ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>OCHTERLONY SIR DAVID (1758-1825)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="OCHTERLONY,SIR,DAVID,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279OCHTERLONY, SIR DAVID (1758-1825), soldier and diplomat, son of David Ochterlony, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, on 12 February 1758. In 1777, he joined the service of the East India Company as a cadet. He served under Lord Lake in the battle of Delhi and was appointed British resident in 1803 at the court of Sh&#257h '&#256lam, emperor of Hindust&#257n. In 1808, he was the garrison commander at All&#257h&#257b&#257d when he was ordered to advance to the Sutlej with a detachment to meet the Sikh troops in the cis-Sutlej region. From 1809-14 he was agent to the Governor General at the Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 Political Agency. As Resident at Delhi, he implemented the broad principles of Lord Wellesley's earlier policy towards Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and the cis Sutlej Sikhs, which aimed at establishing friendly relations with them and weaning them from Mar&#257&#7789h&#257 influence. He remained active during the Sikh disturbances in the region (1804-05) and recommended to his government to take the Sikh chiefs under its protection.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1809, Ochterlony compiled his well known <i>Report on the Sikh Country</i> which furnished a first-hand statement on the power, revenue and military resources of the cis-Sutlej Sikhs. It referred to the conquests and grants of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh during his three M&#257lv&#257 campaigns and to the ways and means to curtail Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's influence in the cis-Sutlej region. The <i>Report</i> enunciated the broad principles of paramountcy and protection offered to protected chiefs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ochterlony possessed considerable experience of Sikh affairs. But he often overestimated his authority, and failed to establish with the Sikh government the amicability enjoined upon by the treaty of Amritsar. His despatches from Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 exhibited an unreasonable obsession on his part with what he called Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's schemes of expansion.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ochterlony was promoted colonel in January 1812 and in June 1814 he was made major-general. He served in the Nepal war (1814-16) and the Pi&#7751&#7693&#257r&#299 war (1817-18). In 1818, he was appointed Resident in R&#257jp&#363t&#257n&#257. In 1825, he resigned owing to differences with Lord Amherst on the Bharatpur succession issue. He died on 15 July 1825.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Banerjee, A.C., <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations</i>. Calcutta, 1949<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations, 1799-1849</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Buckland, C.E., <i>Dictionary of Indian Biography</i>. London,1906<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">B. J. Hasrat<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>