Sir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH, PC (24 June 1770 – 18 November 1844), was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in Ireland and educated at home. Whilst serving the British Government and posted in Lucknow he became a friend of the local Nawab Saadat Ali Khan and was responsible for building a palace called Dilkusha Kothi on the banks of the Gomti near Lucknow. This palace, a copy of the English Baroque stately home of Seaton Delaval Hall, stood for about fifty years until it was damaged in the Siege of Lucknow. Ouseley was made a baronet in 1808 with the recommendation of Lord Wellesley.
From 1810 Ouseley served as ambassador to Persia, the first ambassador since the time of Charles I. Ouseley was involved in negotiating treaties with Persia and Russia including the Treaty of Gulistan. He left Persia in 1814, stopping off in St Petersburg. While in Russia, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Russian Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.
Ouseley spent his final years in England and in 1835, he served as the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire. He died in 1844 died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.
Saroj Nalini Arambam was born in Imphal, Manipur, in 1933. She was the first Meetei woman to graduate and gain her Masters degree at Calcutta University. She moved to Britain in the late 1950s studying for a Bachelor of Divinity degree at the University of London. She graduated in 1961 and shortly after married John Parratt. She worked at the University of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, before undertaking a PhD on the Religion of Manipur, in the Department of Asian Studies, Australia National University, for which she undertook considerable field research. From 1975-1990 she taught in institutions in southern Africa while still continuing to undertake fieldwork on Manipur. With her husband, she co-authored books on Manipur and, also produced two volumes of the Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, published by the Royal Asiatic society, the second volume being published posthumously.
John Parratt was born in England and obtained his doctorate from the University of London. He taught in Southern Africa as well as Australia, India, Papua New Guinea and Britain. He was previously Professor of Third World Theologies at the University of Birmingham and is author of many books, some jointly with his wife.