The life of CLAUD MARTIN - Major-General in the army of the Honourable East India Company.
By Charles Samuel Hill
Published by Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta - 1901.
Major General Claude Martin (4 January 1735, Lyon - 13 September 1800) was an officer in the French, and later the British, army in India. He rose to the position of Major General in the British East India Company. Martin was born in Lyon, France, into a humble background, and was a self-made man who has left a substantial lasting legacy in the form of his writings, buildings and the educational institutions he founded posthumously. There are seven schools named after him, two in Lucknow, two in Calcutta and three in Lyon. The small village of Martin Purwa in India was also named after him.
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 Saadar 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.
Claude Martin has had his admirers and detractors. He was indeed a complex person. Part adventurer, part polymath, part colonial agent, part lover of Oriental life, but how did Claude Martin view himself Chandan Mitra in his book Constant Glory has this self-introspective analysis from Martin:

"I have always refused to give up the French nationality, but of which France do I belong? That of Louis XV, where I have only known misery before embarking on the L'Orient ? That of philosophers, of terror bathing in blood, or that of Bonaparte whose eastern dream has just been dissipated, after leaving Tipu Sahib alone against the English? I have collaborated for his defeat and then after he lost I have been rewarded by some gold sprinkling on my uniform-a vain plaything for my vanity. By my persevarance and hard work I have accumulated a fortune from this country which is my second motherland. I have not cheated the people who have passively succumbed to the yoke of corrupt men."
Source : Wikipedia