Governor General and Viceroys

Governor

Tenure

Major Contributions / Events

Robert Clive

1757–1760, 1765–1767

1. Defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey (1757).

2. Won the Battle of Buxar (1764)

3. Introduced the Dual Government in Bengal (1765–1772).

Henry Vansittart

1760–1765

Governor during the Battle of Buxar (1764).

Harry Verelst (Cartier)

1767–1772

Faced the Great Bengal Famine (1770).

Warren Hastings

1772–1774 (Governor of Bengal)

Abolished the Dual Government (1772) and reorganised Bengal administration.

Governor-General

Tenure

Major Reforms / Events

Warren Hastings

1774–1785

1. Became the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act, 1773.

2. Introduced English translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkins.

3. Supported William Jones in establishing the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784).

4. Introduced Revenue Reforms by auctioning revenue collection rights and appointing district collectors.

5. Reorganised the Judicial System by establishing Diwani and Faujdari Adalats.

6. Wars: First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82) and Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–84).

Lord Cornwallis

1786–1793

1. Introduced the Cornwallis Code (1793)

2. Separated the Judiciary from the Executive

3. Introduced the Permanent Settlement (1793)

4. Known as the Father of Civil Services in India.

5. War: Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–92), ending with the Treaty of Seringapatam.

Sir John Shore

1793–1798

1. Introduced the First Charter Act (1793).

2. Event: Battle of Kharda (1795) between the Marathas and the Nizam.

Lord Wellesley

1798–1805

1. Introduced the Subsidiary Alliance System.

2. Nizam of Hyderabad became the first Indian ruler to accept it (1798).

3. Founded Fort William College (1800).

4. Wars: Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799); Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05); Treaty of Bassein (1802).

Sir George Barlow

1805–1807

Vellore Mutiny (1806) occurred during his tenure.

Lord Minto I

1807–1813

1. Signed the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

2. Charter Act, 1813 passed during his tenure.

Lord Hastings

1813–1823

1. Followed an expansionist policy.

2. Wars: Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16), Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18).

3. Introduced the Ryotwari System in Madras through Thomas Munro.

Lord Amherst

1823–1828

First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26); annexed territories in the Tenasserim Coast; Capture of Bharatpur (1826).

Lord William Bentinck

1828–1835

1. Known as the Father of Modern Western Education in India.

2. Abolished Sati (1829).

3. Annexed Mysore (1831).

4. Signed the Treaty of Ropar (1831) with Ranjit Singh.

5. Passed the Charter Act, 1833, ensuring equal opportunity in public employment irrespective of religion, race, birthplace or descent.

Governor-General

Tenure

Major Reforms / Events

Lord William Bentinck

1833–1835

1. Accepted Macaulay’s Minute on Education (1835) and declared English as the medium for higher education and official purposes.

2. Abolished Provincial Courts of Appeal and Circuit Courts, appointing Commissioners of Revenue and Circuit.

3. Wars/Expansion: Annexed Coorg (1834) and Central Cachar (1834) on grounds of misgovernance.

Sir Charles Metcalfe

1835–1836

Enacted the famous Press Act (1835), earning the title “Liberator of the Indian Press.”

Lord Auckland

1836–1842

Oversaw the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42), which ended in a major setback to British prestige.

Lord Ellenborough

1842–1844

1. Concluded the First Anglo-Afghan War.

2. Annexed Sindh (1843).

3. Fought the Gwalior War (1843).

4. Abolished Slavery (1843).

Lord Hardinge I

1844–1848

1. Conducted the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46).

2. Signed the Treaty of Lahore (1846), weakening Sikh sovereignty.

3. Favoured English-educated Indians in government employment.

Lord Dalhousie

1848–1856

1. Introduced the Doctrine of Lapse.

2. Annexed Satara (1848), Jaitpur & Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853), and Nagpur (1854).

3. Conducted the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) leading to the annexation of Punjab.

4. Conducted the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852), annexing Lower Burma (Pegu).

5. Annexed Berar (1853) and Awadh (1856) on grounds of maladministration.

6. Introduced the Non-Regulation System in newly acquired territories and reorganised the Gurkha Regiments.

Lord Canning

1856–1858 (Last Governor-General of India)

1. Passed the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act (1856).

2. Governed during the Revolt of 1857.

3. Enacted the Government of India Act, 1858, ending the rule of the East India Company.

4. Abolished the Doctrine of Lapse.

Area

Key Measures

Education Policy

Recommended the Thomason System of Vernacular Education in the North-Western Provinces (1853).

Wood’s Despatch (1854)

Considered the Magna Carta of English Education in India; recommended a Department of Public Instruction, Universities, Government Colleges, and Anglo-Vernacular Schools.

Technical Education

Established the Engineering College at Roorkee.

Sector

Major Developments

Railways

Introduced the first passenger railway in 1853 between Bombay and Thane.

Telegraph

Started the Electric Telegraph System across India.

Postal System

Laid the foundation of the Modern Postal System (1854).

Public Works Department

Established the Public Works Department (PWD) for systematic infrastructure development.

Road Development

Expanded and improved the Grand Trunk Road.

Ports

Developed the harbours of Karachi, Bombay, and Calcutta.

Governor-General / Viceroy

Tenure

Major Reforms / Events

Lord Canning

1858–1862

1. Passed the Indian Councils Act (1861); Indian High Courts Act (1861);

2. Indian Penal Code (1860) came into force.

3. Introduced Income Tax (1858).

4. Established High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay & Madras.

5. Founded the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) (1861).

Lord Elgin I

1862–1863

Witnessed the Wahabi Movement, a Pan-Islamic reform movement.

Sir John Lawrence

1864–1869

1. Expanded the Telegraph Network.

2. Established High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay & Madras.

3. Fought the Bhutan War (1865).

4. Promoted State-managed Railways & Canals.

5. Created the Indian Forest Department and reorganised the judicial system.

Lord Mayo

1869–1872

1. Introduced Financial Decentralisation.

2. Founded Mayo College, Ajmer.

3. Organised the Statistical Survey of India.

4. Established the Department of Agriculture & Commerce.

5. Assassinated at Andaman Islands (1872).

Lord Northbrook

1872–1876

Kuka (Namdhari) Movement gained momentum during his tenure.

Lord Lytton

1876–1880

1. Organised the Delhi Durbar (1877).

2. Queen Victoria proclaimed Kaiser-i-Hind

3. Enacted the Royal Titles Act (1876)

4. Passed the Vernacular Press Act (1878) and Arms Act (1878)

5. Reduced the maximum age for Civil Services from 21 to 19 years.

6. Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80).

Lord Ripon

1880–1884

1. Repealed the Vernacular Press Act.

2. Passed the Factory Act (1881)

3. Introduced Local Self-Government Resolution (1882).

4. Appointed the Hunter Commission (1882).

5. Ilbert Bill Controversy (1883).

Lord Dufferin

1884–1888

1. Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) leading to annexation of Upper Burma

2. Indian National Congress founded (1885).

Lord Lansdowne

1888–1894

1. Passed the Factory Act (1891)

2. Reorganised Civil Services

3. Indian Councils Act (1892) expanded legislative councils.

4. Appointed the Durand Commission, resulting in the Durand Line (1893).

Lord Elgin II

1894–1899

1. Munda Uprising (Birsa Munda) (1899)

2. Great Famine (1896–97); Lyall Commission appointed after the famine.

3. Chapekar Brothers assassinated British officers Rand & Ayerst (1897).

Lord Curzon

1899–1905

1. Appointed the Police Commission (1902) under Andrew Fraser

2. Established the University Commission (1902)

3. Passed the Indian Universities Act (1904).

4. Created the Department of Commerce & Industry

5. Calcutta Corporation Act (1899)

6. Adopted the Gold Standard

7. Partition of Bengal (1905)

8. Initiated the Victoria Memorial.

Lord Minto II

1905–1910

1. Swadeshi Movement (1905–08)

2. Muslim League founded (1906)

3. Surat Split (1907)

4. Newspapers Act (1908)

5. Morley–Minto Reforms (1909) introducing Separate Electorates.

Lord Hardinge II

1910–1916

1. Annulment of Bengal Partition (1911)

2. Capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi (1911)

3. Delhi Durbar (1911) and Coronation of King George V

4. Hindu Mahasabha founded (1915).

Lord Chelmsford

1916–1921

1. Home Rule Movement (1916)

2. Lucknow Pact (1916)

3. Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

4. Montagu Declaration (1917)

5. Kheda & Ahmedabad Satyagraha (1918)

6. Government of India Act (1919)

7. Rowlatt Act (1919)

8. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919)

9. Hunter Commission

10. Khilafat (1920–22) and Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22).

Lord Reading

1921–1926

1. Repealed the Press Act (1910) and Rowlatt Act

2. Moplah Rebellion (1921)

3. Foundation of CPI (1921)

4. Chauri Chaura Incident (1922)

5. Swaraj Party (1923)

6. Kakori Conspiracy (1925)

7. RSS founded (1925)

8. Assassination of Swami Shraddhanand (1926).

Lord Irwin

1926–1931

1. Simon Commission (1927)

2. Butler Committee (1927)

3. Nehru Report (1928)

4. Jinnah’s Fourteen Points (1929)

5. Lahore Session & Poorna Swaraj (1929)

6. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930)

7. Dandi March (1930)

8. First Round Table Conference (1930)

9. Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931).

Lord Willingdon

1931–1936

1. Second Round Table Conference (1931)

2. Resumed Civil Disobedience Movement (1932)

3. Communal Award (1932)

4. Third Round Table Conference (1932)

5. Congress Socialist Party (1934)

6. Government of India Act (1935)

7. Burma separated from India (1935)

8. All India Kisan Sabha formed (1936).

Lord Linlithgow

1936–1943

1. Provincial Elections (1936–37)

2. Congress Ministries (1937) and their resignation (1939)

3. Forward Bloc founded (1939)

4. Lahore Resolution (1940)

5. August Offer (1940)

6. Cripps Mission (1942)

7. Quit India Movement (1942).

Lord Wavell

1943–1947

1. C.R. Formula (1944)

2. Wavell Plan & Shimla Conference (1945)

3. End of World War II (1945)

4.  INA Trials (1945)

5. Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (1946)

6. Cabinet Mission (1946)

7. Direct Action Day (1946).

Lord Mountbatten

March–August 1947

1. Announced the 3 June Plan (Mountbatten Plan)

2. Introduced the Indian Independence Bill

3. Appointed the Radcliffe Boundary Commission; supervised the Partition of India.

Governor-General

Tenure

Major Contributions

Lord Mountbatten

1947–1948

First Governor-General of Independent India; oversaw Partition, accession of princely states, and early transition to independence.

C. Rajagopalachari

June 1948 – 26 January 1950

First and only Indian Governor-General; served until India became a Republic on 26 January 1950.