Today the ODNB LIFE OF THE DAY has published the life of Colin Mackenzie, which will be online for free viewing for the next seven days, at http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/lotw/2008-05-08 -------- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Some highlights: Mackenzie, Colin (1753-1821), military engineer and surveyor, was born at Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides. Little is known of his early life. Mackenzie was appointed comptroller of customs in Lewis, but took leave (to January 1783), seeking service in India. He was appointed ensign in the East India Company's infantry on 16 May 1783 and almost at once transferred to the engineers. He was promoted lieutenant (1789), captain (1793), major (1806), brevet lieutenant-colonel (1809), regimental lieutenant-colonel (1810), and full colonel (1819). After surveying in Dindigul (1784) and Nellore (1787), in 1788 Mackenzie conducted a survey of roads across a large tract of the northern Carnatic, at his own expense. In 1798-9, in the last war against Mysore, Mackenzie's knowledge of the country, plus his advance surveying, quickened the Hyderabad army's long march to join Arthur Wellesley. At Seringapatam a near ambush cemented his friendship with Wellesley, who claimed he 'never saw a more zealous, a more diligent, or a more useful officer'. Mackenzie's 'bravery and sangfroid in action were proverbial', and his engineering played a crucial part in the defeat of Tipu Sultan. Mackenzie held a sinecure in Madras, to arrange and analyse his materials and prepare maps and reports (1808), and was appointed Madras surveyor- general in 1810, with overall control despite a disagreement over military surveying with the quartermaster-general, Valentine Blacker. in 1815 was appointed surveyor-general of India. Mackenzie's concerns with surveying in depth and with history and religion, and his lack of Indian languages, brought him into close contact with Indian informants and collaborators. Although he produced historical memoirs, catalogues, notes, drawings, and paintings, Mackenzie and his collaborators did not publish much. Among others, Arrowsmith's Atlas (1822), and that of John Walker (1825), incorporated Mackenzie's work. His chief contributions were the preservation of materials, and the development of the survey as an important institution of government. ===============================