Sir George Roos-Keppel: A Biographical Sketch
Keywords:
George, Roos-Keppel, A Biographical, Sketch, NWFPAbstract
This paper presents a comprehensive biographical sketch of Sir George Roos-Keppel (1866–1921), a distinguished British administrator, soldier, and orientalist who played a pivotal role in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) during the British colonial era in India. As Chief Commissioner and later as the first Governor of NWFP, Roos-Keppel’s career was marked by his deep engagement with the Pashtun people, his linguistic and cultural insights, and his strategic contributions to colonial governance. The role which he played in the Bazar Valley Campaign against the Afridis clan Zakka Khel in 1908, the Government awarded him with the dignity of K.C.I.E (Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire), and with the Swedish Military Order of the Sward. In 1908, the first Chief Commissioner Herold Deane lost the value of performance in the eye of Johan Morley the Viceroy of India and at the same time in spring 1908, his health also drastically fall and this may be the reason that the Frontier tribes created problems in 1907-08. The study traces his early military career, administrative advancements, and his instrumental role in shaping educational reforms, including the establishment of Islamia College Peshawar in 1913. Both Morley and Minto were willing to reward Roos-Keppel, due to his past services in the Kurram and Khyber Agencies, especially of his role during the Zakka Khel expedition of 1907-08. Emphasis is placed on his efforts to bridge cultural and political gaps between the British authorities and the local Pashtun tribes, highlighting his mastery of Pashto and his authorship of several works on Pashto grammar and literature. Through historical records, personal correspondences, and contemporary analyses, the paper explores Roos-Keppel’s legacy not only as a colonial officer but also as an advocate of education and intercultural dialogue. The study concludes by assessing the lasting impact of his policies and initiatives on the socio-political and educational landscape of the region.
References
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (London: Oxford University Press,1927). 477.
A. H. Tapp, United Service College 1874-1911 (London: United service College, 1959), 32.
Muhammad Nawaz Khan, The Guardian of the Frontier: The Frontier Crops NWFP (Peshawar: The Frontier Crops North West Frontier Province, 1994), 112.
Ibid., 104-105.
Tipu Muhabat Khan, The land of the Khyber (Peshawar: Uzbak Publishers, 2004), III.
Muhammad Javid Khalil, Pukhto aw Mustashriqeen (Peshawar: Pushto Academy University of Peshawar, 2011), 100.
William Marry Hogben, “The Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India 1876-1919: A Study in Imperial Careers and Attitude” (PhD diss., University of Toronto 1973), 375.
Administration Report of N.W.F.P, 1908-09, Serial No. 1956. Provincial Archives Peshawar.
William Marry Hogben, The Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India 1876-1919, 377.
William Marry Hogben, The Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India 1876-1919, 376-386.
Ibid.
William Marry Hogben, The Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India 1876-1919, 381.
Olaf Caroe, The Pathan 550 B.C ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬- A.D 1957 (London: Macmillan and Co ltd, 1975), 423.
Ibid.
A. H. Tapp, United Service College 1874-1911, 33.
A. H. Tapp, United Service College 1874-1911, 33.
Olaf Caroe, The Pathan 550 B.C ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬- A.D 1957, 423.
William Marry Hogben, The Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India 1876-1919, 381.
The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crime Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlett Act, was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council on 18th march 1919. The aims of the act was to extend the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarnation without trial and judicial review enacted in the defense of India Act 1915, during the First World War.
Abdul Gaffar Khan, Zama Jwand aw Jadojahad (Germany: da Afghanistan Da Kultoor Toolana, 2008), 128.
Ibid., 132-133.
Olaf Caroe, The Pathan 550 B.C ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-A.D. 1957, 424-425.
Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, North West Frontier Province: History and Politics, 12.
Ibid., 12.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 478.
A. H. Tapp, United Service College 1874-1911, 32.
NWFP, was renamed as Khyber Pukhtunkhwa in 2010 according to one of the clauses of the 18th Amendment of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.
Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series, North West Frontier Province, reprint (Lahore: Sang-i- Meel Publication, 1991), 1.
Abdul Qaium, Gold and Guns on the Pathan Frontier (Bombay: Hind Kitabs, 1945), 45.
Sultan-i-Room, the North West Frontier Province (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Essays on History (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2.
Sultan-i-Room, the North West Frontier Province, 2.
Shahid Ahmad Rajput (2018) Beauty and Mystery of Gandhara Art. https:11/www.reseachgate.net/net/public/328647250.
Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series, North West Frontier Province, reprint (Lahore: Sang-i-Meel Publication, 1991), 12-14.
Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series, North West Frontier Province, reprint (Lahore:
Sang-i- Meel Publication, 1991), 15-16.
Diwan Chand Obahri, The Evolution of North West Frontier Province (Peshawar: Saeed Book Bank, n.d), 16-20.
Ibid., 22-23.
Altaf Qadar, Sayyid Ahmad Barailvi: His Movement and Legacy from the Pukhtun Perspective (New Delhi: SAGE Publication India Pvt Ltd, 2015), xii.
Sultan-i-Room, The North West Frontier Province, 115-116
Ibid., 116.
Ibid., 116-117.
Ibid., 118-120.
The struggle between Russia and Briton for the supremacy over Afghanistan and Iran in the nineteen century is known the ‘Great Game’
Shaista Wahab and Barry Youngerman, A Brief History of Afghanistan (New York: University of Nebraska, 2007), 80.
Ahmad Hassan Dani, Peshawar: The Historic City of the Frontier (Lahore: Sang-I-Meel Publications, 2002), 146.
Ibid,. 147.
Sultan-i-Room, The North West Frontier Province, 121-122.
Ibid., 123-124.
Diwan Chand Obahri, The Evolution of North West Frontier Province, 86-69.
Lal Baha, N. W. F.P. Administration Under British Rule 1901-1919 ( Islamabad: National Commission on Historical and Cultural Research, 1978), 5.
Lal Baha, N. W. F.P. Administration Under British Rule 1901-1919, 5.
Sayed Waqar Ali Shah, North West Frontier Province: History and Politics (Islamabad: NIHCR,2012), 11.
Now these Political or Tribal agencies are merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under the 25th Amendment Article No., 247 in the Constitution of Pakistan in 2018.
Diwan Chand Obahari, The Evolution of North West Frontier Province, 70.
Sayed Waqar Ali Shah, North West Frontier Province: History and Politics, 11.
Ahmad Hassan Dani, Peshawar: The Historic City of the Frontier, 160.
Sayeed Bahadar Shah Zafar Kaka Khil, trans. Sayeed Anwar-ul-Haq, Pushtoon Tarikh Key Ainay May (Peshawar: University Book Agency, 2014), 570.
Olaf Caroe, The Pathans (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1975), 421.
