author
Charles Acland
1812–1845
A British chaplain and travel writer, he left behind a vivid, anecdote-filled portrait of life in India during the 1840s. His best-known book blends observation, storytelling, and the perspective of a clergyman who lived and worked there.
1 Audiobook
A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India
by Charles Acland
About the author
Born in the early 1810s and dying in 1845, Charles Acland was a British clergyman connected with the Acland family. Contemporary records describe him as a chaplain who served at Pooree, Cuttack, and Midnapore in India.
He is best known as the author of A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India, published after his death in 1847. The book presents scenes from daily life, social customs, and colonial society in India, using short stories and practical observations to make the subject accessible to general readers.
Although not a widely famous literary figure today, Acland's work offers a useful window into how a mid-19th-century British observer tried to explain India to readers at home. His writing sits at the meeting point of travel narrative, cultural description, and missionary-era experience.