Robert Clive (1757-60) (1765-67)

1. Robert Clive started his career as a clerk in the English East India Company, and he became the Governor of Bengal, following the victory of the Company forces under him in the Battle of Plassey (1757). The Battle of Plassey laid the foundation of the British Empire in India.

2. Roger Drake held the post of the Governor of Bengal for a brief period before Clive.

3. Governor of Bengal twice; from 1757 - 60 and again from 1765-67.

4. Started dual Govt. in Bengal in 1765. It was a system intended to obtain the services of the officials of the erst-while Nawab of Bengal in revenue administration.

5. He forbade the servants of company from indulging in private trade and made payment of internal duties by them obligatory.

6. Bengal White Mutiny by the European brigades at Allahabad and Monghyr, they were arrested and tried.

7. Following the first tenure of Clive, Holwell officiated as the Governor of Bengal for a brief time, followed by Vansittart (1760-1765).

8. Henry Verelst (1767-69) and Cartier (1769-72) succeeded Clive after his second term.

9. The Battle of Buxar was fought and won by the Company forces (1764) when Vansittart was the Governor. The English forces were led by Holwell and the peace treaty (Treaty of Allahabad) was negotiated by Clive. The Battle of Buxar secured the British Empire in India.

10. When he returned to England, Clive was charged with corrupting the political life of England with the ill-gotten money in India. The charges against him included acceptance of bribe and abusing the office of the Governor of Bengal.

11. Though Clive was acquitted, he led a desperate life and committed suicide.

Warren Hastings (1772-85)

1. Became the Governor of Bengal in 1772 and Governor - General in 1774, following the Regulating Act (1773). It was the first Act passed on India by the British Parliament. Following this, the British Parliament got some law-making powers over the land in India, ruled by the English East India Company.

2. Introduced quinquennial settlement of land revenue in 1772 farming out of lands to the highest bidder, later on he reversed to annual settlement (1777) on the basis of open auction to the highest bidder

3. Abolished ‘Dual Government’ in 1772.

4. Created a Diwani and Fuajidari Adalat in 1772.

5. With the passage of the Regulatory in Act in 1773, he became the first to hold the post of Governor General in 1774.

6. Divided Bengal into revenue districts and made appointment of the collectors and the other revenue officials. Thus, the system of collectors heading the administration of revenue districts began.

7. Codified Hindu & Muslim Laws (1776).

8. Trial of Nand Kumar and his judicial murder in 1775.

9. In 1776 Manu’s law was translated into English under the title “Code of Gentoo Laws”.

10. Started Diwani and Faujdari adalats at the district level and Sadar Diwani and Nizamat adalats (appeal courts) in Calcutta.

11. Associated with the Chait Singh (Benaras Rajah) Affair, 1778. Chait Singh was deposed of his throne and imprisoned because he failed to meet Warren Hastings’ demands for excess levy. Mahip Narayan was installed on the throne of Benaras.

12. In 1780 James August Hickey started a weekly paper called Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser.

13. Foundation of Asiatic society of Bengal with the help of William Jones in 1784.The intention of the society was to study the classical languages of India and translate the ancient Sanskrit texts into English.

14. In 1791 William Jones and Colebrook prepared Digest of Hindu laws. It was the first codification of Hindu Laws in India. Jones also translated Kalidasa's classical drama"Abhjnana Shakuntalam" in to English

15. The Calcutta Madrasa was established by Warren Hastings in 1781. It was one of the pioneering initiatives of the orientalists.

16. Fatwa-i-Alamgiri was also translated.

17. Rohilla War (1774), First Anglo Maratha war (1776-82) and Second Anglo Mysore war (1780-84) took place.

18. The against the Rohillas of Bundhelkhand (southern UP and south-western MP) was fought to help the Nawab of Oudh whom the former owed a huge tribute. The Rohillas were defated at Miranpukatra. This incident tarnished the image of Warren Hasitngs in England.

19. Wilkins translated Gita and Hitopadesa in English. It was the first translation of the Gita into English and the introduction to the book was written by Warren Hastings.

20. Syed Ghulam Hussain wrote Siyar-ul-Mutqherin.

21. Pitt’s India Act was passed in 1984, ensuring grater control of Parliament over the land in India ruled by the Company. It also enhanced the powers of the Governor General.

22. Resigned in 1785, following differences of opinions with the British Prime Minister William Pitt.

23. He returned to England in 1785 and impeachment proceedings were initiated against him in the House of Lords. He was eventually acquitted after a trial of 7 years. The charges of impeachment were based on the following incidents:

i. The affairs of Chait Singh

ii. The Rohilla War

iii. The ill-treatment of the Begums of Oudh, and

iv. The Nand Kumar affair.

Lord Cornwalis (1786-93)

1. Sanskrit College, Benaras, was founded by Jonathan Duncan in 1791.

2. New Police System was introduced through Regulation of 1791.

3. The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793. The land revenue rates were initially fixed on the basis of the actual collections for 1790-91. The revenue was fixed for first 10 years, but was declared permanent in 1793. The system is also called Zamindari system because it was favourable for the Zamindars (land lords).

4. The district Faujdari Adalats presided over by India Judges abolished and in their place four circuit courts were established presided by European covenanted servants. The Sadr Nizamat Adalat was also replaced.

5. Cornwallis code, based on separation of powers, was introduced. The basic principle was the separation of revenue administration from the judicial administration. He is known as the Father of civil services in India. The Collector was divested of judicial and magisterial powers, he became only the head of revenue administration. The posts of district judges were created to look after judicial administration.

6. Third Anglo Mysore war, defeated Tipu Sultan and Treaty of Seringapatnam (1792)

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

1. Described himself as Bengal Tiger.

2. Created the Madras presidency after the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic.

3. Introduced the system of Subsidiary Alliance in 1798.

4. The states that signed the alliance were - Hydrabad (first to sign) in 1798 and then Mysore, Tanjore, Awadh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Mecheri, Bundi, Bharatpur, Berar.

5. Fourth Anglo Mysore War and death of Tipu Sultan in 1799. The Woddayar Dynasty, who Hyder Ali had deposed, was restored to the throne of Mysore.

6. Signed Treaty of Bassein with the Peshwa in 1802.

7. Fought Second Anglo-Maratha war in which the Scindhia, Bhonsle and Holkar were defeated.

8. Lord Lake captured Delhi and Agra and the Mughal emperor was put under Company’s protection.

9. Raja Ram Mohan Roy wrote the Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin.

10. The first major rebellion in India by the native people against the British rule in India began in southern Kerala under Veluthambi, the Dalawa (diwan or Prime Minister) of Travancore in southern Kerala(1805).

11. The Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800 to train the English Civil Servants on the affairs of India.

George Barlow (1805-07)

1. Sepoy mutiny at Vellore in 1806.

2. Tried towards restoration of peace with Scindhia and Holkar

Lord Hastings (1813 - 23)

1. Adopted the policy of intervention and war in India.

2. He was made Marquess of Hastings due to his success in the Gorkha war or the Anglo Nepalese war (1813-23).

3. Signed Treaty of Sagauli in 1816 after defeating Gorkha leader Amar Singh.

4. Introduction of Ryotwari settlement in Madras presidency by Governor, Thomas Munro (1820).

5. Adopted the policy of intervention and war. He considered Rajputs as the natural allies.

6. Pindari War (1817-18). The Pindaris, a marauding tribe, was defeated by Sir Thomas Hislop. The hunt for the Pindaris resulted in the Third Mysore War.

7. Also crushed the Pathans and made their leader Amir Khan, the Nawab of Tonk.

8. Abolished Peshwaship and annexed his territories in the Bombay presidency after the Third Anglo-Maratha war (1817-18).

9. Mahalwari (village community) system of land revenue was introduced in North-West province by James Thomson.

Lord Amherst (1823-28)

1. Received by the Mughal emperor (Akbar II) on terms of equality in 1827.

2. Acquired territories in Malay Peninsula and signed treaty with Siam.

3. First Burmese War (1824-1826) and treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 with lower Burma or Pegu by which British merchants were allowed to settle in southern coast of Burma and Rangoon.

4. Capture of Bharatpur (1826) in Rajputana.

Lord William Bentick (1828-35)

1. The post of Governor General was re-designated as Governor General of India as per the Charter Act, 1883. As such, Bentick can be technically called the first Governor General of India.

2. The Charter Act 1833 provided that no Indian subject of Company was to be debarred from holding an office on account his religion, place of birth, descent and colour.

3. Known as the benevolent Governor General. He was the most liberal and enlightened Governor General of India.

4. Banned practice of Sati in 1829.

5. Suppressed Thugi in 1830 (military operation led by William Sleeman). Sleeman is known as the “Indian Phanotm” for his actions against the Thuggies.

6. Banned female infanticide.

7. Created the province of Agra in 1834.

8. English was to be court language in higher court but Persian continued in lower courts. English was made the official language of India in 1835

9. Regarded as the father of modern western education in India.

10. Appointed Macaulay as president of Committee of Public Instruction. Macaulay’s minutes in education were accepted declaring that English should be the official language of India.

11. The Regulation of 1833 on land revenue settlement by Mertins Bird (called as the father of land revenue settlement in North). Use of field maps and filed registers were prescribed for the first time.

12. Inquiry into titles of Inam lands.

13. 1830, annexation of Central Chachar took place, on the plea of mis-government.

14. 1831 rebellion of Titu Mir and Kols.

15. 1831, annexation of Mysore.

16. Treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit Singh.

17. Abolished provincial circuit courts and courts of appeal set up by Cornwallis.

18. A separate Sadr Diwani Adalat was set up in Allahabad and Sadr Nizamat Adalat at Delhi.

19. James Wilson, a member of the Vicerory's Executive Council favoured financial grants to encourage the spread of Indian languages and literary activities. (The Viceroy's Council was the equivalent of modern cabinet.)

1. Abolished restrictions on press through the famous “Press Law”. He is called as the ‘Liberator of press’.

Lord AuckLand (1836-42)

1. Tripartite treaty was signed between the East India Company, Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja.

2. First Afghan war (1836-42) started. It later turned out to be a great blow to the prestige of the British Empire in India.

3. Mandavi state was annexed.

Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)

1. End of Afghan war and annexation of Sindh to British Empire (1843).

2. Charles Napier was replaced by Major Outram as the Resident in Sindh.

3. Slavery was abolished.

4. War with Gwalior (1843).

Lord Hardinge (1844-48)

1. He suppressed the practice of human sacrifices by the Khonds.

2. Knowledge of English was preferred in employment.

3. First Anglo Sikh war and Treaty of Lahore (1846). It marked the end of Sikh sovereignty in India

Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)

1. Introduced the policy of ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ or Law of Escheat’ which postulated that Indian states having no natural heir would be annexed to the British Empire. The Indian states thus annexed were Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambhalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853), and Nagpur (1854).

2. Introduced the system of centralised control in the newly acquired territories known as “Bon-Regulation System”.

3. Introduced Wood’s dispatch known as the Magna Carta of English education in India prepared by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control in 1854. It suggested a scheme of education from the primary to the university level. Also recommended opening of many colleges.

4. The Dispatch recommended the establishment of Anglo-ver-nacular schools in districts, government colleges in important towns and universities in presidency towns and introduction of vernacular language as medium of instruction. This system is based on the Thompsonian system.

5. The establishment of Universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay (all in 1857) was also based on the Woods’ Recommendations.

6. An Engineering College was set up in Roorkee (presently in Uttarakhand).

7. Boosted up the development of railways-laid the first railway line in 1853 from Bombay to Thane and second from Calcutta to Raniganj.

8. Gave a great impetus to post and telegraph services. Telegraph lines were laid (first line from Calcutta to Agra in 1853).

9. Organised a separate Public Works Department by divesting the Military Board of this power.

10. Started the works of the Grant Trunk Road. It was based on the ancient road constructed by Sher Shah in the 16th century.

11. Shimla was made summer capital and army head quarter.

12. Hindu Remarriage Act was passed in 1856, making widow re-marriage legal.

13. Annexed Awadh in 1856 on excuse of misgovernment when Nawab Wajid Ali Shah refused to abdicate.

14. In 1853, recruitment of the covenanted civil service started through competitive examination.

15. Post Office Act was passed in 1854. Postage stamps were issued for the first time in 1853.

16. Santhal uprising took place in 1855.

17. Abolition of the title of Nawab of Carnatic. He also abolished many titles and pensions of former native rulers.

18. Whole Punjab was annexed in 1849 after second Anglo Sikh war (1848-49)

19. Lower Burma (Pegu) was annexed after second Burmese war (1853)

20. The Charter Act of 1853 threw open the Civil Services to a competition for the citizens of the empire. Till then, the Civil Servants were nominated by the Directors of the East India Company. The system was known as patronage.

Lord Canning (1856-62)

1. Revolt of 1857. It was suppressed in 1858.

2. He was the last Governor General and the first Viceroy.

3. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation (1st November 1858) and passing of the India

Act of 1858. This Act ended the rule of East India Company in India

4. Doctrine of Lapse started by Lord Dalhousie was withdrawn in 1859.

5. Foundation of the universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857.

6. Indigo Revolt in Bengal in 1859-60.

7. White mutiny by the European troops of East India Company in 1859.

8. Bahadur Shah, the last Mughal Emperor was sent to Rangoon (burma) & the Mughal Empire came to a formal ending.

9. Enactment of Indian Penal Code (1858) and Code of Criminal Procedure (1859).

10.1861, Indian Council Act.

11. Indian High Courts Act, 1861.

12. Income Tax was introduced for the first time in 1858

Lord Elgin (1862-63)

1. Suppressed the Wahabi Movement, a Pan- Islamic Movement.

Lord John Lawrence (1864-69)

1. Famine Commission was constituted. Expanded canal works and railways. Advocated state-managed railways.

2. Followed a policy of rigid non-interference in Afghanistan called the ‘policy of masterly inactivity’.

3. Set up High Courts in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras (1865).

4. Opened telegraphic communication with Europe.

5. Created the Forests Department.

6. Re-organised the Native Judicial Service.

7. Passed the Punjab Tenancy Act

8. Bhutan war (1865)

Lord Mayo (1869-72)

1. Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 started the financial decentralization in India.

2. He established the Statistical Survey of India as well as the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

3. For the political training of Indian Princes, the Rajkot College in Kathiawar and the Mayo College at Ajmer were opened

4. Mayo was the only Viceroy to be murdered in office. He was murdered in 1872 by a convict in Andamans.

Lord Lytton (1876-80)

1. Appointed by the government of Benjamin Disraeli in England.

2. Passing of the Royal Title Act of 1876 and the assumption of the title - Empress of India (Qaiser-i-hind) by Queen Victoria.

3. Holding of Delhi Durbar in 1877, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of assumption of the throne by Queen Victoria.It inspired the development of nationalistic feelings amongst the educated middle class in India because the expensive Durbar was held at a time when the country was suffering from a severe famine.

4. The Ramosi uprisings led by Vaudev Balwant Phadke in Maharashtra (1877-87) began. It was mainly caused by the failure of the government to take up anti-famine measures.

5. Passing of the Vernacular Press Act of 1878. It empowered a magistrate to call upon the printer and publisher of any newspaper published in an Indian language to enter into an undertaking not to publish any news which would create antipathy against the government.

6. Passing of the Arms Act of 1878. It made it mandatory for the Indians to acquire license for arms.

7. Lowering of the maximum age from 21 years to 19 years for the civil services examination, an attempt to prevent Indians from entering civil services.

8. Lytton also proposed Statutory Civil Services. It enabled the government to fill 1/6 of the vacancies by nomination from among the members of Indian aristocratic families. He also evolved a scholarship scheme for the selected candidates in 1878.

9. Appointment of first Famine Commission under Sir Richard Strachey.

10. Policy of masterly inactivity towards Afghanistan was re-placed by forward policy. Second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80). The Treaty of Gandamak was concluded in 1879. But the English victory proved to be short lived. The British Resident in Kabul was murdered. The opposition of the local tribes grew stronger. Lytton’s Afghan policy was an utter failure.

11. The famine of 1876-78.

12. Resigned in 1880 when Disraeli’s Conservative Party was defeated in Britain by Gladston’s Liberal Party.

Lord Landsdowne (1888-94)

1. Passed the Age of Consent Act in 1891 which forbade marriage of a girl below age 12.

2. Categorised the Civil Services into imperial, provincial and subordinate civil services.

3. 1891, second Factory Act was passed.

4. 1892, Indian Council Act was passed. Indirect elections were introduced in India for the first time.

5. 1893, Durand Mission was sent to Kabul. Durand defined the boundary between India and Afghanistan. After partition of India in 1947, the Durant Line became the official boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Lord Elgin-II (1894-1899)

1. The Santhal Uprising of 1889.

2. Famine in part of Rajasthan (1896-97). Lyall Commission appointed to look into the cause of famines.

3. Chapekar brothers assassinated two British officials in 1897.

4. Convention delimiting the frontier between China and India was ratified.

Lord Curzon (1899-1905)

1. Creation of a new province called the North West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan).

2. Appointed a Famine Commission headed by Sir Macdonnel to investigate the causes of famines and suggest remedies.The report of the Commission (1901) suggested increase in railways and establishment of agricultural banks and irrigation works. The Viceroy tried to implement most of the suggestions.

3. Agricultural banks and co-operative societies were established to save farmers from money lenders.

4. The Punjab Land Alienation Act (1900) prescribed that agricultural land could not be bought by non - agriculturists without approval of the government.

5. Appointed an Inspector General of Agriculture.

6. Established Agricultural Research Institute in Pusa (Bengal).

7. Appointed an Irrigation Commission under Sir Colvin Scott Moncrieff which recommended an increased spending on irrigation projects and and an increase in acreage of irrigation.

8. Appointment of the Police Commission under Andrew Frazer in 1902. It recommended systematic training in police organisation.

9. Land Resolution of 1902: reduced the rates of land revenue and introduced more scientific as well as lenient methods of assessment.

10. Created a new Department of Commerce and Industry.

11. Separated railways from the Public Works Department and placed it under a newly created Railways Board, as per the recommendations of Sir Thomas Robertson.

12. Held a conference of educationalists at Shimla and appointed a University Commission under Sir Thomas Releigh, the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Council. Passed Indian Universities Act, 1904 which provided for the increase in the official control over universities by enhancing nominated members over the elected ones. Introduced residential system in universities. The opposition to the Act helped the growth of nationalism.

13. Passing of Ancient Monuments Protection Act in 1904 for the preservation of India's cultural heritage. This was followed by the foundation of Archaeological Survey of India.

14. Established the Imperial Library in Calcutta.

15. Appointed for a second term in 1904.

16. Young Husband’s Mission to Tibet, 1904. A Sino - British Convention was held to demarcate the line of control between India and China.

17. Partition of Bengal was announced on 19th July 1905. A new province called “East Bengal and Assam” was created by merging Assam and Chittagong with the carved out districts of Bengal. It came in to effect on 16th October, 1905. The declared intention was administrative convenience. But the nationalists felt it was a design to break Hindu - Muslim unity. The Swadeshi Movement was launched against the partition. It became strong day by day in Bengal and the other parts of India. The Congress also supported the movement. It was the first political agitation in India. Also, boycott of foreign goods was used as a way of protest in India.

18. Lord Kitchner, the Commander - in - Chief, demanded more powers for himself on the Military Department. When the Secretary of State for India in the British Government supported Kitchner, Curzon resigned his post in 1905.

19. His biography has been written by Ranaldshay- The life of Lord Curzon.

20. The Montague’s Declaration of 1917, aimed at appeasing the nationalists, was drafted by Curzon.

Lord Irwin (1926-31)

1. Appointment of the Indian States Commission under Harcourt Butler (1927) to recommend measures for the establishment of better relations between the Indian states and the central government.

2. All India Youth Congress was formed in 1928.

3. Deepavali Declaration (1929) that India would be granted dominion status in due course.

4. Royal Commission on Indian labour was appointed in 1929, gave its report in 1931.

5. Sarda Act was passed in 1929. Marriage of girls below 14 and boys below 18 years of age was prohibited.

6. Indian school of Mines opened in Dhanbad.

7. Royal Commission on Agriculture constituted in 1927.

8. Meerut conspiracy case.

9. Simon Commisson was announced in 1927 and visited India in 1928.

10. The death of Lala Lajpat Rai, following the lathi charge on a protest March against the Simon Commission.

11. Nehru Report (1928), which was an effort by the political parties of India to draft a sample Constitution for India, following the remark of Lord Birkenhead, the Secretary of State for India, that the Indians were not mature enough to formulate a Constitution.

12. Jinnah formulates 14 points after Nehru Report.

13. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutta drop bombs in the Legislative Assembly.

14. The Lahore Session of the Congress and the Declaration of Poorna Swaraj (1929).

15. January 26, 1930 was celebrated as “Independence Day” by the Congress. Thereafter, January 26 was observed as “Independence Day”.

16. Gandhi starts his Dandi March (12th March, 1930) which marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)famous “Salt Satyagraha” was inaugurated by Gandhiji at Dandi on 6th April by making salt, to defy the Salt Act.

17. Chittagong armoury raid.

18. First Round Table Conference (RTC) without the congress participation, took place in 1930.

19. Gandhi - Irwin pact (5th March 1931). Gandhiji agreed to withdraw the CDM and participate in the Second RTC.

20. Bahgat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on 23rd March, 1931.

Lord Mountbatten (1947-49)

1. Proposed Plan Balkan i.e. total dismemberment of India territory but soon left the idea.

2. Made it clear to the princely states that they shall not be granted independence and they will have to join either India or Pakistan.

3. The Indian Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament. It got the King’s assent on 18th July 1947.

4. The Indian Independence Act provided that the princely states could join either India or Pakistan or they could remain free.

5. His plan to make India free on August 15, 1947 is also known as “Mountbatten Plan” on June 3rd plan.

6. Appointment of Boundary Commission under Sir Cyril Redcliff to demarcate the boundary between India and Pakistan.

7. Pakistan became independent on 14th August and India on 15th August 1947.

8. Following India's independence, the post of Viceroy was re-designated as Governor General. Thus, Mountbatten became the last Viceroy of India and the first Governor General of Independent India.

9. Gandhiji was assassinated on 30th January 1948.

10. He was later murdered by the Irish separatists.

11. Following Mountbatten, C. Rajagopalchari held the post of the Governor General from 21st June, 1948 to 25th January, 1950. He was the only Indian to hold the post of Governor General.