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General Knowledge

British Governors Generals During British Period

British Governors Generals During British Period

Reviewed by:

Nafeez Khan

List of Governor General of British India

British rule started over India as a trading unit. It all began when the East India Company obtained a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31st December 1600. Within a time span of about three centuries, the British converted from a trading power to one of the mightiest countries in the world.

Even though being a small island country, Britain had been able to establish one of the biggest empires in the world. The might and magnitude of the empire can be understood by the phrase that "the empire on which the Sun never sets”.

Britain had been able to achieve this colossal feat on the scenic side of the strong and optimal bureaucracy that it established within its colonies. In India, the British established this control through Governor-General & Viceroys.

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List of Governors Generals During British Period in India

Below is the British ruler in India list along with the British governor of India and information on the Viceroys with the major reforms brought by them.

1.List of Governor-General of Bengal: Governors of Fort William in Bengal (1757-1772)

Governor-General	Year (Tenure)
Roger Drake	1757
Robert Clive	First Administration; 1757-1760
Holwell	Officiating; 1760
Henry Vansittart	1760-1765
Robert Clive	Second Administration; 1765-1767
Established Dual Government in Bengal	1765-1772
Harry Verelst	1767-1769
Cartier	1769-72
Lord Cornwallis	1786-1793

Important Events Under the Governance of Lord Cornwallis

A.Jonathan Duncan Founded Sanskrit College in Banaras in 1791

New Police System had been instituted in 1791.
Third Anglo-Mysore War - the defeat of Tipu Sultan from 1790-92.
Introduction of Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792.
Introduction of Cornwallis code, relying on the separation of powers, separating the financial / revenue from the administration / judicial functions in 1793.
Introduced post of district judge in 1793.
Launched Permanent Settlement in Bengal in 1793.
Called the father of the Civil Services in India.

B.Sir John Shore (1793-1798)

Event	Year
Introduction of First Charter Act	1793
Planned Permanent Settlement with Cornwallis and later succeeded him	1793
Occurrence of Battle of Kharda / Khadra / Kurdla between the Marathas and Nizams	1795
Introduced Policy of Non-Interference

C.Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

Event	Year
Introduction of the system of Subsidiary Alliance to achieve British paramountcy	1798
The first treaty with Nizam	1798
Fourth Anglo-Mysore war – defeat and death of Tipu Sultan	1799
Second Anglo-Maratha War— the defeat of the Sindhiya, the Holkar and the Bhonsale	1803-1805
Formation of Madras presidency	1801
Treaty of Bassein with Peshwa	1802
Lord Lake seized Agra and Delhi and the Mughal emperor was put under Company's protection
Titled himself a Bengal Tiger

D. Sir George Barlow (1805-1807)

Event	Year
Sepoy Mutiny of Vellore	1806
Attempted Restoration of peace with Holkar and Scindia

E. Lord Minto (I) (1807 -13)

Event	Year
The mission of Malcolm to Persia and Eliphinston to Kabul	1808
Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh	1809
Charter Act Introduction	1813

F. Lord Hastings (1813-1823)

Event	Year
Anglo-Nepalese (Gurkha / Gorkha) war	1813-1823
Treaty of Sugauli / Sequelae / Segowlee between King of Nepal and the East India Company	1816
Treaty of Poona with Peshwa	1817
Anglo-Maratha War III and that of Pindari war	1817-1818
Creation of Bombay Presidency	1818
Ryotwari settlement in Madras	1820

G. Lord Amherst (1823-28)

Event	Year
Burmese war I	1824-1826
Acquisition of territories in the Malay Peninsula	1824
Treaty of Yandaboo with lower Burma	1826
Capture of Bharatpur	1826

H. Lord William Cavendish – Father of Modern Western Education in India - Bentinck (1828-35)

Event	Year

Abolition / Prohibition of Sati	1829
Banned female infanticide	1829
Suppression of thugs	1829-1835
Military operations led/curbed	1830
Charter Act / Regulation	1833
Agra created as a province	1834
English established as the official language of India	1835
Macaulay's minutes on Education	1835
Abolition of provincial court and Appointment of commissioners of circuit and revenue

I.Sir Charles (Lord) Metcalfe (1834-1836)

Event	Year
Passed Press Law	1834
Development of Indian Press during British Rule	1834

J. Lord Auckland (1836-1842)

Event	Year
First Afghan War	1836-42

K. Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)

Event	Year
Termination of First Afghan Wars	1842
Annexation of Sindh	1843
War with Gwalior	1843
Abolition of slavery in India	1844

L. Lord Hardinge (1844-48)

Event	Year
First Sikh war	1845-1846
Treaty of Lahore	1846
End of Sikh sovereignty in India	1846
Prohibition of female infanticide	1844

M. Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)

Event	Year
Annexation of Punjab	1849
Application of Doctrine of Lapse	1848-1854
Burmese war II	1852
Start of Railways (32 km) between Bombay -Thana	1853
Postal system and Telegraph Services between Calcutta -Agra	1853
Recruitment of Civil Service examination	1853
Woods Dispatch	1854
Widow Remarriage Act	1856
Santhal uprising	1855-56
Three Universities instituted in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras	1857

Governor-General In 1784

Warren Hastings (1773-1785): Warren Hasting became Governor in 1772 and Governor-General in 1773 by the Regulating Act of 1773. The four councillors under his governance were Francis, Clavering, Monson and Barwell. Let’s check for the important events under the rule of the governor-general in 1784.

Event	Year
Abolished Dual system of administration	1767-1772
Auctioned the right to amass land revenue to the highest bidder	1772
Split Bengal into districts and appointed Collectors	1772
Rohilla war	1774
Begums of Oudh Awadh affair	1782
Pitt's India Act	1784

FAQs on British Governors Generals During British Period

1. Who is a British governor?

The British Governors Generals had originally been the head of the British administration in India. The office was established in 1773 under the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William.

The officers were given the authority of exercising direct control over Fort William but supervising other British East India Company officials in India. Complete authority over all of British India had been sanctioned in 1833, and the official came to be designated in the name of the "Governor-General of India".

2. Explain the British Governor Of India and important events?

Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal who served a tenure of office from 1772-1785. Warren Hastings had been an English statesman, who headed the Supreme Council of Bengal. The first Governor-General of Bengal brought to termination the Dual Government system by imposing the Regulating Act of 1773. He was also a founder of the Calcutta Madrasa for the encouragement of Islamic studies, and the Asiatic Society of Bengal in joint efforts with William Jones in the year 1781 and 1784 respectively. Warren Hastings had also been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1801.

Interesting to know that the Charter Act of 1833 had the credit of turning Warren from Governor-General of Bengal to Governor-General of British India.

3. Who is the first governor-general of British occupied India?

Warren Hastings, (born December 6, 1732, -died August 22, 1818, Daylesford), became the first governor-general of British occupied India. He was also the most famous of the British governors-general of India, who commanded Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785. Then, William Bentick got to lead the position of Governor-General of British India.