List of governors-general of India
The Regulating Act of 1773 created the office with the title of Governor-General of Presidency of Fort William, or Governor-General of Bengal to be appointed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company (EIC). The Court of Directors assigned a Council of Four (based in India) to assist the Governor-General, and the decision of the council was binding on the Governor-General from 1773–1784. The charter Act 1833 re-designated the office with the title of Governor-General of India. William Bentinck was the first to be designated as the Governor-general of India in 1833. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the company rule was brought to an end, but the British India along with princely states came under the direct rule of the British Crown. The Government of India Act 1858 created the office of Secretary of State for India in 1858 to oversee the affairs of India, which was advised by a new Council of India with 15 members (based in London). The existing Council of Four was formally renamed as the Council of Governor-General of India or Executive Council of India. The Council of India was later abolished by Government of India Act 1935. Following the adoption of the Government of India Act of 1858, the Governor-General representing the Crown became known as the Viceroy. The designation 'Viceroy', although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. Although the Proclamation of 1858 announcing the assumption of the government of India by the Crown referred to Lord Canning as "first Viceroy and Governor-General", none of the Warrants appointing his successors referred to them as 'Viceroys', and the title, which was frequently used in Warrants dealing with precedence and in public notifications, was one of ceremonies used in connection with the state and social functions of the Sovereign's representative. The Governor-General continued to be the sole representative of the Crown, and the Government of India continued to be vested in the appointments of Governor-General of India which were made by the British Crown upon the advice of Secretary of State for India. The office of Governor-General continued to exist as a ceremonial post in each of the new dominions of India and Pakistan, until they adopted republican constitutions in 1950 and 1956 respectively.
List of governors-general
Before 1773 The Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) was named as Governor of Bengal, which was in existence from 1757 to 1772. For the list of Governors of Bengal see List of governors of Bengal.
Fort William (Bengal) and India, 1600–1857
Governor-General (lifespan) |
Term of office | Notable events | |
---|---|---|---|
File:Coat of arms of the East India Company.svg Appointed by Court of Directors of the East India Company | |||
Governors-General of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1773–1833 | |||
File:Warren Hastings.jpg Warren Hastings (1732–1818) |
20 October 1773[nb 1] |
8 February 1785 |
|
File:Captain John Macpherson (1726 - 1792) by anonymous (circa 1772-1792).jpg John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (acting) (1745–1821) |
8 February 1785 |
12 September 1786 |
|
File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg The Earl Cornwallis[nb 2] (1738–1805) |
12 September 1786 |
28 October 1793 |
|
File:JohnShore.jpg John Shore (1751–1834) |
28 October 1793 |
18 March 1798 |
|
File:Field Marshal Sir Alured Clarke.jpg Lt. Gen Alured Clarke (acting) (1744–1832) |
18 March 1798 |
18 May 1798 |
|
File:Richard Wellesley 2.JPG Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley[nb 3] (1760–1842) |
18 May 1798 |
30 July 1805 |
|
File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (1738–1805) |
30 July 1805 |
5 October 1805 |
|
File:Sir George Barlow, 1st Bt from NPG crop.jpg George Barlow, 1st Baronet (acting) (1762–1847) |
10 October 1805 |
31 July 1807 |
|
File:Gilbert Eliot, 1st Earl of Minto by James Atkinson.jpg Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Lord Minto (1751–1814) |
31 July 1807 |
4 October 1813 |
|
File:Francis, 1st Marquess of Hastings (Earl of Moira).jpg Francis Rawdon-Hastings[nb 4] (1754–1826) |
4 October 1813 |
9 January 1823 |
|
File:John Adam governor general of India.jpg John Adam (acting) (1779–1825) |
9 January 1823 |
1 August 1823 |
|
File:Sir Thomas Lawrence - Lord Amherst.jpg William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst[nb 5] (1773–1857) |
1 August 1823 |
13 March 1828 |
|
File:William Butterworth Bayley, governor general of India.png William Butterworth Bayley (acting) (1782–1860) |
13 March 1828 |
4 July 1828 |
|
Governors-General of India, 1833–1858 | |||
File:Bentinck william.png Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839) |
4 July 1828 |
20 March 1835 |
|
File:Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe by George Chinnery.jpg Charles Metcalfe, Baronet (acting) (1785–1846) |
20 March 1835 |
4 March 1836 |
|
File:George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland.png George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland[nb 6] (1784–1849) |
4 March 1836 |
28 February 1842 |
|
File:1stEarlOfEllenborough.jpg Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871) |
28 February 1842 |
June 1844 |
|
File:William Wilberforce Bird.jpg William Wilberforce Bird (acting) (1784–1857) |
June 1844 |
23 July 1844 |
|
File:Henryhardinge.jpg Henry Hardinge[nb 7] (1785–1856) |
23 July 1844 |
12 January 1848 |
|
File:Dalhousie.jpg James Broun-Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie[nb 8] (1812–1860) |
12 January 1848 |
28 February 1856 |
|
File:Lord Viscount Canning.jpg Charles Canning, Viscount Canning[nb 9] (1812–1862) |
28 February 1856 |
31 October 1858 |
|
Governors-General and Viceroys of India and Governors-General of the Dominion of India, 1858–1950
Timeline and Tenure
See also
- List of governors of Bengal Presidency
- Council of India
- Secretary of State for India
- List of presidents of India
- Governor-general
Notes
- ↑ Originally joined on 28 April 1772.
- ↑ Earl Cornwallis from 1762; created Marquess Cornwallis (1792).
- ↑ Created Marquess Wellesley (1799).
- ↑ Earl of Moira prior to being created Marquess of Hastings in 1816.
- ↑ Created Earl Amherst in 1826.
- ↑ Created Earl of Auckland in 1839.
- ↑ Created Viscount Hardinge in 1846.
- ↑ Created Marquess of Dalhousie 1849.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Created Earl Canning 1859.
- ↑ Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill was acting Governor-General in 1904.
- ↑ Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947.
Citations
- ↑ "Amini Commission 1776 - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ↑ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rohilla". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 461. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ↑ "Administrative Reforms of Robert clive". britannica.com. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ↑ Clarke, John James (1 January 1997). Oriental Enlightenment: The Encounter Between Asian and Western Thought. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415133753.
- ↑ Reddy, Krishna (2017). Indian History (2nd ed.). Chennai: McGraw Hill Education (India) Pvt. Ltd. pp. C.53. ISBN 9789352606627.
- ↑ Reddy, Vinodh (28 October 2015). "Governors-General of India (1772–1857)". EduGeneral. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ↑ "Treaty of Sagauli | British-Nepalese history [1816]". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ↑ "Lessons unlearned". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ↑ "Sind-British conflict". Britanica.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ↑ Information Management Group, IIT Roorkee. "Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Index". www.iitr.ac.in.
- ↑ "India - Government of India Act of 1858". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Police Act. 1861" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Reddy, Krishna (2017). Indian History (2nd ed.). Chennai: McGraw Hill Education (India) Pvt. Ltd. pp. C.55. ISBN 9789352606627.
- ↑ "How Viceroy Lord Mayo's Assassination Led To Creation Of India's First Intelligence Bureau". Outlook India. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Arms Act, 1878" (PDF). myanmar-law-library.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Lord Ripon: Father of Local Self Government in India". thenationaltv.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Hunter Commission - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "A Short History of Burma". New Internationalist. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33561/1/11010320.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ↑ "Lee Commission". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ↑ "Hartog Committee Report, 1929". Your Article Library. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2022.