Governor-General of Bengal (1773–1833)
Governor-General of India (1833–1858)
Viceroy of India (1858–1947)
Free India (1947–1950)
Governor of Bengal
pre-1773 · Clive etc.
pre-1773 · Clive etc.
→
GG of Bengal
Regulating Act 1773
Regulating Act 1773
→
GG of India
Charter Act 1833
Charter Act 1833
→
Viceroy + GG
GoI Act 1858
GoI Act 1858
→
Dominion GG → President
IIA 1947 / 26 Jan 1950
IIA 1947 / 26 Jan 1950
Each rename tracks a real shift of power: Company presidencies → one Bengal boss → one India legislature → Crown’s royal agent → ceremonial Dominion head, then Republic.
1. Warren Hastings
1773 – 1785
- First Governor-General of Bengal (post created by Regulating Act, 1773); council of 4 — often outvoted (Francis, Clavering, Monson vs Barwell)
- Ended Dual Government in Bengal (1772, as Governor before the new title) — Company took diwani + nizamat
- Rohilla War (1774); First Anglo-Maratha War & Treaty of Salbai (1782); Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–84)
- Calcutta Madrasa (1781); Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784, with William Jones)
- Conflict with Supreme Court (1774) — Raja Nand Kumar hanged for forgery, 1775 (exam favourite)
+ more facts
- Policy of Ring Fence: buffer allies to shield Company territory
- First translation push: Bhagavad Gita into English (Charles Wilkins, 1785)
- Impeached in Britain by Burke/Sheridan; acquitted after ~7 years
- Pitt’s India Act, 1784 passed during his term — Board of Control over politics
🧠 Hindi Trick: "हेस्टिंग्स ने हैसियत बनाई" — पहला GG of Bengal; रेगुलेटिंग 1773 से पद, पिट्स 1784 से लंदन का शिकंजा।
2. Sir John Macpherson
1785 – 1786
Acting/caretaker after Hastings; ~20 months. Avoided wars to patch Company finances. Nicknamed among the most jobbery-prone GGs — no landmark Act or war. Stop-gap before Cornwallis arrived with a reform mandate.
3. Lord Cornwallis
1786 – 1793 · again 1805
- Permanent Settlement of Bengal, 1793 — zamindars as owners, revenue frozen forever
- Cornwallis Code, 1793 — separated revenue collection from judicial power of collectors
- “Father of Civil Service”: European-only covenanted service, merit/seniority, ban on private trade
- Third Anglo-Mysore War & Treaty of Seringapatam (1792) — Tipu lost ~half his territory
- District police / daroga system; Europeanisation of higher posts (Indians shut out)
+ more facts
- Sanskrit College, Benares (1791) under Jonathan Duncan in his time
- Charter Act 1793: Company monopoly rolled 20 years; GG can override council
- Came back briefly in 1805 after Wellesley; died at Ghazipur the same year
🧠 Hindi Trick: "कॉर्नवालिस ने ज़मीन पक्की की" — Permanent Settlement + ICS की नींव।
4. Sir John Shore
1793 – 1798
- Strict non-intervention in Indian states — a Cornwallis man on revenue, not on war
- Wanted surveys of ryot capacity before spreading Permanent Settlement
- Stood by as Marathas smashed the Nizam at Kharda (1795) — slammed in London for inaction
- Charter 1793 already in force; no new big statute
🧠 Hindi Trick: "जॉन शोर को शोर पसंद नहीं" — Non-Intervention.
5. Lord Wellesley
1798 – 1805
- Subsidiary Alliance, 1798 — first signed by Nizam of Hyderabad; then Mysore, Tanjore, Awadh, Peshwa, Bhonsle, Scindia
- Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, 1799 — Tipu killed at Seringapatam
- Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05) — Assaye (Wellington); Delhi taken, Mughal emperor a pensioner
- Fort William College, 1800; Censorship of the Press Act, 1799
- Recalled: wars too expensive for the Court of Directors
+ more facts
- Called himself a “Bengal statesman building an Indian empire”
- Treaty of Bassein (1802) with Baji Rao II pulled the Peshwa into alliance — spark for Maratha war
- Carnatic and Tanjore brought under Company administration
🧠 Hindi Trick: "वेलेज़ली का वेल दोस्त बनो" — Subsidiary Alliance = दोस्ती के नाम पर कठपुतली।
6. Sir George Barlow
1805 – 1807
- Acting GG; reversed Wellesley’s expansion — back to non-intervention
- Vellore Mutiny, 1806 — sepoys over leather cockades / caste-religion rules; crushed, a 1857 preview
- Treaty of Rajghat with Holkar; returned some Wellesley annexation energy
7. Lord Minto I
1807 – 1813
- Treaty of Amritsar, 1809 with Ranjit Singh — Sutlej as the line (negotiator: young Metcalfe)
- Missions to Kabul, Tehran, Sindh — “Napoleon/Russia scare”
- Took Dutch Java & French Mauritius in the Napoleonic Wars
- Charter Act 1813 passed at the close of his term
🧠 Hindi Trick: "मिंटो की मीटिंग अमृतसर में" — सतलुज सीमा।
8. Lord Hastings (Marquess of Hastings)
1813 – 1823
- Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16) & Treaty of Sagauli, 1816 — Company gets Kumaon-Garhwal; Gorkha friendship starts
- Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–19) — Peshwa abolished; Maratha Confederacy dead
- Pindari hunts; Policy of Paramountcy — Company claims overlordship over princes
- Mahalwari ideas (Holt Mackenzie, 1822); Ryotwari spread in Madras/Bombay (Munro/Read) in this era
+ more facts
- Press: more liberal than Wellesley; still not “free”
- First steam vessel on the Ganga in his years
- Do not mix with Warren Hastings — 40 years apart
🧠 Hindi Trick: "दूसरा हेस्टिंग्स — नेपाल + मराठा" — सगौली + पेशवा खत्म।
9. Lord Amherst
1823 – 1828
- First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26); Treaty of Yandabo, 1826 — Assam, Arakan, Tenasserim to Company
- Barrackpore Mutiny, 1824 — sepoys refuse sea crossing (kala pani) toward Burma
- Sanskrit College, Calcutta, 1824
🧠 Hindi Trick: "एमहर्स्ट ने बर्मा को हर्ट किया" — यंडाबू संधि।
10. Lord William Bentinck
1828 – 1835
- Abolition of Sati, 1829 (Bengal Sati Regulation) — Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s campaign
- Thuggee suppression (Sleeman); action vs female infanticide & hook-swinging / human sacrifice pockets
- English Education / Macaulay’s Minute, 1835; Persian out of courts, English + vernacular in
- Charter Act 1833 — first Governor-General of India (title change mid-tenure)
- Calcutta Medical College, 1835; annexed Coorg (1834), Cachar; Mysore under Company commission (1831)
+ more facts
- Law Member added to Council (Macaulay) under 1833 Act
- Mahalwari pushed in NWP; financial cuts after expensive wars
- Social-reform GG — contrast with Dalhousie (territory + rails, not sati/widow law)
🧠 Hindi Trick: "बेंटिक ने बेहतर समाज" — सती बंद + 1833 से पहला GG of India।
11. Charles Metcalfe
1835 – 1836
- “Liberator of the Indian Press” — dumped licensing; Press Act / Metcalfe Act, 1835
- Acting one-year term; earlier (under Minto I) negotiated Amritsar Treaty 1809
- Court of Directors disliked his press liberalism — not confirmed as permanent GG
🧠 Hindi Trick: "मेटकाफ ने अखबार आज़ाद किया"।
12. Lord Auckland
1836 – 1842
- Tripartite Treaty, 1838 — Ranjit Singh + Shah Shuja vs Dost Muhammad
- First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42) — Great Game vs Russia; 1842 retreat massacre (Elphinstone’s army)
- English / vernacular schools opened; still defined by the Afghan disaster
🧠 Hindi Trick: "ऑकलैंड की आफत" — पहला अफगान युद्ध।
13. Lord Ellenborough
1842 – 1844
- Ended the Afghan mess; brought the army back via a punitive 1842 campaign
- Annexation of Sindh, 1843 (Charles Napier — “Peccavi, I have sinned”)
- Gwalior campaign, 1843; theatrical “Gates of Somnath” proclamation
- Recalled early by Court of Directors as too theatrical / insubordinate
🧠 Hindi Trick: "एलनबरो ने सिंध हड़पा" (1843)।
14. Lord Hardinge I
1844 – 1848
- First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46); Treaties of Lahore & Bhyrowal, 1846 — Resident at Lahore, Punjab not yet annexed
- Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee, 1847 (later IIT Roorkee)
- Pushed against female infanticide / meriah sacrifice in newly influenced tracts
🧠 Hindi Trick: "हार्डिंग की हार्ड लड़ाई" — पहला सिख युद्ध, लाहौर संधि।
15. Lord Dalhousie
1848 – 1856
- Not a social-reform GG. His stamp is war, annexation, rails, post, telegraph, PWD — Bentinck/Canning own sati & widow remarriage
- Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) — Punjab annexed; Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852) — Pegu / Lower Burma
- Doctrine of Lapse: Satara, Jaitpur, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Jhansi, Nagpur (no natural male heir)
- Awadh / Oudh, 1856 — “misgovernance”, not Lapse
- Bombay–Thane railway (1853); telegraph Calcutta–Agra (1853); Post Office Act (1854); Woods Despatch (1854); PWD
+ more facts
- Shimla as summer capital; Ganga Canal opened 1854 (work begun under earlier GGs)
- Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Bill was drafted in his office — Act passed under Canning, 1856
- Charter Act 1853: open competition for ICS (first exam 1855); separate Legislative Council
- Army / civil reorg; “Maker of Modern India” = infrastructure nickname, not social
- Annexations + greased-cartridge world = fuel for 1857
🧠 Hindi Trick: "डलहौज़ी = गोद + रेल + तार" — Lapse + अवध कुशासन से; सामाजिक सुधार उसके खाते में मत लिखो।
16. Lord Canning
1856 – 1858 (GG) → 1858–1862 (1st Viceroy)
- Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 — enacted under him (Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar; draft from Dalhousie years)
- General Service Enlistment Act, 1856 — overseas service if ordered (sepoy anger)
- Revolt of 1857; “Clemency Canning” after the storm — no blanket revenge
- Universities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, 1857
- GoI Act 1858: Company dead; he is last GG of Company India and first Viceroy
+ more facts
- Queen’s Proclamation, 1 Nov 1858 (Allahabad) — no more annexation by Lapse; religious non-interference promised
- IPC enforced 1860 (Macaulay draft); Income tax 1860 (James Wilson); “White Mutiny” of European troops 1859
- Indian Councils Act 1861; High Courts Act 1861 in his viceroy years
🧠 Hindi Trick: "कैनिंग पर कंपनी खत्म" — आखिरी GG + पहला Viceroy, एक ही आदमी।
17. Lord Canning (as Viceroy)
1858 – 1862
- Indian Councils Act, 1861 — Indians nominated to the Viceroy’s legislative council; portfolio system
- IPC, 1860; CrPC beginnings; Indian High Courts Act, 1861 (Calcutta, Bombay, Madras courts open 1862)
- Indigo unrest in Bengal; famine in NW; still the “Clemency” brand
🧠 Hindi Trick: "पहला वायसराय भी कैनिंग"।
18. Lord Elgin I
1862 – 1863
Very short; Wahabi movement still on the frontier. Died in office at Dharamshala, 1863. Do not confuse with Elgin II (1894–99, famine/plague).
19. Sir John Lawrence
1864 – 1869
- “Lawrence of Punjab” from 1857 days; as Viceroy: Bhutan War, 1865 (Treaty of Sinchula)
- High Courts already opening (1862); telegraph web expanded
- “Masterly inactivity” on the Afghan frontier — no forward adventure
- Orissa famine, 1866 — grim lesson for later famine codes
🧠 Hindi Trick: "लॉरेंस = लॉ + पंजाब" — हाईकोर्ट दौर, फ्रंटियर पर चुप।
20. Lord Mayo
1869 – 1872
- “Father of Indian Statistics”; Department of Agriculture; first all-India census process (1871–72)
- Financial decentralisation — provinces get assigned revenues
- Mayo College, Ajmer, for princes; Rajkot / similar chiefs’ colleges in this spirit
- Assassinated at Port Blair, 1872, by Sher Ali — only Viceroy killed in India
🧠 Hindi Trick: "मेयो को मार डाला अंडमान में"।
21. Lord Northbrook
1872 – 1876
- Kuka (Namdhari) movement, Punjab, crushed
- Bihar famine 1873–74 — imported rice, relatively less deadly than Lytton’s later famine
- Gaekwad of Baroda trial, 1875 — Malhar Rao deposed
- Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) visit, 1875; resigned in a row with London over Afghan policy
🧠 Hindi Trick: "नॉर्थब्रुक — कूका उत्तर (North) पंजाब में"।
22. Lord Lytton
1876 – 1880
- Vernacular Press Act, 1878 (Indian-language press gagged; English papers spared)
- Arms Act, 1878; Statutory Civil Service, 1879; ICS age cut 21 → 19
- Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80); Delhi Durbar 1877 — Victoria as Kaiser-i-Hind
- Great Famine 1876–78 — laissez-faire grain policy, huge death toll (contrast Northbrook)
🧠 Hindi Trick: "लिटन ने प्रेस को कुचला" + कैसर-ए-हिंद दरबार।
23. Lord Ripon
1880 – 1884
- Repealed Vernacular Press Act, 1882; First Factory Act, 1881 (child labour in mills)
- Resolution on Local Self-Government, 1882 — “Father of Local Self-Government”
- Hunter Commission, 1882 — primary / vernacular education
- Ilbert Bill, 1883–84 — Indian judges to try Europeans; white opposition forced a dilute compromise
- First complete census, 1881; most popular Viceroy with Indian moderates
🧠 Hindi Trick: "रिपन ने रिपेयर किया" — प्रेस + पंचायत/नगरपालिका।
24. Lord Dufferin
1884 – 1888
- Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885–86) — Upper Burma annexed; whole Burma a province
- INC founded 1885 (A.O. Hume) during his viceroyalty; he was privately cool to it
- Aitchison Commission on Public Services, 1886; Panjdeh scare 1885 → defence spend up
🧠 Hindi Trick: "डफरिन के दरबार में जन्मी कांग्रेस"।
25. Lord Lansdowne
1888 – 1894
- Factory Act, 1891 (women/children hours); Age of Consent Act, 1891 (10 → 12)
- Indian Councils Act, 1892 — indirect “election”, budget talk, questions
- Durand Line, 1893 (Mortimer Durand) with Afghanistan
- Categorised civil services: imperial / provincial / subordinate
🧠 Hindi Trick: "लैंसडाउन ने लाइन खींची" — ड्यूरंड लाइन।
26. Lord Elgin II
1894 – 1899
- Famines 1896–97; bubonic plague, Bombay; Chapekar brothers kill Rand (plague officer), Pune 1897
- Tirah campaign vs Afridis on the NW Frontier
- Lyall Commission on famine; Lytton-style stinginess still in the air
🧠 Hindi Trick: "एल्गिन द्वितीय — अकाल और प्लेग"।
27. Lord Curzon
1899 – 1905
- Police Commission (Fraser, 1902); Universities Commission (1902) → Indian Universities Act, 1904 (tighter Raj grip on colleges)
- Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 — ASI muscle; Taj etc. restored
- NWFP created 1901; Younghusband mission to Lhasa, 1904; Irrigation Commission; Pusa agri institute
- Partition of Bengal, 1905 — Swadeshi; resigned after Kitchener army-control row
🧠 Hindi Trick: "कर्ज़न ने बंगाल चीरा" — 1905।
28. Lord Minto II
1905 – 1910
- Swadeshi; Surat Split 1907; Muslim League 1906 (Dhaka, Nawab Salimullah)
- Morley–Minto Reforms, 1909 — separate electorates for Muslims
- S.P. Sinha first Indian on Viceroy’s Executive Council (Law)
- Revolutionary wave: Alipore, Muzaffarpur; Lajpat Rai deported
🧠 Hindi Trick: "मिंटो द्वितीय — मुस्लिम लीग + अलग वोट"।
29. Lord Hardinge II
1910 – 1916
- Bengal partition annulled, 1911; capital Calcutta → Delhi (Delhi Durbar, George V)
- Bomb on his elephant, 1912 (Rash Behari Bose circle)
- WWI from 1914 — Indian men & money; Gandhi back 1915; Hindu Mahasabha 1915
- Komagata Maru, 1914; Simla Convention / McMahon Line, 1914 (Tibet-China-India)
🧠 Hindi Trick: "हार्डिंग द्वितीय — राजधानी दिल्ली + बंगाल बंटवारा रद्द"।
30. Lord Chelmsford
1916 – 1921
- Lucknow Pact 1916; Home Rule (Tilak & Besant); Montagu August Declaration 1917
- GoI Act 1919 — dyarchy in provinces; bicameral centre
- Rowlatt Act 1919; Jallianwala Bagh 13 Apr 1919; Hunter Committee
- NCM + Khilafat from 1920
🧠 Hindi Trick: "चेम्सफ़र्ड = जलियांवाला + 1919 एक्ट"।
31. Lord Reading
1921 – 1926
- Chauri Chaura 1922 → NCM withdrawn; Swaraj Party 1923 (Das & Motilal)
- Moplah revolt 1921; Prince of Wales visit boycott; Kakori 1925; CPI 1925
- Repeal of Rowlatt, Press Act, and most wartime gag laws; Lee Commission on ICS 1923
- Only Jewish Viceroy; Visva-Bharati (1921) in this window
🧠 Hindi Trick: "रीडिंग — चौरी चौरा के बाद आंदोलन रुक"।
32. Lord Irwin
1926 – 1931
- Simon Commission 1927 (all-white) → “Simon Go Back”; Nehru Report 1928; Poorna Swaraj, Lahore 1929
- Irwin / Deepavali Declaration 1929 — Dominion Status as the goal
- Dandi March & CDM 1930; First RTC 1930 (Congress absent); Gandhi–Irwin Pact 1931
- Meerut Conspiracy Case; Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev hanged 23 Mar 1931
🧠 Hindi Trick: "इरविन = गांधी-इरविन पैक्ट"।
33. Lord Willingdon
1931 – 1936
- 2nd & 3rd RTCs; Communal Award 1932 (MacDonald) → Poona Pact (Gandhi–Ambedkar)
- CDM restarted, crushed; Congress banned for a stretch (1932–34)
- GoI Act 1935 — provincial autonomy + proposed All-India Federation (princes never joined)
- Individual satyagraha is later (1940) — don’t park it here
🧠 Hindi Trick: "विलिंग्डन — पूना पैक्ट + 1935 एक्ट"।
34. Lord Linlithgow
1936 – 1944
- Longest Viceroy (~7.5–8 yrs); 1937 provincial elections — Congress ministries in 8 provinces
- India declared in WWII without Indian consent, 1939 → ministries resign
- Lahore / Pakistan Resolution 1940; August Offer 1940; Individual Satyagraha (Vinoba first)
- Cripps Mission 1942 fails; Quit India 1942 — mass arrests; Bengal Famine 1943
🧠 Hindi Trick: "लिनलिथगो ने बिना पूछे जंग में घसीटा" — भारत छोड़ो + बंगाल अकाल।
35. Lord Wavell
1944 – 1947
- Wavell Plan + Simla Conference 1945 — League vs Congress on “Muslim seats” wrecks it
- INA Red Fort trials 1945; RIN rating mutiny 1946
- Cabinet Mission 1946; Direct Action Day 16 Aug 1946; Interim Government (Nehru) Sept 1946
- Constituent Assembly meets 9 Dec 1946 — League boycott
🧠 Hindi Trick: "वेवेल — शिमला योजना + कैबिनेट मिशन"।
36. Lord Mountbatten
Mar 1947 – Jun 1948
- Last Viceroy of British India; June 3rd / Mountbatten Plan — Partition accepted
- Transfer date pulled from June 1948 to 15 Aug 1947; Radcliffe Line (Punjab & Bengal)
- Indian Independence Act, 1947; princely accession (Patel/Menon) under his watch
- First Governor-General of the Dominion of India till June 1948
🧠 Hindi Trick: "माउंटबेटन — आज़ादी + बँटवारा, 15 अगस्त 1947"।
37. C. Rajagopalachari ("Rajaji")
Jun 1948 – 26 Jan 1950
- Only Indian, and last, Governor-General
- Earlier: Premier of Madras (1937–39); later founded Swatantra Party
- Ceremonial — real power in Nehru’s Cabinet
- Post abolished 26 Jan 1950; President Dr. Rajendra Prasad takes over
🧠 Hindi Trick: "राजाजी — इकलौता भारतीय GG; 1950 में पद खत्म"।
📜 Landmark Acts — tap to open
Regulating → Pitt’s → Charters → Crown takeover → Councils → 1919 → 1935 → Independence. Each card: why / key points / impact.
Regulating Act 1773
Why Company after Plassey/Buxar was a state without a state. Bengal famine 1770 + corruption in London forced Parliament to “regulate”.
Key points Governor of Bengal → GG of Bengal + 4-member Council. Bombay & Madras under Bengal. Supreme Court at Calcutta, 1774. Directors must report to the British government.
Impact First written Constitution for Company India. Hastings is first GG. Dual-control seed. SC vs Council clashes (Nand Kumar).
Pitt’s India Act 1784
Why 1773 left the Company still too independent; Fox’s India Bill had failed. Pitt needed a workable dual system.
Key points Board of Control (6 privy councillors) for political/military affairs. Court of Directors keep commerce & patronage. GG Council cut to 3. Indian possessions called “British possessions”.
Impact Company is a Crown subordinate in politics. Dual government till 1858. Cornwallis arrives with this machine.
Charter Act 1793
Why 20-year Company charter was up. Trade lobby vs Company monopoly.
Key points Monopoly extended 20 years. Board of Control salaries paid from Indian revenues. GG can override his Council. Seniority for promotions.
Impact Status quo: Company still trader + ruler. Cornwallis Code / Permanent Settlement sit in the same year.
Charter Act 1813
Why Napoleon wars + British private merchants want India. Evangelicals want missions.
Key points Company trade monopoly ends except tea & China. ₹1 lakh/year for education. Christian missionaries allowed. Crown’s sovereignty over Company territories asserted.
Impact Free-trade breach. Education grant = later Macaulay/Woods. Missions legally in. Minto I / Hastings era.
Charter Act 1833
Why Company as a merchant in an industrial Britain looked absurd. Need one legislature for a subcontinent.
Key points Company loses remaining commercial monopoly — purely administrative trustee. GG of Bengal → GG of India. Bombay/Madras lose law-making. 4th member = Law Member (Macaulay). Indian Law Commission. Sec. 87: no disability by religion, place of birth, colour (on paper).
Impact Bentinck first GG of India. Centralised legislation. First all-India statutory title.
Charter Act 1853
Why Last Company charter. Macaulay’s ICS idea + need for a real legislature.
Key points No 20-year renewal — Company to serve “until Parliament provides otherwise”. Open competition for ICS (first exam 1855). Separate Legislative Council (6 members). Law Member becomes a full Council member. Local representation (one member each from Madras, Bombay, Bengal, NWFP).
Impact Haileybury patronage dies. Dalhousie’s years. Prelude to 1858 — Company already on notice.
Government of India Act 1858
Why 1857. A joint-stock company cannot hold an empire. Queen’s Proclamation, 1 Nov 1858.
Key points Company abolished. Power to the Crown. Secretary of State for India + 15-member India Council. GG also Viceroy. Doctrine of Lapse dumped in practice; princes promised their izzat.
Impact Canning first Viceroy. Dual Co. government (Board + Directors) gone. Paramountcy now royal.
Indian Councils Act 1861
Why 1857 showed Indians must be heard, at least as nominees. Portfolio government needed.
Key points Indians nominated to Viceroy’s Legislative Council. Portfolio / Cabinet-style executive. Madras & Bombay get legislative power back. Viceroy can issue ordinances.
Impact Seed of representative institutions — still nomination, not election. Canning.
Indian Councils Act 1892
Why INC (from 1885) asking for elections and budget voice. Lansdowne years.
Key points Councils enlarged. Indirect election via “recommendation”. Members can discuss budget and ask questions (not supplementary; cannot vote the budget down).
Impact First sniff of election. Still official majority. Bridge to 1909.
Indian Councils Act / Morley–Minto 1909
Why Swadeshi after 1905; Muslim elite want a separate political share; British “divide and rule” fit.
Key points Separate electorates for Muslims. Indians on Executive Councils (S.P. Sinha at Centre). Councils bigger; still unelected official core. Non-official majority in some provincial councils, not at Centre.
Impact Communal electorate becomes the default path (Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians later). Minto II.
Government of India Act / Montagu–Chelmsford 1919
Why WWI bargains + Montagu Declaration 1917: gradual responsible government.
Key points Dyarchy in provinces — reserved (police, finance, land) vs transferred (education, health) subjects. Bicameral Centre (Council of State + Assembly). Direct elections. Separate electorates extended. Public Service Commission promised.
Impact First taste of ministers answering a legislature — only on “soft” subjects. Chelmsford. Dyarchy widely called a failure. Jallianwala / Rowlatt in the same year poison the reforms.
Government of India Act 1935
Why Simon Commission, RTCs, White Paper. Longest British statute on India.
Key points All-India Federation (British provinces + opt-in princes) — never came into being. Provincial autonomy; dyarchy abolished in provinces, introduced at Centre (never worked). Bicameralism in 6 provinces. Federal Court (1937). RBI already 1934 but in this federal design. Separate electorates expanded (incl. depressed classes after Poona Pact as reserved seats). 10% adult franchise roughly.
Impact 1937 elections; Congress ministries. Huge borrow-list for the 1950 Constitution (federation, GOI residual, federal court → SC). Willingdon / Linlithgow.
Indian Independence Act 1947
Why Cabinet Mission stalled; League’s Pakistan demand; Attlee’s Feb 1947 deadline; Mountbatten Plan 3 June.
Key points Two Dominions, 15 Aug 1947. British paramountcy over princes lapses. Constituent Assemblies become sovereign legislatures. Office of Viceroy ends; each Dominion gets a GG. Secretary of State for India abolished.
Impact Partition, Radcliffe, massive migration. Mountbatten then Rajaji as GGs until 26 Jan 1950 Republic.
⭐ The Most Exam-Important Milestones
1773
Regulating Act
Creates the post of Governor-General of Bengal; Warren Hastings first to hold it.
1793
Permanent Settlement
Cornwallis fixes Bengal's land revenue system permanently with zamindars.
1829
Abolition of Sati
Bentinck bans Sati with Raja Ram Mohan Roy's support.
1833
Charter Act
Title changes to Governor-General of India; Bentinck becomes the first holder.
1848–56
Doctrine of Lapse
Dalhousie annexes princely states without natural heirs; also starts railways & telegraph.
1858
GoI Act 1858
Crown takes direct control from the Company; Canning becomes the first Viceroy.
1885
INC Founded
Indian National Congress formed during Dufferin's viceroyalty.
1905
Partition of Bengal
Curzon's most controversial act — undone by Hardinge II in 1911.
1919
Jallianwala Bagh
Rowlatt Act & the massacre under Chelmsford; GoI Act 1919 also passed.
1930–32
Civil Disobedience
Dandi March, Round Table Conferences & Poona Pact span Irwin and Willingdon.
1942
Quit India Movement
Launched under Linlithgow after the failed Cripps Mission.
1946
Cabinet Mission
Wavell's key initiative for transfer of power talks.
1947
Independence & Partition
Mountbatten executes the June 3rd Plan — India freed and partitioned.
1950
Office Abolished
Rajagopalachari is the last Governor-General; Republic of India begins, 26 Jan 1950.
🔄 Why the Title Changed — 4 Turning Points
① 1773
Regulating Act
Independent Governor of Bengal (Clive’s world) → GG of Bengal. One boss over Bombay & Madras. Still not “of India”.
② 1833
Charter Act
GG of Bengal → GG of India. Company stops trading. One all-India legislature. Bentinck first holder.
③ 1858
GoI Act
Same man is GG and Viceroy. Company dead; Crown’s face vs princes. Canning first Viceroy.
④ 1947–50
IIA + Republic
Viceroy dies. Dominion GG is ceremonial (Mountbatten, then Rajaji). 26 Jan 1950 → President.
🎴 Quick Recall Flashcards (tap a card to flip)
Who was the FIRST Governor-General of Bengal?
Warren Hastings (1773) — post created by the Regulating Act, 1773.
Who was the FIRST Governor-General of India?
Lord William Bentinck (1833) — post renamed by the Charter Act, 1833.
Who was the FIRST Viceroy of India?
Lord Canning (1858) — same person as the last Governor-General.
Who was the LAST Viceroy of India?
Lord Mountbatten (1947) — oversaw Independence & Partition.
Who partitioned Bengal in 1905?
Lord Curzon — later annulled by Lord Hardinge II in 1911.
Under whom was the INC founded?
Lord Dufferin (1885).
Who was assassinated in office, in the Andamans?
Lord Mayo (1872) — only Viceroy assassinated in India.
Who was the ONLY Indian Governor-General?
C. Rajagopalachari (1948–50) — office abolished in 1950.
Who actually enacted the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856?
Lord Canning — it was only drafted under Dalhousie, not passed by him.
Which Act changed "Governor of Bengal" to "Governor-General of Bengal"?
The Regulating Act, 1773.
Which Act changed the title to "Governor-General of India"?
The Charter Act, 1833 — first held by Lord William Bentinck.
Which Act created the title "Viceroy"?
The Government of India Act, 1858, after the Revolt of 1857.
Dalhousie = social reformer?
No. Annexation + rails/telegraph/PWD. Sati = Bentinck. Widow remarriage Act = Canning.
Pitt’s India Act, 1784 — big idea?
Dual government: Board of Control (politics) vs Court of Directors (commerce).
When did Company lose ALL trade monopoly?
Charter Act 1833. 1813 had already opened India except tea & China.
Open competition for ICS — which Act?
Charter Act, 1853 (first exam 1855). Not 1833.
Separate electorates begin?
Indian Councils Act / Morley–Minto, 1909 — Muslims.
Dyarchy in provinces?
GoI Act 1919. 1935 kills provincial dyarchy, tries (and fails) dyarchy at the Centre.
Did the 1935 All-India Federation start?
No. Princes never joined. Provincial autonomy did (1937 ministries).