Mountstuart Elphinstone, historian and administrator, served as the Governor of the Bombay Presidency from:

Mountstuart Elphinstone served as the Governor of the Bombay Presidency from 1819 to 1827.

About Mountstuart Elphinstone:

• He was born in Scotland in 1779, and came to India in 1796 as a young writer (clerk) of the English East India Company.
• He served as an envoy to the court of the Amir of Kabul (1808-1809), and wrote "An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul".
• He was the British Resident at the court of the Peshwa at Poona (Pune).
• He played an important role in the events that led to the end of the Peshwa's rule in 1818.
• He then became the Commissioner of the territories taken from the Peshwa (the Deccan).

As Governor of Bombay:

• He organised the administration of the newly acquired Maratha territories.
• He tried to respect Indian customs and institutions, and to use Indian officials.
• He compiled a code of laws for the Bombay Presidency (the "Elphinstone Code", 1827).
• He took a great interest in the education of Indians; he encouraged schools that taught in Indian languages and English.
• He supported the Bombay Native Education Society.
• After he left, the people of Bombay raised money in his honour, which was used to found the Elphinstone College in Bombay (1835-1856).

His writing:

• He wrote "The History of India" (1841), covering the Hindu and Muslim periods; unlike James Mill's history, it was sympathetic to Indian civilisation.
• He refused offers to become Governor-General of India.
• He died in England in 1859.

Other administrators of the time:

Thomas Munro (Madras, 1820-1827) and John Malcolm (central India and later Bombay, 1827-1830) shared his approach of respecting Indian institutions.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1798-1805, 1835-1842 and 1858-1862 were not his years as Governor.