List of governors-general of India

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The

Council of Four
(based in India) to assist the Governor-General, and the decision of the council was binding on the Governor-General during 1773–1784.

The Government of India Act 1833 re-designated the office with the title of Governor-General of India. Warren Hastings was the first to be designated as the Governor-general of India in 1833.

After the

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

List of governors of Bengal
.

Fort William (Bengal) and India, 1773–1858

Governor-General
(lifespan)
Term of office Notable events
Appointed by Court of Directors of the East India Company
Governors-General of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1773–1833

Warren Hastings
(1732–1818)
20 October
1773[nb 1]
8 February
1785

John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (acting)
(1745–1821)
8 February
1785
12 September
1786
 


The Earl Cornwallis
[nb 2]
(1738–1805)
12 September
1786
28 October
1793

John Shore
(1751–1834)
28 October
1793
18 March
1798

Lt. Gen Alured Clarke (acting)
(1744–1832)
18 March
1798
18 May
1798
 

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley[nb 3]
(1760–1842)
18 May
1798
30 July
1805

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
(1738–1805)
30 July
1805
5 October
1805
 

George Barlow, 1st Baronet (acting)
(1762–1847)
10 October
1805
31 July
1807

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Lord Minto
(1751–1814)
31 July
1807
4 October
1813
Francis Rawdon-Hastings[nb 4]

(1754–1826)
4 October
1813
9 January
1823

John Adam (acting)
(1779–1825)
9 January
1823
1 August
1823
  • Licensing Regulations

William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst[nb 5]
(1773–1857)
1 August
1823
13 March
1828

William Butterworth Bayley (acting)
(1782–1860)
13 March
1828
4 July
1828
 
Governors-General of India, 1833–1858

Lord William Bentinck
(1774–1839)
4 July
1828
20 March
1835

Charles Metcalfe, Baronet (acting)
(1785–1846)
20 March
1835
4 March
1836
  • Repealed 1823 Licensing Regulations
  • Known as Liberator of India Press
  • Establishment of Calcutta Public Library (1836) (currently known as National Library of India)

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland[nb 6]
(1784–1849)
4 March
1836
28 February
1842

Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough
(1790–1871)
28 February
1842
June
1844

William Wilberforce Bird (acting)
(1784–1857)
June
1844
23 July
1844
 

Henry Hardinge[nb 7]
(1785–1856)
23 July
1844
12 January
1848

James Broun-Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie[nb 8]
(1812–1860)
12 January
1848
28 February
1856

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

Governor-General or Viceroy
(lifespan)
Term of office Notable events Secretary of State for India Prime Minister
Governors-General and Viceroys of India, 1858–1947
Appointed by Queen Victoria (1837–1901)

Charles Canning, Viscount Canning[nb 9]
(1812–1862)
1 November
1858
21 March
1862

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
(1811–1863)
21 March
1862
20 November
1863
Charles Wood Viscount Palmerston

Robert Napier (acting)
(1810–1890)
21 November
1863
2 December
1863
 

William Denison (acting)
(1804–1871)
2 December
1863
12 January
1864
 

John Lawrence, Baronet
(1811–1879)
12 January
1864
12 January
1869

Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo
(1822–1872)
12 January
1869
8 February
1872
George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll William Ewart Gladstone

John Strachey (acting)
(1823–1907)
9 February
1872
23 February
1872
 

Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier (acting)
(1819–1898)
24 February
1872
3 May
1872
 

Thomas Baring, Lord Northbrook
(1826–1904)
3 May
1872
12 April
1876

Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
(1831–1891)
12 April
1876
8 June
1880

George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon
(1827–1909)
8 June
1880
13 December
1884

Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin
(1826–1902)
13 December
1884
10 December
1888

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
(1845–1927)
10 December
1888
21 January
1894

Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917)
21 January
1894[19]
6 January
1899

George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston[nb 10]
(1859–1925)
6 January
1899
18 November
1905
King Edward VII
(1901–1910)

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto
(1845–1914)
18 November
1905
23 November
1910
King George V
(1910–1936)

Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
(1858–1944)
23 November
1910
4 April
1916

Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford
(1868–1933)
4 April
1916
2 April
1921

Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
(1860–1935)
2 April
1921
3 April
1926
E. F. L. Wood, Lord Irwin

(1881–1959)
3 April
1926
1 July
1929

George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen (acting)
(1866–1952)
1 July
1929
18 April 1931  
  • William Wedgwood Benn

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Earl of Willingdon
(1866–1941)
18 April
1931
18 April
1936
King Edward VIII
(1936)

Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow
(1887–1952)
18 April
1936
1 October
1943
King George VI (1936–1947) (as Emperor of India
)

Archibald Wavell, Viscount Wavell
(1883–1950)
1 October
1943
21 February
1947

Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma
(1900–1979)
21 February
1947
15 August
1947
Governor-General
(birth–death)
Term of office Notable events   Prime Minister
Governors-General of the Dominion of India, 1947–1950
Appointed by
King George VI (1947–1950) (as King of India
)

Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma[nb 11]
(1900–1979)
15 August
1947
21 June
1948
  • First Governor-General of the Union of India

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
(1878–1972)
21 June
1948
26 January
1950
  • Last Governor-General of India, before the office was permanently abolished (1950)
  • First and only Indian-born Governor-General of India

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Originally joined on 28 April 1772.
  2. ^ Earl Cornwallis from 1762; created Marquess Cornwallis (1792).
  3. ^ Created Marquess Wellesley (1799).
  4. Earl of Moira
    prior to being created Marquess of Hastings in 1816.
  5. ^ Created Earl Amherst in 1826.
  6. ^ Created Earl of Auckland in 1839.
  7. ^ Created Viscount Hardinge in 1846.
  8. ^ Created Marquess of Dalhousie 1849.
  9. ^ a b Created Earl Canning 1859.
  10. ^ Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill was acting Governor-General in 1904.
  11. ^ Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947.

Citations

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  2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rohilla". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 461.
  3. ^ "Administrative Reforms of Robert clive". britannica.com. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Reddy, Vinodh (28 October 2015). "Governors-General of India (1772–1857)". EduGeneral. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Treaty of Sagauli | British-Nepalese history [1816]". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  8. ISSN 0013-0613
    . Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Sind-British conflict". Britanica.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  10. ^ Information Management Group, IIT Roorkee. "Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Index". www.iitr.ac.in.
  11. ^ "India - Government of India Act of 1858". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Police Act. 1861" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ "How Viceroy Lord Mayo's Assassination Led To Creation Of India's First Intelligence Bureau". Outlook India. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Arms Act, 1878" (PDF). myanmar-law-library.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Lord Ripon: Father of Local Self Government in India". thenationaltv.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Hunter Commission - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  18. ^ "A Short History of Burma". New Internationalist. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  19. ^ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33561/1/11010320.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  20. ^ "Lee Commission". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Hartog Committee Report, 1929". Your Article Library. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2022.