Aubrey J. O'Brien

Lieutenant-Colonel Aubrey John "A.J." O'Brien CBE CIE (5 December 1870 – 31 August 1930) was an officer in the British Indian Army and a writer on India. ["Who Was Who 1929-1940", 1941]

O'Brien's father was Edward O'Brien of the Bengal Civil Service. Aubrey O'Brien was educated at Dover College and at the Sandhurst. He served three and a half years in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, and one and a half years in the 110th Maratha Light Infantry before spending 29 years in the Punjab Commission. ["Who Was Who 1929-1940", 1941]

He also remained the district judge as a Lieutenant at Bannu (then part of British India, now in Pakistan). On 9 November 1901 he was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed as the 1st Deputy Commissioner of the newly formed Mianwali District (then part of British India, now in Pakistan). ["Gazetter of the Mianwali District 1915", Sang-e-Meel Publications Lahore, Pakistan] He served Mianwali not once but thrice, second time in 1906 and third time in 1914. [Dr. Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi, "Tareekh-e-Mianwali", Sang-e-Meel Publications Lahore, Pakistan] However he was promoted to the rank of major during his third tenure at Mianwali.

O'Brien was made CIE in 1906 and CBE in 1919. ["Who Was Who 1929-1940", 1941] He died in Kensington. [Obituary, "The Times", 2 September 1930] He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

elected works

*"Female infanticide in the Punjab", Folklore 19:3 (1908), pp. 261-75
*"Mianwali Folklore Notes", Folklore 22:1 (1911), pp. 73-77
*"The Mohammedan Saints of the Western Punjab", "The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland" 41 (1911), pp. 509-520 (with Reginald Bolster)
*"Cupid and Cartridges (Sketches of Sport in the Punjab)", 1911 (with Reginald Bolster)
*"Bahawalpur: Transformation of an Indian State", "The Times", 4 November 1926

References