History · Modern history

Governors-General & Viceroys

Every Governor-General of Bengal and India, and every Viceroy, from 1773 to 1950, with the key event of each tenure.

Exam facts

• First Governor-General of BengalWarren Hastings (1773)
• First Governor-General of IndiaLord William Bentinck (1833)
• First ViceroyLord Canning (1858)
• Last ViceroyLord Mountbatten
• Only Indian Governor-GeneralC. Rajagopalachari
• Longest-serving ViceroyLord Linlithgow

Full list

1. 1
   Warren Hastings1773–1785First Governor-General of Bengal (Regulating Act, 1773); Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774); First Anglo-Maratha War
2. 2
   Lord Cornwallis1786–1793Permanent Settlement of Bengal (1793); Cornwallis Code; father of civil services in India
3. 3
   Sir John Shore1793–1798Policy of non-intervention
4. 4
   Lord Wellesley1798–1805Subsidiary Alliance; Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (Tipu Sultan killed, 1799)
5. 5
   Lord Minto I1807–1813Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809)
6. 6
   Lord Hastings1813–1823Third Anglo-Maratha War; end of the Peshwa
7. 7
   Lord Amherst1823–1828First Anglo-Burmese War
8. 8
   Lord William Bentinck1828–1835Abolished Sati (1829); English education (1835); first Governor-General of India under the Charter Act, 1833
9. 9
   Sir Charles Metcalfe1835–1836Freed the press; 'Liberator of the Indian Press'
10. 10
    Lord Auckland1836–1842First Anglo-Afghan War
11. 11
    Lord Ellenborough1842–1844Annexation of Sindh (1843)
12. 12
    Lord Hardinge I1844–1848First Anglo-Sikh War
13. 13
    Lord Dalhousie1848–1856Doctrine of Lapse; first railway (Bombay–Thane, 1853); telegraph; Wood's Despatch (1854); annexed Awadh (1856)
14. 14
    Lord Canning1856–1862Revolt of 1857; last Governor-General of the Company and first Viceroy (1858)
15. 15
    Lord Elgin I1862–1863Died in office
16. 16
    Sir John Lawrence1864–1869Policy of 'masterly inactivity' towards Afghanistan
17. 17
    Lord Mayo1869–1872First census (1872, not synchronous); assassinated in the Andamans
18. 18
    Lord Northbrook1872–1876
19. 19
    Lord Lytton1876–1880Delhi Durbar (1877); Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act (1878)
20. 20
    Lord Ripon1880–1884Father of local self-government (1882); repealed Vernacular Press Act; first regular census (1881); Ilbert Bill; Hunter Commission
21. 21
    Lord Dufferin1884–1888Indian National Congress founded (1885)
22. 22
    Lord Lansdowne1888–1894Durand Line (1893); Indian Councils Act (1892)
23. 23
    Lord Elgin II1894–1899
24. 24
    Lord Curzon1899–1905Partition of Bengal (1905); Indian Universities Act (1904); Archaeological Survey revived
25. 25
    Lord Minto II1905–1910Morley–Minto Reforms (1909): separate electorates for Muslims; Muslim League founded (1906)
26. 26
    Lord Hardinge II1910–1916Partition of Bengal annulled and capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi (1911)
27. 27
    Lord Chelmsford1916–1921Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms (1919); Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919)
28. 28
    Lord Reading1921–1926Chauri Chaura (1922); Non-Cooperation Movement withdrawn
29. 29
    Lord Irwin1926–1931Simon Commission (1927–28); Dandi March (1930); Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931)
30. 30
    Lord Willingdon1931–1936Second and Third Round Table Conferences; Communal Award and Poona Pact (1932); Government of India Act, 1935
31. 31
    Lord Linlithgow1936–1943Longest-serving Viceroy; August Offer (1940); Cripps Mission and Quit India (1942)
32. 32
    Lord Wavell1943–1947Shimla Conference (1945); Cabinet Mission (1946)
33. 33
    Lord Mountbatten1947–1948Last Viceroy; first Governor-General of independent India; Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947)
34. 34
    C. Rajagopalachari1948–1950First and last Indian Governor-General