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| − | [[Image:Mountstuart-Elphinstone.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Elphinstone]]
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| − | '''Mountstuart Elphinstone''' ([[October 6]], [[1779]] – [[November 20]], [[1859]]) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[statesman]] and [[historian]], associated with the government of [[British India]]. He later became the [[Governor of Bombay]] (now [[Mumbai]]) 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 and [[Afghanistan]].
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| − | ==Early life==
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| − | Born in [[Dumbarton]], [[Dunbartonshire|Dumbartonshire]] (now [[Dunbartonshire]]) in 1779, and educated at the [[Royal High School (Edinburgh)|Royal High School]], [[Edinburgh]], he was the fourth son of the 11th [[Baron Elphinstone]] in the peerage of [[Scotland]]. Having been appointed to the [[civil service]] of the [[British East India Company]], of which one of his uncles was a director, he arrived at [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] early in 1796 where he filled several subordinate posts. In [[1801]], he escaped massacre in Benares (now [[Varanasi]]) by the followers of the deposed [[Wajid Ali Shah]]. Later that year he was transferred to the Diplomatic Service where he was posted as the assistant to the British resident at the court of the [[Peshwa]] ruler [[Baji Rao II]].
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| − | ==Envoy==
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| − | In the Peshwa court he obtained his first opportunity of distinction, being attached in the capacity of [[diplomat]]ist to the mission of [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Sir Arthur Wellesley]] to the [[Marathas]]. When, on the failure of negotiations, war broke out, Elphinstone, though a civilian, acted as virtual ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' to Wellesley. At the [[Battle 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 at [[Nagpur]]. This gave him plenty of leisure time, which he spent in reading and study. Later, in [[1807]], he completed a short stint at [[Gwalior]].
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| − | In [[1808]] he was appointed the first British [[envoy]] to the court of [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]] with the object of securing a friendly alliance with the [[Afghan people|Afghans]] against [[Napoleon]]'s planned advance on [[India]]. However this proved of little value, because [[Shuja Shah Durrani|Shah 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 titled ''Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies in Persia and India'' (1815).
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| − | After spending about a year in Kolkata arranging the report of his mission, Elphinstone was appointed in [[1811]] to the important and difficult post of resident at [[Pune]] (formerly known as Poona). 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 the [[Battle of Khadki|Battle of Khadki]] and managed to secure a victory despite his non-military background. As reparations, Peshwa territories were annexed by the British. Elphinstone became the Commissioner of the Deccan in [[1818]].
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| − | ==Governor==
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| − | He was appointed as the [[Governor of Bombay]] the following year, [[1819]]. His principal achievement was the compilation of the "Elphinstone Code." He virtually founded the system of state education in India, at a time when the opinion in Britain was against educating the "natives". Elphinstone held on to this post till [[1827]]. His connection with the [[Bombay Presidency]] was appropriately commemorated in the endowment of the [[Elphinstone College]] by local communities, and in the erection of a marble statue by the European inhabitants.
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| − | He built the first bungalow in [[Malabar Hill]], during his tenture as the [[Governor of Bombay]], 1819 to 1827, and following him, many prominent people took residence here, soon it became a posh locality, and remains so, till date <ref name=bri>[http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm?uid=019PHO0000960S1U00004000 British Library]</ref>.
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| − | After his tenure he returned many lands appropriated by the British to the Raja of [[Satara]].
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| − | However, the Elphinstone Road railway station and the [[Horniman Circle Gardens|Elphinstone Circle]] were named after [[John Elphinstone, 13th Lord Elphinstone|Lord John Elphinstone]] his nephew, who also became Governor of Bombay in 1850s.
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| − | ==Return to England==
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| − | Returning to England in 1829, after an interval of two years' travel, Elphinstone continued to influence public affairs. He twice refused the offer of the post of the [[Governor-General of India]], preferring to finish his two-volume work, ''History of India'' (1841). It embraces the [[Hindu]] and [[Muslim]] periods, and is still a work of high authority. He died in [[Surrey]], England on [[November 20]], [[1859]].
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | * [[Asiatic Society of Bombay]]
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| − | * [[Horniman Circle Gardens]]
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{Reflist}}
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| − | *J.S. Cotton, ''Mountstuart Elphinstone'' ("Rulers of India" series), (1892)
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| − | * T.E. Colebrooke, ''Life of Mountstuart Elphinstone'' (1884)
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| − | * G.W. Forrest, ''Official Writings of Mountstuart Elphinstone'' (1884)
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| − | * [http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/persons/montstuart-elphinstone.html Montstuart Elphinstone] (GFDL site)
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| − | *{{1911}}
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| − | {{start box}}
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| − | {{succession box|title=[[Governor of Bombay]]|before=Sir [[Evan Nepean]]|after=Maj Gen Sir [[John Malcolm]]|years=1819-1827}}
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| − | {{end box}}
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| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:Elphinstone, Mountstuart}}
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| − | [[Category:Royal High School alumni]]
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| − | [[Category:British historians|Elphinstone, Mountstuart]]
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| − | [[Category:British diplomats|Elphinstone, Mountstuart]]
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| − | [[category:Governors of Bombay]]
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| − | [[Category:Scottish historians|Elphinstone, Mountstuart]]
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| − | {{Persondata
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| − | |NAME=Elphinstone, Mountstuart
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| − | |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
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| − | |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Governor of Bombay, Scottish historian
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| − | |DATE OF BIRTH=[[October 6]], [[1779]]
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| − | |PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Dumbarton]], [[Dunbartonshire]]
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| − | |DATE OF DEATH=[[November 20]], [[1859]]
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| − | |PLACE OF DEATH=[[Surrey]], [[England]]
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| − | }}
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| − | [[sv:Mountstuart Elphinstone]]
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| − | {{Credit|214819821}}
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