Charles Ollivant Explained

Sir Edward Charles Kayll Ollivant (1846–1915) was a senior member of the Indian Civil Service. He had notable interactions with both Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammed Ali Jinnah.

Ollivant arrived in India in 1881.^[1] In 1892, he had a disagreement in Rajkot with Gandhi,^[2] who was then a young barrister.^[3] The incident resulted in Gandhi being pushed out of a room, and ill feelings about this dispute were apparently a factor in Gandhi's departure for South Africa in 1893.

Ollivant also offered to hire Muhammed Ali Jinnah at 1,500 rupees per month, and was notably turned down.

Ollivant was a judicial member of the Council of the Governor of Bombay until April 1902,^[4] and a director of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway.^[5] He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in 1892.^[6]

See also

• Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote, Governor of Bombay (1900–1903)

Notes

1. Mentioned in The Nursing Record and Hospital World 7 October 1899 accessed at Royal College of Nursing http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME023-1899/page294-volume23-07thoctober-1899.pdf 3 August 2006
2. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/mohandas-karamchand-gandhi-mahatma-gandhi-timeline-1890-1899
3. Wolpert, Gandhi's Passion : The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 31
4. 18 March 1902 . 10 . 36718.
5. Foreign News: Indian Interview . 20 March 2022 . . 30 August 1926.
6. Great Britain. India Office