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in July 1812. During the first five years, Low acquired military competencies and language skills. The company's policy was that their officers had to be capable of basic communication with the Indian soldiers under their command. In May 1817 Low was appointed adjudant, and then promoted to the rank
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Although Low's main responsibility as an officer of the East India
Company was to settle disputes with local chiefs in the interests of the British—a task he did not always succeed in fulfilling—he was also a pioneer in the study of Thai language, literature and art by Westerners. The lack of
147:(1831–36) as well as articles on Thai Buddhist art, Buddhist law, local histories and ethnic minorities of the Malay Peninsula. He also studied inscriptions and translated parts of Thai Buddhist scriptures, and the Malay historical text from Kedah,
153:. Low's ability to observe and then describe in detail a variety of aspects of Thai art and culture helped to make his mission journal an interesting source for the study of everyday life and cultural practices in 19th-century Siam.
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Since Low had received a mathematical and philosophical education at
Edinburgh College, he nurtured an interest in the study of languages. The posting to Penang offered the opportunity to acquire language skills in both
106:. Its aim was to enlist the support of the Raja of Ligor, who was in command of most of the Siamese territories on the west coast of the peninsula including Kedah, for the planned British move up the
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in Penang, a post he held until 1840 when he was made
Assistant Resident of Singapore. He finally retired in 1845 but returned to Edinburgh only in 1850, where he died two years later.
83:, directed at its west coast territories. Subsequently, the British at Penang found themselves in the middle of a conflict between the Siamese Governor, known as the
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in Fife, Scotland to
Alexander Low and his wife Ann Thompson. He graduated from Edinburgh College and was then nominated for a cadetship in the East India Company's
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102:'s first mission that was mainly concerned with resolving the legal status of Penang. The second mission of 1824 under Low's command was prompted by the
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where he produced more maps and landscape drawings. In 1826, Low was promoted to captain and was sent on other missions to the Malay state of
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in London. Although not much research has been done on Low's art collection, it is a popular source of inspiration for Thai designers.
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of lieutenant in August of the same year. In
January 1819 Low moved to the East India Company's settlement in
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Low had a strong interest in Thai art, and amassed a large collection of fine paintings and drawings from
118:. Low also produced a map of Siam, Cambodia and Laos. After his mission to Ligor, he was posted to
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in 1812. He was accepted and embarked from
Portsmouth on the East Indiaman Astell, which reached
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On the
Government, the Literature, and the Mythology of the Siamese
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22:(4 April 1791 – 1852) was a Scottish military officer with the
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110:. Low described the events of the mission in a report on his
262: by Jana Igunma/The British Library available under the
59:and spent the rest of his career in and around the
116:Journal of a Public Mission to the Rajah of Ligor
112:Public Mission to His Highness the Rajah of Ligor
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98:Low's was the second mission to Siam, following
143:(1828), and he published a collection of works
198:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
283:"James Low, On Siamese Literature (1839)"
141:A Grammar of the Thai or Siamese Language
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195:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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234:Igunma, Jana (3 February 2016).
42:Low was born on 4 April 1791 at
236:"Exploring Thai art: James Low"
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30:and the art and culture of the
240:Asian and African studies blog
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290:Journal of the Siam Society
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204:10.1093/ref:odnb/17073
331:Thai studies scholars
281:Smyth, David (2007).
170:Royal Asiatic Society
89:Nakhon Si Thammarat
128:Province Wellesley
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176:References
120:Tenasserim
264:CC BY 1.0
20:James Low
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246:14 June
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286:(PDF)
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