students (of any religious denomination) to apply in 1935. Personal life Martin never married but, as a nawab, he had close and long relationships with several mistresses, which was the normal practice in that era. His favourite mistress was a girl called Boulone (c.1766–1844), who was some thirty years younger than Martin. He had bought her as a young girl aged nine. Martin always claimed that they lived happily together, but Boulone must inevitably have harboured feelings of jealousy when Martin introduced younger mistresses into the household. Boulone is commemorated in a small gilt-framed painting in the Blue Room of La Martinière. She is pictured next to a young boy named James Zulphikar, who was said to have been adopted by Martin. Both figures are dressed in 18th-century Indian costume, and Boulone is holding a fishing rod. Boulone is buried in a purpose-built Muslim tomb in the grounds of the college. It is here that a few rupees are given out once a month to the poor people of Lucknow, in accordance with the instructions in Martin's will. Martin on himself 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 perseverance 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." Epitaph Claude Martin died on 13 September 1800 at the Town House, Lucknow. According to his last wishes, he was buried in the vault specially prepared for his remains in the basement of Constantia in Lucknow. The inscription on his tombstone reads: Major-General Claude Martin. Arrived in India as a common