Governors And Governor-General's - Notes - UPSC

GOVERNORS AND  GOVERNOR-GENERALS

• Robert Clive (Governor of Bengal from 1757-60 and again 1765-67): Dual government in Bengal (1765-72) i.e. administration of Bengal by two separate powers-the English company and the Nawab; emperor Shah Alam II was taken under the Company’s protection (1765) under second Treaty of Allahabad.
• Verelast (1767-69)
• Cartier (1769-72)
• Warren Hastings: Governor of Bengal from 1772 to 1774; GovernorGeneral of Bengal from 1774 to 1785; established Civil and Criminal courts at district level and the Supreme Court at Calcutta, patron of the Asiatic Society; the first Anglo-Maratha and second Anglo-Mysore war was fought in his regime; the treasury was removed from Murshidabad to Calcutta.
• Sir John Mac Pherson: (1785-86)
• Lord Cornwallis (1786-93 and 1805): Established thanas (Police Stations); founded the British civil service in India; permanent settlement of lands to zamindars (1763) under which zamindars and their successors were allowed to hold their estates at that very assessed rate for ever. The state demand was 89% of the rental; established Cornwallis code for the guidance of otficials.
• Sir John Shore (1793-1798): Followed a policy of non-intervention.
• Lord Wellesley (1798-1805): Described himself as Bengal Tiger, introduced Subsidiary Alliance systemsome states having this alliance, the Nizam (1798 and 1800), Mysore (1799), Tanjore (1799), Avadh (1801), the Peshwa (1802), Bhonsle (1803), Scindia (1804); garrisoned Goa (1799); occupied Danish settlements in Bengal; in 1803, Lord Lake captured Delhi and Agra; Madras Presidency was created (1801).

Sir George Barlow (1805-1807) Mutiny of the sepoys at Vellore.

• Lord Minto I (1807-1813): The treaty of Amritsar (1809) between Ranjit Singh and the English.
• Hastings (1813-1823): Pindaris were destroyed; Marathas were finally crushed; ryotwari system in Malabar, Canara, Coimbatore, Madurai and Dindugal; mahalwari system of revenue in Bombay, combined with ryotwari and mahalwari in the areas belonging to modern U.P., modified judicial system, abolished pre-censorship of press.
• Lord Amherst (1823-1828): The Fort of Bharatpur which had defied Lord Lake, was stormed.
• Lord William Bentinck (1828-35): By the Charter Act of 1833, he became the first Governor-General of India. Abolition of sati (1829), banning of female infanticide, suppression of thuggee, codification of laws by Macaulay; English accepted as the medium of instruction after the famous Macaulay’s recommendation. Though he followed the policy of non-interference, he, however, departed from this policy and annexed Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834), and central Cacher (1834); employed Indians to responsible posts.
• Charles Metcalfe (1835-36): Abolished all restrictions on the press.
• Lord Auckland (1836-1842): The first Afghan War (1839-42).
• Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844): End of the Ist Afghan war; Annexation of Sindh to the British empire.
• Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856): The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49), Punjab was annexed, the Second AngloBurmese War, Lower Burma (Pegu) was annexed (1852); followed the Doctrine of Lapse_states to be annexed were Satara (1848), Jaipur and Sambhalpur (1849), Balghat (1850), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854)
• Introduction of ‘Non-Regulation System’ for newly acquired territories. The first electric telegraphic line between Calcutta and Agra; Post Office Act (1854); introduction of postage stamp for the first time. The first railway-line between Bombay and Thane, made Shimla the summer capital. Famous “Wood’s despatch” about education (1854). Competitive examination for Indian Civil Services began. Annexation of Avadh and Berar refused to continue the pension to Nana Sahib.
• The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act (1856); removal of disabilities caused by the change of religion.
• Lord Canning (1856-58) War with the Pers-ians; the first universities in India at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. The revolt began on May 10, 1857.

INDIA  UNDER  THE  VICEROYS

• Lord Canning (1858-62): The first Viceroy of India; transfer of government from company to crown; introduction of portfolio system; establishment of High Courts in 1861, one in each Presidency; amalgamation of Company’s regiments and the Queen’s regiments; introduction of Income Tax; withdrawal of the Doctrine of Lapse; Penal-Code drafted by Macaulay become law (1858); Code of Criminal Procedure (1859).
• Lord Elgin (1862-63): Suppression of Wahabi movement; died at Dharmasala in 1863.
• Lord Lawrence (1864-69): War against Bhutan; famine in orissa (1866); A famine Commission was set up; followed a policy of rigid  non-interference in Afghanistan known as policy of ‘Masterly Inactivity’.

• Lord Mayo (1869-72): Duke of Edinburgh, then second son of Queen Victoria, visited India; steps for financial decentralisation; stabbed to death by a Pathan convict (1872).
• Lord Northbrook (1872-76): Deposition of the Gaekwad of Baroda, Malhar Rao; famine in Bihar: Prince of Wales visited India (1875).
• Lord Lytton (1876-80): The second Afghan War (1878-80); The Delhi Durbar (Jan 1, 1877) to decorate Queen Victoria with the title of the Empress of India (Kaiseer-i-Hind); terrible famine in Madras, Bombay; Famine Commission appointed; provincial government were given a share in the revenues instead of a fixed grant; Vernacular Press Act (1878) to impose restrictions on the vernacular newspapers; reduction in maximum age for civil services from 21 to 19; introduction of statutory civil service; he was known in the literary world as ‘Owen Meredith’.
• Lord Ripon (1880-84): The most popular Viceory; put an end to the Afghan war, repealed Vernacular Press Act (1882); continued the policy of financial devolution of Mayo; the first Factory Act (1881) for the welfare of child labourers; resolution on local self-government (1882); Education Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Wililiam Hunter (1882); rendition of Mysore (1881); llbert Bill authorising Indian Judges to hear cases against the Europeans, but due to opposition of the Europeans, it was not adopted; first regular census (1881); died in 1909.

• Lord Dufferin (1884-88): Third Burmese War and final annexation of Burma (1886); Gwalior restored to Scindia; protection of tenants against unjust eviction by the Bengal Tenancy Act (1885) and Act of 1887 for the Punjab tenants; formation of the Indian National Congress (1885).
• Lord Lansdowne (1888-94): Interference in Manipur and Kashmir, the Second Factory Act granting a weekly holiday, the Age of Consent Act raised the limit within which protection was given to young girls from ten to twelve years.
• Lord Elgin II (1894-99): Great famine and plague (1896).
• Lord Curzon (1899-1905): Appointment of Police Commission under Sir Andrew Frazer (1902); a University Commission in 1902 followed by Indian Universities Act in 1904; appointment of a Famine Commission; a commission for irrigation under Sir Colin Scot Moncrieff (1901); work on Jhelam canal completed; Imperial Agriculture Department set up; India was put on a gold standard; army was subjected to a severe test called “The Kitchener Test”; Calcutta Corporation Act (1899) reduced the strength of elected members; Ancient Monument Act passed (1904); division of a Bengal into two provinces of Eastern Bengal and Assam; Bengali intelligentsia vehemently opposed it; Swadeshi Movement; created a new N.W. Frontier Province .

• Lord Minto II (1905-1910): Deportation of Extremist leaders; rise of terrorism; with Lord Morley, the Secretary of state for India, Minto recommended some reforms known as Morley_Minto Reforms which resulted in Indian Council Act of 1909.
• Lord Hardinge (1910-1916): A coronation durbar at Delhi (1911) in honour of king George V; his Majesty announced the reversal of the partition of Bengal and transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911); capital shifted to Delhi (1912); The first World War broke out (1914); foundation of the Banaras Hindu University (M.M. Malviya, the founder Chancellor).
• Lord Chelmsford (1916-21): August Declaration of Montague, the Secretary of State for India (August 20, 1917); The Rowlatt Act (1919) as repressive measure; Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy (April 13, 1919); Montague-Chelmsford Reforms; Government of India Act (1919); Khilafat and Non-Co-operation Movement (1919-22).

• Lord Reading (1921-26): Visit of Prince of Wales boycotted (1921); announcement of mass Civil Disobedience Movement (1 Feb. 1922); Chauri Chaura occurrence killing 22 policemen (5 February 1922) and withdrawal of Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhiji; six years’ imprisonment to Gandhiji; the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party with C.R. Das, as President formed (December 1922) to function as a group within congress; Gandhiji released (5 February 1924).
• Lord Irwin (1926-31): The Simon Commission visited India; Second Civil Disobedience Movement (March 1930); the First Round Table Conference, 1930 (the Congress boycotted it); Gandhi-lrwin Pact (1931).
• Lord Wellingdon (1931-36): The Second Round Table Conference (Congress joined it) (1931); the Communal Award (1932); Poona Pact (1932); the Third Round Table Conference (1932); Earthquake in Bihar (1934); Government of India Act (1935).
• Lord Linlithgow (1936-43): Formation of new Government (1937); Second World War began (1939); Cripps Mission (1942); Quit India Movement (1942).
• Lord Wavell (1943-47): Simia Conference (1945); Cabinet Mission (1946): Interim Government of Jawahar Lal Nehru (1946).

• Lord Mountbatten (March 1947-June 1948): Indian Independence Act; Partition of India; Lord Mountbatten became the first Governor-General of Independent India and the last British Viceroy of India.