John Stuart Donald

Who was John Stuart Donald?

John Stewart Donald was born on 1 September 1861 at Ferozepore, India, the son of Alexander John Stewart Donald and Suzanna Briten Hilliard. He was educated at Bishop Cotton School in Simla and in 1882 he joined the Punjab Provincial Civil Service. During the first seven years he was engaged in magisterial and executive duties but his talents were soon recognised and in 1889 he was appointed assistant to Sir Robert Sandeman who at that time was opening up communications with Baluchistan, Waziristan and the Punjab. In 1890 he was put in charge of the newly opened Gomal Pass in South Waziristan and in the autumn of that year was attached to the Shirani Field Force of the Zhob Expedition which earned him a "Mention in Despatches". In recognition of his services he was appointed to the Imperial Civil Service. In August 1893 he accompanied Sir H. Mortimer Durand on a mission to Kabul for negotiations with the Emir of Afghanistan on the Afghan-India border dispute. For this work he was awarded the C.I.E. and given the Afghan decoration Izzat-i-Afghaniand a ceremonial sword by the Emir.

John Stewart Donald had a flair for languages which undoubtedly helped his career. Apart from the Punjabi of his birthplace he was also fluent in Pashtu-Waziri and other dialects. This enabled him to speak and negotiate directly with tribal leaders which proved to be beneficial in establishing many favourable relationships. During 1897 -97 he spent a year in Moscow studying the Russian language and then went to London and qualified as an interpreter at the civil service examinations in London.