Introduction
Post India First War of Independence 1857, The British government took direct control of Indian affairs from the East India Company in 1858. The practice of appointing a Viceroy of India began after this event. The British monarch appointed the viceroy of India to oversee the territories instead of the East India Company. Post-independence, The title of viceroy of India was dropped, and native governor-generals led India and Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten became the last viceroy of India and supervised India’s transition to independence.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari became India’s first and only Indian governor-general after independence.
A Comprehensive List of Viceroys of India and Their Tenure
- Lord Canning (1858–62)
- Transfer of control from East India Company to the Crown, the Government of India Act, 1858.
- ‘White Mutiny’ by European troops in 1859.
- Indian Councils Act of 1861.
- Lord Elgin I (1862–63): Wahabi Movement.
- Lord John Lawrence (1864–69)
- Bhutan War (1865).
- Setting up of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras (1865).
- Lord Mayo (1869–72)
- Opening of the Rajkot College in Kathiawar and the Mayo College at Ajmer for political training of Indian princes.
- Establishment of Statistical Survey of India.
- Establishment of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
- Introduction of state railways.
- Lord Northbrook (1872–76)
- Visit of Prince of Wales in 1875.
- Trial of Gaekwar of Baroda.
- Kuka Movement in Punjab.
- Lord Lytton (1876–80)
- The famine of 1876–78 affected Madras, Bombay, Mysore, Hyderabad, parts of central India and Punjab;
- Appointment of the Famine Commission under the presidency of Richard Strachey (1878).
- Royal Titles Act (1876), Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ or Queen Empress of India.
- The Vernacular Press Act (1878).
- The Arms Act (1878).
- The Second Afghan War (1878–80).
- Lord Ripon (1880–84)
- Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882).
- The first Factory Act (1881) to improve labour conditions.
- Continuation of financial decentralization.
- Government resolution on local self-government (1882).
- Appointment of the Education Commission under the chairmanship of Sir William Hunter (1882).
- The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883–84).
- Rendition of Mysore.
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- Lord Dufferin (1884–88)
- The Third Burmese War (1885–86).
- Establishment of the Indian National Congress.
- Lord Lansdowne (1888–94)
- Factory Act (1891).
- Categorisation of civil services into imperial, provisional and subordinate.
- Indian Councils Act (1892).
- Setting up of the Durand Commission (1893) to define the Durand Line between India and Afghanistan (now between Pakistan and Afghanistan; a small portion of the line touches India in Pakistan occupied Kashmir).
- Lord Elgin II (1894–99): Two British officials were assassinated by the Chapekar brothers (1897).
- Lord Curzon (1899–1905)
- Appointment of Police Commission (1902) under Sir Andrew Frazer to review police administration.
- Appointment of the Universities Commission (1902) and passing of the Indian Universities Act (1904).
- Establishment of the Department of Commerce and Industry.
- Calcutta Corporation Act (1899).
- Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (1904).
- Partition of Bengal (1905).
- Curzon-Kitchener controversy.
- Younghusband’s Mission to Tibet (1904).
- Lord Minto II (1905–10)
- Popularisation of anti-partition and Swadeshi Movements.
- Split in Congress in the annual session of 1907 in Surat.
- Establishment of the Muslim League by Aga Khan (1906).
- Lord Hardinge II (1910–16)
- Creation of Bengal Presidency (like Bombay and Madras) in 1911.
- Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911).
- Establishment of the Hindu Mahasabha (1915) by Madan Mohan Malaviya.
- The coronation durbar of King George V was held in Delhi (1911).
- Lord Chelmsford (1916–21)
- Formation of Home Rule Leagues by Annie Besant and Tilak (1916).
- Lucknow session of the Congress (1916); Lucknow pact between the Congress and Muslim League (1916).
- Foundation of Sabarmati Ashram (1916) after Gandhi’s return; launch of Champaran Satyagraha (1916), Kheda Satyagraha (1918), and Satyagraha at Ahmedabad (1918).
- Montagu’s August Declaration (1917); Government of India Act (1919).
- The Rowlatt Act (1919); Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919); Launch of Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements.
- Foundation of Women’s University at Poona (1916) and appointment of Saddler’s Commission (1917) for reforms in educational policy.
- Death of Tilak (August 1, 1920).
- Appointment of S.P. Sinha as governor of Bihar (the first Indian to become a governor).
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- Lord Reading (1921–26)
- Chauri Chaura incident (February 5, 1922) and the subsequent withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
- Moplah rebellion in Kerala (1921).
- Repeal of the Press Act of 1910 and the Rowlatt Act of 1919.
- Criminal Law Amendment Act and the abolition of cotton excise.
- Communal riots in Multan, Amritsar, Delhi, Aligarh, Arvi, and Calcutta.
- Kakori train robbery (1925).
- Murder of Swami Shraddhanand (1926).
- Establishment of the Swaraj Party by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru (1922).
- The decision to hold simultaneous examinations for the ICS both in Delhi and London, with effect from 1923.
- Lord Irwin (1926–31)
- Visit of the Simon Commission to India (1928) and the boycott of the commission by the Indians.
- An All-Parties Conference was held at Lucknow (1928) for suggestions for the (future) Constitution of India, the report of which was called the Nehru Report or the Nehru Constitution.
- Appointment of the Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission (1927).
- Murder of Saunders, the assistant superintendent of police of Lahore; bomb blast in the Assembly Hall of Delhi (1929);
- the Lahore Conspiracy Case and death of Jatin Das after prolonged hunger strike (1929), and bomb accident in train in Delhi (1929).
- Lahore session of the Congress (1929); Purna Swaraj Resolution.
- Dandi March (March 12, 1930) by Gandhi to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- ‘Deepavali Declaration’ by Lord Irwin (1929).
- Boycott of the First Round Table Conference (1930), Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931), and suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- Lord Willingdon (1931–36)
- Second Round Table Conference (1931) and failure of the conference, resumption of Civil Disobedience Movement.
- Announcement of Communal Award (1932) under which separate communal electorates were set up.
- ‘Fast unto death’ by Gandhi in Yeravada prison, broken after the Poona Pact (1932).
- Third Round Table Conference (1932).
- Launch of Individual Civil Disobedience (1933).
- The Government of India Act of 1935.
- Establishment of All India Kisan Sabha (1936) and Congress Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan (1934).
- Burma separated from India (1935).
- Lord Linlithgow (1936–44)
- First general elections (1936–37); Congress attained an absolute majority.
- Resignation of the Congress ministries after the outbreak of the Second World War (1939).
- Subhas Chandra Bose was elected as the president of Congress at the fifty-first session of the Congress (1938).
- Resignation of Bose in 1939 and formation of the Forward Bloc (1939).
- Lahore Resolution (March 1940) by the Muslim League, demanded for separate state for Muslims.
- ‘August Offer’ (1940) by the viceroy; its criticism by the Congress and endorsement by the Muslim League.
- Winston Churchill was elected prime minister of England (1940).
- Escape of Subhas Chandra Bose from India (1941) and organization of the Indian National Army.
- Cripps Mission’s Cripps Plan to offer dominion status to India and setting up of a Constituent Assembly; its rejection by the Congress.
- The passing of the ‘Quit India Resolution’ by the Congress (1942); outbreak of ‘August Revolution’; or Revolt of 1942 after the arrest of national leaders.
- ‘Divide and Quit’ slogan at the Karachi session (1944) of the Muslim League.
- Lord Wavell (1944–1947)
- C. Rajagopalachari’s CR Formula (1944), failure of Gandhi Jinnah talks (1944).
- Wavell Plan and the Shimla Conference (1942).
- End of Second World War (1945).
- Proposals of the Cabinet Mission (1946) and its acceptance by the Congress.
- Observance of ‘Direct Action Day’ (August 16, 1946), also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings, by the Muslim League.
- Elections to the Constituent Assembly, formation of Interim Government by the Congress (September 1946).
- Announcement of the end of British rule in India by Clement Attlee (prime minister of England) on February 20, 1947.
- Lord Mountbatten (1947–1948)
- June 3rd plan (June 3, 1947) announced.
- Introduction of the Indian Independence Bill in the House of Commons.
- Appointment of two boundary commissions under Sir Cyril Radcliff for the partition of Bengal and Punjab