# Colonel Creighton — Kim character guide

> Colonel Creighton in Kim by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Creighton, Creighton Sahib, the Colonel, Colonel Creighton Sahib

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Snapshot

A British army officer and amateur ethnologist who runs intelligence operations in northern India, he sees in Kim a rare asset and oversees his training as a spy.

## Who they are

Colonel Creighton moves through the novel with the quiet authority of a man who knows more than he says, treating espionage as a branch of scientific inquiry. He recognizes Kim's value precisely because the boy can go where no white agent could, and he arranges the education that will make Kim useful to the Survey of India. His manner with Kim is neither warm nor cold but professionally respectful, treating the boy as a promising recruit rather than a child. He represents the impersonal machinery of empire, efficient and calculating, for which individuals are instruments to be deployed.

## Relationships

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton is the head of British intelligence in India who oversees Kim's training and deployment as a spy.

### [Mahbub Ali](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/mahbub_ali)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Colonel Creighton meets the Teshoo Lama with formal respect, recognizing the lama's influence over Kim while pursuing his own intelligence agenda.

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton is the head of British intelligence in India who oversees Kim's training and deployment as a spy.

### [Mahbub Ali](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/mahbub_ali)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Colonel Creighton meets the Teshoo Lama with formal respect, recognizing the lama's influence over Kim while pursuing his own intelligence agenda.

### [Mahbub Ali](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/mahbub_ali)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton is the head of British intelligence in India who oversees Kim's training and deployment as a spy.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Colonel Creighton meets the Teshoo Lama with formal respect, recognizing the lama's influence over Kim while pursuing his own intelligence agenda.

## In the story

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/vi)

Observes Kim and Mahbub Ali; takes an interest in the boy's potential for the Ethnological Survey.

### [The Gates of Learning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/vii)

Colonel Creighton travels with Kim to Lucknow, advising him on the importance of understanding native customs and hinting at future work in the Great Game.

### [The Road to Simla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/viii)

Colonel Creighton is referenced as the one who will take Kim out of school and send him on the Road.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/ix)

Referenced as the Colonel to whom Lurgan Sahib will report about Kim.

### [The Great Game Intensifies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/x)

Orders Kim to map Bikanir, sends him an examination paper, and arranges his position in the Canal Department.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/colonel_creighton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters