Governors-General and Viceroys of British India with their tenures and the events they are remembered for, for CAPF Paper I revision
Cover the right column and recall the events. The office began as Governor-General of Bengal (from 1773), became Governor-General of India (from 1833), and after the Crown took over in 1858 the same officer also held the title Viceroy. Independent India had its own Governors-General from 1947 to 1950. For context see advent of europeans and british conquest and freedom struggle timeline.
| Office-holder (tenure) | Remembered for |
|---|---|
| Warren Hastings (1773 to 1785) | First Governor-General of Bengal; Regulating Act office; Pitt's India Act; Asiatic Society |
| Lord Cornwallis (1786 to 1793) | Permanent Settlement of Bengal (1793); reform of the civil service; Third Anglo-Mysore War |
| Lord Wellesley (1798 to 1805) | Subsidiary Alliance system; defeated Tipu Sultan (1799) |
| Lord William Bentinck (1828 to 1835) | First Governor-General of India; abolished sati (1829); suppressed thuggee; English education (Macaulay's Minute, 1835) |
| Lord Auckland (1836 to 1842) | First Anglo-Afghan War |
| Lord Dalhousie (1848 to 1856) | Doctrine of Lapse; first railway (1853) and telegraph; annexation of Awadh; Wood's Despatch (1854) |
See revolt of 1857.
| Viceroy (tenure) | Remembered for |
|---|---|
| Lord Canning (1858 to 1862) | Last Governor-General and first Viceroy; aftermath of 1857; Indian Councils Act 1861 |
| Lord Mayo (1869 to 1872) | Financial decentralisation; first census moves; assassinated in the Andamans |
| Lord Lytton (1876 to 1880) | Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act (1878); Delhi Durbar of 1877; harsh famine policy |
| Lord Ripon (1880 to 1884) | Repealed the Vernacular Press Act; local self-government (1882); Ilbert Bill controversy; "Father of Local Self-Government" |
| Lord Dufferin (1884 to 1888) | Indian National Congress founded (1885); Third Anglo-Burmese War |
| Lord Curzon (1899 to 1905) | Partition of Bengal (1905); Archaeological Survey reorganised; Universities Act 1904 |
| Lord Minto II (1905 to 1910) | Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909); separate electorates for Muslims |
| Lord Hardinge II (1910 to 1916) | Capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi (1911); annulment of Bengal partition |
| Lord Chelmsford (1916 to 1921) | Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919); Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) |
| Lord Reading (1921 to 1926) | Chauri Chaura and suspension of Non-Cooperation; Moplah rebellion |
| Lord Irwin (1926 to 1931) | Simon Commission; Dandi March; Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931); First Round Table Conference |
| Lord Willingdon (1931 to 1936) | Civil Disobedience second phase; Communal Award; Poona Pact (1932) |
| Lord Linlithgow (1936 to 1943) | Outbreak of the Second World War; Quit India Movement (1942); Cripps Mission |
| Lord Wavell (1943 to 1947) | Bengal famine of 1943; Shimla Conference; Cabinet Mission (1946) |
| Lord Mountbatten (1947) | Last Viceroy; partition and independence; Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947) |
See towards independence acts and partition and sessions of the indian national congress.
| Office-holder (tenure) | Note |
|---|---|
| Lord Mountbatten (1947 to 1948) | First Governor-General of independent India |
| C Rajagopalachari (1948 to 1950) | Last Governor-General; the only Indian to hold the office |
The office ended on 26 January 1950 when India became a republic. See post independence consolidation.