Major-General Claude Martin (5 January 1735 – 13 September 1800) was a French army officer who served in the French and later British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of major-general in the British East India Company's Bengal Army. Martin was born in Lyon, France, into a humble background, and was a self-made man who left a substantial lasting legacy in the form of his writings, buildings and the educational institutions he founded posthumously. There are now ten schools named after him, two in Lucknow, two in Calcutta and six in Lyon. The small village of Martin Purwa in India was also named after him.
Claude Martin was born on 5 January 1735 in the rue de la Palme, Lyon, France. He was the son of Fleury Martin (1708–1755), a casket maker, and Anne Vaginay (1702–1735), a butcher's daughter. At his local parish school he excelled in mathematics and physics. After leaving school he was apprenticed to a local silk weaver. Martin's family were middle class and by this time they had businesses in mustard, vinegar and brandy. His decision to go into the silk yarn business did therefore not go down well with his family.
In 1751 at the age of 16 Martin decided to seek his fortune abroad, and he signed up with the French Compagnie des Indes. His mother is reported to have said that he should not return from enlisting as a soldier until he was "in a carriage". He was posted to India where he served under Commander and Governor Joseph François Dupleix and General Thomas Arthur Lally in the Carnatic Wars against the British East India Company. When the French lost their colony of Pondichéry in 1761, he accepted service in the Bengal Army of the East India Company in 1763, ultimately rising to the rank of Major General.
He was initially employed at the then-new Fort William in Calcutta, Bengal, and afterwards on the survey of Bengal under the English Surveyor General James Rennell. In 1776, Martin was allowed to accept the appointment of Superintendent of the Arsenal for the Nawab of Awadh, Asaf-ud-Daula, at Lucknow, retaining his rank but being ultimately placed on half pay. He resided in Lucknow from 1776 until his death. It was the 'Reign of Terror' during the French Revolution that prevented him from returning "in a carriage". His friend, Antoine Polier, gave up his wives and children, as he left India to return France. Polier was stabbed to death in a criminal assault during the aforesaid revolution. Martin never formally gave up his nationality as a Frenchman, but definitely intended to, towards the end of his life, as he sought promotions in the Bengal Army.
Martin began his career as a dragoon and remained essentially a soldier throughout his life, a fighter and a strategist which explains his extraordinary success in life in spite of tremendous odds.
Beginning with the French East India Company he was quick to realise the changing power dynamics and chose to build his army career with the British East India Company. He was recognized for his military talents and got important experience in various military encounters. His administrative acumen was also well known and it was his reputation that made Shuja-ud-daulah the Nawab of Awadh to request for his services at Lucknow.
His service at the court of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah together with supplementary aids to the company during the attack on Tipu at Seringpatnam shows that his strategic skills remained intact even in his later years. He was promoted to the ranks of Colonel (in 1793) and Major General (in 1795) being an extraordinary case, since no alien soldier in the Company Army was allowed to rise above the rank of Major.
Coming from Lyon, Martin must have acquired an eye for imposing architecture from his childhood days in his beautiful home town.
His architectural skills were much in demand at Lucknow and his nearness to Nawab Asaf-ud-daula gave him a unique opportunity to participate in the making of modern Lucknow. Martin moved to Lucknow almost at the same time when Asaf-ud-daula shifted the Capital to Lucknow. Asaf-ud-daulah and Claude Martin became chief architects of the city of Lucknow.
Raj Bhavan (Hindi for 'Government House') is the official residence of the governor of Uttar Pradesh. Raj Bhavan used to be called Kothi Hayat Baksh. Major General Claude Martin drew the layout of the building in 1798 after Nawab Asaf-ud-daula, the East India Company made Sadaat Ali Khan its new ruler. The new ruler liked the buildings designed by Claude Martin. The contract for the construction of Kothi was undertaken by Martin as requested by Saadat Ali Khan.
Some of the buildings of Lucknow which have Martin's distinctive touch are: Farhad Baksh, Asafi Kothi, Bibiapur, Barowen and of course the Constantia.
Most of Martin's buildings were unique and were copied extensively by other designers keeping in mind their defence against military attack.
While serving under the Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah of Awadh, Martin acquired a massive fortune of about Rs 4,000,000. He built the palace of Constantia and his fine house of Farhat Baksh, both of which he equipped with luxuries that included a library of some 4,000 volumes written in many languages and a picture gallery containing a fine collection of works of art. At his death, Claude's collection included over 650 Company style paintings of birds which were painted by Mughal-trained painters. Black Stork in a Landscape, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is one of these.
Martin's love of art can be seen not only in his acquisition of art, but also in the design of his houses, his friendship with noted artists like Renaldi, Hodges and Zoffany (who included him in at least two paintings). In a number of cases he used local artists to create work in the style of European artists. His walls were decorated with neo-Greek Wedgwood style decorations, his paintings were by Mughal-trained artists and the statues above his palace were mostly clever reproductions in the style of two European statues.
Later, Martin's life was mired in controversy as he had kept two wives of Colonel Polier's, after Polier had departed from India. It is obvious however that he cared for his favourite mistress Boulone, and she is the subject of a painting by Zoffany in 1795 which is still at La Martiniere Boys' School in Lucknow today.
Renaldi is possibly the sculptor for a copper and silver medal (30 mm in diameter) issued by Nawab Asaf-uddula, which bears Martin's image and his motto. On the reverse side it says in Persian:
"Most excellent in government,
amongst Knights, General Claude Martin