History: Events Related with Important Governors-General & Viceroys of India

Governors-General & Viceroys

Events During Regime

Warren Hastings (1773-1785)

·       Regulating Act of 1773

·       Pitt’s India Act of 1784

·       The Rohilla War of 1774

·       The First Maratha War in 1775-82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782

·       Second Mysore War in 1780-84

Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793)

·       Third Mysore War (1790-92) and Treaty of Seringapatam (1792)

·       Cornwallis Code (1793)

·       Permanent Settlement of Bengal, 1793

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

·       Introduction of the Subsidiary Alliance System (1798)

·       Fourth Mysore War (1799)

·       Second Maratha War (1803-05)

Lord Minto I (1807-1813)

Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809)

Lord Hastings (1813-1823)

·       Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16) and the Treaty of Sagauli, 1816

·       Third Maratha War (1817-19) and dissolution of Maratha Confederacy

·       Establishment of Ryotwari System (1820)

Lord Amherst (1823-1828)

First Burmese War (1824-1826)

Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)

·       Abolition of Sati System (1829)

·       Charter Act of 1833

Lord Auckland (1836-1842)

First Afghan War (1838-42)

Lord Hardinge I (1844-1848)

·       First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) and the Treaty of Lahore (1846).

·       Social reforms like the abolition of female infanticide

Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)

·       Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)

·       The annexation of Lower Burma (1852)

·       Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse

·       Wood’s Despatch 1854

·       Laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853

·       Laying down of first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane in 1853

·       Establishment of PWD

Lord Canning (1856-1862)

·       Revolt of 1857

·       Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1857

·       Abolition of East India Company and transfer of control to the Crown by the Government of India Act, 1858

·       Indian Councils Act of 1861

Lord John Lawrence (1864-1869)

·       Bhutan War (1865)

·       Establishment of the High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras (1865)

Lord Lytton (1876-1880)

·       The Vernacular Press Act (1878)

·       The Arms Act (1878)

·       The Second Afghan War (1878-80)

·       Queen Victoria assumed the title of ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ or Queen Empress of India

Lord Ripon (1880-1884)

·       Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882)

·       The first Factory Act (1881)

·       Government resolution on local self-government (1882)

·       The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883-84)

·       Hunter Commission on education (1882)

Lord Dufferin (1884-1888)

·       The Third Burmese War (1885-86).

·       Establishment of Indian National Congress (1885)

Lord Lansdowne (1888-1894)

·       Factory Act (1891).

·       Indian Councils Act (1892).

·       Setting up of Durand Commission (1893)

Lord Curzon (1899-1905)

·       Appointment of Police Commission (1902)

·       Appointment of Universities Commission (1902)

·       Indian Universities Act (1904).

·       Partition of Bengal (1905)

Lord Minto II (1905-1910)

·       Swadeshi Movements. (1905-11)

·       Surat Split of Congress (1907)

·       Establishment of Muslim League (1906)

·       Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)

Lord Hardinge II (1910-1916)

·       Annulment of Partition of Bengal (1911)

·       Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911).

·       Establishment of the Hindu Mahasabha (1915)

Lord Chelmsford (1916-1921)

·       Lucknow pact (1916)

·       Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

·       Montagu’s August Declaration (1917) Government of India Act (1919)

·       The Rowlatt Act (1919)

·       Jallianwalla Bagh massacre (1919)

·       Launch of Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements

Lord Reading (1921-1926)

·       Chauri Chaura incident (1922)

·       Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation Movement (1922)

·       Establishment of Swaraj Party (1922)

·       Kakori train robbery (1925)

Lord Irwin (1926-1931)

·       Simon Commission to India (1927)

·       Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission (1927)

·       Nehru Report (1928)

·       Deepavali Declaration (1929)

·       Lahore session of the Congress (Purna Swaraj Resolution) 1929

·       Dandi March and the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930)

·       First Round Table Conference (1930)

·       Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)

Lord Willingdon (1931-1936)

·       Communal Award (1932)

·       Second & Third Round Table Conference (1932)

·       Poona Pact (1932)

·       Government of India Act of 1935

Lord Linlithgow (1936-1944)

·       Resignation of the Congress ministries after the outbreak of the Second World War (1939)

·       Tripuri Crisis & formation of Forward Bloc (1939)

·       Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League (demand for a separate state for Muslims) 1940

·       August Offer (1940)

·       Formation of the Indian National Army (1941)

·       Cripps Mission (1942)

·       Quit India Movement (1942)

Lord Wavell (1944-1947)

·       C. Rajagopalachari’s CR Formula (1944)

·       Wavell Plan and the Shimla Conference (1942)

·       Cabinet Mission (1946)

·       Direct Action Day (1946)

·       Announcement of end of British rule in India by Clement Attlee (1947)

Lord Mountbatten (1947-1948)

·       June Third Plan (1947)

·       Redcliff commission (1947)

·       India’s Independence (15 August 1947)

Chakravarty Rajagopalachari (1948-1950)

Last Governor-General of India, before the office, was permanently abolished in 1950