Colin Mackenzie

Who was Colin Mackenzie?

Colonel Colin Mackenzie was Surveyor General of India, and an art collector and orientalist. He produced many of the first accurate maps of India, and his research and collections contributed significantly to the field of Asian studies.

Mackenzie was born in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, the son of merchant Murdoch Mackenzie.

He began his career as a customs officer in Stornoway, but at age 28, joined the British East India Company as an officer in the engineers. In 1799, he was part of the British force in the Battle of Seringapatam, where Tipu Sultan, Maharaja of Mysore was defeated by the British. He led the Mysore survey between 1800 and 1810. The survey consisted of a team of draftsmen and illustrators who collected material on the natural history, geography, architecture, history, customs, and folk tales of the region.

He later spent two years in Java, during the period of British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1815 he was appointed the first Surveyor General of India, a position he held until his death.

He used his military career and salary to support his research into the history, religion, philosophy, ethnology, folklore, art, and mathematics of India and Java. He hired learned Brahmins to assist him with surveys and translations of manuscripts. He researched Indian mathematics and India's system of logarithms.