Streynsham Master | |
|---|---|
_(attributed_to)_-_Sir_Streynsham_Master_-_NPG_6107_-_National_Portrait_Gallery.jpg) | |
| Agent of Madras | |
| In office 27 January 1678 – 3 July 1681 | |
| Preceded by | Sir William Langhorne |
| Succeeded by | William Gyfford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 October 1640 Langdon, Kent, England |
| Died | 28 April 1724 (aged 83) Lancashire, England |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Leigh |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | Colonial administrator |
| Signature |  |
Sir Streynsham Master (28 October 1640 – 28 April 1724) was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, and is credited with having introduced the first administrative reforms in the Madras Government. He banned sati and prohibited the burning of a Hindu widow in 1680 in what is the first official British response to sati.[1][2][3][4] He made English the sole official language and language of court in the Madras Presidency, replacing the Portuguese, Tamil and Malayalam languages.[5][6]
Returning to England, in 1692 he bought the Codnor Castle estate and for the rest of his life divided his time between Derbyshire and London.
- ^ John Stratton Hawley (8 September 1994). Sati, the Blessing and the Curse: The Burning of Wives in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-19-536022-6. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ S. Muthiah (2008). Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India. Palaniappa Brothers. pp. 444–. ISBN 978-81-8379-468-8. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ Mariadas Ruthnaswamy (1939). Some Influences that Made the British Administrative System in India. Luzac & Company. p. 617. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ Philip J. Stern (29 November 2012). The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-0-19-993036-4. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ Criminal Justice India Series: Tamil Nadu, 2003. Allied Publishers. 2002. pp. 224–. ISBN 978-81-7764-519-4.
- ^ Kulshreshtha, Visheshwar Dayal (1975). Landmarks in Indian legal and constitutional history. p. 46. Retrieved 4 May 2018.