View source for Elliot James Dowell Colvin

{{short description|Indian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Elliot James Dowell Colvin
| image =
| birth_date = London
| birth_place =27 July 1885
| death_date = 1950
| allegiance    = British India
| branch        = Army
| serviceyears  = 
| serviceyears_label =
| rank          = Lieutenant-Colonel
| rank_label    =
| servicenumber = 
| unit          = 117th 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 (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref name="India Office List 1945">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiUbAQAAIAAJ&q=elliot+james+dowel+colvin&pg=PA166 |title=India Office and Burma Office List |edition=55 |date=1945 |access-date=9 March 2018 |publisher=[[H.M. Stationery Office]] |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Colvin was educated at [[Windlesham House School]], [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Windlesham House School: History and Muster Roll 1837–1937|last=Wilson|first=G. Herbert|publisher=McCorquodale & Co. Ltd.|year=1937|location=London}}</ref> He was commissioned as a [[Second Lieutenant]] in the British [[Indian Army]] in January 1904.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27634/page/182/data.pdf |title=The London Gazette  |date=8 January 1904 |access-date=9 March 2018 |page=182 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office }}</ref> Colvin remained on active service with the [[117th Mahrattas]] regiment until July 1908, when he was appointed personal assistant to the [[Resident (title)#Residents in Asia|Resident]], [[Hyderabad]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27932/page/4891/data.pdf |title=The London Gazette  |date=17 July 1906 |access-date=9 March 2018 |page=4891 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office }}</ref> 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.<ref name="India Office List 1945" />

In February 1924, Colvin was appointed adviser to the [[Maharaja]] of [[Rewa (princely state)|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, [[Rajputana|Eastern Rajputana States]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533041 |title=India Office List For 1931 |date=1931 |access-date=9 March 2018 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jammukashmir.homestead.com/J-K-04.html|title=Jammu and Kashmir: In the Shadow of Imperialism |first=Maharaj K. |last=Kaul |website=jammukashmir.homestead.com}}</ref><ref name="India Office List 1945" />

Colvin was awarded the title of Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] in June 1933.<ref name=Gazette1933>{{cite news |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33946/supplement/3805/data.pdf |title=The London Gazette |date=3 June 1933 |access-date=9 March 2018 |page=3805 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office }}</ref> He became Resident to [[Baroda]] and the [[Gujarat]] States in January 1938, before retiring in July 1940.<ref name="India Office List 1945" /> Colvin retired from the Indian Army with the rank of [[Lieutenant-Colonel]].

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colvin, Elliot James Dowell}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)]]
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]]
[[Category:People educated at Windlesham House School]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]