Study Guide · Chapter 2
MASTER TABLE — ALL GOVERNOR-GENERALS AND VICEROYS (CHRONOLOGICAL)
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MASTER TABLE — ALL GOVERNOR-GENERALS AND VICEROYS (CHRONOLOGICAL)
A. Governors-General of Bengal (1773–1833)
| # | Name | Tenure | Key Events/Policies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warren Hastings | 1773–1785 | First GG of Bengal; Regulating Act 1773; Rohilla War; First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82, Treaty of Salbai); Second Anglo-Mysore War begins; Pitt's India Act passed near end of his term (1784); impeachment on return to England (acquitted) |
| 2 | Sir John Macpherson (acting) | 1785–1786 | Officiating/acting Governor-General, no major policy |
| 3 | Lord Cornwallis | 1786–1793 | Permanent Settlement of Bengal (1793); Cornwallis Code (1793) — separation of revenue and judiciary; Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–92), Treaty of Seringapatam; Civil services reforms |
| 4 | Sir John Shore | 1793–1798 | Policy of Non-Intervention; Charter Act of 1793; Battle of Kharda (1795, Marathas vs Nizam) |
| 5 | Lord Wellesley | 1798–1805 | Subsidiary Alliance System; Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799, death of Tipu Sultan); Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05); founded Fort William College (1800) |
| 6 | Sir George Barlow | 1805–1807 | Vellore Mutiny (1806) |
| 7 | Lord Minto I | 1807–1813 | Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Ranjit Singh; Charter Act of 1813 (Company's trade monopoly ended, except tea and China trade) |
| 8 | Lord Hastings (Marquess of Hastings/Lord Moira) | 1813–1823 | Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16, Treaty of Sugauli); Pindari War (1817–18); Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18, end of Maratha power, Peshwaship abolished); policy of "Subordinate Isolation" |
| 9 | Lord Amherst | 1823–1828 | First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26, Treaty of Yandaboo); Capture of Bharatpur (1826) |
| 10 | Lord William Bentinck | 1828–1833 (as GG of Bengal) | Abolition of Sati (1829); Suppression of Thuggee begun; continued as first Governor-General of India from 1833 (see below) |
B. Governors-General of India (1833–1858)
| # | Name | Tenure | Key Events/Policies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord William Bentinck | 1833–1835 | First Governor-General of India (Charter Act 1833); English Education Act/Macaulay's Minute (1835); Suppression of Thuggee (Col. Sleeman); abolished provincial courts of appeal & circuit |
| 2 | Sir Charles Metcalfe | 1835–1836 | Known as "Liberator of the Press" — repealed press restrictions (Press Act of 1835/1836); briefly acting GG |
| 3 | Lord Auckland | 1836–1842 | First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42) — major British disaster |
| 4 | Lord Ellenborough | 1842–1844 | Ended First Anglo-Afghan War; annexation of Sindh (1843, Charles Napier: "Peccavi – I have sinned"); recalled by Court of Directors |
| 5 | Lord Hardinge I | 1844–1848 | First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46); Treaty of Lahore (1846); social reforms — suppressed female infanticide, human sacrifice |
| 6 | Lord Dalhousie | 1848–1856 | Doctrine of Lapse; Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) and annexation of Punjab; Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852); annexation of Awadh (1856); first railway line (Bombay–Thane, 1853); first telegraph line (Calcutta–Agra, 1853); Post Office Act (1854); Wood's Despatch on education (1854); Widow Remarriage Act (1856, though passed in Canning's time based on Dalhousie-era Law Commission work) |
| 7 | Lord Canning | 1856–1858 (as GG of India) | Revolt of 1857; became first Viceroy in 1858 (continues below) |
C. Viceroys of India (1858–1947)
| # | Name | Tenure | Key Events/Policies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord Canning | 1858–1862 | First Viceroy; Government of India Act 1858 implemented; Indian Councils Act 1861; Indian Penal Code enforced (1860); Universities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras established (1857, just before Viceroyalty) |
| 2 | Lord Elgin I | 1862–1863 | Wahabi Movement suppression; died in office (Dharamshala) |
| 3 | Sir John Lawrence | 1864–1869 | Bhutan War (1865); famine policy/Famine Commission; extension of telegraph and canals |
| 4 | Lord Mayo | 1869–1872 | Statistical Survey of India; Ajmer's Mayo College founded; first Census of India (1871–72, systematic); assassinated by Sher Ali Afridi in Andaman Islands (1872) |
| 5 | Lord Northbrook | 1872–1876 | Kuka Movement suppression; Gaekwad of Baroda trial |
| 6 | Lord Lytton | 1876–1880 | Vernacular Press Act (1878, "Gagging Act"); Arms Act (1878); Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80); Delhi Durbar (1877) — Queen Victoria proclaimed "Empress of India"; Great Famine of 1876–78 |
| 7 | Lord Ripon | 1880–1884 | Repealed Vernacular Press Act (1882); Ilbert Bill controversy (1883); first Factory Act (1881); Local Self-Government resolution (1882) — "Father of Local Self-Government in India"; Hunter Education Commission (1882) |
| 8 | Lord Dufferin | 1884–1888 | Indian National Congress founded (28 Dec 1885, at Bombay, under his Viceroyalty — though he did not found it); Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885, annexation of Upper Burma) |
| 9 | Lord Lansdowne | 1888–1894 | Indian Councils Act 1892; Factory Act 1891; Durand Line demarcated with Afghanistan (1893) |
| 10 | Lord Elgin II | 1894–1899 | Great Famine of 1896–97; Plague in Bombay (1896–97); murder of Rand and Ayerst (Chapekar brothers, 1897) |
| 11 | Lord Curzon | 1899–1905 | Partition of Bengal (1905, effective 16 Oct 1905); Indian Universities Act (1904); Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (1904); Police Commission; created North-West Frontier Province (1901); resigned over Kitchener controversy |
| 12 | Lord Minto II | 1905–1910 | Swadeshi and Boycott Movement; formation of Muslim League (1906, at Dacca — during his tenure); Morley-Minto Reforms/Indian Councils Act 1909 (separate electorates for Muslims) |
| 13 | Lord Hardinge II | 1910–1916 | Delhi Durbar (1911), capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi (announced by King George V); Annulment of Partition of Bengal (1911); Delhi Conspiracy Case (Basement bomb attack on Hardinge, 1912, by Rash Behari Bose et al.) |
| 14 | Lord Chelmsford | 1916–1921 | Lucknow Pact (1916); Home Rule Movement; Montagu Declaration (Aug 1917); Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms/Government of India Act 1919 (dyarchy in provinces); Rowlatt Act (1919); Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April 1919); Khilafat Movement begins; Non-Cooperation Movement launched (1920) |
| 15 | Lord Reading | 1921–1926 | Continuation/withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement; Chauri Chaura incident (Feb 1922); Moplah Rebellion (1921); Kakori Conspiracy Case (1925); Communist Party of India formed (1925, Kanpur) |
| 16 | Lord Irwin | 1926–1931 | Simon Commission arrival (1928) and boycott; Nehru Report (1928); Purna Swaraj declared (Dec 1929, Lahore session); Civil Disobedience Movement launched; Dandi March/Salt Satyagraha (12 March – 6 April 1930); First Round Table Conference (1930); Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931) |
| 17 | Lord Willingdon | 1931–1936 | Second Round Table Conference (1931); Communal Award (1932); Poona Pact (1932); Third Round Table Conference (1932); Civil Disobedience withdrawn (1934); Government of India Act 1935 passed near end |
| 18 | Lord Linlithgow | 1936–1943 | Government of India Act 1935 implemented; provincial elections (1937), Congress ministries formed and later resigned (1939); India declared party to WWII without consultation (1939); August Offer (1940); Individual Satyagraha; Cripps Mission (1942); Quit India Movement (Aug 1942); Bengal Famine (1943) |
| 19 | Lord Wavell | 1943–1947 | Wavell Plan and Simla Conference (1945); INA Trials (Red Fort Trials, 1945–46); Elections of 1945–46; Cabinet Mission Plan (1946); Interim Government formed (Sept 1946, Nehru as Vice-President of Executive Council); Direct Action Day (16 Aug 1946); Constituent Assembly convened (Dec 1946) |
| 20 | Lord Mountbatten | 1947 (Mar–Aug) | Last Viceroy; Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947); Indian Independence Act 1947; Partition of India; Radcliffe Line; Independence on 15 August 1947; continued as first Governor-General of independent India (Aug 1947 – June 1948) |
D. Governors-General of Independent India (1947–1950)
| # | Name | Tenure | Key Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord Mountbatten | 15 Aug 1947 – 21 June 1948 | First Governor-General of free India; oversaw integration of princely states (with Sardar Patel/V.P. Menon); Kashmir accession and First Indo-Pak War begins (Oct 1947); Partition violence and refugee crisis; Gandhi's assassination (30 Jan 1948) |
| 2 | C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) | 21 June 1948 – 26 Jan 1950 | First and only Indian Governor-General of India; post abolished when India became a Republic (26 Jan 1950); succeeded by Dr. Rajendra Prasad as first President of India |
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