Thomas Munro
Sir Thomas Munro (
27 May,
1761-
6 July,
1827),
Scottish soldier and statesman, was born at
Glasgow, the son of a merchant. Educated at the
University of Glasgow, he was at first intended to enter his father's business, but in
1789 was appointed to an infantry cadetship in
Madras.
He served with his regiment during the hard-fought war against
Haidar Ali (1780-1783), and again in the first campaign against
Tipu Sultan (1790-1792). He was then chosen as one of four military officers to administer the
Baramahal, part of the territory acquired from Tipu, where he remained for seven years learning the principles of revenue survey and assessment whicl he afterwards applied throughout the presidency of Madras.
After the final downfall of Tipu in 1799, he spent a short tim restoring order in
Kanara; and then for another seven year (1800-1807), he was placed in charge of the northern district "ceded" by the
Nizam of
Hyderabad, where he introduce the
ryotwari system of land revenue.
After a long furlough in the
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, during which he gave valuable evidence upon matters connected with the renewal of the
British East India Company's charter, he returned to Madras in 1814 with special instructions to reform he judicial and police systems.
On the outbreak of the
Pindari War in 1817, he was appointed as brigadier-general to command he reserve division formed to reduce the southern territories of the
Peshwa. Of his signal services on this occasion Canning said in the
House of Commons: "He went into the field with not more than five or six hundred men, of whom a very small proportion were
Europeans.... Nine forts were surrendered to him or taken by assault on his way; and at the end of a silent and scarcely observed progress he emerged... leaving everything secure and tranquil behind him."
In 1820, he was appointed governor of Madras, where he founded the systems of revenue assessment and general administration which substantially emain to the present day. His official minutes, published by Sir A. Arbuthnot, form a manual of experience and advice for the modern civilian. He died of
cholera while on tour in the "ceded" districts, where his name is preserved by more than one memorial. An equestrian statue of him, by
Francis Legatt Chantrey, stands in Madras city.
