Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (February 15, 1762 - June 15, 1829) was a Scottish physician, zoologist and botanist living in India.
He was born at Callander, Perthshire and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After several voyages on Merchant Navy ships to Asia, he served in the Bengal Medical Service from 1794 to 1815. During this time, he was sent on many surveys in India and Nepal. 1803 to 1804 he was surgeon to the Governor General of India Lord Wellesley in Calcutta, where he also organized a zoo that was to become the Calcutta Alipore Zoo. He succeeded William Roxburgh to become the Superintendent of the Calcutta botanical garden in 1814, but had to return to Britain in 1815 due to his ill health.
Born as Francis Buchanan, he added the Hamilton to his name when he succeeded to his mother's estate.
In 1822 he published An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. In 1807 he wrote A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar and in 1819 An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal. He also collected and described many new plants in the region.
Buchanan is commemorated in the binomial of the Grey-hooded Bunting Emberiza buchanani and also in the Rufous-fronted Prinia Prinia buchanani.
The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.-Ham. is applied to plants and animals he described.
