Elphinstone, Mountstuart (1779–1859)

British historian and statesman. He entered the civil service of the East India Company in 1796 and became one of the founders of Britain's Indian empire. Elphinstone was aide-de-camp to Marquess Wellesley in 1803, and was envoy to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1808. He helped to win the battle of Kirki against the Mahrattas in 1817, and was made governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) 1819–27. He subsequently refused the governor-generalship of India owing to ill-health. Among his publications are The History of India (1841, 1866) and The Rise of British Power in the East (1887).