Governors, Governor-generals And Viceroys Flashcards
Introduction
The EIC was run by the Governor of Bengal till 1772
Madras and Bombay presidencies also had separate governors
After 1772, through the Regulating act of 1773, the governor of Bengal was made governor general
This setup continued until 1833. Warren Hastings was the first governor general
Lord William bentick was the first governor general of India (1833-57). The governor general of Bengal was called the governor general of India
In the GOI Act of 1857, the name of the governor general was changed to Viceroy. Lord canning being the 1st Viceroy in India
The GOI act of 1935 changed the post of Viceroy to governor general of India again, this system continued till 1950
Governors of Bengal (1757-74)
Robert Clive (1757-60 and 1765-67)
The victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 led Robert Clive to become the governor of Bengal
After the Battle of Buxar, Clive was made the governor general again in 1765
In this period, he brought the policy of dual government in Bengal which continued till 1772
Clive and Warren Hastings were instrumental in laying the foundation of British power in India
Clive was also criticised for his policies which led to famine in Bengal. In 1770, Clive established the society for trade, which meant as a monopoly but not allowed by the EIC.
Governors after Clive:
John Zephaniah Holwell – temporary governor of Bengal in 1760. Survived the black hole incidence in Calcutta, June, 1757
Henry vanisttart – governor of Bengal from 1760-65. In his governorship, battle of Buxar was fought
Harry verelst, governor of Bengal from 1761-69. At his time, Bengal was under dual government rule
John Cartier, governor of Bengal from 1769-72. During this time, the 1st famine of modern India occured in 1770
Warren Hastings – governor of Bengal in 1772 and continued till 1773. Abolished the dual government system.
Governor Generals of Bengal (1773-1833)
Warren Hastings (1773-84)
Lord cornwallis (1786-93)
Sir John Shore (1793-98)
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
Sir George Barlow (1805-07)
Lord Minto 1 (1807-13)
Lord Hastings (1813-23)
Lord Amherst (1823-28)
Warren Hastings (1773-84)
He was the first governor general of India
He was impeached in 1784 for corruption and was acted in 1795 and made a privy councillor
He joined the British East India company in 1750 as a clerk
In 1757 he was made the British resident of Murshidabad
He was appointed to the Calcutta council in 1761 but went back to England in 1764
He return to India in 1769 as a member of the Madras Council
Hastings took measures to contain the rohillas tho they could not be prevented from capturing Agra
Hastings concluded Treaties with various rulers and sought Alliances against the powerful forces of Haidar Ali of Carnatic
However in order to wage these wars, he borrowed heavily from the begum of Awadh and Raja Chait Singh of Banaras
Administrative reforms:
Warren hastings put an end to the dual system of government in Bengal, established by Robert Clive in 1768. Due to which the company took responsibility for revenue collection.
He also stopped the payment of 26 lakh given to the Mughal emperor
Revenue reforms:
A Board of revenue was established in Calcutta to supervise collection of revenue
In 1772, Calcutta was made capital and the treasury was shifted from Murshidabad to Calcutta
English collectors were appointed in each district, who were helped by native officials
Warren Hastings made the account of revenue simple, intelligent and made many provisions for the protection of ryots
Judicial reforms:
Warren Hastings carried reforms in the judicial system
A civil Court and faujdari Adalat (criminal Court) in each district was to be established
A Supreme Court was also established in 1774 under the regulating act of 1773 during the tenure of Warren Hastings
Social reforms:
The Asiatic society of Bengal was established in 1784 by Hastings
He established a madrasa in Calcutta for the development of Muslim education
In 1791 a Sanskrit school was established in Banaras by Jonathan Duncon
Hastings strengthened the British power India by signing the Treaty of Banaras in 1773 and the Treaty of Faizabad in 1775
This increased the influence of the English in the state of Awadh and made the nawab dependent on the company
Lord cornwallis (1786-93)
After Hastings, Sir John Jefferson was made the acting governor general for 1 year from 1785 to 86, then Lord Cornwallis came to India as the next governor general of India.
Cornwallis was again made the governor of India in 1805. In the mean time, he died in Ghazipur in 1805. His tomb is situated in Jaipur.
Cornwallis is called the father of civil service in India. He started the civil services for administration in British India
He was the first person to codify laws in 1793. The code separated the revenue administration from the administration of justice. This is known as the Cornwallis code.
He also created the post of district judg
The zamindari system was also introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793 by permanent settlement. It fixed the land rights of the zamindars in perpetuity without any provision for fixed rent or occupancy rights for actual cultivators
The share of government in the total land revenue collected by the zamindars was at 10/11th and the rest went to zamindars
According to the permanent land revenue settlement, the zamindars were recognised as the permanent owners of the land
In his period, the third Anglo Mysore war took place, in which defeat of Tipu Sultan led to the treaty of seringa in 1792
In his period the europeanisation of administrative machinery was done.
Sir John Shore (1793-98)
The British Parliament pass the charter act of 1793 in the time of sir John shore
The period of shore’s rule as governor general was comparatively uneventful
His policy was attacked as balancing and timid
His rule saw the battle of kharda between Nizam and marathas in 1795
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
Lord Wellesley vigorously applied the policy of subsidiary Alliance to achieve British paramountcy in India
The first subsidiary Alliance was made with the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798
Through the subsidiary Alliance princely rulers were stopped from making any negotiations and treaty with any other Indian ruler without informing the company officials
They were also not supposed to maintain any standing armies
They were instead to be protected by the troops of European companies and princely rulers had to pay for up keep of the British army station at them. A British resident was also kept at the court of the native ruler
He also founded the Board of Trade
He sent a British envoy mehdi Ali Khan to the court of Shah of Persia. Later he sent John Marshall
Wellesley passed a regulation for controlling the press. No newspaper was to be published at all until the manuscript of the whole paper was submitted to and approved by the government
Christian missionaries established a printing press at serampore
Wellesley founded Fort Williams College. Sir John Gilchrist was appointed as head of Hindustani language department
The fourth Anglo Mysore war was fought in his rule in 1799, resulting in the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan and the annexation of many parts of Mysore
Wellesley took the administration of Tanjore on 25th October 1977, of Surat in March 1800 and Carnatic on 1st July 1801
In his rule, the treaty of bassein was signed in 1802 and the second Anglo Maratha war was fought in between 1803 to 1805, resulting in the defeat of the Scindia, bhonsle and holkars
The Madras presidency was formed under his governorship
Sir George Barlow (1805-07)
In his governorship, the Vellore mutiny of sepoys to place in 1806
Main grievances of the sepoys were related to uniform, haircuts, etc.
It was surprised by the governor of Madras, who at the time was William bentick.
Lord Minto 1 (1807-13)
The main event in his governorship was the treaty of Amritsar in 1809 with Ranjit Singh
On this treaty Charles Metcalfe signed on behalf of the British administration
The charter act of 1813 was also passed during his tenure
Lord Hastings (1813-23)
The Nepalese war of 1814-16 occurred during his governorship. The gorkha’s accepted the treaty of sagauli in March 1816
He participated in the pindari war of 1817-18, which resulted in the separation of the pindaris
He fought the third Maratha War from 1817 to 1818, where in the Maratha power was finally crushed. Peshwaship was abolished and all his territories were annexed
Bombay presidency was created out of the Maratha regions in 1818
The ryotwari settlement was introduced into the Madras presidency by governor Thomas Monroe in 1820
This was the primary land revenue system in South India. Major areas of introduction were, Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces of British India
In the ryotwari system, the ownership rights were handed over to the peasants. The British government collected taxes directly from them
The revenue rates of the ryotwari system where 50% where the lands were dry and 60% on irrigated land.
Though ownership of land was vested with the farmers, excessive tax impoverished them. Further more, the tax rates were frequently increased
The Bengal tenancy Act was passed in 1822. Coffee plantation was started in Bengal & Assam region during his tenure
Lord Amherst (1823-28)
Forth in the first Burmese war (1824-26)
During his tenure, Barrackpore mutiny to place in 1824
The Malay Peninsula was also added to the British territories in his reign
Capture of territories of Bharatpur was done in 1826 by him
Governor generals and viceroys of India (1828-1950)
The charter act of 1833 provided the role of governor general of India and placed the territories of Bengal, Madras and Bombay and others under his control.
Lord William bentick (1828-35)
Sir Charles metcalfe (1834-36)
Lord Auckland (1836-42)
Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)
Lord hardinge I (1844-48)
Lord Dalhousie (1848-56)
Lord canning (1856-62)
Lord Elgin I (1862-63)
Sir John Lawrence (1864-69)
Lord mayo (1869-72)
Lord northbrook (1872-76)
Lord lytton (1876-80)
Lord Ripon (1880-84)
Lord dufferin (1884-88)
Lord Lansdowne (1888-94)
Lord Elgin II (1894-99)
Lord Curzon (1889-1905)
Lord Minto II (1905-10)
Lord hardinge II (1910-16)
Lord Chelmsford (1916-21)
Lord reading (1921-26)
Lord Irwin (1926-31)
Lord willingdon (1931-36)
Lord linlithgow (1936-44)
Lord wavell (1944-47)
Lord Mountbatten (1947-48)
C. Raja gopalachari (June 1948-January 1950)
Lord William bentinck (1828-35)
Last governor general of Bengal from 1828 to 1833, and first governor general of India from 1833 to 1835
He is regarded as one of the liberal and enlightened governor generals of India.
He is said to be the father of modern Western education in India
In his tenure, the annexation of Mysore in 1831 took place
He concluded a treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit Singh in 1831
The charter act of 1833 was passed during his reign. It provided that no Indian subject of company was to be debarred from holding in office on account of his religion, birth, descent and colour. So the removal of distinction in recruitment to public services was removed.
He abolished sati in 1829 forst to Bengal and then to Madras and Bombay in 1830
Suppression of thugi was another refund taken by him in 1830
In education, he brought the Macaulay minute and English was made the official language of the British Indian administration, which helped the growth of higher education in India
In judicial reforms, the provincial courts of appeal and circuit courts were abolished. Their duties were transferred to magistrates and collectors under the supervision of the commissioner of revenue and circuit
For the convenience of the public of upper province and Delhi, a separate Sadr nizamat Adalat and a Sadr diwani Adalat where set up at Allahabad
The residence of these areas when no longer under the necessity of travelling long distances to file their appeals at Calcutta
Persian was so far the court language. Bentinck gave the suitors the option to use vernaculars in filing their suits. In higher courts, Persian was replaced by the English language
Qualified Indians were appointed in junior judicial capacities of munsiffs and could rise to the position of sadr amins.
William bentinck followed the policy of non interference into the affairs of Indian states as far as possible.
At the request of the new Nizam, nazeer-ul-daula, who succeeded his father to Gaddi in 1829, the British officers were removed from Hyderabad
Similar policy of non intervention was followed towards the states of Jodhpur, Bundi, Kota and Bhopal
However Bentinck departed from the policy of non intervention and annexed Mysore in 1831, Coorg in 1834 and Central Cachar in November 1834 on the plea of misgovernance.
Sir Charles metcalfe (1834-36)
He is known for freeing the press in India
Passed the famous Press Law, removing the restrictions placed on press
Lord Auckland (1836-42)
The first Afghan war (1838-42) happened during his reign, in which the British suffered heavy losses
That defeat was a blow to the prestige of British power in India
Due to this, Tripathi treaty was made in 1858 between shah sh, Ranjit Singh and the British for Afghanistan
Shah Shuja worst be seated on the Afghan seat, later Ranjit Singh withdrew from this treaty
In his tenure, the construction of a road from Delhi to Kolkata was started in 1839 and during this time, the Sher Shah Suri Marg was renamed the grand trunk road.
