Choose the correct statement with regard to Francis Buchanan:

The correct answer is Option (2) → For a few years he was surgeon to the Governor-General of India, Lord Wellesley

Option (1) He was a merchant who came to India from 1790 to 1820 — Incorrect. Francis Buchanan was a physician, not a merchant. He served in the Bengal Medical Service from 1794 to 1815.

Option (2) For a few years he was surgeon to the Governor-General of India, Lord Wellesley — Correct. For a few years he was surgeon to Lord Wellesley. In Calcutta he also organised the zoo that became the Calcutta Alipore Zoo, and on the request of the Government of Bengal he made detailed surveys of the Company’s territories.

Option (3) Upon his father’s death, he inherited his property and assumed his family name Hamilton — Incorrect. It was on his mother’s death that he inherited her property and took her family name Hamilton, which is why he is often called Buchanan-Hamilton.

Option (4) In 1825 he fell ill and returned to France — Incorrect. He fell ill in 1815 and returned to England.