Sir William Rupert Hay (December 16, 1893 – April 3, 1962) was a British Indian Army officer and administrator in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He served as Chief Commissioner of Balochistan during the colonial era.

Career

Hay was educated at Bradfield and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. He was commissioned in the

Dorsetshire Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...

in 1914 and served during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

. He transferred to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and was attached to the

24th Punjabis The 24th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 24th Punjabis in 1861 and became 4th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment in 1922. In 1947, i ...

, being appointed Quarter-Master 30 October 1916. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1918. He was seconded to the Foreign and Political Department in May 1920 and was confirmed in his appointment in May 1924. He was Political Agent in

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and t ...

1924–28, Assistant

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

1928–31, and Political Agent in Malakand 1931–33. He was

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

in Waziristan 1940–41, Resident in the Persian Gulf 1941–42, Revenue and Judicial Commissioner in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

1942–43 and Agent to the Governor-General, Resident and Chief Commissioner in Balochistan 1943–46.Rulers of Provinces of British India
/ref> He was again Political Resident in the Persian Gulf from 1946 to 1953 when he retired from the service and returned to England.

Publications

''Two Years in Kurdistan : Experiences of a Political Officer, 1918-1920''
Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1921
''The Persian Gulf States''
Middle East Institute, Washington D.C., 1959.

References

HAY, Lt-Col Sir (William) Rupert
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
Obituary – Sir Rupert Hay – The Indian Political Service
''The Times'', London, 4 April 1962, page 15 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Rupert 1893 births 1962 deaths People educated at Bradfield College Alumni of University College, Oxford British Indian Army officers Chief Commissioners of Baluchistan Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Companions of the Order of the Star of India Indian Political Service officers British people in colonial India