John Crawfurd

John Crawfurd ( born August 13, 1783 Islay, Scotland, † May 11 1868 in London) was a Scottish Orientalist and anthropologist.

Life and work

Crawfurd studied at University of Edinburgh Medical and lived 1803-1808 in the north-western provinces of the East Indies. In 1808 he went to Penang and 1811 to Java, where he stayed until 1817. He then returned to Great Britain.

In 1821 he came for the second time to India, visited Siam and Cochin China. When he in the Gulf of Thailand at Pak Nam, Samut Prakan, arrived at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, he was his first trip, as with all ships usual, the reason interviewed. The purpose was to find out how important and what honor the passengers should be received in Bangkok. Crawfurd and his company felt the questioning apparently as impertinent and only gave an evasive answer, which was in turn evaluated by the Siamese as a ominous sign. He was also asked about the nature and value of his gifts, what he also felt was inappropriate and greedy. For the Siamese, the survey was important because they could report so what gifts should actually go to the court in Bangkok, and were able to detect any embezzlement on the way there. Crawfurds restraint and lack of openness in these matters ultimately led to the failure of his mission in Siam.

1823 one made him governor of Singapore in 1826 to a commissionaire in Pegu and envoys at the court of Burma. In 1827 he returned to Britain.

In the UK, Crawfurd depth absorbed in his studies. He died on 11 May 1868 in London.

Works

• History of the Indian Archipelago. 3 vols Edinburgh ( 1820)
• Journal of an Embassy to the Court of Ava. London (1829 passim )
• Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China. 2 vols ( 2nd ed London 1830), by David K. Wyatt one of the few works that convey as eyewitnesses report also scientific soundness
• Grammar and dictionary of the Malay language. 2 vols London ( 1852)
• Descriptive dictionary of the Indian islands and Adjacent countries. London ( 1856)