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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.
Governor-general (lifespan)Term Of OfficeTerm Of OfficeWarren Hastings (1732–1818)20 October 1773 [nb 1]8 February 1785John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (acting) ...8 February 178512 September 1786The Earl Cornwallis [nb 2] (1738–1805)12 September 178628 October 1793John Shore (1751–1834)28 October 179318 March 1798- Overview
- Early life
- Governorship of Bengal
- Political rivalries
Warren Hastings (born December 6, 1732, Churchill, near Daylesford, Oxfordshire, England—died August 22, 1818, Daylesford) the first and most famous of the British governors-general of India, who dominated Indian affairs from 1772 to 1785 and was impeached (though acquitted) on his return to England.
The son of a clergyman of the Church of England, Hastings was abandoned by his father at an early age. He was brought up by an uncle, who gave him what was probably the best education then available for a boy of his inclinations, at Westminster School in London. Hastings showed great promise as a schoolboy and seems at Westminster to have acquired the literary and scholarly tastes that were later to give him a serious interest in Indian culture and civilization. His school days were, however, cut short by his uncle’s death in 1749. He was then taken away from school and granted a writership (as the junior appointments in the East India Company were called), and in 1750, at age 17, he sailed for Bengal.
In 1750 British contact with India was still the monopoly of the East India Company, which was engaged in buying and selling goods at small settlements in Indian ports. As one of the company’s servants, for the early part of his career Hastings was employed in the company’s commercial business. But after 1756 the outlook for both the company and its servants was radically altered. The company became involved in hostilities in India both with the French and with Indian rulers, and under Robert Clive its army was able to depose the nawab, or Indian governor, of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Although the company did not at this stage intend to set itself up as the actual ruler of the province, it was now so powerful that the new nawabs became its satellites. Thus, the servants, including Hastings, began to be drawn more and more into Indian politics. Hastings served as the company’s representative at the court of the nawabs of Bengal from 1758 to 1761 and then on the company’s Council, the controlling body for its affairs in Bengal, from 1761 to 1764. His career was cut short, however, by bitter disputes within the Council. Finding himself in a minority, Hastings resigned from the company’s service and returned to England in 1765.
Short of money, Hastings sought service in India again. In 1769 he was appointed second in Council in Madras. Two years later he received his great opportunity when he was sent back to Bengal as governor in charge of the company’s affairs there. Since he had last been in Bengal, the disintegration and demoralization of the normal Indian government ...
Hastings’s period of undisputed power in Bengal came to an end in 1774 with changes in the company’s government. He acquired the new title of governor-general and new responsibilities for supervising other British settlements in India, but these powers had now to be shared with a Supreme Council of four others, three of whom were new to India. The ...
4 hours ago · Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Fort William from 1773 to 1785. Lord William Bentinck, the first governor general of India from 1834 – 1835. Many parts of the Indian subcontinent were governed by the British East India Company (founded in 1600), which nominally acted as the agent of the Mughal emperor.
Oct 12, 2022 · Definition. Warren Hastings (1732-1818) was appointed the Governor of Bengal by the British East India Company (EIC) in 1772 and became its first Governor-General in India from 1774 to 1785. Under his tenure, the EIC ruthlessly expanded its territory both in terms of conquest and through treaties of alliance with Indian princely states.
- Mark Cartwright
- Warren Hastings is famous for being the first Governor-General of the East India Company, appointed in 1774. He was infamously impeached by Parliam...
- Warren Hastings attempted to reduce corruption in the East India Company (EIC) and allow Indians to rule themselves under the company's suzerainty,...
- Warren Hastings left India in 1785, and he then faced impeachment by Parliament on charges of corruption, charges for which he was ultimately acqui...
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.
The Charter Act of 1833 made the Governor-General of Bengal the Governor-General of British India. And, William Bentick was the first Governor-General of British India. More such information on different Viceroys and the Governor-General of India along with the major reforms they brought is given below in the form of a list.
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Warren Hastings. Warren Hastings (December 6, 1732 - August 22, 1818) was the first and most well-known governor-general of British India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously impeached in 1787 for corruption, and acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councilor in 1814. His contributions to establishing the British empire in India are noteworthy ...
