Elliot James Dowell Colvin

"Elliot Colvin" redirects here. For the British civil servant, see Elliot Colvin (died 1940).

Elliot James Dowell Colvin
BornLondon
27 July 1885
Died1950
AllegianceBritish India
Service / branchArmy
RankLieutenant-Colonel
Unit117th Mahrattas regiment

Lieutenant-Colonel Elliot James Dowell Colvin, CIE (27 July 1885 in London, England – 1950 in Delhi, India) was a British Indian Army and Indian Political Service officer who served as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.[1]

Early life and education

Colvin was educated at Windlesham House School, Charterhouse and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[2] He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British Indian Army in January 1904.[3]

Career

Colvin remained on active service with the 117th Mahrattas regiment until July 1908, when he was appointed personal assistant to the Resident, Hyderabad.[4] He was appointed a political officer in the Indian Political Department of the British Raj in February 1912 and promoted agent to the Governor-General in Central India, June, 1915. Colvin was appointed political agent, Baghelkhand, in March 1921, and Under-secretary to the agent to the Governor-General in Central India in April 1922.[1]

In February 1924, Colvin was appointed adviser to the Maharaja of Rewa, which was considered "foreign service" by the Indian Political Department; then, in April 1930, was appointed officiating (i.e. acting) Resident, Gwalior, and officiating political agent, Eastern Rajputana States.[5] In the aftermath of communal violence in Kashmir, Hari Singh, the Maharajah, was forced to ask the British Indian government to dispatch troops to the state to quell the rebellion. Lt.-Col. Colvin was chosen as prime minister of Kashmir State in March 1932 and reappointed in March 1935 to give British India more influence in the princely state.[6][1]

Later life

Colvin was awarded the title of Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in June 1933.[7] He became Resident to Baroda and the Gujarat States in January 1938, before retiring in July 1940.[1] Colvin retired from the Indian Army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

References

  1. ^ a b c d India Office and Burma Office List (55 ed.). H.M. Stationery Office. 1945. Retrieved 9 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Wilson, G. Herbert (1937). Windlesham House School: History and Muster Roll 1837–1937. London: McCorquodale & Co. Ltd.
  3. ^ "The London Gazette" (PDF). H.M. Stationery Office. 8 January 1904. p. 182. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  4. ^ "The London Gazette" (PDF). H.M. Stationery Office. 17 July 1906. p. 4891. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  5. ^ India Office List For 1931. H.M. Stationery Office. 1931. Retrieved 9 March 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Kaul, Maharaj K. "Jammu and Kashmir: In the Shadow of Imperialism". jammukashmir.homestead.com.
  7. ^ "The London Gazette" (PDF). H.M. Stationery Office. 3 June 1933. p. 3805. Retrieved 9 March 2018.