Mountstuart Elphinstone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of Bombay | |
| In office 1 November 1819 – 1 November 1827 | |
| Governors-General | The Marquess of Hastings The Earl Amhurst |
| Preceded by | Sir Evan Nepean |
| Succeeded by | SirJohn Malcolm |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 October 1779 Dumbarton,Dumbartonshire, Scotland |
| Died | 20 November 1859(1859-11-20) (aged 80) Hookwood,Surrey, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Royal High School |
| Occupation | Statesman, historian |
| Signature |  |
Mountstuart ElphinstoneFRSE (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottishstatesman and historian, associated with the government ofBritish India. He later became theGovernor of Bombay (nowMumbai) where he is credited with the opening of several educational institutions accessible to the Indian population. Besides being a noted administrator, he wrote books on India andAfghanistan. His works are pertinent examples of the colonial historiographical trend.[1]
Born inDumbarton,Dumbartonshire (nowDunbartonshire) on 6 October 1779,[2] educated at theRoyal High School. He was the fourth son of the 11thBaron Elphinstone, by Anna, daughter ofLord Ruthven,[2] in the peerage ofScotland. Having been appointed to the civil service of theBritish East India Company, of which one of his uncles was a director, he arrived at Calcutta (now Kolkata) early in 1796 where he filled several subordinate posts. In 1799, he escaped massacre in Benares (nowVaranasi) by the followers of the deposedNawab of AwadhWazir Ali Khan. In 1801 he was transferred to the Diplomatic Service where he was posted as the assistant to the British residentJosiah Webbe at the court of thePeshwa rulerBaji Rao II.
In the Peshwa court he obtained his first opportunity of distinction, being attached in the capacity of diplomatist to the mission ofSir Arthur Wellesley to theMarathas. When, on the failure of negotiations, war broke out, Elphinstone, though a civilian, acted as virtualaide-de-camp to Wellesley. At theBattle of Assaye, and throughout the campaign, he displayed rare courage and knowledge of tactics such that Wellesley told him he ought to have been a soldier. In 1804, when the war ended, Elphinstone was appointed British resident atNagpur.[3] This gave him plenty of leisure time, which he spent in reading and study. Later, in 1807, he completed a short stint atGwalior.
In 1808 he was appointed the first Britishenvoy to the court ofKabul, Afghanistan, with the object of securing a friendly alliance with theAfghans againstNapoleon's planned advance onIndia. However this proved of little value, becauseShah Shuja was driven from the throne by his brother before it could be ratified. The most valuable permanent result of the embassy was in Elphinstone's work titledAccount of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies in Persia and India (1815).[3]
After spending about a year in Calcutta arranging the report of his mission, Elphinstone was appointed in 1811 to the important and difficult post of resident atPune. The difficulty arose from the general complication of Maratha politics, and especially from the weakness of the Peshwas, which Elphinstone rightly read from the first. The tenuous peace between the Peshwas was broken in 1817 with the Marathas declaring war on the British. Elphinstone assumed command of the military during an important crisis during theBattle of Khadki also calledThird Anglo-Maratha War and managed to secure a victory[3] despite his non-military background. As reparations, Peshwa territories were annexed by the British. Elphinstone became the Commissioner of the Deccan in 1818.
In 1819, Elphinstone was appointedLieutenant-Governor of Bombay, a post he held until 1827. During his tenure, he greatly promoted education in India, at a time when opinion in Britain was against educating the "natives". He may fairly be regarded as the founder of the system of state education in India. One of his principal achievements was the compilation of the "Elphinstone code", a system of criminal law.[3] He also returned many lands that had been appropriated by the British to the Raja ofSatara.
He built the first bungalow inMalabar Hill during this time, and following his example, many prominent people took up residence here. It soon became a fashionable locality, and remains so to the present.[4]
His connection with theBombay Presidency is commemorated in the endowment ofElphinstone College by local communities, and in the erection of a marble statue by the European inhabitants.[3] However, theElphinstone Road railway station (renamed in 2018 to Prabhadevi Railway Station), and theElphinstone Circle (renamed in 1947 to Horniman Circle, both inMumbai city, were not named after him but in honour of his nephew,John, 13th Lord Elphinstone, who later also becameGovernor of Bombay in the 1850s. One of Karachi's main commercial streets was previously namedElphinstone Street[5] but has been renamedZaibunnisa Street.
The township ofElphinstone, Victoria,Australia, was named after him. The suburb ofMount Stuart, Tasmania,Australia, and its main road, Elphinstone Road, were also named after him.[6]
There is a statue of him in the crypt ofSt Paul's Cathedral inLondon.[7]
Returning to Britain in 1829, after an interval of two years' travel, Elphinstone continued to influence public affairs,[3] but based in England rather than Scotland. Nevertheless, he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh in 1830 with his proposer beingSir John Robison.[8]
He was one of the seven founders of theRoyal Geographical Society which formed on 16 July 1830.[9]
He twice refused appointment asGovernor-General of India, preferring to finish his two-volume work,History of India (1841). He died in Hookwood, Surrey, England, on 20 November 1859.[10] He is buried inLimpsfield churchyard.[8] There is also a memorial to him inSt Paul's Cathedral.[11]
James Sutherland Cotton later wrote his biography as part of theRulers of India series in 1892.[12]
The historianJames Grant Duff namedhis son after Elphinstone.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Elphinstone, Mountstuart".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 298–299.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by SirEvan Nepean | Governor of Bombay 1819–1827 | Succeeded by Maj Gen SirJohn Malcolm |