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George Olaf Roos-Keppel | |
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| Born | 7 September 1866 |
| Died | 11 December 1921 |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1886–1920 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Battles / wars | Third Anglo-Afghan War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (1917) Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India(1915) |
Sir George Olaf Roos-Keppel,GCIE, KCSI (7 September 1866 – 11 December 1921) was a British military officer who served in the capacities of Political Agent to theGovernor-General inKurram andKhyber, and later asChief Commissioner,North West Frontier Province from 1908 till 1919. He is also known for his role in3rd Afghan War.[1]
Roos was born in thePark Lane area of London, the son of Gustaf Ehrenreich Roos, a Swedish merchant in England, and his wife, Elizabeth Annie Roffey, daughter of George Roffey ofTwickenham. He changed his surname in 1890, to Roos-Keppel, at the request of his Dutch-Swedish grandmother. He was educated atUnited Services College, Westward Ho!, abroad, and at theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.[2]
George Roos was commissioned alieutenant in theRoyal Scots Fusiliers on 25 August 1886, and was promoted tocaptain on 1 September 1895.[3] He transferred to theIndian Staff Corps on 19 September 1897.[4] He was Political Officer in the Khyber when in March 1900 he was appointed to the temporary command of theKhyber Rifles, a frontier corps.[5] For his service on the North West Frontier of India, he was appointed a Companion of theOrder of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the1900 New Year Honours list.[6][7] Promoted to thebrevet rank ofmajor in 1902, he received the substantive rank of major in 1904 and promotion to Brevetlieutenant-colonel in 1907. In 1908, he was knighted with the KCIE and was promoted to full Lieutenant-Colonel in 1912.
In 1913, Roos-Keppel, along with Nawab SirSahibzada Abdul Qayyum establishedIslamia College (Peshawar), which was inaugurated byHaji Sahib Turangzai. Roos-Keppel was also president of Central Committee of Examiners inPashto. He is credited with foreseeing the genius in the youngCambridge graduateInayatullah Khan by appointing him, at the age of 24, the Vice Principal ofIslamia College (Peshawar) in 1913, and then the Principal in 1917. He was appointed a KCSI in 1915 and a GCIE in 1917. He formally retired from the Indian Army in 1920 and died on 11 December of the following year, aged 55.
Roos-Keppel was well versed in thePashto language:
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| Preceded by | Chief Commissioner of the North-West Frontier Province 1908–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 2nd term 1910–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 3rd term 1915–1919 | Succeeded by |
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