Son of a small Eskdale farmer, Malcolm went to India as a boy soldier for the East India Company and his career took off there under the patronage of Lord Wellesley. A second career as a diplomat began when aged 30 he was sent as the Company's envoy to Persia in 1799. A speaker of Persian and admirer of Persian poetry with experience of the etiquette of the Persianized courts of the Indian Nawabs, Malcolm seemed well qualified to lead a diplomatic mission to Persia, and should his superiors have chosen to employ force he could equally have put to use his military skills. Although he negotiated a treaty with Persia in 1801 this was never ratified, and after the French gained a foothold in Persia in 1807, Malcolm sailed to Bushire with a military force to threaten dire consequences if the Shah did not expel them. The option was still open to seize Kharg Island in the Gulf; however Harford Jones pursued the diplomatic route, arriving in Tehran in 1809 to successfully negotiate a new treaty. Malcolm's mission to replace Jones and restore the preeminence of the Indian Government in Persian affairs was unfruitful. Knighted in 1815, he spent the last three years of his career as Governor of Bombay, retiring in 1830. Given his limited early education and soldier's background, Malcolm's achievement as a writer is all the more remarkable.