List of Governor-Generals of India (1773–1950) - Summary
The governor-general originally had power only over the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal. The Regulating Act, however, granted them additional powers relating to foreign affairs and defense.
The other presidencies of the East India Company (Madras, Bombay, and Bencoolen) were not allowed to declare war on or make peace with an Indian prince without receiving the prior approval of the governor-general and Council of Fort William.
Governor-General of India List
| Name | Tenure of Office | Notable Events |
|---|---|---|
| Warren Hastings | 1774 – 1785 | – Regulating Act of 1773 was introduced which brought |
| the dual government of Bengal to an end | ||
| – Supreme Council Of Bengal | ||
| – Asiatic Society of Bengal | ||
| – Stopped Mughal pension to Shah Alam II | ||
| – Stopped Diarchy in Bengal | ||
| – New Sanskrit School by Jonathan Deccan | ||
| – Moved Treasury from Murshidabad to Calcutta | ||
| – Bengal Gazette- First Indian newspaper published | ||
| – First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82) | ||
| – Second Anglo-Mysore war (1780–84) | ||
| – First Rohilla War of 1773–1774 | ||
| – Second Rohilla War 1779 | ||
| – Experimentation on land settlements. | ||
| (1772-five years settlement, changed to 1 year in 1776) | ||
| – English Translation of Bhagwat Gita | ||
| John Macpherson | 1785 – 1786 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Cornwallis | 1786 – 1793 | – Established lower courts and appellate courts |
| – Permanent Settlement in Bihar and Bengal in 1793. It was | ||
| an agreement between East India Company and Bengali landlords to | ||
| fix revenues to be raised from land. | ||
| – 3rd Mysore war | ||
| – Introduction of Cornwallis Code | ||
| – Introduction of Civil Services in India | ||
| – He introduced Police reforms according to which each district was | ||
| divided into 400 square miles and placed under a police superintendent. | ||
| John Shore | 1793 – 1798 | – Policy of Non-intervention |
| – Battle of Kharda between Nizam and Marathas (1795) | ||
| – Charter Act of 1793 | ||
| Alured Clarke | 1798 – 1798 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Wellesley | 1798 – 1805 | – Introduction of Subsidiary Alliance – a system to keep the Indian rulers |
| under control and to make British the supreme power | ||
| – Fourth Anglo Mysore War 1799 | ||
| – Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) | ||
| – He opened College to train the Company’s servants in Calcutta. | ||
| So, known as the Father of Civil Services in India. | ||
| – Fort William College at Calcutta | ||
| – Formation of Madras Presidency in 1801 | ||
| Lord Cornwallis | 1805 – 1805 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Sir George Barlow | 1805 – 1807 | – Sepoy Mutiny at Vellore in which the Indian soldiers |
| killed many English officials | ||
| Lord Minto I | 1807 – 1813 | – Charter act of 1813 |
| – Treaty of Amritsar, 1809 with Ranjit Singh | ||
| Lord Hastings | 1813 – 1823 | – Ended the policy of Non-intervention which was |
| followed by Sir John Shore | ||
| – Third Anglo-Maratha War (1816-1818) | ||
| – 1816, Treaty of Sagauli with Nepal | ||
| – Creation of Bombay Presidency in 1818 | ||
| – Establishment of Ryotwari System in Madras and | ||
| – Mahalwari System in Central India, Punjab And Western UP | ||
| – He abolished the censorship of the press. | ||
| Lord Adam | 1823 – 1823 | – Licensing Regulations |
| Lord Amherst | 1823 – 1828 | – First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26) |
| – Treaty of Yandabo, 1826 | ||
| – Mutiny of Barrackpur (1824) | ||
| Lord Bayley | 1828 – 1828 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord William Bentinck | 1828 – 1835 | – First Governor General of India and was known as the |
| liberal Governor General | ||
| – Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829 | ||
| – Charter Act, 1833 | ||
| – Saint Helena Act 1833 | ||
| – English Education Act 1835 | ||
| – Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata | ||
| – He carried out social reforms such as the abolition of Sati Pratha | ||
| with the help of Rajaram Mohan Roy, Suppression of Thuggee. | ||
| – He made English as the language of higher education | ||
| – He also suppressed female infanticide and child sacrifice | ||
| Sir Charles Metcaffe | 1835 – 1836 | – Repealed 1823 Licensing Regulations |
| – He held the post temporarily and removed the | ||
| restriction on the Vernacular press. | ||
| Lord Auckland | 1836 – 1842 | – First Afghan War was fought in his reign. |
| Lord Ellen borough | 1842 – 1844 | – Successfully completed Afghan war and annexed Sindh |
| province for British in 1843 | ||
| – Became first Governor General of India to be recalled for | ||
| defying the orders of the Court of Directors of East India Company. | ||
| – War with Gwalior (1843) occurred during his tenure. | ||
| Lord Wilberforce | 1844 – 1844 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Hardinge | 1844 – 1848 | – The First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) |
| – The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) | ||
| – Treaty of Lahore | ||
| Lord Dalhousie | 1848 – 1856 | – Doctrine of Lapse |
| – Widow remarriage bill was passed | ||
| – Charles Wood Despatch which provided the proper system | ||
| of education from School to University | ||
| – Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852) | ||
| – First Railway line connecting Bombay and Thane | ||
| – First Telegraph Line was laid between Diamond Harbour to Calcutta | ||
| – Post Office Act, 1854 | ||
| – Established Public Works Department | ||
| – Engineering College was established at Roorkee | ||
| – He made Shimla the summer capital | ||
| Lord Canning | 1856 – 1862 | – First Viceroy of India |
| – University of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were set up in 1858 | ||
| – Withdrew Doctrine of Lapse | ||
| – The revolt of 1857 | ||
| – Hindu widow remarriage act 1856 | ||
| – The Government of India Act, 1858 | ||
| – Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 | ||
| – Indian council act was passed in 1861 | ||
| Lord Elgin | 1862 – 1863 | – Wahabi movement occurred during his tenure and get suppressed |
| Sir Robert Napier | 1863 – 1863 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Sir William T. Denison | 1863 – 1864 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Lawrence | 1864 – 1869 | – Bhutan War |
| – Establishment of Shimla as India’s summer capital in 1863 | ||
| – High Court was established at Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras in 1865 | ||
| – He created Indian Forest Department | ||
| – Opened telegraph line with Europe. | ||
| – He introduced various reforms and became the member of Punjab | ||
| Board of Administration after the second Sikh war. | ||
| – He was known as the Savior of Punjab. | ||
| Lord Mayo | 1869 – 1872 | – Started financial decentralization in India |
| – He established Rajkot College in Kathiawar and Mayo College | ||
| in Ajmer for the Indian princess. | ||
| – First Census of India was held during his time in 1871. | ||
| – He organized the Statistical survey of India. | ||
| – He was the only Viceroy who was murdered in office | ||
| by a Pathan in Andaman in 1872. | ||
| Sir John Strachey | 1872 – 1872 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Napier of Merchistoun | 1872 – 1872 | – He held the post temporarily |
| Lord Northbrook | 1872 – 1876 | – Visit of Prince of Wales in 1875 occurred |
| – Trial of Gaelcwar of Baroda occurred | ||
| – Kuka movement in Punjab occurred during his tenure. | ||
| Lord Lytton | 1876 – 1880 | – Second Anglo-Afghan War |
| – The Indians Act (1878) | ||
| – The Delhi Durbar was held on January 1 1877, to decorate | ||
| Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind. | ||
| – Statutory Civil Service in 1879. It was also laid down that the | ||
| candidates had to appear and pass the civil services examination | ||
| which began to be held in England. The maximum age for these | ||
| candidates was reduced from 21 to 19 years. | ||
| – Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878. | ||
| Lord Ripon | 1880 – 1884 | – First Factory Act (1881), it prohibited the child labour |
| – Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882) | ||
| – Ilbert Bill (1883) | ||
| – Age for the entry in Civil Service exam was raised to 21 years. | ||
| – Passed Local Self Government act in 1882 | ||
| – He was also known as the father of Local Self Government in India | ||
| Lord Dufferin | 1884 – 1888 | – Formation of Indian National Congress |
| – Third Anglo-Burmese War | ||
| Lord Lansdowne | 1888 – 1894 | – Indian Council Act was passed in 1892.Second Factory |
| Act (1891) was passed during his time. | ||
| – He appointed Durand Commission to define a line between | ||
| British India and Afghanistan. | ||
| Lord Elgin II | 1894 – 1899 | – Two British officials assassinated by Chapekar brothers |
| (1897) during his tenure. | ||
| Lord Curzon | 1899 – 1905 | – Partition of Bengal (1905) into two provinces- Bengal and |
| East Bengal was done during his time. | ||
| – Passed the Ancient Monuments Act (1904), to restore India’s | ||
| cultural heritage. Thus, established Archeological Survey of India. | ||
| – Swadeshi movement was launched | ||
| Lord Minto | 1905 – 1910 | – Morley-Minto reform was passed in 1909 |
| – Popularization of Anti-partition and Swadeshi movements | ||
| – Split in Congress in the annual session of 1907 in Surat occurred. | ||
| – Establishment of Muslim League by Aga Khan (1906). | ||
| Lord Hardinge | 1910 – 1916 | – Kind George V of England attended the Delhi Durbar in 1911 |
| – Partition of Bengal was cancelled and capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911. | ||
| – Gandhiji returned to India from South Africa in 1915 | ||
| – Home Rule moment was launched by Annie Beasant | ||
| Lord Chelmsford | 1916 – 1921 | – August Declaration of 1917, after which the control over |
| the Indian Government would be transferred to Indian people. | ||
| – Rowlett Act 1919 was passed | ||
| – Montague-Chelmsford reform was passed | ||
| – Government of India Act 1919 was passed | ||
| – Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 took place during his time | ||
| – Non- Cooperation and Khilafat movement took place | ||
| – Women’s University was founded at Poona in 1919 | ||
| Lord Reading | 1921 – 1926 | – Suppressed of non-cooperation movement |
| – Chauri – Chaura incident took place | ||
| – Formation of Swaraj party | ||
| – Ahmedabad session of INS held in 1921. | ||
| – Rowlatt Act was repealed | ||
| Lord Irwin | 1926 – 1931 | – Simon commission visited India in 1928 |
| – Dandi March was held in 1930 | ||
| – Civil Disobedience movement launched in 1930 | ||
| – Gandhi- Irwin pact was signed and First Round Table | ||
| Conference was held in 1931. | ||
| Lord Willington | 1931 – 1936 | – Poona Pact was signed |
| – Second and Third Round Table Conference was held during his time | ||
| – Communal Award started by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald | ||
| – The government of India Act (1935) was passed. | ||
| Lord Linlithgow | 1936 – 1943 | – Government of India Act enforced in provinces |
| – Cripps Mission visited India in 1942 | ||
| – Quit India movement was started in 1942 | ||
| – Second World war took place in 1939 | ||
| Lord Wavell | 1943 – 1947 | – Shimla Conference was held on June 25, 1945 between |
| Muslim League and Indian National Congress was failed | ||
| – Cabinet Mission Plan was launched in 1946. | ||
| – On December 09, 1946; first meeting of Constituent Assembly was held. | ||
| Lord Mountbatten | 1947 – 1948 | – Last Viceroy and first Governor General of free India |
| – Partition of India was done on June 3, 1947 | ||
| – India Independent Act was passed on July 4, 1947 by British | ||
| Parliament. As per the Act India became independent on August 15, 1947. | ||
| – He was succeeded by C. Rajagopalachari, who was the last Governor General of free India. | ||
| Chakravarti Rajagopalachari | 1948- 1950 | Last Governor-General of India, before the office, was permanently abolished in 1950 |
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