View source for Col. James Skinner

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.<br/>You can help by converting these articles into an encyclopaedia-style entry,<br />deleting portions of the kind normally not used in encyclopaedia entries.<br/>Please also fill in missing details; put categories, headings and sub-headings;<br/>and combine this with other articles on exactly the same subject.<br/>
	
Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly <br/>  on their online archival encyclopædia only after its formal launch.

See [[examples]] and a tutorial.</div>
|}

[[Category: India |H]]

[[Category: History |H]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
 
=Hansi's beloved "Sikandar Sahib"=

''' The incredible Col. James Skinner ''' 

'' India Harmony '' VOLUME - 1 : ISSUE - 5  JULY-AUGUST, 2012

Walking through Welcomgroup ITC's
Shikharpur Kothi at Hansi, one senses hushed voices from another era.
Nawabi splendour is all around. The mansion
overlooks beautiful gardens lovingly tended by a
long departed begum. The Lord of this estate was
Col James Skinner aka Sikandar Sahib who was
awarded the Jagir of Hansi comprising 194
villages in Hisar District by the British rulers of
the time, alongwith an annual salary of Rs.
20,000. Legendary tales of his bravery and valor
abound in the area. Having survived many epic
battles, he took to the lifestyle of a wealthy
landlord with aplomb. Visitors to the Kothi would
find him holding his Durbar, puffing a Hookah
dressed in aristocratic Indian dress of the finest
muslins and silks. The house resounded with
music, dance and poetry. Festivals of all faiths
were celebrated. Having amassed a great fortune
as a mercenary soldier he lived in an entirely
Mughal style and his principal wife was Muslim.
He spoke fluent Persian and as a Mughal courtier
of immense importance helped to bridge the gap
between the Mughal Court and the British
Residents. James Skinner alongwith his friends
William Frazer and Sir Thomas Metcalfe was one
of the three greatest patrons of the late Mughal
painters. He was deeply interested in the lives of
the ordinary people and landowners on his estate.
He commissioned the Court painter Ghulam Ali
Khan to chronicle their lives and invited him to
stay on his Hansi estate. He entertained lavishly
and his generous hospitality and grand banquets
were much coveted. He was a connoisseur of
good food and the
entire estate was
invited to his feasts
for visiting
dignitaries. As a
writer, he recorded
in great detail in
the Persian
language and wrote
several books
including the
famous 'Kitab-i
Tasrih al-Aqvam' translated as 'History of the
Origin and Distinguishing Marks of the various
Indian Castes' and another one named as 'Tazkirat
al-Umara' based on biographies of the Sikh and
Rajput Princely Families and their Territories
along with 37 portraits of their existing generation
which was first translated from the Persian
language to English by Col. James Skinner CB.
Who was this incredible man? How did he
achieve in one life time the accolades and honours
that would have taken lesser mortals many
lifetimes to garner?

[[File: Col. James Skinner.png| Col. James Skinner|frame|500px]] 

[[File: Court painter Ghulam Ali at work at Hansi.png| Court painter Ghulam Ali at work at Hansi|frame|left|500px]] 

Colonel James Skinner CB aka 'Sikandar Sahib'
was a renowned Anglo-Indian adventurer born in
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in 1778 to
Lieutenant-Colonel Hercules Skinner of Scottish
origin and an officer with the East India Company
who married an Indian Rajput Princess. She was
taken as a prisoner of war at the tender age of 14
years and kept under the care of Lt.-Col. Hercules
Skinner who was then just an Officer of the lower
ranks. Later, he married her and together had 6
Children of which 3 were Girls who were later
married to East India Company Officers and 3
were Boys named David Skinner who later went
to Sea, James Skinner who became the famous
Colonel of British India and Robert Skinner who
later became a Soldier. James Skinner's mother
died when he was just 12 years old and he was
sent to Boarding School after completing his basic
education from an English School in Kolkata.

[[File: Skinner's Horse regiment at war.png|Skinner's Horse regiment at war|frame|500px]] 

James Skinner could not serve as an Officer under
the East India Company due to his partial Indian
origin but this did not deter the young man. A
French Commander named Benoît de Boigne of
the Mahratta Army ruled by the Forces of
Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior was impressed with
the ancestral background of Skinners who had
served William of Orange, the King of England
during the 11th Century. He allowed James
Skinner to join the Mahratta Army as a low rank
officer at the age of 16 years under his command.
Skinner exuded excellent Military Skills but still
remained in the same ranks after Boigne retired
and Pierre Cuillier-Perron, a Commander-in-Chief
of the Army of Maharaja Scindia took over.
Skinner and all Anglo-Indians were dismissed
from the Mahratta Army in 1803 when the second
Anglo-Maratha War broke out.

[[File: Yellow boys in uniform.png|Yellow boys in uniform|frame|500px]]
 
James Skinner then joined the British Indian
Army under the command of Lord Lake who was
the Commander-in-Chief of British India. His
generosity, bravery and leadership inspired great
loyalty among his soldiers. They refused to leave
his service and were ready to die under his
command. So on 23rd February 1803, Skinner
raised a regiment of light cavalry and named it as
'1st Skinner's Horse' or 'Yellow Boys' as their
uniforms were yellow in colour. After the
immense success of this first regiment, Skinner
raised another regiment of light cavalry named as
'3rd Skinner's Horse' (renamed today as '2nd
Skinner's Horse). Both these regiments of light
cavalry exist even today as a part of the Indian
Army. In 1828, he earned the rank of a
Lieutenant-Colonel while his brother, Robert
Skinner, earned the rank of a Major. James
Skinner eventually became the Colonel of British
India and was honoured as CB.

Colonel James Skinner CB is also known for the
magnificent Church he built in Delhi. He had
promised God that he would construct a Church if
he came alive from the battle field at Uniara
where he lay badly wounded in the year 1800.
God answered his prayers and Skinner survived
the battle and to keep his promise, financed an
amount of INR 95,000 to construct a Church. The
Church was designed by Major Robert Smith and
its construction commenced in 1826 and was
completed in 1836. Rev. Daniel Wilson, the
Bishop of Kolkata consecrated the Church on 21st
November 1836 and named it as 'St. James
Church' after Colonel James Skinner CB. It is one
of the oldest Churches in Delhi. He is also said to
have constructed a Temple and a Mosque in Delhi
but detailed information about them remains
unknown.

The St. James Church depicts excellent
Renaissance style seen in the shape of a
'Cruciform' or 'Greek Cross' which reveals a
octagonal dome shaped central roof that imitates
the Florence Cathedral in Florence in Italy and
three portico porches which is an open front
platform with a roof supported by massive
columns that forms the entrance of this Church
and the large framed windows are seen covered
with elaborate and colourful stained glass. The
Church has a Copper Ball and a Cross on top
which is an imitation of the Church in Venice but
unfortunately got damaged during the 1857
Uprising (Sepoy Mutiny); however, they were
reconstructed and every effort was made to ensure
that they maintain their original shape.

[[File: Interior view of St James's Church, Delhi, 1836.png|Interior view of St James's Church, Delhi, 1836|frame|500px]] 

Col. James Skinner CB died on 4th December
1841 at Hansi and was buried with complete
rituals within the compound of the Cantonment
Burial Ground at Hansi. After 40 days, his grave
was disinterred and the coffin was moved to Delhi
which was escorted by 200 men of the 'Skinner's
Horse' Regiment Cavalry. On 19th January 1842,
he was buried within the Cemetery grounds of St.
James Church and inside a vault made of white
marble that lies just below the Communion Altar
Table. In the Cemetery grounds of this Church
also lie buried his dearest friends and fellow
orientalists the famous British Commissioner Sir
William Frazer and Sir Thomas Metcalfe (1795 to
1853) who was a British Agent and Commissioner
to the Governor-General of British India and lived
in Delhi for 40 years. He was famed for his
'Metcalfe Houses' and lies buried in the Church
within his own Family Plot which he had acquired
before his death. The Church was later used by the
Viceroys as a revered place of worship till 1947.
Descendants of Col. James Skinner are Christians,
Hindus and Muslims and can be found in India,
Pakistan, Australia and the UK depending on the
faith they chose to follow after independence. The
Kothi and his Estates in Hansi, Delhi and
Mussoorie continue to belong to branches of the
family.

[[File: St James's Church today Kashmiri Gate, Delhi.png|St James's Church today Kashmiri Gate, Delhi|frame|500px]] 

The magnificent St. James Church has been
recently renovated and attracts tourists and
worshippers in present day Delhi. Here then
stands the legacy of a child of mixed parentage,
son of a Christian father and Hindu mother
shunned by both faiths in his early years,
remained a practicing Christian to the very end.
Married to a devout Muslim woman he did not
relinquish his Christian faith nor did he ask her to
relinquish her beliefs. Col. James Skinner has,
over the last 200 years, finally made a place for
himself in the hearts and minds of both the British
and Indian rulers as a great and true son of
Hindustan.