List of governors-general of India
The Regulating Act of 1773 created the office with the title of Governor-General of Presidency of Fort William , or Governor-General of Bengal to be appointed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company (EIC). The Court of Directors assigned a Council of Four (based in India) to assist the Governor-General, and the decision of the council was binding on the Governor-General during 1773–1784.
The charter Act 1833 re-designated the office with the title of Governor-General of India . William Bentinck was the first to be designated as the Governor-general of India in 1833.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the company rule was brought to an end, but the British India along with princely states came under the direct rule of the British Crown. The Government of India Act 1858 created the office of Secretary of State for India in 1858 to oversee the affairs of India, which was advised by a new Council of India with 15 members (based in London ). The existing Council of Four was formally renamed as the Council of Governor-General of India or Executive Council of India. The Council of India was later abolished by Government of India Act 1935 .
Following the adoption of the Government of India Act of 1858, the Governor-General representing the Crown became known as the Viceroy . The designation 'Viceroy', although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. Although the Proclamation of 1858 announcing the assumption of the government of India by the Crown referred to Lord Canning as "first Viceroy and Governor-General", none of the Warrants appointing his successors referred to them as 'Viceroys', and the title, which was frequently used in Warrants dealing with precedence and in public notifications, was one of ceremonies used in connection with the state and social functions of the Sovereign's representative. The Governor-General continued to be the sole representative of the Crown, and the Government of India continued to be vested in the appointments of Governor-General of India which were made by the British Crown upon the advice of Secretary of State for India . The office of Governor-General continued to exist as a ceremonial post in each of the new dominions of India and Pakistan , until they adopted republican constitutions in 1950 and 1956 respectively.
List of governors-general
Before 1773 The Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) was named as Governor of Bengal , which was in existence from 1757 to 1772. For the list of Governors of Bengal see List of governors of Bengal .
Fort William (Bengal) and India, 1600–1857
Governor-General(lifespan)
Term of office
Notable events
Appointed by Court of Directors of the East India Company
Governors-General of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1773–1833
Warren Hastings (1732–1818)
20 October 1773[ nb 1]
8 February 1785
John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (acting) (1745–1821)
8 February 1785
12 September 1786
The Earl Cornwallis[ nb 2] (1738–1805)
12 September 1786
28 October 1793
John Shore (1751–1834)
28 October 1793
18 March 1798
Lt. Gen Alured Clarke (acting) (1744–1832)
18 March 1798
18 May 1798
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley [ nb 3] (1760–1842)
18 May 1798
30 July 1805
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (1738–1805)
30 July 1805
5 October 1805
George Barlow, 1st Baronet (acting) (1762–1847)
10 October 1805
31 July 1807
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Lord Minto (1751–1814)
31 July 1807
4 October 1813
Francis Rawdon-Hastings [ nb 4] (1754–1826)
4 October 1813
9 January 1823
John Adam (acting) (1779–1825)
9 January 1823
1 August 1823
William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst [ nb 5] (1773–1857)
1 August 1823
13 March 1828
William Butterworth Bayley (acting) (1782–1860)
13 March 1828
4 July 1828
Governors-General of India, 1833–1858
Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839)
4 July 1828
20 March 1835
Charles Metcalfe, Baronet (acting) (1785–1846)
20 March 1835
4 March 1836
Repealed 1823 Licensing Regulations
Known as Liberator of India Press
Establishment of Calcutta Public Library (1836) (currently known as National Library of India )
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland [ nb 6] (1784–1849)
4 March 1836
28 February 1842
Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871)
28 February 1842
June 1844
William Wilberforce Bird (acting) (1784–1857)
June 1844
23 July 1844
Henry Hardinge [ nb 7] (1785–1856)
23 July 1844
12 January 1848
James Broun-Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie [ nb 8] (1812–1860)
12 January 1848
28 February 1856
Charles Canning, Viscount Canning [ nb 9] (1812–1862)
28 February 1856
31 October 1858
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 9] (1812–1862)
1 November 1858
21 March 1862
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811–1863)
21 March 1862
20 November 1863
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
Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo (1822–1872)
12 January 1869
8 February 1872
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
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831–1891)
12 April 1876
8 June 1880
George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon (1827–1909)
8 June 1880
13 December 1884
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin (1826–1902)
13 December 1884
10 December 1888
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845–1927)
10 December 1888
21 January 1894
Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917)
21 January 1894[ 19]
6 January 1899
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston [ nb 10] (1859–1925)
6 January 1899
18 November 1905
Appointed by King Edward VII (1901–1910)
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (1845–1914)
18 November 1905
23 November 1910
Appointed by King George V (1910–1936)
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858–1944)
23 November 1910
4 April 1916
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford (1868–1933)
4 April 1916
2 April 1921
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (1860–1935)
2 April 1921
3 April 1926
E. F. L. Wood, Lord Irwin (1881–1959)
3 April 1926
18 April 1931
George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen (acting) (1866–1952)
29 June 1929
11 November 1929
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Earl of Willingdon (1866–1941)
18 April 1931
18 April 1936
Appointed by King Edward VIII (1936)
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (1887–1952)
18 April 1936
1 October 1943
Appointed by King George VI (1936–1947) (as Emperor of India )
Archibald Wavell, Viscount Wavell (1883–1950)
1 October 1943
21 February 1947
Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)
21 February 1947
15 August 1947
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 )
Louis Mountbatten, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma [ nb 11] (1900–1979)
15 August 1947
21 June 1948
First Governor-General of the Union of India
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
Timeline and Tenure
A Timeline of Governors and Governors-General of India
Tenures of Governors and Governors-General of India
See also
Notes
^ Originally joined on 28 April 1772.
^ Earl Cornwallis from 1762; created Marquess Cornwallis (1792).
^ Created Marquess Wellesley (1799).
^ Earl of Moira prior to being created Marquess of Hastings in 1816.
^ Created Earl Amherst in 1826.
^ Created Earl of Auckland in 1839.
^ Created Viscount Hardinge in 1846.
^ Created Marquess of Dalhousie 1849.
^ a b Created Earl Canning 1859.
^ Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill was acting Governor-General in 1904.
^ Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947.
Citations