List of governors-general of India

The history of the office of the Governor of Bengal dates back to 1644, when Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, governors and presidents were appointed to look after company affairs in the Bay of Bengal. In 1773, Warren Hastings was appointed as the first Governor General of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal following the enactment of the East India Company Act of 1772.^[1]

List of governors-general

Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (1773–1833)

The Regulating Act of 1773 replaced the office of the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal with Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal. The office of the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal was restored in 1833.

Name	Term		Appointer
Warren Hastings^{[nb 1]}	20 October 1773	8 February 1785	East India Company (1773–1858)
John Macpherson (acting)	8 February 1785	12 September 1786
The Marquess Cornwallis^{[nb 2]}	12 September 1786	28 October 1793
John Shore	28 October 1793	18 March 1798
Alured Clarke (acting)	18 March 1798	18 May 1798
The Earl of Mornington^{[nb 3]}	18 May 1798	30 July 1805
The Marquess Cornwallis	30 July 1805	5 October 1805
Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting)	10 October 1805	31 July 1807
The Lord Minto	31 July 1807	4 October 1813
The Marquess of Hastings^{[nb 4]}	4 October 1813	9 January 1823
John Adam (acting)	9 January 1823	1 August 1823
The Lord Amherst^{[nb 5]}	1 August 1823	13 March 1828
William Butterworth Bayley (acting)	13 March 1828	4 July 1828

↑ Originally joined on 28 April 1772
↑ Earl Cornwallis from 1762; created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792.
↑ Created Marquess Wellesley in 1799.
↑ Earl of Moira prior to being created Marquess of Hastings in 1816
↑ Created Earl Amherst in 1826.

Governors of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal (ex-officio Governor-General of India, 1834-1854)
No.	Name (birth–death)	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Appointer
1	The Lord William Bentick (1774–1839)		15 November 1834 (1833)	20 March 1835	East India Company
–	Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt, ICS^[2] (acting) (1785–1846)		20 March 1835	4 March 1836
2	The Lord Auckland (1784–1849)		4 March 1836	28 February 1842
3	The Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871)		28 February 1842	June 1844
–	William Wilberforce Bird, ICS^[2] (acting) (1784–1857)		June 1844	23 July 1844
4	Sir Henry Hardinge (1785–1856)		23 July 1844	12 January 1848
5	The Earl of Dalhousie (1812–1860)		12 January 1848	1 May 1854 (28 February 1856)

Governors-General and Viceroys of India and Governors-General of the Dominion of India, 1858–1950

Governor-General or Viceroy (lifespan)	Term of office		Notable events	Secretary of State for India	Prime Minister
Governors-General and Viceroys of India, 1858–1947
Appointed by Queen Victoria (1837–1901)
Charles Canning, Viscount Canning^{[nb 1]} (1812–1862)	1 November 1858	21 March 1862	Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1 November 1858) and The Government of India Act, 1858^[3] Formation of Imperial Civil Services (1858) Indigo Revolt in Bengal (1859–1860) White mutiny by the European troops (1859) Enactment of Indian Penal Code (1860) Indian High Courts Act 1861 Indian Councils Act, 1861 Indian Civil Service Act, 1861 Police Act, 1861^[4] Establishment of Archaeological Survey of India (1861) System of Budget was introduced Introduced Portfolio System which gave foundation for Cabinet System	Lord Stanley Charles Wood	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Viscount Palmerston
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811–1863)	21 March 1862	20 November 1863	Establishment of Calcutta High Court (2 July), Bombay High Court (14 August) and Madras High Court (15 August) (1862) Wahabi movement suppressed	Charles Wood	Viscount Palmerston
Robert Napier (acting) (1810–1890)	21 November 1863	2 December 1863
William Denison (acting) (1804–1871)	2 December 1863	12 January 1864
John Lawrence, Baronet (1811–1879)	12 January 1864	12 January 1869	Bhutan War (1864–1865) (The British defeated an undefended Bhutan and annexed Assam and Bengal Duars) Establishment of Shimla as India's summer capital (1864) Establishment of Allahabad High Court (1866) Famine Commission was constituted (1867) under Henry Campbell due to Orissa famine of 1866 Tenancy Act was passed in Punjab and Oudh (1868)	Charles Wood George Robinson, Earl de Grey Viscount Cranborne Stafford Northcote George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll	Viscount Palmerston John Russell, 1st Earl Russell Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli William Ewart Gladstone
Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo (1822–1872)	12 January 1869	8 February 1872	Keshub Chandra Sen establishes Indian Reform Association (1870) Started Financial decentralization (1870)^[5] Enacted IPC amendment-Sedition Act 1870 to tackle Wahabi Movement Assassinated by Sher Ali Afridi (1872)^[6] Started the Census in India (1872) Established the Department of Agriculture and Commerce (1872)^[5] Established Statistical Survey of India (1872)^[5] Opening of Rajkumar college in Rajkot and Mayo College at Ajmer for political training of Indian Princes	George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll	William Ewart Gladstone
John Strachey (acting) (1823–1907)	9 February 1872	23 February 1872
Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier (acting) (1819–1898)	24 February 1872	3 May 1872
Thomas Baring, Lord Northbrook (1826–1904)	3 May 1872	12 April 1876	He suppressed Kuka rebellion in Punjab led by Ram Singh (1872) Jyotiba Phule launches the Satyashodhak Samaj in Maharashtra (1873) against the caste system and the Untouchability practice Trial of Gaekwad of Baroda (1874) Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1875) Prince of Wales Edward VII visited India (1875) Dramatic Performances Act, 1876 He resigned (1876), being asked by the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to make a treaty with the Emir of Afghanistan Sher Ali Khan	George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	William Ewart Gladstone Benjamin Disraeli
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831–1891)	12 April 1876	8 June 1880	Royal Titles Act, 1876 by which Queen Victoria assumed the title of 'Empress of India' Great Famine of 1876–1878, a 'Famine Commission' was constituted under Richard Strachey (1878) First Delhi Durbar (of three) (1877) Vernacular Press Act, 1878 Arms Act, 1878^[7] Second Anglo-Afghan War, (1878–1880) Treaty of Gandamak signed (1879) Decreased the maximum age of appearing in civil services from 21 to 19	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Viscount Cranbrook Marquess of Hartington	Benjamin Disraeli William Ewart Gladstone
George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon (1827–1909)	8 June 1880	13 December 1884	First Factory Act (1881) Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 First complete Census in India (1881) Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882) Establishment of Panjab University (1882) Government resolution on local self-government (1882)^[8] Appointment of Education Commission under Sir William Wilson Hunter (1882)^[9] Ilbert Bill (1883) Passed Famine codes (1883) Increased the maximum age of appearing in civil services from 18 to 21	Marquess of Hartington John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley	William Ewart Gladstone
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin (1826–1902)	13 December 1884	10 December 1888	Formation of Indian National Congress (1885) Bengal Tenancy Act (1885) Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) Burma was made a province of India, with Rangoon as its capital (1886)^[10]	John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley Lord Randolph Churchill John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross	William Ewart Gladstone Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury William Ewart Gladstone Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845–1927)	10 December 1888	21 January 1894	Age of Consent Act, 1891 was passed to prohibit the marriages of girl child under the age of 12 Second Factory Act 1891 Indian Councils Act 1892 Setting up the Durand Commission (1893) (India-Afghanistan)	R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley Henry Fowler	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury William Ewart Gladstone Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917)	21 January 1894^[11]	6 January 1899	Spread of Bubonic plague in Bombay (1896) Indian famine of 1896–1897 Establishment of the Ramakrishna Mission by Swami Vivekananda at Belur Math (1897) Assassination of two British officials (Walter Charles Rand and Ayerst) by the Chapekar brothers (1897)	Henry Fowler Lord George Hamilton	Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston^{[nb 2]} (1859–1925)	6 January 1899	18 November 1905	Indian famine of 1899–1900 Munda (Ulgulan) rebellion led by Birsa Munda (1899–1900) Department of Agriculture was constituted (1901) Creation of North-West Frontier Province (1901) Appointment of Police Commission under Andrew Frazer (1902) Appointment of Raleigh University Commission (1902) (Indian Universities Act, 1904 was passed as per the recommendation of this commission) Second Delhi Durbar (of three) (1903) Younghusband expedition to Tibet under Francis Younghusband (1903–1904) Benaras Hindu Girls School was established by Annie Besant (1904) Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904 Official Secrets Act 1904 to curb free press Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa in Bihar was established (1905) Partition of Bengal (1905) Swadeshi Movement (1905–1911) against Partition of Bengal by Lal Bal Pal-Aurbindo Ghosh	Lord George Hamilton William St John Brodrick	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Appointed by King Edward VII (1901–1910)
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (1845–1914)	18 November 1905	23 November 1910	Establishment of Muslim League by Aga Khan III and Khwaja Salimullah (Nawab of Dhaka) (1906) Foundation of Jugantar revolutionary group in Bengal (1906) Foundation stone of 'Victoria Memorial' laid (1906) Split in Congress (1907) (in Surat session) Satyendra Prasanna Sinha became first Indian member to be appointed in Viceroy's Executive Council Seditious meetings (prohibition) Act 1907 to curb the extremist movement Jamsetji Tata established TISCO (1907) Newspapers Act 1908 Morley–Minto reforms (1909) Indian Press Act, 1910	William St John Brodrick John Morley Robert Crewe-Milnes, Earl of Crewe	Arthur Balfour Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith
Appointed by King George V (1910–1936)
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858–1944)	23 November 1910	4 April 1916	Third Delhi Durbar (1911) Annulment of Partition of Bengal by King George V (1911) Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911) Partition of Bengal to form Bihar and Orissa province (1912) World War I (1914–1918) Komagata Maru incident (1914) McMahon border line was created between India and China (1914) Ghadar Mutiny (1915) Mahatma Gandhi came back to India from South Africa (1915) Foundation of Hindu Mahasabha by Madan Mohan Malviya (1915) Foundation of Banaras Hindu University (1916)	Robert Crewe-Milnes, Earl of Crewe John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe Austen Chamberlain	H. H. Asquith
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford (1868–1933)	4 April 1916	2 April 1921	Formation of Indian Home Rule movement by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant (1916) First Women's University (SNDT Women's University) at Pune was founded by Dhondo Keshav Karve (1916) Lucknow Pact (1916) (between Indian National Congress and Muslim League) Champaran Satyagraha (1917), the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in British India August Declaration, 1917 Saddler University Commission or Calcutta Commission (1917) Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms (1919) Government of India Act 1919 Rowlatt Act (1919) Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) Khilafat Movement (1919–1920) (later merged with Non-cooperation movement in 1920) Foundation of Aligarh Muslim University (1920) Non-cooperation movement (1920–1922) Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India established in 1921)	Austen Chamberlain Edwin Montagu	H. H. Asquith David Lloyd George
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (1860–1935)	2 April 1921	3 April 1926	Annulment of Press Act of 1910 and Rowlatt Act of 1919 Malabar rebellion (also known as Moplah Rebellion), first Ethnic Rebellion (1921) Rabindranath Tagore founded Visva-Bharati University (1921) Chauri Chaura incident (1922) and withdrawal of Non-cooperation movement by Mahatma Gandhi Formation of Swaraj Party (1923) Appointment of Lee Commission (1923) on public services reforms^[12] Railway budget was separated from general budget since 1924 (this tradition continued till 2016) Kakori train robbery (1925) Foundation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by K. B. Hedgewar (1925) Foundation of the Communist Party of India in Kanpur (1925)	Edwin Montagu William Peel, Viscount Peel Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead	David Lloyd George Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin
E. F. L. Wood, Lord Irwin (1881–1959)	3 April 1926	1 July 1929	Simon Commission (1928) Nehru Report (1928) Death of Lala Lajpat Rai (1928) Fourteen Points of Jinnah (1929) Purna Swaraj declaration (1929) Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929) Bombing in Central Legislative Assembly by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt (8 April 1929) "Deepavali Declaration" (31 October 1929, to grant India dominion status in due course) Appointment of "Hartog Committee" (1929) to survey the growth of education in British India^[13] Launching of Civil disobedience movement with Salt March (1930) Dharasana Satyagraha (1930) First Round Table Conferences (1930) Allahabad Address by Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1930) Chittagong armoury raid (1930) Gandhi–Irwin Pact (1931) Execution of Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar (1931)	F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead William Peel, Viscount Peel	Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald
George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen (acting) (1866–1952)	1 July 1929	18 April 1931		William Peel, Viscount Peel, William Wedgwood Benn	Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Earl of Willingdon (1866–1941)	18 April 1931	18 April 1936	Second Round Table Conference (1931) Announcement of Communal Award by Ramsay MacDonald (1932) Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar (1932) Third Round Table Conference (1932) Pakistan Declaration (1933) Foundation of Congress Socialist Party (1934) Reserve Bank of India established by passing The Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 Government of India Act 1935 Formation of All India Kisan Sabha (1936)	William Wedgwood Benn Samuel Hoare Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland	Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin
Appointed by King Edward VIII (1936)
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (1887–1952)	18 April 1936	1 October 1943	Indian provincial elections (1937) Indian entry into World War II (1939) Day of Deliverance (1939) Formation of All India Forward Bloc (1939) Lahore Resolution (1940) August Offer (1940) Cripps Mission (1942) Formation of Indian Legion (1942) Quit India Movement (1942) Formation of Indian National Army (1942) Bengal famine (1943)	Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland Leo Amery	Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill
Appointed by King George VI (1936–1947) (as Emperor of India)
Archibald Wavell, Viscount Wavell (1883–1950)	1 October 1943	21 February 1947	C. R. formula (1944) Simla Conference (1945) World War II ended (1945) Indian National Army (INA) trials (1945–1946) Cabinet Mission (1946) Direct Action Day (16 August 1946) Interim Government was formed (1946) Royal Indian Navy mutiny (1946)	Leo Amery Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence	Winston Churchill Clement Attlee
Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)	21 February 1947	15 August 1947	Indian Independence Act 1947 (18 July 1947) Radclife Commission was appointed under the chairmanship of Cyril Radcliffe to demarcate the border line of Bengal Presidency and Punjab Province	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel	Clement Attlee
Governor-General (birth–death)	Term of office		Notable events		Prime Minister
Governors-General of the Dominion of India, 1947–1950
Appointed by King George VI (1947–1950) (as King of India^{[broken anchor]})
Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma^{[nb 3]} (1900–1979)	15 August 1947	21 June 1948	First Governor-General of the Union of India		Jawaharlal Nehru
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972)	21 June 1948	26 January 1950	Last Governor-General of India, before the office was permanently abolished (1950) First and only Indian-born Governor-General of India		Jawaharlal Nehru

↑ Created Earl Canning 1859.
↑ Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill was acting Governor-General in 1904.
↑ Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947.

References

↑ Danvers, F.C. (22 June 2016). Bengal: Its Chiefs, Agents, and Governors. Forgotten Books. pp. –6. ISBN 978-1332869954.
1 2 "Raj Bhavan Kolkata" (PDF).
↑ "India - Government of India Act of 1858". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ "Police Act. 1861" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
1 2 3 Reddy, Krishna (2017). Indian History (2nd ed.). Chennai: McGraw Hill Education (India) Pvt. Ltd. pp. C.55. ISBN 9789352606627.
↑ "How Viceroy Lord Mayo's Assassination Led To Creation Of India's First Intelligence Bureau". Outlook India. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ "Arms Act, 1878" (PDF). myanmar-law-library.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ "Lord Ripon: Father of Local Self Government in India". thenationaltv.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ "Hunter Commission - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ "A Short History of Burma". New Internationalist. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
↑ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33561/1/11010320.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
↑ "Lee Commission". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
↑ "Hartog Committee Report, 1929". Your Article Library. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

[2] Originally joined on 28 April 1772

[3] Earl Cornwallis from 1762; created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792.

[4] Created Marquess Wellesley in 1799.

[5] Earl of Moira prior to being created Marquess of Hastings in 1816

[6] Created Earl Amherst in 1826.

[auto-8] Created Earl Canning 1859.

[18] Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill was acting Governor-General in 1904.

[21] Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947.

[1] Danvers, F.C. (22 June 2016). Bengal: Its Chiefs, Agents, and Governors. Forgotten Books. pp. –6. ISBN 978-1332869954.

[:1-7] 1 2 "Raj Bhavan Kolkata" (PDF).

[9] "India - Government of India Act of 1858". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[10] "Police Act. 1861" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[Lord_Mayo-11] 1 2 3 Reddy, Krishna (2017). Indian History (2nd ed.). Chennai: McGraw Hill Education (India) Pvt. Ltd. pp. C.55. ISBN 9789352606627.

[12] "How Viceroy Lord Mayo's Assassination Led To Creation Of India's First Intelligence Bureau". Outlook India. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[13] "Arms Act, 1878" (PDF). myanmar-law-library.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[14] "Lord Ripon: Father of Local Self Government in India". thenationaltv.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[15] "Hunter Commission - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[16] "A Short History of Burma". New Internationalist. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

[17] ttps://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33561/1/11010320.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[19] "Lee Commission". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

[20] "Hartog Committee Report, 1929". Your Article Library. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

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