Dictionary of Indian Biography/Crawfurd, John
CRAWFURD, JOHN (1783–1868)
Son of Samuel Crawfurd : born Aug. 13, 1783 : educated at Bowmore, and in medicine at Edinburgh : from 1803, served as an Army medical officer, for 5 years, chiefly in Upper India : transferred to Penang : studied the Malays : was with Lord Minto in the expedition to Java, 1811 : employed in diplomatic offices there, 1811–7 : wrote a History of the Indian Archipelago, 1820 : sent, in 1821, as Envoy to Siam and Cochin China : administered the Government of Singapore, 1823–6 : Commissioner of Pegu, 1826 : Envoy to the Court of Ava : retired to England, 1827 : wrote narratives of his missions, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language, 1852 : A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and adjacent Countries, 1856 : also, papers on ethnology for scientific journals : took an active part in Geographical and Ethnological Societies : was an unrivalled authority on the Eastern Archipelago : died May 11, 1868.