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| Lieutenant-General Sir Mark Cubbon |
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Lieutenant-General Sir Mark Cubbon KCB (August 23, 1775 – April 23, 1861) was a British army officer with the East India Company who became the British Commissioner of Mysore state after the defeat of Tipu Sultan and the capture of Srirangapattana (Seringapatam). He retained this office until 1860. He moved the capital from Mysore to Bangalore, helped reform the finances of Mysore, and created a peaceful and prosperous government. Cubbon Road and Cubbon Park in Bangalore are named for him. |
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Cubbon was born at the vicarage of Maughold, Isle of Man, the son of Vicar Thomas Cubbon and Margaret Wilks. He arrived in Calcutta in the summer of 1801, as a cadet. He soon gained an appointment to the 2nd Madras Battalion, and in July 1804 to the 2nd Battalion 5th Native Infantry, serving with the Field forces commanded by Col. Chalmers in Travancore. Cubbon had great admiration for the Sepoys and respected their religious views. By 1809 he had secured a civilian appointment in the East India Company's administration.
In 1827 Cubbon succeeded Sir William Morrison as Commissary-General, and in 1831 served as Commissioner to inquire into the Mysore rebellion. He was appointed Colonel in the same year. In 1834 the Governor-General of India, William Bentinck, in pursuit of fiscal efficiency, appointed Cubbon as Commissioner of Mysore state. Cubbon restructured the government of Mysore, helped reform its finances, and created a peaceful and prosperous state. Cubbon is credited with the construction of over one thousand miles of roads, hundreds of dams, coffee production and improvements in the tax and revenue systems.
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Sir Mark Cubbon |
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On 27th February 1836, Sir Mark Cubbon recommended to the Governor General with the observations that “Great public benefit may be expected to arise from this institution, not only in objects merely Horticultural and the extension of Botanical Knowledge, but in the promotion of the Agricultural interests of the country by the introduction of new and valuable productions suited to the climate amongst which may be enumerated varieties of sugarcane and tobacco far superior to any, now produced in Mysore and by affording the people the means of obtaining gratuitous instructions in improved modes of cultivation. The Lalbagh was transferred to the Society in 1836.
In 1859, when orders were issued to transfer the superintendence of Mysore affairs from the Governor-General to the government of Madras, Cubbon submitted his resignation, as he held it to be contrary to the declaration made by the Honourable Court of Directors in 1838. The order was withdrawn by the Viceroy, Lord Canning. At the beginning of the next year, however, Cubbon felt compelled to resign owing to ill-health.
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Cubbon died at Suez 23 April 1861 while returning to England in the company of his physician, Dr. Campbell. Cubbon Road and Cubbon Park in Bangalore are named for him. A medallion portrait of Cubbon is found on the ceiling at the west end of the Central Hall in the Karnataka High Court building, while an equestrian statue by Baron Carlo (Charles) Marochetti stands in Cubbon Park near Attara Katcheri and the Terrace Garden.
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