General John Munro (June 1778 – 25 January 1858) of the H.E.I.C.S was a Scottish soldier and administrator who served as Resident and Diwan of the States of Travancore and Cochin between 1810 and 1819.
Early life
John Munro, fourth son of Captain James Munro, 7th of Teaninich (Royal Navy), was baptised in Alness on 11 February 1775. The Munros of Teaninich were a cadet branch of the Scottish Highland Clan Munro and their family home was at Teaninich Castle in Ross-shire.
Military career
John Munro enlisted as a cadet in the East India Company's Madras Army in April 1791, aged 16, and was appointed Lieutenant in August 1794. He took part in the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, and was shortly afterwards promoted to Captain and appointed Adjutant of his regiment, in which office he displayed a thorough acquaintance with military duties. John Munro was an accomplished linguist, being able to speak and write in French, German, Italian, Arabic, Persian and several Indian language.
Munro held various appointments on the Staff, and was private secretary and interpreter to successive Commanders in Chief in India. He was personally acquainted and in regular correspondence with Colonel Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, during the Mahratta War. He also served alongside his distinguished namesake Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet (of Lindertis). John Munro assisted in quelling the Vellore Mutiny and was soon afterwards appointed Quartermaster-General of the Madras army, directly from the rank of captain, at the early age of 27 years.
As Quartermaster-General, Munro was asked in 1807 by the then commander-in-chief Sir John Craddock to compile a confidential report on the Tent Contract, an allowance to Madras Army officers to be paid equally in peace and war and regarded by them as part of their emoluments. Munro's report pointed out that the contract gave officers "strong inducements to neglect their most important duties". Craddock agreed with Munro's recommendation that it be discontinued and replaced by enhanced batta. The implementation of these changes added to the discontent simmering amongst officers of the Madras Army, already resentful at being less well rewarded than those of the Bengal Army. Moreover, the report was leaked; fellow officers who read it inferred that their honour had been impugned, and charged Munro with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. The episode occurred during a period of dispute between the Madras civil government and the new commander-in-chief, Lieut-General Hay Macdowall, who, no longer ex-officio a member of the governing council, had given notice of his resignation. On 20 January 1809, some months after the appeal from his officers, and despite his impending departure, Macdowall had Munro arrested, leaving the supposed court martial to be heard by his successor. A week later, on the eve of departure Macdowall was reluctantly compelled to release Munro from arrest on the orders of the Governor Sir George Barlow. Together with his Adjutant-General, Col. Francis Capper (who was probably responsible for leaking Munro's report), Macdowall boarded the East Indiaman Lady Jane Dundas for England, issuing as he did so a General Order which reprimanded Munro for making a direct appeal to the Governor. Capper's deputy Major Thomas Boles, who had signed the order on behalf of the departing commander-in-chief, was suspended for doing so. The perceived unfair treatment of Boles, who was only acting on a superior's order, was the subject of a memorial by officers led by Arthur St Leger (soldier), who was then also dismissed; the continuing repercussions of these events led to the 1809 "White Mutiny" by officers of the Madras Army. The Lady Jane Dundas, with Macdowall and Capper aboard, was lost off the Cape of Good Hope in March 1809.
Shortly after these events, Munro was appointed Resident in Travancore; his successor as Quarter-Master General was his deputy, Valentine Blacker, who had recently become his brother-in-law.
Administrative career
John Munro was a major figure in the development of the states of Travancore and Cochin. In the aftermath of the attack by Velu Thampi Dalawa on the East India Company, he was appointed Resident of the Company for these kingdoms in 1810. Col. Munro also served as Diwan (Prime Minister) to the queens Rani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and Rani Gowri Parvati Bayi of Travancore and Raja Kerala Varma of Cochin from 1812 to 1814. With his freedom of action, he won such confidence of the rulers and the people as to be able to introduce the practice, in the administration of justice, of having a Christian sitting on the bench as judge beside a Brahmin.