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George Roos-Keppel

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George Olaf Roos-Keppel
Born7 September 1866
Died11 December 1921
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1886–1920
RankLieutenant Colonel
Battles/warsThird Anglo-Afghan War
AwardsKnight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire(1917)
Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India(1915)

Sir George Olaf Roos-Keppel,GCIE,KCSI(7 September 1866 – 11 December 1921) was a British military officer who served in the capacities of Political Agent to theGovernor-GeneralinKurramandKhyber,and later as Chief Commissioner,North West Frontier Provincefrom 1908 till 1919. He is also known for his role in3rd Afghan War.[1]

Life

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Roos was born in thePark Lanearea of London, the son of Gustaf Ehrenreich Roos, a Swedish merchant in England, and his wife, Elizabeth Annie Roffey, daughter of George Roffey ofTwickenham.He changed his surname in 1890, to Roos-Keppel, at the request of his Dutch-Swedish grandmother. He was educated atUnited Services College, Westward Ho!,abroad, and at theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.[2]

George Roos was commissioned alieutenantin theRoyal Scots Fusilierson 25 August 1886, and was promoted tocaptainon 1 September 1895.[3]He transferred to theIndian Staff Corpson 19 September 1897.[4]He was Political Officer in the Khyber when in March 1900 he was appointed to the temporary command of theKhyber Rifles,a frontier corps.[5]For his service on the North West Frontier of India, he was appointed a Companion of theOrder of the Indian Empire(CIE) in the1900 New Year Honourslist.[6][7]Promoted to thebrevetrank ofmajorin 1902, he received the substantive rank of major in 1904 and promotion to Brevetlieutenant-colonelin 1907. In 1908, he was knighted with the KCIE and was promoted to full Lieutenant-Colonel in 1912.

In 1913, Roos-Keppel, along with Nawab SirSahibzada Abdul QayyumestablishedIslamia College (Peshawar),which was inaugurated byHaji Sahib Turangzai.Roos-Keppel was also president of Central Committee of Examiners inPashto.He is credited with foreseeing the genius in the youngCambridgegraduateInayatullah Khanby appointing him, at the age of 24, the Vice Principal ofIslamia College (Peshawar)in 1913, and then the Principal in 1917. He was appointed a KCSI in 1915 and a GCIE in 1917. He formally retired from the Indian Army in 1920 and died on 11 December of the following year, aged 55.

Academic contributions

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Roos-Keppel was well versed in thePashtolanguage:

Notes

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  1. ^Sir Olaf Caroe,The Pathans,London: Macmillan, 1958
  2. ^Moreman, T. R. "Keppel, Sir George Olof Roos- [formerly George Olof Roos]".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35823.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  3. ^Hart's Army list, 1901
  4. ^"No. 27168".The London Gazette.23 February 1900. p. 1264.
  5. ^"Naval & Military intelligence".The Times.No. 36093. London. 19 March 1900. p. 9.
  6. ^"New Year Honours".The Times.No. 36027. London. 1 January 1900. p. 9.
  7. ^"No. 27150".The London Gazette.2 January 1900. pp. 2–3.
Government offices
Preceded by Chief Commissioner of the
North-West Frontier Province
1908–1909 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 2nd term
1910–1913 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 3rd term
1915–1919 		Succeeded by
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