Major-General Charles Stuart
| Charles Stuart | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hindoo Stuart |
| Born |
c. 1758 Kingdom of Ireland |
| Died | 31 March 1828 Calcutta, British India |
| Buried at | South Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta |
| Allegiance |
British Empire British India |
| Rank | Major General |
| Relations |
Thomas Smyth (politician) Robert Stuart (British Army officer) James Stuart (artist) |
Charles Stuart (c. 1758–31 March 1828) was an officer in the East India Company Army and is well known for being one of the few British officers to embrace Hindu culture while stationed there, earning the nickname Hindoo Stuart.
Stuart was allegedly the son of Thomas Smyth, Mayor of Limerick and MP for Limerick City. His grandparents were Charles Smyth (1694–1783), also MP for Limerick, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet.
His nephews included the diplomat Robert Stuart and the naturalist and surgeon James Stuart, and his great-nephew was the clergyman and footballer Robert King.
In his teens, Stuart left Ireland for India, where he remained for the rest of his life, embracing the Hindu culture and eventually earning his nickname. Starting as a cadet, he rose through the ranks to become a Major-General. His last command was the Saugor Field Force.
V. C. P. Hodson's biography of Stuart mentions that he "had studied the language, manners and customs of the natives of this country with so much enthusiasm, his intimacy with them ... obtained for him the name of Hindoo Stuart".
He is mentioned in William Dalrymple's book White Mughals (2002). Stuart adopted several Hindu customs, including bathing in the Ganges at Calcutta every morning, amassing a collection of deities as well as Indian clothes. He even encouraged European ladies in India to adopt the sari (through "frequent and vigorous" contributions to the daily Calcutta Telegraph in the year 1800) and Indian sepoys to wear full mustaches on parade. His commander-in-chief "ticked him off" due to his partiality towards sepoys sporting "Rajput mustaches or brightly colored caste marks on their foreheads".
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