William Muir facts for kids
Sir William Muir KCSI (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Provinces of British India.
Life
He was born at Glasgow the son of William Muir (1783–1820),a merchant, and Helen Macfie (1784–1866). His older brother was John Muir, the Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He was educated at Kilmarnock Academy, the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Haileybury College. In 1837 he entered the Bengal civil service. Muir served as secretary to the governor of the North-West Provinces, and as a member of the Agra revenue board, and during the Mutiny he was in charge of the intelligence department there. In 1865 he was made foreign secretary to the Indian Government. In 1867 Muir was knighted (K.C.S.I.), and in 1868 he became lieutenant-governor of the North Western Provinces.
Having been criticised for the poor relief effort during the Orissa famine of 1866, the British began to discuss famine policy, and in 1868 Muir issued an order stating that:
... every District officer would be held personally responsible that no deaths occurred from starvation which could have been avoided by any exertion or arrangement on his part or that of his subordinates.
In 1874 Muir was appointed financial member of the Viceroy's Council, and retired in 1876, when he became a member of the Council of India in London. James Thomason served as Muir's mentor with respect to Imperial administration; Muir later wrote an influential biography of Thomason.
Muir had always taken an interest in educational matters, and it was chiefly through his exertions that the central college at Allahabad, known as Muir Central College, was built and endowed. Muir College later became a part of the University of Allahabad. In 1884 Muir was elected president of the Royal Asiatic Society. In 1885 he was elected principal of the University of Edinburgh in succession to Sir Alexander Grant, and held the post till 1903, when he retired.
On 7 February 1840, he married Elizabeth Huntly (1822–1897), daughter of James Wemyss, collector of Cawnpore, and together they had 15 children. He died in Edinburgh, and is buried in Dean Cemetery. The grave lies in the concealed lower southern terrace.
Statuary
A marble statue by George Blackall Simmonds was erected in his honour and unveiled by the then Viceroy of India at the opening of Muir College on 8 April 1886, and was still there in 2012. Another was proposed for the Muslim college, but due to opposition the scheme was dropped.
Family
He was the brother of the indologist John Muir. He married Elizabeth Huntly Wemyss in 1840 (died 1897), and had five sons and six daughters; four of his sons served in India, and one of them, Colonel A. M. Muir (died 1899), was Political Officer for South Baluchistan, and was acting British Resident in Nepal when he died. One daughter, Jane, married Colonel Andrew Wauchope and lived at Edinburgh Castle. One of his son-in-laws was the civil servant William Henry Lowe.
See also
- Orientalism
- Origin and development of the Qur'an
