List of Governor Generals of India

Introduction

The Governor General of India refers to the head of the British administration in India, The British government created the office in 1773 with the title of Governor General of the Presidency of Fort William. The officer had direct control only over Fort William but supervised the affairs of the East Ind Company in India. In 1833, The British Crown granted complete authority over all of British India and the official received the title of Governor General of India.

List of Governor General of India

Governor of Bengal (Before 1773)

• Robert Clive (1754-1767)
  • First British Governor General of the Bengal Presidency.
  • Robert Clive was the Governor of Bengal from 1757-60 and from 1765-67.
  • Arrived in Fort St. George (Madras) in 1744 to work for the East India Company as a ‘factor’ or company agent. 
  • He earned great fame and praise for his significant role in the Siege of Arcot.
  • Battle of Plassey (1757) and Battle of Buxar (1764)
• Warren Hastings (1773-1785)
  • Regulating  Act of 1773.
  • Act of 1781, under which the powers of jurisdiction between the  Governor­ General-in-Council and the  Supreme  Court at Calcutta, were clearly divided.
  • Pitt’s India Act of 1784. 
  • Rohilia War of 1774.
  • First Maratha War in 1775- 82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782
  • Second Mysore War in 1780- 84.
  • Strained relationships with Chait Singh, the Maharaja of Banaras, which led to Hastings’ subsequent impeachment in England.
  • Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784).
• Lord Cornwallis (1786–93)
  • Third Mysore War (1790–92) and Treaty of Seringa-patam (1792).
  • Cornwallis Code (1793) incorporated several judicial reforms, and separation of revenue administration and civil jurisdiction. 
  • Permanent Settlement of Bengal, 1793. 
  • Europeanisation of administrative machinery and introduction of civil services. 

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• Sir John Shore (1793–98)
  • Charter Act of 1793. 
  • Battle of Kharda between the Nizam and the Marathas (1795). 
• Lord Wellesley (1798–1805)
• • Introduction of the Subsidiary Alliance System (1798); first alliance with Nizam of Hyderabad. 
  • Fourth Mysore War (1799).
  • Second Maratha War (1803-05).
  • Took over the administration of Tanjore (1799), Surat (1800), and Carnatic (1801).
  • Treaty of Bassein (1802). 
• Sir George Barlow (1805–07): Vellore Mutiny (1806). 
• Lord Minto I (1807–13): Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809). 

• Lord Hastings (1813–23)
  • Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16) and the Treaty of Sagauli, 1816.
  • Third Maratha War (1817–19) and dissolution of Maratha Confederacy; creation of Bombay Presidency (1818). 
  • Strife with Pindaris (1817–18). 
  • Treaty with Sindhia (1817).  
  • Establishment of the Ryotwari System by Thomas Munro, governor of Madras (1820). 
• Lord Amherst (1823–28)
• • First Burmese War (1824–26). 
  • Capture of Bharatpur (1826). 
• Note: Lord William Bentinck was the last Governor General of Bengal. After the passing of the Charter Act of 1833, the Governor-general was renamed Governor General of India.
  • He is also known as the First Governor General of India

Governor General of India

• Lord William Bentinck (1828–35) 
  • Abolition of sati and other cruel rites (1829). 
  • Suppression of Thugi (1830). 
  • Charter Act of 1833. 
  • Resolution of 1835, and educational reforms and introduction of English as the official language.
  • Annexation of Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834), and Central Cachar (1834). 
  • Treaty of ‘perpetual friendship’ with Ranjeet Singh. 
  • Abolition of the provincial courts of appeal and circuit set up by Cornwallis, appointment of commissioners of revenue and circuit. 

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• Lord Metcalfe (1835–36): New press law removing restrictions on the press in India. 
• Lord Auckland (1836–42) 
  • First Afghan War (1838–42). 
  • Death of Ranjit Singh (1839). 
• Lord Ellenborough (1842–44)
  • Annexation of Sindh (1843). 
  • War with Gwalior (1843). 
• Lord Hardinge I (1844–48)
  • First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) and the Treaty of Lahore (1846). 
  • Social reforms included the abolition of female infanticide and human sacrifice. 
• Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856) 
  • Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) and annexation of Punjab (1849). 
  • Annexation of Lower Burma or Pegu (1852). 
  • Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation of Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854), and Awadh (1856). 
  • “Wood’s (Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control) Educational Despatch” of 1854 and the opening of Anglo-vernacular schools and government colleges. 
  • Railway Minute of 1853; and laying down of the first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853.
  • Telegraph (4,000 miles of telegraph lines to connect Calcutta with Bombay, Madras, and Peshawar) and postal (Post Office Act, 1854) reforms. 
  • Ganges Canal was declared open (1854); establishment of a separate public works department in every province. 
  • Widow Remarriage Act (1856). 
• Lord Canning (1856–57) 
  • Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1857. 
  • Revolt of 1857. 
  • He was the last Governor General of India.

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