Burnes, SIR ALEXANDER

Burnes, SIR ALEXANDER, was born in 1805 at Montrose, in Forfarshire, where his father was provost. (The provost's father was the cousin of Robert Burns). In 1821 he entered the Indian army, and his knowledge of oriental languages gained him rapid promotion. After performing some important missions for the Indian government, he was, at his own suggestion, sent on a twelve-months' expedition into Central Asia. Starting from Lahore in 1832, and adopting the Afghan dress, he passed through Peshawur and Kabul, and crossed the Indian Caucasus to Balkh. Thence he passed on to Bokhara, Astrabad, and Teheran, and journeying through Isphahan and Shiraz, reached Bushire on the Persian Gulf, whence he embarked for India. On his return to England in 1833, he was received with high honours; and in September 1839, having previously been knighted and promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, he was appointed political resident at Kabul, where he was murdered by the Afghan mob, 2d November 1841. See his Travels into Bokhara (1834), and Kabul (1842); and Kaye's Lives of Indian Officers (1869).