Governor Generals of India

A. Governors of Fort William in Bengal (1757-1772)

Roger Drake (1757)

Robert Clive (First Administration; 1757-1760)

Holwell (Officiating; 1760)

Henry Vansittart (1760-1765)

Robert Clive (Second Administration; 1765-1767)

o Established Dual Government in Bengal from 1765-72

o Bengal White Mutiny by white brigades at Allahabad and

Monghyr
Harry Verelst (1767-1769)

Cartier (1769-72)

B. Governor Generals (1773-1858)

Warren Hastings (1773-1785) - Became Governor in 1772 and

Governor-General in 1773 through Regulating Act of 1773
o His four councillors were Clavering, Francis, Monson and Barwell
o Abolished Dual system (1767-1772) of administration (1772)
o Auctioned the right to collect land revenue to the highest
bidder(1772)
o Divided Bengal into districts and appointed Collectors (1772)
o Rohilla war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab
of Awadh with the help of Britishers.
o Treaty of Surat (1775) between Raghunath Rao and Warren
Hastings, but Council of Calcutta rejected it
o Nanad Kumar incident (1775)
o Treaty of Purandar (1776) between English and Peshwa
o Refined Hindu and Muslim laws. A translation of the code in
Sanskrit appeared in 1776 under the title of "Code of Gentoo
Laws"
o Chait Singh (Banaras Raja) affair (1778)
o James Augustus Hickey started a weekly paper called Bengal
Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser (1780)

o First (1st) Anglo-Maratha War (1776-82) and Treaty of

Salbai(1782)
o Begums of Oudh / Awadh affair (1782)
o Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal with William Jones in 1784
o Pitts India Act of 1784

o Second (2nd) Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84) and Treaty of

Mangalore (1785) with Tipu Sultan
o Started Diwani and Faujdari adalat at the district level and Sadar
diwani and Nizamat adalats (appellate courts) at Calcutta.
o Wrote introduction to the first English translation of the Gita by
Charles Wilkins
Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793)
o Sanskrit College, Banaras was founded (1791) by Jonathan
Duncan
o New Police System was introduced (1791)
o Third (3rd) Anglo-Mysore War - defeat of Tipu Sultan (1790-92)
o Treaty of Seringapatam (1792)
o Cornwallis code, based on separation of powers, was introduced
- Codify law - separated the financial / revenue from the judicial
functions / administration (1793)
o Created post of district judge (1793)
o Introduced Permanent Settlement in Bengal (1793)
o Cornwallis is known as the father of the Civil Services in India

Sir John Shore (1793-1798)

o First (1st) Charter Act was introduced (1793)
o Battle of Kurdla / Kharda / Khadra between Nizam and the
Marathas (1795)
o Planned Permanent Settlement with Cornwallis and
later succeeded him (1793)
o Famous for his Policy of Non-Interference

Lord Wallesley (1798-1805)

o Introduced the Subsidiary Alliance system to achieve British
paramountcy (1798) - The states that signed the alliance were Hydrabad (first to sign) in 1798 and then Mysore, Tanjore,
Awadh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Mecheri, Bundi, Bharatpur and Berar
o First treaty with Nizam (1798)
o Fourth (4th) Anglo-Mysore war (1799) - defeat and death of Tipu
Sultan

o Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805) - defeat of the

Sindhiya, the Bhonsale and the Holkar
o Formation of Madras presidency (1801) during his tenure after
the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic
o Treaty of Bassein (1802) with Peshwa
o Lord Lake captured Delhi and Agra and the Mughal emperor was
put under Company's protection
o Described himself a Bengal Tiger

Marquess Cornwallis (for the second time) 1805

Sir George Barlow (1805-1807)

o End of Second Anglo-Maratha (1805)
o Sepoy Mutiny of Vellore (1806)
o Tried towords restoration of peace with Scindhia and Holkar

Lord Minto (I) (1807 -13)

o Sent the mission of Malcolm to Persia and that of Eliphinston to
Kabul (1808)
o Treaty of Amritsar (1809) - with Ranjit Singh
o Charter Act of 1813

Lord Hastings (1813-1823)

o Anglo-Nepalese (Gurkha / Gorkha) war (1813-1823)
o Treaty of Sugauli / Segowlee / Sequelae (1816) - between the
East India Company and King of Nepal
o Treaty of Poona (1817) with Peshwa
o Third (3rd) Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818)
o Pindari war (1817-1818)
o Creation of Bombay Presidency (1818)
o Ryotwari settlement in Madras by Thomas Munro, the Governor
(1820)
o Mahalwari system of land revenue was made in North-West
province by James Thomson.
o Adopted the Policy of Intervention and War
o He considered Rajputs as the natural allies

Lord Amherst (1823-28)

o First (1st) Burmese war (1824-1826)
o Treaty of Yandaboo (1826) - with lower Burma (Pegu) by which
British merchants were allowed to settle in southern coast of
Burma and Rangoon

o Acquisition of territories in Malay Peninsula (1824)

o Capture of Bharatpur (1826)

Lord William Cavendish - Bentinck (1828-35)

o Known as most enlightened and liberal Governor-General of
India
o Known as Father of Modern Western Education in India
o Abolition / Prohibition of Sati (1829)
o Banned female infanticide (1829)
o Suppression of thuggee / thugs (1829-35) - Military operations
led / curbed by William Sleeman - 1830
o Annexed Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834), Central Chachar (1834)
on the plea of misgovernment
o Charter Act / Regulation of (1833) - Mertins Bird (Father of land
revenue settlement in North)
o Created the province of Agra (1834)
o Macaulay's minutes on Education (1835)
o English was made the official language of india (1835)
o Abolition of provincial court of appeal and circuit set up by
Cornwallis
o Appointment of commissioners of circuit and revenue
o Concluded a treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit Singh

Sir Charles (Lord) Metcalfe (1834-1836)

o Passed the famous Press Law, which freed Indian press from
restrictions
Lord Auckland (1836-1842)
o First Afghan War (1836-42)
Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)
o Termination of First Afghan Wars (1842)
o Annexation of Sindh (1843)
o War with Gwalior (1843)
o Abolition of slavery in India in year (~1844)

Lord Hardinge (1844-48)

o First Sikh war (1845-1846)
o Treaty of Lahore (1846) - end of Sikh sovereignty in India

o Prohibition of female infanticide and human sacrifice among

Gonds of central India.
Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)

o Abolished Title and Pension

o Second Sikh War (1845-1846)
o Annexation of Punjab (1849)
o Application of Doctrine of Lapse - Captured Satara (1848), Jaipur
and Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi
(1853) and Nagpur (1854)
o Second Burmese war (1852)
o Annexation of Berar (1853)
o Charter Act of 1853
o Introduction of Railways (32 km) b/t Bombay -Thana (1853)
o Telegraph b/t Calcutta - Agra (1853)
o Postal system (1853)
o Recruitment of the Civil Service by competitive examination
(1853)
o Woods Dispatch (1854)
o Widow Remarriage Act (1856)
o Santhal uprising (1855-56)
o Annexation of Oudh (1856)
o Three Universities established in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras
(1857)
o Introduced Bon-Regulation System - the system of centralized
control in newly acquired territories
o Founded the Public Work Department (P.W.D.)
o Raised Gorkha Regiment
o Shimla was made summer capital of British India
C. British Governor Generals and Viceroys (1858-1947)

Lord Canning
o Queen Victorias proclamation and India Act of 1858
o White Mutiny
o Indian Councils Act of 1861
o Indian Penal Code in 1860
o Lord Elgin (I) (1862)
o Suppressed Wahabis movement

Lord John Lawrence (1864 -69)

o Bhutan War ( 1865)

o Establishment of High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in

1865
Lord Mayo (1869-72)
o Establishment of statistical survey of India
o Dept. of Agriculture and commerce
o State railways
o He was assassinated in Andamans in 1872

Sir John Strachey

Lord Napier of Merchistoun

Lord Northbrook

Lord Lytton (I) (1876-80)

o Royal Titles Act of 1876
o Assumption of title of empress of India by Queen Victoria
o Vernacular Press Act
o Arms Act of 1878
o Second Afghan War (1878-80)
o Appointment of first famine commission in 1878

Lord Ripon (1880-84)

o First Factory Act and First census
o Local Self Government in 1882
o Division finances of the centre in 1882
o Hunter commission on Education
o Ilbert Bill Controversy

Lord Dufferin (1884-88)

o Burmese War (1885-86)
o Foundation of Indian National Congress

Lord Landsdowne (1888-94)

o Factory Act of 1891
o Division of Civil services
Subordinate
o Indian councils Act of 1892

into

Imperial,

Provincial

and

o Appointment of Durand Commission and its definition of Durand

line between India (Now Pakistan) and Afghanistan
Lord Elgin (II)
o Assassination of British By Chapekar
Lord Curzon (1899-1905)

o Thomas Raleigh commission

o Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904
o Establishment of Agriculture research Institute at Pusa in Bihar
o Partition of Bengal in 1905

Lord Minto (II) (1905-10)

o Anti Partition and swadeshi movements
o Surat session and Split in the congress
o Minto Morley reforms
o Foundation of Muslim League by Aga Khan
o Nawab of Dacca etc. in 1906

Lord Hardinge II (1910-16)

o Annulment of partion of Bengal
o Transfer imperial capital to Delhi
o Death of G.K. Gokhale in 1915
o Foundation of Hindu Mahasabha in 1915

Lord Chelmford (1916 -21)

o Return of Ghandhji
o Home Rule leagues
o Luknow Session and reunion of congress in 1916
o Lucknow pact in 1916 by the efforts of B.G.Tilak
o August Declaration of Montague
o Formation of Indian Liberal Federation by S.N.Banerjee
o Jallian Walla Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919)
o Khilafat movement (1919-20)

o Appointment of Sir S.P.Sinha as Lieutenant Governor of Bihar

(First Indian)
Lord Reading (1921-26)
o ChauriChaura incident ( 5th Feb 1922)
o Formation of Swaraj party by C.R.Das
o Motilal Nehru in Dec 1922
o Foundation
of
RastriyaSwayamSevakSangh
K.B.Hedgewar (1925)
o Repeal of Rowlatt Act

(RSS)

o Holding of simultaneous examinations in India and England

o Beginning of Indianisation of officers cadre of the Indian Army.

Lord Irwin (1926-31)

by

o Simon commission and its Boycott

o Harcourt Butler Indian States commission (1927)
o Nehru report and its rejection by Muslim League
o Hindu Mahasabha etc.
o Deepavali declaration
o Lahore session (1929)
o Poornaswaraj declaration
o Launching of Civil Disobedience Movement and Dandi march
o First Round Table Congress
o Gandi Irwin Pact

Lord Willingdon (1931-36)

o Second and Third Round Table conferences
o Communal award (1932) by Ramsay Mac Donald
o Poona pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar(1932)
o Govt. of India Act 1935

o Foundation of Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai

Prakash Narayan (1934)
Lord Linlithgow (1936-43)
o Formation of congress ministries
o Resignation of Subash Chandra Bose from the President ship of
congress
o Formation of Forward Block
o August offer by Linlithgow and its rejection by congress
o Deliverance day by Muslim League (1939)
o Cripps Mission
o Quit India movement

Lord Wavell (1943-47)

o C.R.Formula by C.Rajagopalchari
o Wavell Plan and Simla Conference
o INA Trials
o Naval Mutiny (1946)
o Cabinet Mission ( Lawrence, Cripps and Alexander)

o Formation of Interim Government and Launching of Direct Action

Day
Lord Mountbatten (1947)
o Partition of India and Independence