Thomas Hungerford Holdich

Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich KCMG KCIE CB FRGS was an English geographer and president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1917-19. He also served as President of the Geographical Association between 1917-18. He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys in British India and as a member of the British tribunal engaged in The Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case by the governments of Argentina and Chile in 1902 to arbitrate the boundary along the Andes Mountains. For this service he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in December 1902.

Born in Dingley, Northamptonshire, England, he was educated at the Royal Military Academy, obtaining a commission in the Royal Engineers in 1862. He saw active service in the Bhutan expedition of 1865, the Abyssinian campaign of 1867–68, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878–79. During peacetime, Holdich was largely occupied with the survey of India. He was the chief surveyor on the Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884–86. He later served on the Tasmar Boundary Commission of 1894, the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1895, and the Perso-Baluchistan Boundary Commission of 1896. He was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1887. He was placed on the Retired list with an Indian pension in 1900.

In later years, he wrote and lectured extensively on geographical issues, and he contributed a number of entries to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He was the author of numerous books, including The Gates of India, The Countries of the King's Award, and Political Frontiers and Boundary Making.

Source: Wikipedia