John Nicholson (East India Company officer), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJohn Nicholson (East India Company officer)
British general
Date of Birth: 11-Dec-1821
Place of Birth: Lisburn, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Date of Death: 23-Sep-1857
Profession: soldier
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius 
About John Nicholson (East India Company officer)
- Brigadier John Nicholson (11 December 1822 – 23 September 1857) was a British Victorian era military officer known for his role in British India.
- Born in Ireland, Nicholson moved to India at a young age and obtained a commission in the East India Company where he spent the majority of his life helping to expand British rule on the Company Raj's periphery in numerous conflicts such as the First Anglo-Afghan War and the First and Second Anglo-Sikh War.
- Nicholson created a legend for himself as a political officer under Henry Lawrence in the frontier provinces of the British Empire, especially in the Punjab, and he was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier.
- Perhaps Nicholson's most defining moment was his crucial role and death while suppressing the Indian Mutiny of 1857 which gained him adoration in Britain and infamy in India for his ruthlessness in crushing the rebellion. A charismatic and authoritarian figure, Nicholson's life and controversial exploits have created a polarized legacy with contemporary descriptions of Nicholson ranging from him being the man who saved British rule in India to him being an "imperial psychopath".
- However, Nicholson was certainly a man of his time whose stern but fair governance gained him both fear and respect in equal measure from the various groups of people who lived under his rule.
- His imposing physical appearance and noted deeds of valor and violence created an almost mythical status and even religious worship among the numerous tribes of the North-West Frontier whom Nicholson brought into the British Empire.
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