Dictionary of Indian Biography/Collins, John

by Charles Edward Buckland

Layout 2

COLLINS, JOHN ( ? –1807)

Colonel : joined the E. I. Co.'s Bengal Infantry, 1770 : Major in 1794 : appointed Resident at the Court of Daulat Rao Sindia (q.v.), 1795–1803, but, though he had much power over him, failed to dissuade him from fighting against the English : Collins, therefore, in 1803 left Sindia, who was defeated at Assaye and Argaum in that year. Collins was also sent on a mission to Jaipur in 1799. After the Mahratta war, Collins was Resident at Lucknow, at the Court of the Nawab Wazir, and died there June 11, 1807. He was called "King Collins," and is described as "cold, imperious, and over-bearing," so that Metcalfe (q.v.) declined to remain under him.