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Viceroys and Governeor Generals

Indian Freedom Struggle (Easy) Viceroys and Governor Generals

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Governors of Calcutta or Fort William (1756-72)

Drake (1756-58): Capture of Calcutta by Siraj and Black Hole Episode; recapture of Calcutta by Clive; Battle of Plassey.
Clive (1756-60): Election of Clive as governor by the Council of Calcutta (June 1758) and legalization of this election by the home authorities of the Company (December 1756); departure of Clive to England (February 1760).
Vansittart (1760-65): Replacement of Mir Jafar by Mir Qasim as the Nawab (1760) and reinstatement of Mir Jafar (1763); Battle of Buxar (1764); death of Mir Jafar and succession of Najm-ud-daula; conclusion of a treaty (February 20, 1765) with the new Nawab.
Clive (1756-67): Return to Clive to India (May 1765) to serve his second term as governor. A tripartite treaty was concluded at Allahabad on August 16, 1765 by Robert Clive on behalf of the Company, Najm-ud-daula (Mir Jafar’s son and successor and the then titular ruler of Bengal) and Shuja-ud-daula and consequent acquisition of diwani rights of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
Verelst (1767-69)
Cartier (1769-72)
Warren Hastings (1772-73): He abolished the Dual Government, pensioned off the nawab, took over the direct charge of administering Bengal, concluded the Treaty of Benaras (1773) with the Nawab of Awadh.

GOVERNORS-GENERAL AND VICEROYS

British India saw thirteen governors-general from 1773 to 1857. The main events and developments of their respective tenures are listed.

WARREN HASTINGS (1773-85)

Regulating Act of 1773.
The Act of 1781 (it made a clear demarcation between the jurisdiction of the Governor General-in-Council and that of the Supreme Court at Calcutta).
Pitt’s India Act of 1784.
The Rohilla war (1774) and annexation of Rohilkhand by the Nawab of Oudh with help of the British.
First Maratha war (1775-82) and the Treaty of Salbai.
Second Mysore war (1780-84) (First one was fought in 1766-69).
Chait Singh affair (1778) (Chait Singh was the Raja of Benaras). Subsequent impeachment of Hastings.
The Begams of Oudh affair (1782).
Nand Kumar episode (1775).
Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Hastings and Sir William Jones (1784).
After his return to England (1785), impeachment proceedings were started against him in the House of Lords by Edmund Burke, Charles James Fox, Sheridan and Gilbert Elliot. He was defended by Edward Lay, Plumer and Dallas. After a prolonged trial (seven years), he was finally acquitted.

LORD CORNWALLIS (1786-93)

Third Mysore War (1790-92) and the Treaty of Seringapatam (1792).
Introduction of the permanent revenue settlement or the zamindari system in Bengal and Bihar (1793).
Reform of the judiciary (1793): setting up courts at different levels and separation of revenue administration from judicial administration; introduction of civil service and reforms to purify and improve administration.

SIR JOHN SHORE (1793-98)

In the introduction of the permanent settlement (1793) he played an important role as the President of the Board of Revenue, but his Governor-Generalship was not very eventful.

LORD WELLESLEY (1798-1805)

Introduction of the system of Subsidiary Alliance (1798), and the first Subsidiary Treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad (1798).
Fourth Mysore War (1799) and the annexation of many parts of Mysore.
Subsidiary Treaty of Bassein (1802) and Second Maratha War (1803-05).
Formation of the Madras Presidency after the annexation of the kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic.

SIR GEORGE BARLOW (1805-07)

Vellore Mutiny (1806).

LORD MINTO I (1807-13)

Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809).
Charter Act of 1813.

LORD HASTINGS (1813-23)

War with Nepal or the Gorkha War (1814-16); due to his success in this war, he was made Marquess of Hastings (1816).
Third Maratha War (1817-1818): abolition of Peshwaship and annexation of all his territories, and creation of the Bombay Presidency (1818).
Pindary War (1817-1818).
Introduction of the ryotwari settlement in Madras Presidency by governor, Thomas Munro (1820).

LORD AMHERST (1823-28)

First Burmese War (1824-26).
Capture of Bharatpur (1826).

LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK (1828-35)

Prohibition of sati (1829).
Suppression of thuggee (1829-35).
Charter Act of 1833.
Macaulay’s Minutes and introduction of English as the medium of instruction (1835).
Visit of Rammohan Roy to England (1830) and his death there (1833).
Deposition of the Raja of Mysore and annexation of his territories (1831).
Annexation of Cachar and Jaintia (1832).
Annexation of Coorg (1834).
Formation of the Agra Province (1834).
Abolition of the Provincial Courts of Appeal and Circuit, and appointment of Commissioners instead.

SIR CHARLES METCALFE (1835)

Freed the Indian press of restrictions

LORD AUCKLAND (1835-42)

First Afghan War (1836-42) – disaster of the British in the war and recall of Auckland.
Death of Ranjit Singh (1839).

LORD ELLENBOROUGH (1842-44)

Termination of the first Afghan war (1842).
Conquest and annexation of Sind (1843).
War with Gwalior (1843).

LORD HARDINGE I (1844-48)

First Sikh war (1845-46) and treaty of Lahore (1846).
Prohibition of female infanticide and suppression of the practice of human sacrifice among the Gonds of Central India.

LORD DALHOUSIE (1848-56)

Second Sikh war (1848-49) and annexation of the Punjab.
Second Burmese war (1852) and annexation of Lower Burma.
Charter Act of 1853.
Application of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation of Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854), etc.
Annexation of Oudh (1856).
Wood’s (President of the Board of Control) Education Despatch of 1854 and British assumption of the responsibility of educating the masses.
Introduction of the Railways (First train-Bombay to Thana), Telegraph (First line-Calcutta to Agra) and the Postal System in 1853.
Widow Remarriage Act (1856).
Establishment of a separate Public Works Department in every province.
Santhal uprising (1855-56).

LORD CANNING (1856-57)

Establishment of three universities (at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay) in 1857.
Revolt of 1857.

VICEROYS (1858-62)

LORD CANNING (1858-62)

Queen Victoria’s Proclamation and the India Act of 1858.
`White Mutiny’ by the European troops of the EICO in 1859.
India Councils Act of 1861.

LORD ELGIN I (1862)

His sudden death in 1862; administration carried on by Sir Napier and Sir Denison from 1862 to 1864.

LORD JOHN LAWRENCE (1864-69)

War with Bhutan in 1865.
Establishment of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1865.

LORD MAYO (1869-72)

Establishment of two colleges for the education and political training of the Indian Princes–the Rajkot college in Kathiawar and the Mayo College at Ajmer in Rajasthan.
First step in the direction of separation of central and provincial finances in 1870.
Organization of Statistical Survey of India.
Establishment of a Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
Beginning of the system of State Railways.
His assassination by a convict in the Andamans in 1872.

LORD NORTHBROOK (1872-76)

Visit of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) to India in 1875.
His resignation over the Afghan question.

LORD LYTTON (1876-80)

Royal Titles Act of 1876 and the assumption as the title of `Empress of India’ by Queen Victoria; the Delhi-Durbar in January 1877.
Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act of 1878.
Second Afghan War of (1878-80).
Appointment of the first Famine Commission under Sir Richard Strachey in 1878.

LORD RIPON (1880-84)

First Factory Act of 1881.
Introduction of Local Self-Government in 1882.
Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act in 1882.
Division of the finances of the centre in 1882.
Appointment of an Educational Commission under Sir William Hunter in 1882.
The IIbert Bill Controversy (1883).
Coming into existence of the Famine Code in 183.

LORD DUFFERIN (1884-88)

Third Burmese war (1885-86).
Foundation of the Indian National Congress (Lord Cross was the Secretary of State at that time.

LORD LANSDOWNE (1888-94)

Factory Act of 1891.
Division of the Civil Services into Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
Indian Council Act of 1892.
Appointment of the Durand Commission and its definition of the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan (now between Pakistan and Afghanistan) in 1893.

LORD ELGIN II (1894-99)

Assassination of two British officials by the Chapekar brothers of Poona in 1897.

LORD CURZON (1899-1905)

Appointment of a commission under Sir Thomas Raleigh in 1902 to suggest reforms regarding universities, and the passing of the Indian Universities Act of 1904 on the basis of its recommendations.
Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904.
Establishment of an Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa in Delhi.
Partition of Bengal in 1905.
Col. Younghusband’s Expedition to Tibet in 1904.

LORD MINTO II (1905-10)

Anti-Partition and Swadeshi Movements.
Surat Session and split in the Congress (1907).
Minto-Morley Reforms or the Indian Councils Act of 1909.
Foundation of the Muslim League by the Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca, etc, in 1906.

LORD HARDINGE II (1910-16)

Annulment of the partition of Bengal and creation of a Governorship for Bengal like Bombay and Madras in 1911. (Lieutenant Governorship for Bihar and Orissa, and Chief Commissionership for Assam).
Transfer of the Imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911).
Coronation Durbar of King George V and Queen Mary at Delhi (December, 9111).
Death of G.K. Gokhale in 1915.
Foundation of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malaviya and some Punjabi leaders.

LORD CHELMSFORD (1916-21)

Foundation of two Home Rule Leagues – one by Tilak in April, 1916 and another by Mrs Annie Besant in September, 1916.
Lucknow session and the reunion of the Congress (1916) (Mrs Besant played an important role in the reunion).
Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League in 1916. (Tilak played an important role in this).
Return of Gandhi to India (1915); foundation of the Sabarmati ashram (1916); Champaran Satyagraha (the first time Gandhi experimented his new technique in India-1917); satyagraha at Ahmedabad (1918); Khaira satyagraha (1918).
August Declaration (1917) by Montague, the then Secretary of State, and Montford reforms or the Government of India Act of 1919.
Resignation of some veteran leaders led by S.N. Banerji from the Congress, and their foundation of the Indian Liberal Federation (1918).
Rowlatt Act (March, 1919) and the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (13th April, 1919).
Death of Tilak on 1 August, 1920.
Formation of the Khilafat Committee and the launching of the Khilafat Movement (1919-20).
Launching of the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22).
Nagpur session of the Congress (Dec.1920) – changes in the constitution of the Congress.
Foundation of the Women’s University at Poona (1916).
Appointment of Sir S.P. Sinha at Lieutenant Governor of Bihar (Sir Sinha was the first Indian to become a Governor and the second Indian to become a member of the British Parliament, the first being Dadabhai Naoroji).

LORD READING (1921-26)

Chauri Chaura incident (Feburary 5, 1922) and the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation Movement by Gandhi.
Formation of the Swaraj Party by C.R. Das (Deshbandhu) and Motilal Nehru in December 1922.
Foundation of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangha (RSS) by K.B. Hedgewar at Nagpur in 1925.
Repeal of the Rowlatt Act.
Holdings of simultaneous examinations for the ICS in England and India with effect from 1923.
Beginning of Indianisation of the officer’s cadre of the Indian army.
Foundation of the Communist Party of the India in 1925.

LORD IRWIN (1926-31)

Popularly knows as the `Christian Viceroy’.
Appointment of the Simon Commission (November 1927) and the boycott of the Commission by the Congress.
Appointment of the Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission in November 1927 (to recommend measures for the establishment of better relations between the Indian states and the Central Govt.); and the convening of the All India States People’s Conference in December 1927 by the states’ people in response.
Meeting of the First All India Youth Congress in December 1928.
Convening of an All Parties Conference and its appointment of a committee under Motilal Nehru Committee’s submission of a report known as the `Nehru Report’ in August 1928; rejection of the report by the Muslim League. Hindu Mahasabha, etc.
`Deepavali Declaration’ by Lord Irwin (on 31st, 1929) that India would be granted dominion status in due course.
Lahore session of the Congress (December 1929) and the Poorna Swaraj resolution; Fixing 26th January 1930 as the first Independence Day.
Launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhi with his Dandi March (12th March, 1930); boycott of the first session of the Round Table Conference by the Congress (1930); Gandhi-Irwin Pact and the suspension of the movement (March 1931).

LORD WILLINGDON (1931-36)

Participation of Gandhi in the second session of the Round Table conference (Sep. 1931) and the failure of the conference; return of Gandhi to India (December 1931) and resumption of the movements Gandhi’s imprisonment; final suspension of the movement in May, 1934.
Third session of the Round Table Conference in London (1932) without the representation of the Congress.
Announcement of the `Communal Award’ by Ramsay Macdonald, British P.M. (1932); Gandhi’s fast unto death in the Yeravada prison and the Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar (September 1932).
Government of India Act of 1935.
Separation of Burma from India (1935).
Foundation of the Congress Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai Prakash Narayan (1934).
Formation of the All-India Kisan Sabha in 1936.

LORD LINLITHGOW (1936-43)

Formation of Congress Ministries in majority of the provinces (1937).
Resignation of Subhash Chandra Bose from the Presidentship of the Congress as well as from its membership in 1939; formation of the Forward Bloc by Bose and his followers (1939).
Resignation of the Congress Ministries after the outbreak of the World War II (1939).
Celebration of the Congress Ministries’ resignation as `Deliverance Day’ by the Muslim League (1939), and its Lahore Resolution (23rd March, 1940) demanding separate state for the Muslims, (It was at this session that Jinnah propounded his Two-Nation Theory.)
`August Offer’ by Linlithgow (1940); its rejection by the Congress and the starting of individual Satyagraha by Gandhi.
Escape of S.C. Bose from India in 1941.
Cripps Mission (March, 1942) offering Dominion Status to India, and its rejection by the Congress.
Passing of the `Quit India’ Resolution by the Congress at Bombay (8th August, 1942), arrest of all the Congress leaders and the outbreak of the `August Revolution’ or Revolt of 1942.

LORD WAVELL (1943-47)

C.R. Formula evolved by C. Rajagopalachari in 1944 and the Gandhi-Jinnah Talks (1945) based on it; failure of the talks.
Wavell Plan and the Simla Conference (1945) to discuss it; its failure.
INA Trials and the Naval Mutiny (1946).
Cabinet Mission (Three members – Lawrence, Cripps and Alexander) and acceptance of its plan by both the Congress and the League (1946).
Elections to the Constituent Assembly.
Formation of Interim Government by the Congress (September 1946).
Launching of `Direct Action Day’ by the League (17th August 1946), but it also joined the Interim Govt. in October 1946, though it abstained from the Constituent Assembly.
Announcement of end of British rule in India by Clement Atlee (British P.M.) on 20^th February, 1947.

LORD MOUNTBATTEN (MARCH, 1947-AUGUST, 1947)

3^rd June (Mountbatten) plan; partition of India and achievement of freedom.
Appointment of two boundary commissions under Sir Cyril Radcliff for the partition of Bengal and Punjab.

GOVERNOR GENERALS (1947-1950)

LORD MOUNTBATTEN (AUGUST, 1947-JUNE, 1948)

Continued as Governor General of free India

C. RAJGOPALACHARI (JUNE 1948 – JANUARY 1950)

First Indian Viceroy and the last Viceroy.

[1] Dhondu Pant, better known as Nana Saheb

[2] caused disaffection among the sepoys and led to disobeyal of orders by the sepoys of the 19^th Native Infantry stationed at Berhampur on February 26, 1857, and its disbandment by the British Government (Colonel Mitchell – its commanding officer)

[3] The annexation of Baghat and Udaipur were, however, cancelled and they were restored to their ruling houses. When Dalhousie wanted to apply the Doctrine of Lapse to Karauli (Rajputana), he was overruled by the Court of Directors.

[4] popularly known so after Sir Ilbert, then Law member in the Governor-General’s Executive Council, was introduced in February 1883

[5] represented by Rajnarain Bose and Ashwini Kumar Dutt in Bengal and Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar in Maharashtra

[6] Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Maharashtra, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh in Bengal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh (uncle of Bhagat Singh) in Punjab, T. Prakasham and M. Krishna Rao, in Andhra, V.O. Chidamabaram Pillai in south Tamil Nadu, etc.

[7] Refer to a Separate sheet on No Cooperation Movement

[8] Refer to a Separate sheet on Khilafat Movement

[9] Members of the Commission: Sir John Simon (Chairman), Clement Attlee, Harry Levy-Lawson, Edward Cadogan, Vernon Hartshorn, George Lane-Fox, Donald Howard

[10] Refer to a column on Round Table Conference on next page.

[11] Dr. Ambedkar was the only Indian leader who attended all the three sessions of the Round Table Conference in London.

[12] Refer to GoI Act, 1935 in the sheet on Constitutional Development in India under the British.

[13] Mashriqi began his struggle early on and, in 1939, a defining moment took place which demonstrated his true power.

In 1939, Mashriqi came out victor during Khaksar Tehrik-Govt of United Provinces (U.P.) conflict, and ultimately, Sir Harry Graham Haig (Governor) signed truce on Mashriqi’s terms.
Right after this unprecedented triumph, Mashriqi established a parallel Government in British India. According to details published in Al-Islah (November 17, 1939), the country was divided into 14 provinces (with a center at Lahore) and names of provincial commanders were announced.

[14] The Unionist party was formed as a political party representing interests of Punjab's large feudal classes and gentry. Although a majority of Unionists were Muslims, a large number of Hindus and Sikhs also supported and participated in it. Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, Sir Fazli Husain and Sir Chhotu Ram were the founders of this party. After Sir Sikander's death in 1942, Sir Chhoturam was invited to be the premiere but he declined in favour of young Nawab Sir Malik Khizar Hyat Tiwana. Although Sir Khizr supported the demand for Pakistan, the Unionists formed an alliance with the Congress and the Akali Dal to rule Punjab in 1946.

[15] Praja Party made its debut in the beginning of July I929 as a loose parliamentary group and was renamed the Krishak Praja Party (Peasant Tenant Party) in April 1936 mainly for the purpose of fighting the first provincial elections under the Government of India Act, 1935. It went into oblivion almost immediately after the I937 elections, notwithstanding its electoral success.

The Bengal Praja Party was formed by a coterie of eighteen) Muslim members of the Bengal Legislative Council following a snap election held in June I929 with AK Fazlul Huq as its leader.

[16] The Pirpur Committee had been appointed by the All-India Muslim League Council in March 1938, with Raja Sayed Muhammad Mehdi of Pirpur as its chairman, to prepare a detailed report regarding the high-handedness of the Congress Ministries (1937-1939) formed after the elections under the 1935 Government of India Act in different provinces.

[17] Refer to a separate sheet on Wardha Scheme of Basic Education.

[18] The Cripps Mission came to India in 1942 headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a socialist member of the war cabinet, to negotiate with Indian leaders on behalf of the British government. The Cripps Mission included that the British promised the earliest possible realization of self-government in India. A `new Indian union` would be created which would be a `dominion, associated with the united kingdom and the other dominions by a common allegiance to the crown, but equal to them in every respect, in no way subordinate` to them. India would be able to frame its own Constitution after the war. A new central executive council would operate till then. The net result of this was that `in place of the majority of British members in the existing executive council, there would be an executive council composed of Indians alone.` This would mean that India would enjoy a significant measure of self-government even before the conclusion of the war.

In exchange for these concessions, the British asked for India`s support in its war effort.

Gandhi termed Cripps Proposals as “a post dated cheque on a crashing bank”.

[19] Founded by Satish Chandra Samanta, on 17 December 1942. Samanta, looked after its functioning until his arrest in June, 1943. It lasted till September, 1944.

[20] A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.

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