Streynsham Master

For other uses, see Streynsham Master (Royal Navy officer).

Sir
Streynsham Master
Agent of Madras
In office
27 January 1678 – 3 July 1681
Preceded bySir William Langhorne
Succeeded byWilliam Gyfford
Personal details
Born28 October 1640
Langdon, Kent, England
Died28 April 1724(1724-04-28) (aged 83)
Lancashire, England
SpouseElizabeth Leigh
Children3
OccupationColonial administrator
Signature

Sir Streynsham Master (28 October 1640 – 28 April 1724) was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, and is credited with having introduced the first administrative reforms in the Madras Government. He banned sati and prohibited the burning of a Hindu widow in 1680 in what is the first official British response to sati.[1][2][3][4] He made English the sole official language and language of court in the Madras Presidency, replacing the Portuguese, Tamil and Malayalam languages.[5][6]

Returning to England, in 1692 he bought the Codnor Castle estate and for the rest of his life divided his time between Derbyshire and London.

  1. ^ John Stratton Hawley (8 September 1994). Sati, the Blessing and the Curse: The Burning of Wives in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 72–. ISBN 978-0-19-536022-6. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. ^ S. Muthiah (2008). Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India. Palaniappa Brothers. pp. 444–. ISBN 978-81-8379-468-8. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ^ Mariadas Ruthnaswamy (1939). Some Influences that Made the British Administrative System in India. Luzac & Company. p. 617. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. ^ Philip J. Stern (29 November 2012). The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-0-19-993036-4. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  5. ^ Criminal Justice India Series: Tamil Nadu, 2003. Allied Publishers. 2002. pp. 224–. ISBN 978-81-7764-519-4.
  6. ^ Kulshreshtha, Visheshwar Dayal (1975). Landmarks in Indian legal and constitutional history. p. 46. Retrieved 4 May 2018.