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 Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland) |
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 Dictionary of Indian Biography D to F
| Date transcribed | 2011-03-01 | | Transcribed by | Peter Bailey | | Comment | Note that notables of Indian, Afghan, etc. origin do not always follow the alphabetical name pattern established by Buckland in his original work. |
| | Surname | Elphinstone | | | First Name(s) | Mountstuart | | | Year of Birth | 1779 | | | Year of Death | 1859 | | | Entry | Governor : I.C.S. : son of John, eleventh Baron Elphinstone : born Oct. 6, 1779 : educated at the High School, Edinburgh, and at Kensington : went out to Bengal as a ""writer"" in the E.I. Co.'s service in 1795 : stationed at Benares, he had to ride for his life when European officers, including Cherry, the Agent to the Governor- General, were massacred there in Jan. 1799, by order of Wazir Ali, the Ex- Nawab of Oudh. In 1801 he was appointed Assistant to Sir Barry Close, the Resident at the court of Baji Rao, the Peshwa at Poona : at the battles of Assaye and Argaum, he was on the Staff of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, who told him that he ought to have been a soldier. He was Resident at Nagpur from 1804 to 1808 : was sent as Envoy to Kabul, with a view to establish English influence there against the supposed French designs on India : Shah Shuja received him at Peshawar on March 5, 1809 : the negotiations produced little result, as Shah Shuja was himself ejected from Afghanistan in 1809. Elphinstone was appointed Resident at Poona in 1811. In 1815 he insisted on the surrender of Trimbakji Danglia, the Peshwa's minister, for the murder of Gungadhar Sastri, the minister and envoy of the Gaekwar of Baroda, at Poona. In 1817 Elphinstone concluded the treaty dated June 13, of Poona, as dictated to the Peshwa, who, however, continued to intrigue. Elphinstone was, for a time, superseded by Sir T. Hislop, the General commanding the Army collected against the Pindaris : the Peshwa eventually attacked the British force at Kirki on Nov. 5, 1817, and was defeated : Elphinstone's residence at Poona, library, and papers were all burnt : he himself showed great skill and military courage : he annexed the Peshwa's territory, as ordered, and administered it, interfering as little as possible with native usages. He was Governor of Bombay from Nov. 1819, to Nov. 1827 : instituted legislative and judicial reforms, had a code of Regulations drawn up, and advanced popular drawn up, and advanced popular education. The Elphinstone College was founded in his honour. He travelled in Europe, 1827-9, and led a retired life : twice refused the offer of the Governor- Generalship of India, and declined the Under Secretaryship of the Board of Control and a special mission to Canada. He wrote An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary and India, 1815 : his History of India, 1 84 1, for which he was called the Tacitus of modern historians : and The Rise of British Power in the East, edited in 1887 by Sir E. Colebrooke. He was not ambitious, occupied his time with study, and maintained his interest in Indian affairs, being regarded as the Nestor of Indian statesmanship. He was a Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society. He combined through life a keenness for field sports with his love of books and the despatch of public business. Bishop Heber wrote of him, Of Mr. Elphinstone everybody spoke highly : no Indian civilian has gained a greater name as a statesman and a ruler. He died Nov. 20, 1859 : a statue was erected in St. Paul's Cathedral in his honour. |
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A List of eminent persons who served in British India, together with short biographical notes of each
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