General Sir James Abbott, KCB (12 March 1807 – 6 October 1896) was an English military officer in the Bengal Army and an administrator in British India.
[4] In November 1838, Abbott served in the army of Sir John Keane, who had been tasked with supporting Shuja Shah Durrani in his bid to wrest power from Dost Mohammad Khan in Afghanistan.
Abbott reached Khiva in late January, a week or so before the Russians were forced to turn back due to an unusually cold winter.
He did agree with the Khivan ruler, Allah Quli Khan, to establish a British agent in Khiva and to travel to Russia to negotiate between the two powers.
[7] Sir Henry Lawrence remarked of him:[8] Made of stuff of the true knight errant, gentle as a girl in thought, word and deed, overflowing with warm affection, and ready at all times to sacrifice himself for his country or his friend.
He is at the same time a brave, scientific and energetic soldier, with a peculiar power for attracting others, especially Asiatics to his person.As part of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore signed after the defeat of the Sikhs in the First Anglo-Sikh War, Hazara and Kashmir were to be transferred to Raja Gulab Singh; Hazara, however, proved an intractable charge and was returned to the Lahore government by Gulab Singh in January 1847, in exchange for Jammu.
[10] During the Second Anglo-Sikh War, cut off from all communication with British troops, and dependent upon his own resources, Abbott held the Margalla Hills with a vastly inferior force until the conclusion of the war, a feat for which he was thanked by the Governor-General, The Earl of Dalhousie:[4][11] It is a gratifying spectacle to witness the intrepid bearing of this officer in the midst of difficulties of no ordinary kind, not merely maintaining his position, but offering a bold front, at one time to the Sikhs at another to the Afghans.
He must have secured the attachment of the wild people amongst whom he was thrown by his mild and conciliatory demeanour in times of peace, as well as by his gallantry as their leader in action, thus enhancing the credit of our national character.After the British had annexed the Punjab in the aftermath of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Abbott was promoted to brevet major and appointed First Deputy Commissioner of Hazara in 1849.
[11] Abbott's original seat of government in the Hazara was at Haripur with Jagirdar of Nara but he eventually decided to shift this up into the hills in 1851 for climatic and strategic reasons.
[12] Thus, a site was selected and acquired in late 1852, and Abbott thereafter shifted his headquarters there in January 1853, founding a small town and military cantonment which was to grow over time.
[13] His affection for the local Hazaras was noted by his successor Herbert Edwardes who wrote:[13] He had literally lived among them as their patriarch – an out of the door, under tree life.
He spent all his substance on the people.Before he left he also penned an ode to his new settlement: I remember the day when I first came here And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air The trees and ground covered with snow Gave us indeed a brilliant show To me the place seemed like a dream And far ran a lonesome stream The wind hissed as if welcoming us The pine swayed creating a lot of fuss And the tiny cuckoo sang it away A song very melodious and gay I adored the place from the first sight And was happy that my coming here was right And eight good years here passed very soon And we leave you perhaps on a sunny noon Oh Abbottabad we are leaving you now To your natural beauty do I bow Perhaps your wind's sound will never reach my ear My gift for you is a few sad tears I bid you farewell with a heavy heart Never from my mind will your memories thwart.