Thomas Herbert Lewin

Major

Thomas Herbert Lewin
Thangliena
Colonel Thomas H. Lewin c. 1890
Nickname(s)Lushai: Thangliena
Born(1839-04-01)April 1, 1839
Lewisham, London
DiedFebruary 11, 1916(1916-02-11) (aged 76)
Dorking, Surrey, England
Buried
Abinger, Moley Valley District, Surrey
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
RankMajor
Known forSuperintendent of Chittagong Hill Tracts
Battles / warsIndian Mutiny
Lushai Expedition
MemorialsT.H Lewin Memorial, Mizoram
Alma materAddiscombe Military College
Spouse(s)
Margaret McClean
​
(m. 1876)​
ChildrenEverest Harriet Grote Macdonald (b. Lewin)
Charles McClean Lewin
Audrey Hale Waterhouse (b. Lewin)
RelationsGeorge Lewin (Father)
Mary Lewin (b. Friend, Mother)
Other workThe Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein (Calcutta, 1869)
The Wild Races of South-Eastern India (England, 1870)
Hill Proverbs of the Inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Calcutta, 1873)
A handbook on the Lushai Dialect (1874)
A manual of Tibetan (1879)
A fly on the wheel (1884)

Thomas Herbert Lewin (Lushai: Thangliena, 1 April 1839-11 February 1916) was a British military officer, linguist and ethnologist. He is most well known for his role as the superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Lewin studied and published on the tribes of the northeast frontier on the Chakma, Kuki and Lushais. For this reason he gained the exonym of Thangliena from the Lushai tribes.

Early life and education

Ensign Thomas H. Lewin in 1859

Thomas Herbert Lewin was born 1 April 1839 in Lewisham, London.[1] He was the son of George Lewin and Mary Lewin (b. Friend).[2] Lewin was born to five siblings in his family consisting of three sisters (Mary-Jane, Harriet, Isabella) and two brothers (Robert Friend, William Charles James). He was educated at a school in Littlehampton before becoming a cadet at Addiscombe Military College.[1]

Career

Indian mutiny

In September 1857, Lewin travelled to India at a lieutenant and participated in multiple campaigns to put down the Indian Mutiny.[1] Lewin landed in Bengal and participated in the Siege of Cawnpore and the Siege of Lucknow. He later was a participant in pursuit of Tatya Tope who led the Indian mutiny.[3]

Superintendent of Chittagong Hill Tracts

Lewin would work as a superintendent of police in Hazaribagh, Eastern Bengal before being promoted to Captain in 1865.[3][4] He was transferred to a year or so later to Noacolly before being assigned superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In capacity of his role he established relations on behalf of the British to local chieftains such as Mong Raja, Kalindi (rani) and Rutton Poeia (Routhangpouia). After the kidnapping of Mary Winchester (Zoluti), Lewin was assigned political officer to Charles Henry Brownlow's column in the Lushai Expedition. Lewin accompanied the force dispatched from Demagiri into the Lushai Hills and their chiefdoms to punish Lalbura and Bengkhaia.[3]

To gain kinship with the hill tribes bordering Chittagong, Lewin attempted to transcribe his name into the Lushai dialect which led to his Mizo name Thangliena being made.[4] Captain Lewin studied the language, history, institutions and local mythology of the Mughs, Chakmas, Bunjoghis, Arakans and Burmese.[3] Lewin published grammars and guides to the language and culture of the hill tribes through several publications. Lewin was then raised to Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling and retired at 40 with a pension of £171 yearly for his 20-year service.[4]

Marriage and children

Lewin married Margaret McClean on 24 July 1876 in Elham, Kent.[5] They had three children consisting of two daughters, Everest Harriet Grote and Audrey Hale, with a son named Charles McClean Lewin.[2]

Death

T.H Lewin's memorial erected at Demagiri.

Lewin died on 11 February 1916 at Dorking, Surrey in England. He was buried at Arbinger, Mole Valley Disrict in Surrey.[6] His will was probated 25 May 1916 in London. A memorial for Lewin was erected in Demagiri, Mizoram.

Published works

  • The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein (Calcutta, 1869)
  • The Wild Races of South-Eastern India (England, 1870)
  • Hill Proverbs of the Inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Calcutta, 1873)
  • A handbook on the Lushai Dialect (1874)
  • A manual of Tibetan (1879)
  • A fly on the wheel (1884)

References

  1. ^ a b c Lewin 1926.
  2. ^ a b MyHeritage.
  3. ^ a b c d The Illustrated London News 1885.
  4. ^ a b c McLynn 1993.
  5. ^ FreeBMD.
  6. ^ buttershap 2010.

Sources

Archives

  • Lewin, Thomas. "The Lewin Family Papers" (1926) [Collection]. Lewin Family Papers, ID: MS 811. London: London University Senate House Library.

Books

BMD

News

  • McLynn, Frank (4 May 1993). "A bureaucrat goes native among the hill folk". The Independent. London.
  • The Illustrated London News (25 April 1885). "The Hill Tribes of India". The Illustrated London News. Vol. 86, no. 2401. London: The Illustrated London News. p. 448.