GOVERNOR-GENERALS AND VICEROYS

ROBERT CLIVE 1757-60 AND 1765-67: Battle of Buxar- Siraj Ud doula- Dual Govt in Bengal- First Treaty of Allahbad in 1765 with Shuja ud Doula and second with Shah Alam II..First Governor of Bengal. Battle of Plassey was in 1764 and Governor was Pensitrat
Warren Hastings (1772-85) First Governor-General of Bengal.

Creation of the post of Collector- Regulating Act of 1773

The Act of 1781 (it made a clear demarcation between the jurisdiction of the Governor General-in-Council and that of then Supreme Court at Calcutta).
-Pitt’s India Act of 1784.--The Rohila war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab of Oudh with help of the British.---First Maratha war (1775-82) and the Treaty of Salbai (1782).--Second Mysore war (1780-84) (First one was fought in 1766-69).--Nand Kumar episode (1775) First English translation Gita by Charles Wilkins --Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Hastings and Sir William Jones (1784). After his return to England (1785), impeachment proceedings were started against him. After a prolonged trial (seven years), he was finally acquitted.
Lord Cornwalls (1786-93)
Third Mysore War (1790-92) and the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).
Permanent revenue settlement.Reform of the judiciary- Creation OF district Judge (1793) – Code – Europeonisation of Civil Service.
Sir John Shore (1793-98)
In the introduction of the permanent settlement (1793) he played an important role as the President of the Board of Revenue, but his Governor-Generalship was very uneventful.
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
Introduction of the system of Subsidiary Alliance (1798), and the first Subsidiary Treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad (1798)-Fourth Mysore War (1799) and the annexation of many parts of Mysore.-Subsidiary Treaty of Bassein (1802) and Second Maratha War (1803-05).
  • Formation of the Madras Presidency after the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic.
  • Fort Williams- Training College.
Lord Minto I (1807-13)Before Minto, Sir George Barlow was the governor-general for two years (1805-07). Main event was the Vellore Mutiny (1806).
Treaty of Amritsar with Ramjit Singh (1809).--Charter Act of 1813
Lord Hastings (1813-23)
War with Nepal or the Gorkha War (1814-16); due to his success in this war, he was made Marquis of Hastings (1816).
  • Third Maratha War (1817-1818) – abolition of Peshwaship and annexation of all his territories, and creation of the Bombay Presidency (1818).
  • Pindari wars (1817-1818).
  • Introduction of the ryotwari settlement in Madras Presidency by governor, Thomas Munro (1820).
Lord Amherst (1823-28)First Burmese War (1824-26)Capture of Bharatpur (1826)
Lord William Bentinck (1828-35)- First Governor General of India.
Prohibition of sati (1829).
  • Suppression of thuggee (1829-35).-Charter Act of 1833.
  • Macaulay’s Minutes and introduction of English as the medium of instruction (1833)
  • Visit of Rammohan Roy to England (1830) and his death there (1833).
  • Deposition of the Raja of Mysore and annexation of his territories (1831).
Charles Metcafle 1835-36- Famous Press law and Liberator of Press in India
Lord Auckland (1835-42)
First Afghan War (1836-42) – disaster of the British in the war and recall of Auckland.-Death of Ranjit Singh (1839).
Lord Ellenborough (1842-44).
Termination of the first Afghan war (1842).
  • Conquest and annexation of Sind (1843)-War with Gwalior (1843).
Lord Hardinge (1844-48)
First Sikh war (1845-46) and treaty of Lahore (1846)
Prohibition of female infanticide and suppression of the practice of human sacrifice among the Gonds of central India.
Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)
Second Sikh war (1848-49) and annexation of the Punjab.
  • Second Burmesewar (1852) and annexation of Lower Burma.
  • Charter Act of 1853.
  • Application of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation of Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853) Nagpur (1854), etc.
  • Annexation of Oudh (1856).
  • Wood’s (President of the Board of Control) Education Despatch of 1854 and British assumption of the responsibility of educating the masses.
  • Introduction of the Railways (First train-Bombay to Thana), Telegraph (First line-Calcutta to Agra) and the Postal System in 1853.
  • Widow/Remarriage Act (1856)
  • Establishment of a separate Public Works Department in every province.
  • Santhal uprising (1855-56)
Lord Canning (1856-57)
Establishment of three universities (at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay) in 1857.
  • Revolt of 1857.
VICEROYS (1858-62)
Lord Canning (1858-62)-First Viceroy
Queen Victoria’s Proclamation and the India Act of 1858.
  • ‘White Mutiny’ by the European troops of the EICO in 1859.
India Councils Act of 1861. Portfolio system. Withdrawl of Doctrine of Lapse
Lord Elgin I (1862)
His sudden death in 1862; administration carried on by Sir Napier and Sir Denison from 1862 to 1864.
Lord John Lawrence (1864-69)
War with Bhutan in 1865.
Establishment of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1865.
Lord Mayo (1869-72)
Establishment of two colleges for the education and political training of the Indian Princes-the Rajkot College in Kathiawar and the Mayo college at Ajmer in Rajasthan.
  • First step in the direction of separation of central and provincial finances in 1870.-Organisation of Statistical Survey of India.First Census
Establishment of a Department of Agriculture and Commerce.Beginning of the system of State Railways.His assassination by a convict in the Andamans in 1872.
Lord North Brook (1872-76)
Visit of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) to India in 1875.
  • His resignation over the Afghan question.
Lord Lytton (1876-80)
Royal Titles Act of 1876 and the assumption of the title of ‘Empress of India’ by Queen Victoria; the Delhi-Durbar in January 1877.
  • Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act of 1878.
  • Second Afghan War of (1878-80)
  • Appointment of the first Famine Commission under Sir Richard Strachey in 1878.
Lord Ripon (1880-84)
First Factory Act of 1881.
  • First Census taken in India (1881)-254 millions.
  • Introduction of Local Self-Government in 1882.
  • Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act in 1882.
  • Division of the finances of the center in 1882.
  • Appointment of an Educational Commission under Sir William Hunter in 1882.
  • The libert Bill Controversy (1883).
  • Coming into existence of the Famine Code in 1883.
Lord Dufferin (1884-88)Third Burmese war (1885-86)Foundation of the Indian National Congress (Lord Cross was the Secretary of State at that time).
Lord Lansdowne (1888-94)
Second Factory Act of 1891.
  • Division of the Civil Services into Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
  • Indian Councils Act of 1892.
  • Appointment of the Durand Commission and its definition of the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan (now between Pakistan and Afghanistan) in 1893.
Lord Elgin II (1894-99)
Assassination of two British officials by the Chapekar brothers of Poona in 1897.

Lord Curzon (1899-1905)

Appointment of a commission under Sir Thomas Raleigh in 1902 to suggest reforms regarding universities, and the passing of the Indian Universities Act of 1904 on the basis of its recommendations.
· Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904.
· Establishment of an Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa in Delhi.
· Partition of Bengal in 1905.
· Col.Younghusband’s Expedition to Tibet in 1904. I.S.T.
Lord Minto II (1905-10)
Anti-Partition and Swadeshi Movements.
  • Surat Session and split in the Congress (1907)
  • Minto-Morley Reforms or the Indian Councils Act of 1909.
  • Foundation of the Muslim League by the Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca, etc, in 1906.
Lord Hardinge II (1910-16)
Annulment of the partition of Bengal and creation of a Governorship for Bengal like Bombay and Madras in 1911. (Lieutenant Governorship for Bihar and Orissa, and Chief Commissionership for Assam).
  • Transfer of the Imperial capital from Calcutta to “Delhi (1911).
  • Coronation Durbar of King George V and Queen Mary at Delhi (December, 1911).
  • Death of G.K.Gokhale in 1915.Division of Bengal repealed
  • Foundation of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya and some Punjabi leaders.
Lord Chelmsford (1916-21)
Foundation of two Home Rule League – one by Tilak in April, 1916 and another by Mrs. Annie Besant in September, 1916.
  • Lucknow session and the reunion of the Congress (1916) (Mrs.Besant played an important role in the reunion).
  • Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League in 1916. (Tilak played an important role in this).
  • Return of Gandhi to India (1915); foundation of the Sabarmati ashram (1916); Champaran satyagraha (the first time Gandhi experimented his new technique in India-1917); satyagraha at Ahmadabad (1918); Khaira satyagraha (1918).
  • August Declaration (1917) by Montague, the then Secretary of State, and Montford reforms or the Government of India Act of 1919.
  • Resignation of some veteran leaders led by S.N. Banerji from the Congress, and their foundation of the Indian Liberal Federation (1918).
  • Rowlatt Act (March, 1919)and the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (13th April, 1919)
  • Death of Tilak on Ist August, 1920.
  • Formation of the Khilafat Committee and the launching of the Khilafat Movement (1919-20).
  • Launching of the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22).
  • Nagpur session of the Congress (Dec. 1920-kchanges in the constitution of the Congress.
  • Foundation of the Women’s University at Poona (1916)
  • Appointment of Sir S.P. Sinha as Lieutenant Governor of Bihar (Sir Sinha was the first Indian to become a Governor and the second Indian to become a member of the British Parliament, the first being Dadabhai Naoroji).
Lord Reading (1921-26)
Chauri Chaura incident (February 5, 1922) and the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation Movement by Gandhi.
  • Formation of the Swaraj Party by C.R. Das (Deshbandu) and Motilal Nehru in December 1922.
  • Foundation of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangha (RSS) by K.B.Hedgewar at Nagpur in 1925.
  • Repeal of the Rowlatt Act.
  • Holding of simultaneous examinations for the ICS in England and India with effect from 1923.
  • Beginning of Indianisation of the officer’s cadre of the Indian army.
  • Foundation of the Communist Party of India in 1925.
Lord Irwin (1926-31)(Popularly known as the ‘Christian Viceroy’)
Appointment of the Simon Commission (Nov. 1927) and the boycott of the Commission by the Congress.
  • Appointment of the Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission in Nov.1927 (to recommend measures for the establishment of better relations between the Indian states and the Central Govt.). and the convening of the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre States People’s Conference in Dec. 1927 by the states’ people in response.
  • ‘Deepavali Declaration’ by Lord Irwin (on 31st, 1929) that India would be granted dominion status in due course.
  • Lahore session of the Congress (Deg. 1929) and the Poorna Swaraj resolution; Fixing 26th Jan. 1930 as the first Independence Day.
  • Launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhi with his Dandi March (12th March, 1930), boycott of the first session of the Round Table Conference by the Congress (1930), Gandhi-Irwin pact and the suspension of the movement (March 1931).
Lord Wellingdon (1931-36) Participation of Gandhi in the second session of the Round Table Conference (Sep. 1931) and the failure of the conference, return of Gandhi to India (Dec.1931) and resumption of the movement, Gandhi’s imprisonment, final suspension of the movement in May, 1934.
  • Third session of the Round Table Conference in London (1932) without the representation of the Congress.
  • Announcement of the ‘Communal Award’ by Ramsay Macdonald, British P.M. (1932); Gandhi’s fast unto death in the Yeravadi prison and the Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar (Sept.1932).
  • Government of India Act of 1935.
  • Separation of Burma from India (1935).
  • Foundation of the Congress/Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai Prakash Narayan (1934).
  • Formation of the All-India Kisan Sabha in 1936.
Lord Linlithgow (1936-43)
Formation of Congress Ministries in majority of the provinces (1937).
Resignation of Subhas Chandra Bose from the Presidentship of the Congress as well as from its membership in 1939, formation of the Forward Block by Bose and his followers (1939).
Resignation of the Congress Ministries after the out break of the World War II (1939).
Celebration of the Congress Ministries’ resignation as ‘Deliverance Day’ by the Muslim League (1939), and its Lahore Resolution (23rd March, 1940), demanding separate state for the Muslims. (It was at this session that Jinnah propounded his Two-Nation Theory).
August Offer’ by Linlithgow (1940); its rejection by the Congress and the starting of individual satyagraha by Gandhi.
Escape of S.C. Bose from India in 1941.
Cripps Mission (March, 1942) offering Dominion Status to India, and its rejection by the Congress.
Passing of the ‘Quit India’ Resolution by the Congress at Bombay (8th August, 1942), arrest of all the Congress leaders and the outbreak of the ‘August Revolution’ or Revolt of 1942.
Lord Wavell (1943-47)
C.R.Formula evolved by C.Rajagopala Chari in 1944 and the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks (1944) based on it: failure of the talks.Famine in Bengal
-Wavell Plan and the Simla Conference (1945) to discuss it; its failure.
-INA Trials and the Naval Mutiny (1946).
-Cabinet Mission (Three members-Lawrence, Cripps and Alexander) and acceptance of its plan by both the Congress and the League (1946)
-Formation of Interim Government by the Congress (Sep. 1946).
-Launching of ‘Direct Action Day’ by the League (17th Aug. 1946) but it also joined the Interim Govt. in Oct. 1946, though it abstained from the Constituent Assembly.
Lord Mountbatten (March-August, 1947) Mountbatten plan; partition of India and achievement of freedom. Also First governor General of Free India –Gandhi murder-Kashmir annexation
C.Rajajai :Second and Last GG of Independent India-