William Henry Sykes
Colonel William Henry Sykes, FRS (25 January 1790 – 16 June 1872) was an English naturalist who served with the British military in India and was specifically known for his work with the Indian Army as a politician, Indologist and ornithologist.He retired from active service with the rank of colonel on 18 June 1833, and in September 1835 he became a Royal Commissioner in Lunacy, a post he held till 1845.[11] Sykes' collections of animals resulted in the publications of catalogues of birds and mammals from the Deccan region, many of which were published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.In an 1842 paper published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, he contended that the Brahmins were likely not native to India and that Pali was older than Sanskrit.Referring to the recently translated travelogue of Faxian, Sykes paid tribute to "the literature of that remarkable people—the Chinese" that thankfully existed to illuminate India's past.He hoped that, "by proper means, applied in a cautious, kindly and forbearing spirit, such farther changes may be effected as will raise the intellectual standard of the Hindus, improve their moral and social condition, and assist to promote their eternal welfare.[3] Sykes also wrote on the Taiping Rebellion holding the British Government guilty of unjustifiable aggression towards China.[16] He also held the British responsible for precipitating the 1857 rebellion by being insensitive to local customs, citing the earlier case of the Vellore mutiny.
Indian ArmypoliticianIndologistornithologistRoyal Statistical SocietyEast India CompanyBradfordYorkshireHonourable East India CompanyBombaysiege of BhurtpurLord LakeMountstuart ElphinstoneCommissioner in LunacyMember of ParliamentAberdeenRoyal Asiatic SocietyMarischal CollegeBiblical criticismKensingtonLondonmammalsDeccanZoological SocietyIndian pond heronquailshemipodesCharles DarwinEdward BlythSykes's larkblue-headed wagtailBritish BirdsJournal of the Asiatic SocietyBrahminsSanskritBrahmanismFaxianTaiping Rebellion1857 rebellionVellore mutinyAsiatic Society of BombaySykes' monkeySykes's nightjarSykes's warblerBibcodeBritish Newspaper ArchiveSingh, UpinderHansardParliament of the United KingdomGeorge ThompsonJohn Farley LeithEarl of CarlisleAusten Henry LayardPresidentsThe Marquess of LansdowneSir Charles Lemon, BtThe Earl FitzWilliamViscount SandonLord AshleyThe Lord Monteagle of BrandonThe Earl of HarrowbyThe Lord OverstoneLord StanleyLord John RussellSir John Pakington, BtThe Lord HoughtonWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam NewmarchWilliam FarrWilliam GuyJames HeywoodGeorge Shaw-LefevreThomas BrasseyJames CairdRobert GiffenRawson W. RawsonGeorge GoschenThomas Graham BalfourFrederic J. MouatCharles BoothThe Lord FarrerJohn Biddulph MartinAlfred Edmund BatemanLeonard CourtneyHenry FowlerThe Lord AveburyPatrick George CraigieSir Francis Powell, BtThe Earl of OnslowRichard MartinSir Charles Dilke, BtJervoise Athelstane BainesLord George HamiltonFrancis Ysidro EdgeworthThe Lord WelbyBernard MalletRegistrar GeneralHerbert SamuelR. Henry RewThe Lord EmmottUdny YuleThe Viscount D'AbernonA. William FluxSir Josiah StampThe Lord MestonMajor GreenwoodThe Lord KennetArthur Lyon BowleyHenry William MacrostyHector LeakWilliam BeveridgeErnest Charles SnowThe Lord WooltonDavid HeronSir Geoffrey HeyworthAustin Bradford HillRonald FisherThe Lord PiercyEgon PearsonHarry CampionHugh BeaverMaurice KendallJoseph Oscar IrwinSir Paul ChambersL. H. C. TippettM. S. Bartlett