British colonisation of India saw thousands of white men and women settle down in the country, never to return to their homes.The better part of their adult life was spent in serving the British administration or fighting wars in various capacities.One such man is Colonel Colin Mackenzie. His name does not ring a bell but the Scotsman was the first surveyor general of India. Working closely with local interpreters and scholars, he studied Indian religion, inscriptions, oral histories and local geographies. While mapping regions, he became one of the largest collectors of Indian antiquities.According to a statement by orientalist Horace Hayman Wilson who cata logued Mackenzie's collection, there were “1,569 literary manuscripts, 8,076 inscriptions, 2,159 translations, 79 plans, 2,630 drawings, 6,218 coins and 146 images.“According to historian Arun Prasad, Mackenzie was born to an influential family in Stornoway , Scotland. After a brief career as a customs officer, he moved to India to write the biography of John Napier, the discoverer of loga rithms who made common use of the decimal point in arithmetics.“When the sponsor of the biography passed away , Mackenzie lost interest in the biography and started travelling around South India mak ing sketches and illustrations,“ Prasad said.Between 1788 and 1790, Mackenzie was assigned the task of surveying the Deccan region from Nellore to Chintapalli across river Krishna.This caught the attention of Lord Cornwallis, who was impressed with his abilities as a geographer and his attention to detail. The commander-in-chief of the British India entrusted Mackenzie with important responsibilities in the Third Anglo-Mysore War.“Though he was not directly involved with the siege plans for Bengaluru , his detailed plans and sketches helped capture many dominions of Tipu Sultan,“ said Prasad. “In fact, the fortified Nandi Hills, which was considered impregnable, was captured by the British in October 1791 primarily because of Mackenzie's drawings.“Mackenzie was also entrusted with the responsibility of conducting a survey of Mysore in 1799, which was completed in March 1809. When the East India Company asked celebrated cartographer James Rennell to assess the merits of Mackenzie's Mysore maps, he concluded that it was of “very great merit, the execution having been conducted in a masterly manner.“Mackenzie breathed his last on May 8, 1821, in Calcutta , out of prolonged illness. Studies of his scientifically-made maps are considered important for highlighting important archaeological sites and unearthing valuable cultural materials that might have otherwise perished.