Dictionary of Indian Biography/Abbott, Sir James
ABBOTT, SIR JAMES (1807–1896)
Brother of Sir F. Abbott: born March 12, 1807: educated at Blackheath and Addiscombe: entered the Royal Artillery in 1823: arrived in India, 1823: served at Bhartpur, 1825–6: in the Revenue Survey: with the Army of the Indus in 1838–9, to Kandahar: in 1839, with D' Arcy Todd to Herat, and sent by him to Khiva to negotiate with the Khan for the release of Russian captives held by him: on the Khan's behalf crossed the Caspian, and went to St. Petersburg and on to England, 1840: after some political employ, he was Commissioner of Hazara from 1845 to 1853, and held the country against the Sikhs in the second Sikh War, 1848–9: his name is preserved in the town of Abbottabad; commanded a column in the Black Mountain expedition, 1852: C. B., 1873: K. C. B., 1894: General, 1877: retired from the Army, 1879: died Oct. 6, 1896. He was also "a poet, antiquarian, and man of letters;" wrote a Narrative of a Journey from Herat to Khiva, Moscow and St.Petersburg, etc., and about Alexander the Great in the Panjab, etc.