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{{Use dmy dates|date= | {{Short description|British civil servant (1793–1841)}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} | |||
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}} | {{Use British English|date=April 2012}} | ||
[[File:William Hay Macnaghten.jpg|thumb | [[File:William Hay Macnaghten.jpg|thumb|A painting commissioned in the last year of Macnaghten's life, by [[James Atkinson (Persian scholar)|James Atkinson]]]]'''Sir William Hay Macnaghten, 1st Baronet''' (24 August 1793{{snd}}23 December 1841), was a British [[civil servant]] in [[British Raj|India]], who played a major part in the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]]. | ||
==Life== | ==Life== | ||
William was the second son of [[Sir Francis Macnaghten]] | William was the second son of [[Sir Francis Macnaghten, 1st Baronet]], judge of the supreme courts of Madras and Calcutta, and was educated at [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]]. He went to Madras as a cadet in 1809, but in 1816 joined the [[Bengal Civil Service]]. He displayed a talent for languages and published several treatises on [[Hindu law|Hindu]] and [[Sharia|Islamic law]]. His political career began in 1830 as secretary to [[Lord William Bentinck]]; and, in 1837, he became one of the most trusted advisers of the governor-general, [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Auckland]], with whose policy of supporting [[Shah Shujah Durrani|Shah Shujah]] against [[Dost Mahommed Khan]], the reigning Amir of Kabul, Macnaghten became closely identified.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=264}} | ||
He was created a baronet in 1840, and four months before his death was nominated to the governorship of | He was created a baronet in 1840, and four months before his death was nominated to the governorship of Bombay.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=265}} | ||
[[File:Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Cabul prisoners, and other subjects (BM 1970,0527.2.3).jpg|thumb|Portrait of Macnaghten from ''Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the | |||
Macnaghten tried to save the situation by negotiating with the Afghan chiefs and, independently of them, with Dost Mahammad's son, [[Wazir Akbar Khan | As the British Envoy and Political Agent in Kabul, he came into conflict with the British military authorities and subsequently with his subordinate Sir [[Alexander Burnes]]. Macnaghten attempted to placate the Afghan chiefs with heavy subsidies, but when the drain on the Indian [[exchequer]] became too great, and the allowances were reduced, this policy precipitated a disastrous collapse in relations between the British and Afghans. Burnes was murdered on 2 November 1841; and under the elderly General [[William George Keith Elphinstone|William Elphinstone]], who was also injured in a bad fall from his horse, the morale and confidence of the British/Indian army in Kabul drastically deteriorated.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Dalrymple|pages=338–339|title=Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan|date=January 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4088-3159-5}}</ref> {{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=264–265}} | ||
[[File:Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Cabul prisoners, and other subjects (BM 1970,0527.2.3).jpg|thumb|Portrait of Macnaghten from ''Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Kabul prisoners, and other subjects'' by [[Vincent Eyre]]|alt=]] | |||
Macnaghten tried to save the situation by negotiating with the Afghan chiefs and, independently of them, with Dost Mahammad's son, [[Wazir Akbar Khan]]. At a meeting with Wazir Akbar Khan outside Kabul on 23 December 1841, Macnaghten presented Wazir Akbar Khan with a fine pair of pistols as a gesture of friendship and good faith. However, Wazir Akbar Khan murdered Macnaghten on the spot.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=265}} The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. Wazir Akbar Khan may have killed Macnaghten with one of the very pistols that he had just been gifted by Macnaghten, or Macnaghten may have been killed because he was resisting after being captured and it was feared he would break free. The former account is more likely to be true.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hopkirk|first1=Peter|title=The Great Game|page=256}}</ref> | |||
The eviction of the British army soon became an inspirational story among the Afghans, with the disastrous retreat from Kabul and the [[Massacre of Elphinstone's army]] in the Khurd-Kabul Pass following. The entire calamitous episode cast the gravest doubt on Macnaghten's capacity for dealing with the problems of colonial diplomacy.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=265}} | |||
==Works== | |||
Macnaghten produced one of the principal editions of the ''[[Thousand and One Nights]]'', known as the ''Calcutta II'' edition.<ref>''[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009733325 The Alif Laila or, Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Commonly Known as 'The Arabian Nights' Entertainments', Now, for the First Time, Published Complete in the Original Arabic, from an Egyptian Manuscript Brought to India by the Late Major Turner Macan]'', ed. by W. H. Macnaghten, vol. 4 (Calcutta: Thacker, 1839–42).</ref> | |||
== Appearances in fiction == | == Appearances in fiction == | ||
Macnaghten appears in the first volume of the '' | {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}} | ||
Macnaghten appears in the first volume of the ''Flashman Papers'', being depicted as ambitious, arrogant and a [[wiktionary:megalomaniac|megalomaniac]]. | |||
He also appears in ''To Herat and | He also appears in ''To Herat and Kabul'' by [[G. A. Henty]]. He is pictured as a brave man, but clueless about Afghan politics. Henty places the blame for convincing [[Lord Auckland]], the Governor-General of India, to place Shuja on the throne squarely on his shoulders. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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{{wikisource|Principles of Mohammadan Law}} | {{wikisource|Principles of Mohammadan Law}} | ||
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Macnaghten, Sir William Hay|volume=17|pages=264–265}} | * {{EB1911|wstitle=Macnaghten, Sir William Hay|volume=17|pages=264–265}} | ||
* {{cite | * {{cite ODNB|first=Katherine|last=Prior|title=Macnaghten, Sir William Hay, baronet (1793–1841)|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/17705 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17705|access-date=2006-08-03}} | ||
{{s-start}} | {{s-start}} | ||
{{s-reg|uk-bt}} | {{s-reg|uk-bt}} | ||
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[[Category:1841 deaths]] | [[Category:1841 deaths]] | ||
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]] | [[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Macnaghten baronets|201]] | ||
[[Category:British people of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | [[Category:British people of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | ||
[[Category:People of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | [[Category:People of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | ||
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[[Category:Administrators in British India]] | [[Category:Administrators in British India]] | ||
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | [[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:British people of the Great Game]] | ||
[[Category:Clan Macnaghten|William]] | |||
[[Category:19th-century British diplomats]] | [[Category:19th-century British diplomats]] | ||
[[Category:People assassinated in the 19th century]] | |||
Latest revision as of 19:26, 19 March 2025
Sir William Hay Macnaghten, 1st Baronet (24 August 1793 – 23 December 1841), was a British civil servant in India, who played a major part in the First Anglo-Afghan War.
Life[edit | edit source]
William was the second son of Sir Francis Macnaghten, 1st Baronet, judge of the supreme courts of Madras and Calcutta, and was educated at Charterhouse. He went to Madras as a cadet in 1809, but in 1816 joined the Bengal Civil Service. He displayed a talent for languages and published several treatises on Hindu and Islamic law. His political career began in 1830 as secretary to Lord William Bentinck; and, in 1837, he became one of the most trusted advisers of the governor-general, Lord Auckland, with whose policy of supporting Shah Shujah against Dost Mahommed Khan, the reigning Amir of Kabul, Macnaghten became closely identified.[1]
He was created a baronet in 1840, and four months before his death was nominated to the governorship of Bombay.[2]
As the British Envoy and Political Agent in Kabul, he came into conflict with the British military authorities and subsequently with his subordinate Sir Alexander Burnes. Macnaghten attempted to placate the Afghan chiefs with heavy subsidies, but when the drain on the Indian exchequer became too great, and the allowances were reduced, this policy precipitated a disastrous collapse in relations between the British and Afghans. Burnes was murdered on 2 November 1841; and under the elderly General William Elphinstone, who was also injured in a bad fall from his horse, the morale and confidence of the British/Indian army in Kabul drastically deteriorated.[3] [4]
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Macnaghten tried to save the situation by negotiating with the Afghan chiefs and, independently of them, with Dost Mahammad's son, Wazir Akbar Khan. At a meeting with Wazir Akbar Khan outside Kabul on 23 December 1841, Macnaghten presented Wazir Akbar Khan with a fine pair of pistols as a gesture of friendship and good faith. However, Wazir Akbar Khan murdered Macnaghten on the spot.[2] The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. Wazir Akbar Khan may have killed Macnaghten with one of the very pistols that he had just been gifted by Macnaghten, or Macnaghten may have been killed because he was resisting after being captured and it was feared he would break free. The former account is more likely to be true.[5]
The eviction of the British army soon became an inspirational story among the Afghans, with the disastrous retreat from Kabul and the Massacre of Elphinstone's army in the Khurd-Kabul Pass following. The entire calamitous episode cast the gravest doubt on Macnaghten's capacity for dealing with the problems of colonial diplomacy.[2]
Works[edit | edit source]
Macnaghten produced one of the principal editions of the Thousand and One Nights, known as the Calcutta II edition.[6]
Appearances in fiction[edit | edit source]
 | This section does not cite any sources. (January 2023) |
Macnaghten appears in the first volume of the Flashman Papers, being depicted as ambitious, arrogant and a megalomaniac.
He also appears in To Herat and Kabul by G. A. Henty. He is pictured as a brave man, but clueless about Afghan politics. Henty places the blame for convincing Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India, to place Shuja on the throne squarely on his shoulders.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Chisholm 1911, p. 264.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chisholm 1911, p. 265.
- ↑ Dalrymple, William (January 2014). Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan. Bloomsbury. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-1-4088-3159-5.
- ↑ Chisholm 1911, pp. 264–265.
- ↑ Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game. p. 256.
- ↑ The Alif Laila or, Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Commonly Known as 'The Arabian Nights' Entertainments', Now, for the First Time, Published Complete in the Original Arabic, from an Egyptian Manuscript Brought to India by the Late Major Turner Macan, ed. by W. H. Macnaghten, vol. 4 (Calcutta: Thacker, 1839–42).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Macnaghten, Sir William Hay". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–265.- Prior, Katherine (2004). "Macnaghten, Sir William Hay, baronet (1793–1841)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17705. Retrieved 3 August 2006. Template:ODNBsub
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Baronet 1840–1841 |
Extinct |