Governor Generals and Viceroys of India

Sl.

No.

Governor Generals

Acts

Wars/Treaties

Reforms

Introduced/ Established

Warren Hastings

1773-1785

1. 1773 Regulating act
2. Act of 1781- powers of jurisdiction between the governor-general-in-council and the Supreme Court at Calcutta, were clearly divided.
3. Pitt’s India Act of 1784.

1. The Rohilla War of 1774.
2. The First Maratha War in 1775-82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782.
3. Second Mysore War in 1780-84.
4. Strained relationships with Chait Singh, the Maharaja of Benaras, which led to Hastings’ subsequent impeachment in England.

Found Asiatic Society of Bengal

Lord Cornwallis

1786-1793

Third Mysore War (1790-92) and Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).

1. Cornwallis code 1793 incorporating judicial reforms
2. Separation of revenue administration and civil jurisdiction

1. Introduced permanent settlement of Bengal in 1793
2. Europeanization of administrative machinery

Sir John shore

1793-1798

Charter Act 1793

Battle of Kharda 1795, Nizam and the Marathas

Lord Wellesley

1798-1805

1. Fourth Mysore war
2. Second Marata war in 1802 and

Treaty of bassein

3. Through Subsidiary Alliance - Took over administration of

1. Tanjore 1799
2. Surat 1800
3. Carnatic 1801

Introduction of subsidiary alliance system in 1798

1^st alliance with Nizam of Hyderabad

Lord George Barlow

1805-1807

Vellore mutiny 1806

Lord Minto 1

1807- 1813

Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh 1809

Lord Hastings 1813 to 1823

1. Anglo Nepal war and Treaty of sugauli 1814 to 1816

2. Third Maratha war

3. Dissolution of Maratha confederacy and creation of Bombay presidency in 1818
4. Strife with Pindaris 1817-1818
5. Treaty with Scindia in 1817

Establishment of ryotwari system by Thomas Munro governor of Madras 1820

Lord Amherst 1823 to 1828

1. First Burmese war 1824-26
2. Capture of Bharatpur 1826

Lord William Bentinck 1828 to 1835

Charter act of 1833

1. Suppression of thugs 1830
2. Annexation of

1. Mysore-1831,
2. Coorg 1834,
3. Central chachar 1834

3. Treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit Singh

1. Abolition of sati and other cruel rites 1829
2. Abolition of provincial courts of appeal- set up by Cornwallis
3. Appointment of commissioners of revenue and circuit

Educational reforms and introduction of English as official language

Lord Metcalfe 1835 to 1836

New press law removing restrictions on press in India

Lord Auckland- 1836 to 1842

1. First Afghan war 1838-42
2. Death of Ranjit Singh 1839

Lord Ellenborough 1842-44

1. Annexation of Sindh 1843
2. War with Gwalior 1843

Lord Hardinge I

1844-48

First Anglo Sikh war 1845-46 and Treaty of Lahore 1846

Social reforms like Abolition of female infanticide and human sacrifice

Lord Dalhousie 1848-56

1. Widow remarriage act 1856
2. Educational despatch 1854
3. Post office act 1854

1. Second Anglo Sikh war 1848-49 and Annexation of Punjab 1849
2. Annexation of lower Burma or Pegu
3. Introduction of Doctrine of lapse and Annexation of

• Satara1848
• Jaitpur and
• Sambalpur-1849,
• Udaipur-1852
• Jhansi-1853
• Nagpur-1854
• Avadh-1856

Educational despatch 1854 opening of Anglo vernacular schools and Government colleges

1. Railway minute of district and laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853
2. 4000 mile telegraph line connecting Calcutta with Bombay Madras Peshawar
3. Ganga canal opened in 1854
4. Public works Department in every province

Lord canning 1856 to 1857

Revolt of 1857

Establishment of three universities at Calcutta Madras and Bombay in 1857

Viceroys

Acts

Wars/Treaties

Reforms

Introduced/ Established

Lord canning

1. Government of India Act 1858
2. Indian councils act of 1861

White mutiny by European troops in 1859

Transfer of control from East India Company to the crown

Lord Elgin 1

Wahabi movement

Lord John Lawrence

1864-69

Bhutan War 1865

Setting up of high courts at Calcutta Bombay and Madras 1865

Lord Mayo

1869 to 1872

1. Rajkot college in kathiawar and Mayo College at Ajmer for political training of Indian princes
2. Establishment of statistical survey of India
3. Establishment of department of agriculture and commerce
4. Introduction of state railways

Lord Northbrook 1872 to 1876

Visit of Prince of Wales

Kuka movement in Punjab

Trail of Gaekwad of Baroda

21

Lord Lytton

1876 to1880

1. The Vernacular press Act 1878
2. The Arms act 1878
3. The second Afghan war 1878-80
4. Royal titles act 1876

1. Second African war 1878 to 1880
2. Queen Victoria assuming the title of Kaiser e Hind or queen empress of India

1. Famine of 1876-78 affecting Madras Bombay Mysore Hyderabad parts of Central India and Punjab
2. Appointment of Famine Commission under presidency of Richard Strachey 1878

Lord Ripon

1880 to 1884

1. First Factory Act 1881 to Improve Labour conditions
2. The second Afghan war 1878-80
3. Royal titles act 1876

1. Illbert Bill Controversy (1883-84)
2. Redition of Mysore

1. The repeal of Vernacular press Act 1878
2. Continuation of Financial Decentralisation
3. Government’s resolution on Local self-Government 1882

Appointment of Hunter Commission on Education in 1882

Lord Dufferin 1884 to 1888

Third Burmese war 1885 to 1886

Aitchison committee on civil services was formed

Establishment of Indian National Congress

Lord Lansdowne 1888 to 1894

1. Factory Act 1891
2. Indian councils act 1892

1. Categorisation of civil services into a provisional and subordinate
2. Setting up of Durand commission 1893

Lord Elgin II 1894 to 1899

Assassination of Two British officials by 1897

Lord Curzon 1899 to 1905

1. Calcutta corporation Act 1899
2. Ancient monuments preservation act 1904
3. Indian universities act passed in 1904 after Universities Commission recommendation

1. Partition of Bengal 1905
2. Younghusband mission to Tibet 1904

Curzon Kitchener controversy- regarding status of military member of the council (who controlled army supply and logistics, - Kitchener wanted under his control)

1. Appointment of Police Commission under Andrew Fraser to review police administration in 1902
2. Establishment of department of commerce and industry

Lord Minto II 1905 to 1910

Popularization of anti partition and Swadeshi movement

Split in congress in annual session of 1907 at Surat

Establishment of Muslim league by Agha Khan 1906

Lord Hardinge II 1910 to 1916

Coronation durbar of king George V held in Delhi in 1911

Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911

1. Creation of Bengal presidency (like Bombay and Madras) in 1911
2. Establishment of Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya

Lord chelmsford 1916 to 1921

1. Montague August declaration 1917
2. Government of India Act 1919
3. the Rowlatt Act 1919
4. appointment of SP Sinha as governor of Bihar ( first Indian to become governor )
5. Death of Tilak August 1 1920

1. Jallianwala Bagh massacre 1919
2. launch of non cooperation and khilafat moments

Launch Of

1. Champaran satyagraha 1916
2. Kheda Satyagraha 1918 and
3. Ahmedabad mill strike Satyagraha 1918

Appointment of saddlers commission in 1974 for reforms in Educational policy

1. Formation of Home rule league by Annie Besant and Tilak in 1916
2. Foundation of women’s University at Pune 1916
3. Foundation of Sabarmati ashram 1916 after Gandhi’s return

Lord Reading 1921 to 1926

Criminal law amendment act

1. Chauri chaura incident 1922 Feb5th and withdrawal of NCM

2. Moplah rebellion in Kerala 1921
3. Communal riots in Multan Amritsar Delhi Aligarh, Arvi and Calcutta
4. Kakori train robbery 1925
5. Murder of Swami shraddhanand 1926

1. Repeal of Press Act of 1910 and Rowlatt Act 1919
2. Abolition of cotton excise duty
3. Decision to hold simultaneous examinatioons for the ICS both in Delhi and London from 1923

Establishment of Swaraj party by CR Das and Motilal Nehru

Lord Irwin 1926 to 1931

1. All party conference held at Lucknow 1928 for suggestions of constitution of India. The report of which was called Nehru report
2. Lahore session of Congress
3. Purna Swaraj resolution
4. Gandhi Irwin pact 1931

1. Sanders murder,
2. bomb blast in assembly hall of Delhi 1929
3. Lahore conspiracy case,
4. Death of Jatin Das after hunger strike 1929,
5. Bomb accident in train in Delhi 1929
6. Dandi March – 12 March 1930 by Gandhi to launched civil disobedience movement(CDM)
7. boycott of first round table conference 1930
8. Suspension of CDM

Deepavali declaration by Lord Irwin to grant dominion status to India in 1929

Appointment of Harcourt Butler- Indian states Commission 1927

Lord willingdon 1931 to 1936

1. Second round table conference-1931 , it's failure and Resumption of CDM
2. Third round table conference 1932
3. Government of India Act of 1935

1. Fast unto death by Gandhi in Yaravada - broken after Poona pact in 1932
2. Launch of Individual CDM
3. Burma separated from India in 1935

1. Announcement of communal award 1932
2. Establishment of All India Kisan Sabha 1936 and
3. Congress socialist party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan 1934

Lord linlithgow 1936 to 1944

1. First general elections 1936-37 Congress Attained absolute majority
2. Subhash Chandra Bose elected as president of Congress at 51^st session of Congress 1938
3. Winston Churchill was elected prime minister of England in 1940

1. Resignation of Congress ministries after the outbreak of second world war 1939
2. Resignation of Bose -1939 and
3. formation of Forward Bloc 1939
4. Escape of Subhash Chandra Bose 1941 and organisation of Indian National army
5. Outbreak of August revolution or revolt of 1942 after arrest of national leaders
6. Divide and quit slogan at Karachi session of Muslim league

1. August offer 1930-Congress criticised and Muslim league accepted it
2. Cripps Mission to offer dominion status to India
3. Setting up Constituent assembly and it's rejection by congress
4. Quit India resolution -1942

Lahore resolution by Muslim league 1940 March and demand for separate state for Muslims

Lord Wavell 1944 to 1947

Elections to constituent assembly and formation of interim government by the Congress in September 1946

1. C Rajagopalachari Formula 1944
2. Failure of Gandhi Jinnah talks 1944
3. End of second world war 1945
4. Observance of direct action day August 16th 1948 by Muslim league

1. Wavell plan and Shimla conference 1942
2. Proposals of Cabinet Mission 1946 and its acceptance by congress

Announcement of end of British rule in India by Clement attlee on February 20 1947

Lord Mountbatten 1947 to 1948

Introduction of Indian Independence Bill in house of commons

June 3^rd plan 1947 announced

Appointment of two boundary commissions under sir Cyril Radcliffe for partition of Bengal and Punjab.