H. E. M. James

Sir Henry Evan Murchison James, KCIE, CSI (1846–1923) was part of the Indian Civil Service from 1865 to 1900.

He was the Commissioner in Sind from 1891 to 1900.^[1]

Official duties

He formally opened Dayaram Jethmal Sind College on October 15, 1893 in Karachi.^[2]

After stepping down as Commissioner, he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the 1901 New Year Honours List.^[3]

Travel to China

In 1886-1887 H. E. M. James used a two-year leave to travel to China. Together with two younger Brits, the officer Francis Younghusband and the diplomat Harry English Fulford, he explored Manchuria, travelling through the frontier areas of Chinese settlement in the region and to the Changbai Mountains. He published his travel notes, and a solid dose of background information, in a book, The Long White Mountain, or, A journey in Manchuria....^[4] Over a century later, the factual material contained in a work still served as a major source for the historians of the region.^[5]

Named after

The town of Jamesabad in Thar and Parker District of Sind was named after him.

External links

References

1. Rulers
2. J.W. Smyth, Gazetteer of the Province of Sind B Vol 1 Karachi District, Government Central Press, Bombay 1919. Reprinted by Pakistan Herald Publications Ltd, Karachi Pg 41
3. The London Gazette: no. 27261. p. 2. 1 January 1901.
4. James, Sir Henry Evan Murchison (1888), The Long White Mountain, or, A journey in Manchuria: with some account of the history, people, administration and religion of that country, Longmans, Green, and Co.
5. Reardon-Anderson, James (2005), Reluctant Pioneers: China's Expansion Northward, 1644-1937, Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0804751676. See numerous citations of Henry James' work throughout this book.