List of Viceroy of India: Crown Control to Independence

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

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