web\|title=Papers of Brig-Gen John Jacob, Bombay Artillery 1828-58, Commandant, Scinde Irregular Horse 1841-58, Political Superintendent of Upper Sind 1847-58\|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/b2368afc-856d-430f-9bf2-af0e7962a647\|publisher=National Archives\|accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref> and appointed [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom\|Queen Victoria]]. When he arrived at [[Bushire]], General Stalker having suddenly died, Jacob was put in charge of 3000 men. Peace favourable to the British Government having been negotiated, Jacob was left in charge of conducting the evacuation of Bushire.

	A month after the end of hostilities with the Persians, the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]] had broken out; Jacob's Horse remained loyal throughout. He was anxious to return to India, as he had been selected for the command of the Central Indian Army. He was delayed in Bushire on the insistence of the British minister there, and Lord Elphinstone was unable to await his arrival; the command was given to [[Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn\|Sir Hugh Rose]] instead.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Forrest\|first1=George W.\|authorlink=George William Forrest\|title=Sepoy Generals: Wellington to Roberts\|date=2011\|publisher=Cambridge University Press\|isbn=9781108028530\|page=290\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7ZdzWPDFdwC&pg=PA290}}</ref> Jacob returned to Jacobabad where he raised two regiments of infantry. The [[130th Baluchis]] and [[26th Jacob's Mountain Battery]] are named after him. He died of ill health at Jacobabad on 6 December 1858.<ref name=ondb/> He was buried in the town where his grave has been well-maintained by the locals for whom he retains a cult status, and, according to BBC correspondent [[Mark Tully]] locals believed he had saintlike status.<ref>{{cite web\|title='Karachi to the Khyber Pass', Mark Tully\|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3T3ST__jo&index=2&list=PLABjPP_2jYJqDjHXiKcABcEAZS1y5KXQL \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/-b3T3ST__jo \|archive-date=2021-12-22 \|url-status=live\|publisher=BBC \|accessdate=21 April ~~2022~~}}{{cbignore}}</ref>		A month after the end of hostilities with the Persians, the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]] had broken out; Jacob's Horse remained loyal throughout. He was anxious to return to India, as he had been selected for the command of the Central Indian Army. He was delayed in Bushire on the insistence of the British minister there, and Lord Elphinstone was unable to await his arrival; the command was given to [[Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn\|Sir Hugh Rose]] instead.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Forrest\|first1=George W.\|authorlink=George William Forrest\|title=Sepoy Generals: Wellington to Roberts\|date=2011\|publisher=Cambridge University Press\|isbn=9781108028530\|page=290\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7ZdzWPDFdwC&pg=PA290}}</ref> Jacob returned to Jacobabad where he raised two regiments of infantry. The [[130th Baluchis]] and [[26th Jacob's Mountain Battery]] are named after him. He died of ill health at Jacobabad on 6 December 1858.<ref name=ondb/> He was buried in the town where his grave has been well-maintained by the locals for whom he retains a cult status, and, according to BBC correspondent [[Mark Tully]] locals believed he had saintlike status.<ref>{{cite web\|title='Karachi to the Khyber Pass', Mark Tully\|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3T3ST__jo&index=2&list=PLABjPP_2jYJqDjHXiKcABcEAZS1y5KXQL \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/-b3T3ST__jo \|archive-date=2021-12-22 \|url-status=live\|publisher=BBC \|accessdate=21 April 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

	==Legacy==		==Legacy==
Line 64:		Line 64:
	Jacob involved local people in works for the common good. He subdivided tasks and distributed them among families. Jacob noted that he saw men working into the night without orders.<ref name="dawn.com"/> It was local people who took to calling the new settlement "Jekumbad".<ref>{{Cite web \| url=http://odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2013/07/Jacobabad.html \| title=Salman Rashid: The Clock that John Jacob built}}</ref>		Jacob involved local people in works for the common good. He subdivided tasks and distributed them among families. Jacob noted that he saw men working into the night without orders.<ref name="dawn.com"/> It was local people who took to calling the new settlement "Jekumbad".<ref>{{Cite web \| url=http://odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2013/07/Jacobabad.html \| title=Salman Rashid: The Clock that John Jacob built}}</ref>

	Controversy arose over a pamphlet Jacob published, "Letters to a Lady on the Progress of Being", which presented an early version of evolutionary theory. He resisted claims from clergy serving in India that he was attempting to undermine Christian faith. (source The Saturday Review 1858 "General Jacob on the Progress of Being"<ref>{{Cite book \| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpG1CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 \| title=On Society, Religion, and Government\| isbn=9780199585717\| last1=Stephen\| first1=James Fitzjames\| year=~~2022~~}}</ref>		Controversy arose over a pamphlet Jacob published, "Letters to a Lady on the Progress of Being", which presented an early version of evolutionary theory. He resisted claims from clergy serving in India that he was attempting to undermine Christian faith. (source The Saturday Review 1858 "General Jacob on the Progress of Being"<ref>{{Cite book \| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpG1CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 \| title=On Society, Religion, and Government\| isbn=9780199585717\| last1=Stephen\| first1=James Fitzjames\| year=2015}}</ref>

	Not long after Jacob’s death the simple grave turned into a shrine for Muslims and Hindus alike for an oil lamp could be seen burning at its head. This practice, according to Lambrick,<ref name="Lambrick, p. 5, footnote">Lambrick, p. 5, footnote</ref> was discontinued on the orders of the Executive Engineer in the 1930s for the oil from the lamp left a messy stain on the grave. But still, many of the Baloch villagers visit the tomb, pray for the health of an ailing child or for happiness and wealth.		Not long after Jacob’s death the simple grave turned into a shrine for Muslims and Hindus alike for an oil lamp could be seen burning at its head. This practice, according to Lambrick,<ref name="Lambrick, p. 5, footnote">Lambrick, p. 5, footnote</ref> was discontinued on the orders of the Executive Engineer in the 1930s for the oil from the lamp left a messy stain on the grave. But still, many of the Baloch villagers visit the tomb, pray for the health of an ailing child or for happiness and wealth.

Bot at 19:12, 17 October 2022

2022-10-17T19:12:13Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = John Jacob
| honorific_prefix = [[Brigadier-General]]
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Bath|CB]]
| image = JohnJacob NPG 2186a.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = Brigadier General John Jacob, engraving by [[Thomas Lewis Atkinson]], 1859
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1812|1|11}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1858|12|6|1812|1|11}}
| birth_place = [[Woolavington]], Somerset, England
| death_place = [[Jacobabad]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now in [[Pakistan]])
| placeofburial = Jacobabad, British India (now in Pakistan)
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|23px]] [[East India Company]]
| serviceyears = 1828-1858
| rank = Brigadier-General
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands = [[36th Jacob's Horse]]
| battles =
{{plainlist|
*[[First Anglo-Afghan War]]
*[[Anglo-Persian War]]
}}
| battles_label =
| awards =
| relations =
| laterwork =
| signature =
}}
[[Brigadier-General]] '''John Jacob''' [[Order of the Bath|CB]] (11 January 1812 – 6 December 1858) was an officer of the [[British East India Company]] who served in [[British India|colonial India]] for the major portion of his career. He is known for the cavalry regiment called [[36th Jacob's Horse]], and for founding the town of [[Jacobabad]], in modern day [[Pakistan]], where he planned and supervised the transformation of thousands of acres of desert into arable land over the course of twenty years. The scale of progress and prosperity his works brought to the region can be appreciated by comparing those regions' relative prosperity compared to areas which were not under his administrative jurisdiction.<ref name="dawn.com">{{Cite web | url=http://www.dawn.com/news/720466/remembering-general-john-jacob-an-able-administrator-and-a-master-planne |title = Remembering General John Jacob – an able administrator and a master planner|date = 22 May 2022}}</ref>

==Early life==
He was born at [[Woolavington]], in the county of [[Somerset]], England, where his father the Reverend Stephen Long Jacob was incumbent.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dunning|first1=Robert|title='Woolavington', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8, the Poldens and the Levels|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol8/pp210-223|website=British History Online|publisher=Victoria County Histories|accessdate=15 November 2022}}</ref> His mother was Susanna, daughter of the Reverend James Bond of [[Ashford, Kent]], England.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shand|first1=Alexander Innes|title=General John Jacob Commandant of the Sind Irregular Horse and Founder of Jacobabad|date=2013|publisher=Forgotten Books|page=14|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/General_John_Jacob_Commandant_of_the_Sind_Irregular_Horse_and_Founder_1000380233}}</ref> He was schooled by his father until he obtained his cadetship to [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]].<ref>Through the good offices of his cousin, Capt William Jacob of the Bombay Artillery in February 1826. His elder brother, Herbert, was then also serving out in India as a new subaltern. HT Lambrick, ''John Jacob of Jacobabad'', reprint, Karachi, 1975, of original edition, p.7</ref> A number of the young cadets there who were his contemporaries, included such famous officers as [[Eldred Pottinger]], [[Robert Cornelis Napier]], [[Henry Marion Durand]], [[Vincent Eyre]] and others.<ref>Lambrick, p.8</ref> He was commissioned into the [[Bombay Artillery]] ([[Bombay Army]]) on his 16th birthday, and subsequently sailed for India in January 1828, never to set foot in England again.

==Afghan War==
[[File:JohnJacobAtTauntonShireHall.jpg|thumb|200px|''Brigadier General John Jacob, CB.'' Marble bust at Taunton Shire Hall]]
After seven years employed with his regiment, he was then employed as subordinate to the collector of [[Gujarat]]. In 1838 he was ordered to [[History of Sindh|Sind]] with the [[Bombay]] column, to join the army of the [[Indus]] at the outbreak of the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]].

He first saw active service in the summer of 1839 as a subaltern of artillery, the force led by Sir [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane|John Keane]], sent to invade the [[Upper Sindh]]. He was given command of the [[Sind Horse]] by Sir [[James Outram (British officer)|James Outram]] in 1841; in 1842 he was additionally placed in political charge of the whole of the Cutchee frontier. He saw his first major action as Brevet Captain at the [[Battle of Miani|Battle of Meanee]], with the British force sent to conquer Sindh. He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]].

He set about to recruit a second regiment of Sind Horse, which Napier announced in a letter dated 28 November 1846 would be called Jacob's Horse. As Irregular Cavalry, each regiment had only three European officers, a system that Jacob argued should be extended to all Indian cavalry regiments.<ref name=ondb>{{cite ODNB|title=Jacob, John (1812–1858)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14571/14571|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14571|year=2022}}</ref> Both regiments were absorbed into the Indian Army in 1860 and ultimately became the 35th Sind Horse and the [[36th Jacob's Horse]]. They saw active service in Northern and Central India, [[Persia]] and [[Afghanistan]], and during [[World War I]] in [[Western Front (World War I)|France]]. They were amalgamated in 1921 and became known as the [[14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse]].

==Transforming the Village of Khangarh to City of Jacobabad==
In 1847 Jacob was placed in political charge of the frontier and established his headquarters at Khangurh. At the time he set foot on there, the area was known as Upper Sind 'desert', littered with marauders who looted for living. At the first place he restored peace in the area by thoroughly defeating the predator tribes. Then he started building infrastructure for the town, (at the village of Khangurh and its surroundings). Being an architect and an engineer himself, he designed and then executed the plans of laying a wide road network around the town that measured a good 600 miles (965 km). In that he resolved the problem of unavailability of potable water for the residents by excavating a tank that contained water brought from Indus through a canal. His biggest and most important feat was the excavation of Begaree Canal, originating from Guddu barrage on river Indus, going round the district irrigating thousands of acres of land previously uncultivated, thereby providing means of living to thousands of people.<ref name="dawn.com"/>

==As a Military Engineer==
He wrote many pamphlets which were critical of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] as it then was, and got him into trouble with the Government in London. He was a scientist and inventor, developing an exploding bullet,<ref name=ondb/> or shell, that fired combustibles up to {{convert|6|mi}}. He believed this would revolutionize the art of war. Two good riflemen could, in his opinion, annihilate the best battery of field artillery in 10 minutes. Further experiments made it possible to fire shells up to a range of 14 miles. More importantly, he designed a four grooved rifle and had various experimental guns manufactured in London by leading gunsmiths, and at his expense.

In April 1855 he was gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel.<ref name=ondb/> In 1856, due to Sir Bartle Frere's poor health, he taking leave in England, Jacob was pronounced Acting Commissioner in Sind.<ref name=ondb/>

==Persian War==
At the outbreak of the [[Anglo-Persian War]], Jacob was put in charge of the cavalry and departed for Persia. He was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General,<ref>{{cite web|title=Papers of Brig-Gen John Jacob, Bombay Artillery 1828-58, Commandant, Scinde Irregular Horse 1841-58, Political Superintendent of Upper Sind 1847-58|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/b2368afc-856d-430f-9bf2-af0e7962a647|publisher=National Archives|accessdate=15 November 2022}}</ref> and appointed [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]. When he arrived at [[Bushire]], General Stalker having suddenly died, Jacob was put in charge of 3000 men. Peace favourable to the British Government having been negotiated, Jacob was left in charge of conducting the evacuation of Bushire.

A month after the end of hostilities with the Persians, the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]] had broken out; Jacob's Horse remained loyal throughout. He was anxious to return to India, as he had been selected for the command of the Central Indian Army. He was delayed in Bushire on the insistence of the British minister there, and Lord Elphinstone was unable to await his arrival; the command was given to [[Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn|Sir Hugh Rose]] instead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Forrest|first1=George W.|authorlink=George William Forrest|title=Sepoy Generals: Wellington to Roberts|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108028530|page=290|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7ZdzWPDFdwC&pg=PA290}}</ref> Jacob returned to Jacobabad where he raised two regiments of infantry. The [[130th Baluchis]] and [[26th Jacob's Mountain Battery]] are named after him. He died of ill health at Jacobabad on 6 December 1858.<ref name=ondb/> He was buried in the town where his grave has been well-maintained by the locals for whom he retains a cult status, and, according to BBC correspondent [[Mark Tully]] locals believed he had saintlike status.<ref>{{cite web|title='Karachi to the Khyber Pass', Mark Tully|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3T3ST__jo&index=2&list=PLABjPP_2jYJqDjHXiKcABcEAZS1y5KXQL |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/-b3T3ST__jo |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|publisher=BBC |accessdate=21 April 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Mausoleum of John Jacob.jpg|thumb|Mausoleum of John Jacob]]
Jacob involved local people in works for the common good. He subdivided tasks and distributed them among families. Jacob noted that he saw men working into the night without orders.<ref name="dawn.com"/> It was local people who took to calling the new settlement "Jekumbad".<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2013/07/Jacobabad.html | title=Salman Rashid: The Clock that John Jacob built}}</ref>

Controversy arose over a pamphlet Jacob published, "Letters to a Lady on the Progress of Being", which presented an early version of evolutionary theory. He resisted claims from clergy serving in India that he was attempting to undermine Christian faith. (source The Saturday Review 1858 "General Jacob on the Progress of Being"<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpG1CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 | title=On Society, Religion, and Government| isbn=9780199585717| last1=Stephen| first1=James Fitzjames| year=2022}}</ref>

Not long after Jacob’s death the simple grave turned into a shrine for Muslims and Hindus alike for an oil lamp could be seen burning at its head. This practice, according to Lambrick,<ref name="Lambrick, p. 5, footnote">Lambrick, p. 5, footnote</ref> was discontinued on the orders of the Executive Engineer in the 1930s for the oil from the lamp left a messy stain on the grave. But still, many of the Baloch villagers visit the tomb, pray for the health of an ailing child or for happiness and wealth.

Among his collateral descendants were Lt. Gen. Sir [[Ian Jacob]], KBE, CB, a former Director-General of the [[BBC]], Prof. [[E. F. Jacob]], a historian; and Doctor [[Gordon Jacob]], the composer.<ref name="Lambrick, p. 5, footnote"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Alexander Innes Shand]], ''Brigadier General John Jacob C.B.,'' Seeley and Co, London, 1900
*[[Hugh Trevor Lambrick]], ''John Jacob of Jacobabad'', Cassel and Co, London, 1960
*Kenneth W. Jacob, ''Brigadier General John Jacob of Jacobabad'', Family History, Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Vol 20, No 163, April 2000.
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Jacob, John|volume=29 |short=x}}
*Alaric Jacob, ''Scenes from a Bourgeois Life'', Secker & Warburg 1949.
*Major John Jacob, 'Remarks on the Native Troops of the Indian Army', Times Press, Bombay, 1854.
*{{cite book |first=H.M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |pages=438–40 |ol=23336661M }}

==External links==
*[http://www.myjacobfamily.com/favershamjacobs/johnjacob1.htm Images of John Jacob, Jacobabad and Jacob's Horse]. Accessed 28 March 2006
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Jacob, John |short=x}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, John}}
[[Category:1812 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sedgemoor (district)]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:Bombay Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Jacobabad District]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Anglo-Persian War]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]