Lt. Col. William Francklin

Lt. Col. William Francklin, soldier and scholar of Persian and Indian history, was born in 1763. He was the son of Thomas Francklin, Professor of Greek at Cambridge. William Francklin joined the East India Company's Bengal Native Infantry in 1783. In 1786, he undertook a tour to Persia, for which he published his book 'Observations made on a tour from Bengal to Persia, in the years 1786-7'. He is known for authoring 'The history of the reign of Shah-Aulum, the present emperor of Hindostaun' (1798), being a detailed account of the decline of the Mughal Empire.

He retired from the army in 1825 and returned for a time to England, where he became librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1838, having been on the Society’s council in 1836. He contributed many articles to the Society’s journal and gave several lectures. He was also a member of the committee of the Oriental Translation Fund in 1835. He was also a member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.