Governors-General of
India: Significant Events in their Rule
Governors-General
1. Warren Hastings 1773-1785.
(i) Regulating Act of 1773.
(ii) Act of 1781, under which the powers of jurisdiction
between the governor-general-in-council and the
Supreme Court at Calcutta, were clearly divided.
(iii) Pitt’s India Act of 1784.
(iv) The Rohilla War of 1774.
(v) The First Maratha War in 1775-82 and the Treaty of
Salbai in 1782.
(vi) Second Mysore War in 1780-84.
(vii) Strained relationships with Chait Singh, the Maharaja
of Benaras, which led to Hastings’ subsequent
impeachment in England.
(viii) Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784).
2. Lord Cornwallis 1786-1793
(i) Third Mysore War (1790-92) and Treaty of Seringa-
patam (1792).
(ii) Cornwallis Code (1793) incorporating several judicial
reforms, and separation of revenue administration and
civil jurisdiction.
(iii) Permanent Settlement of Bengal, 1793.
(iv) Europeanisation of administrative machinery and
introduction of civil services.
3. Sir John Shore 1793-1798
(i) Charter Act of 1793.
(ii) Battle of Kharda between the Nizam and the Marathas
(1795).
4. Lord Wellesley 1798-1805
(i) Introduction of the Subsidiary Alliance System (1798);
first alliance with Nizam of Hyderabad.
(ii) Fourth Mysore War (1799).
(iii) Second Maratha War (1803-05).
(iv) Took over the administration of Tanjore (1799),
Surat (1800) and Carnatic (1801).
(v) Treaty of Bassein (1802).
5. Sir George Barlow 1805-1807
Vellore Mutiny (1806).
6. Lord Minto I 1807-1813
Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809).
7. Lord Hastings 1813-1823
(i) Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) and the Treaty of Sagauli,
1816.
(ii) Third Maratha War (1817-19) and dissolution of
Maratha Confederacy; creation of Bombay Presidency
(1818).
(iii) Strife with Pindaris (1817-1818).
(iv) Treaty with Sindhia (1817).
(v) Establishment of Ryotwari System by Thomas Munro,
governor of Madras (1820).
8. Lord Amherst 1823-1828
(i) First Burmese War (1824-1826).
(ii) Capture of Bharatpur (1826).
9. Lord William Bentinck 1828-1835
(i) Abolition of sati and other cruel rites (1829).
(ii) Suppression of thugi (1830).
(iii) Charter Act of 1833.
(iv) Resolution of 1835, and educational reforms and
introduction of English as the official language.
(v) Annexation of Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834) and
Central Cachar (1834).
(vi) Treaty of ‘perpetual friendship’ with Ranjeet Singh.
(vii) Abolition of the provincial courts of appeal and
circuit set up by Cornwallis, appointment of
commissioners of revenue and circuit.
10. Lord Metcalfe 1835-1836
New press law removing restrictions on the press in
India.
11. Lord Auckland 1836-1842
(i) First Afghan War (1838-42).
(ii) Death of Ranjit Singh (1839).
12. Lord Ellenborough 1842-1844
(i) Annexation of Sindh (1843).
(ii) War with Gwalior (1843).
13. Lord Hardinge I 1844-1848
(i) First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) and the Treaty of
Lahore (1846).
(ii) Social reforms including abolition of female
infanticide and human sacrifice.
14. Lord Dalhousie 1848-1856
(i) Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) and annexation of
Punjab (1849).
(ii) Annexation of Lower Burma or Pegu (1852).
(iii) Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexation
of Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambhalpur (1849),
Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1854) and
Awadh (1856).
(iv) “Wood’s (Charles Wood, President of the Board of
Control) Educational Despatch” of 1854 and opening
of Anglo-vernacular schools and government colleges.
(v) Railway Minute of 1853; and laying down of first
railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853.
(vi) Telegraph (4000 miles of telegraph lines to connect
Calcutta with Bombay, Madras and Peshawar) and
postal (Post Office Act, 1854) reforms.
(vii) Ganges Canal declared open (1854); establishment of
separate public works department in every province.
(viii) Widow Remarriage Act (1856).
15. Lord Canning 1856-1857
(i) Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras
and Bombay in 1857.
(ii) Revolt of 1857.
