Alfred Comyn Lyall

Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall GCIE KCB PC (4 January 1835 – 11 April 1911) was a British civil servant, literary historian and poet.

He was born at Coulsdon in Surrey, the second son of Alfred Lyall and Mary Drummond Broadwood, daughter of James Shudi Broadwood. He was educated at Eton. His elder brother was already serving with the military in India, and this may have influenced him towards a career in that direction. He attended Haileybury College with that purpose in mind. In 1862 he married Cora Cloete, daughter of Peter Cloete. He died while on a sojourn to Fairford, the home of Tennyson in Freshwater, Isle of Wight.

After Eton and Haileybury, he joined the Indian Civil Service in 1856, and served a long career in India. He landed at Calcutta in January 1856. After four months of training he was posted as an Assistant Magistrate at Bulandshahr in Doab, a part of the North-West Provinces. He was there when the Indian Rebellion of 1857 occurred: his house was burned down and he was nearly killed when fleeing as his horse was shot from under him. He joined the Khaki Risala of Volunteers, an irregular European cavalry unit. He helped "pacify" Bulandshahr. In May 1858 he was transferred to Shahjehanpur where he helped "restore order". In April 1861 he returned to England for about eighteen months. On his return to India he was appointed Assistant Magistrate at Agra. In 1864 he was appointed District Manager of Nagpur at Hoshungabad in the Central Provinces, before being appointed Commissioner in Berar in 1867. He was now earning £3000 a year. He went on to become Home Secretary to the Government of India in 1873 and the Governor-General's agent in the state of Rajputana the following year. His next post was as Foreign Secretary to Government of India from 1878 to 1881 (during this period he helped negotiate peace and a monarchy in Afghanistan). He was then appointed Lieutenant-Governor of North West Provinces, and Chief Commissioner of Oudh (North-West Provinces) from 1882 to 1887 (he introduced a degree of local self-government to that area). He also founded the University of Allahabad and became its first Chancellor. He was made an honorary fellow of King's College, Cambridge in 1893. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1902, having served on the India Council from 1888 to 1902.

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