Governor General of India

The Governor-General was the supreme post in India during the British era. Before the Governor-General’s post, there was a post of Governor of Bengal (1757 – 74) and then Governor-General of Bengal (1774 – 1833). The post of governor-general of India started in 1833.

From 1858, The governors-general were also named the Viceroy of India. After the revolt of 1857, The British government took the administration of India from the East India Company and the title of “Viceroy” was given to the Governor-General. The administration of India had directly come under the British Government after 1858 that’s why the word viceroy was used which meant a representative of the British monarchy government.

Here is the chronological order of the posts;
  • Governor of Bengal (1757 – 74)
  • Governor-General of Bengal (1774 – 1833)
  • Governor-General of India (1833 – 58)
  • Governor-General and viceroy (1858 – 1947)
  • Governor-General of Independent India (1947 to 1950)

 

The list of the Governors and the Governor – Generals are as follows;

Governors of Bengal (1757 – 74)
  1. Robert Clive (1757 – 60 & 1765 – 67)
  2. Vansittart (1760 – 65)
  3. Cartier (1769 – 72)
  4. Warren Hastings (1772 – 74)
Governor Generals of Bengal (1774 – 1833)
  1. Warren Hastings (1774 – 85)
  2. Lord Cornwallis (1786 – 93)
  3. Sir John Shore (1793 – 98)
  4. Lord Wellesley (1798 – 1805)
  5. George below (1805 – 1807)
  6. Lord Minto 1 (1807 – 1813)
  7. Lord Hastings (1813 – 1823)
  8. Lord Amherst (1823 – 28)
  9. Lord William Bentinck (1828 – 33)
Governor Generals of India (1833 – 58)
  1. Lord William Bentinck (1833 – 35)
  2. Sir Charles Metcalfe (1834 – 36)
  3. Lord Auckland (1836 – 42)
  4. Lord Ellenborough (1842 – 44)
  5. Lord Headings 1 (1844 – 48)
  6. Lord Dalhousie (1848 – 56)
  7. Lord Canning (1856 – 58)
Governor Generals and viceroys (1858 – 1947)
  1. Lord Canning (1858 – 62)
  2. Lord Elgin 1 (1862 – 63)
  3. Sir John Lawrence (1864 – 69)
  4. Lord Mayo (1869 – 72)
  5. Lord Northbrook (1872 – 76)
  6. Lord Lytton (1876 – 80)
  7. Lord Ripon (1880 – 84)
  8. Lord Dufferin (1884 – 88)
  9. Lord Lansdowne (1888 – 94)
  10. Lord Ellign 2 (1894 – 99)
  11. Lord Curzon (1899 – 1905)
  12. Lord Minto 2 (1905 – 1910)
  13. Lord Hardinge (1910 – 1916)
  14. Lord Chelmsford (1916 – 21)
  15. Lord Reading (1921 – 26)
  16. Lord Irwin (1926 – 31)
  17. Lord Willingdon (1931 – 36)
  18. Lord Linlithgow (1936 – 43)
  19. Lord Wavell (1943 – 47)
  20. Lord Mountbatten (March-August 1947)

After independence (i.e. 1947) the term viceroy ended because the administration of the country was no more under British Monarchy

Governor Generals of Independent India (1947 to 1950)
  1. Lord Mountbatten (1947 – 48)
  2. C. Rajgopalchari (June 1948 to January 1950)

 

Important questions for the government exams;

Q1. Who was the first Governor-General of India?

Ans: Lord William Bentinck. He became the Governor-General of India in 1833.

 

Q2. Who was the first Governor-General of independent India?

Ans: Lord Mountbatten was the first Governor-General of independent India

 

Q3. Who was the last Governor-General of India?

Ans: C. Rajgopalchari was the last Governor-General of India. He was the only Indian who became the Governor-General of India. He remained the Governor-General till January 1950. The post of Governor-General was terminated in 1950 and hence C. Rajgopalchari was the last Governor-General of India.

 

Q4. Who was the first Governor-General of Bengal?

Ans: Warren Hastings

 

Q5. Who was the first Indian Governor-General of free India?

Ans: C. Rajgopalchari

 

Q6. Who was the first Governor-General of British India?

Ans: Lord William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India.

 

Q7. Who was the first Governor-General of free India?

Ans: Lord Mountbatten was the first Governor-General of free India.

 

Q8. Who was the Governor-General of India during the revolt of 1857?

Ans: Lord Canning

 

Q9. Which Governor-General abolished Sati Pratha in India?

Ans: Lord William Bentick

 

Q10. Which Governor-General introduced the subsidiary alliance?

Ans: Lord Wellesley

 

Q11. Which Governor-General is known as the liberator of the press?

Ans: Lord Ripon

 

Important questions for UPSC/PCS Exams related to Governor – Generals of India;

 

Q1. Consider the following statements;

  1. Robert Clive was the first Governor-General of Bengal
  2. William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(UPSC Pre-2007)

  1. One only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

 

Q2. At the time of the establishment of Asiatic society in Calcutta, who was the Governor-General of Bengal?

(UPPSC – RI 2014)

  1. Lord Cornwallis
  2. Lord Warren Hastings
  3. Lord Wellesley
  4. Lord Bentinck

Ans. 2

The Asiatic Society was established on 15th January 1784 in Calcutta and Lord Warren Hastings was the Governor-General of Bengal at that time

 

Q3. Which Governor-General was prosecuted for impeachment?

(MPPCS-Pre 1992)

  1. Warren Hastings
  2. Lord Clive
  3. Lord Cornwallis
  4. lord Wellesley

Ans. 1

Warren Hastings was charged for unjust and arbitrary functions but the British parliament dropped all the charges considering his services it is believed that Warren Hastings had don lots of corruption during his service in India

 

Q4. Who established the judicial organization in India?

(UPPCS Pre-1991)

  1. Lord Mayo
  2. Lord Cornwallis
  3. Lord Attlee
  4. Lord Curzon

Ans. 2

Lord Cornwallis was the one who introduced the criminal and judicial organization in India for the first time

 

Q5. The first Maratha Sardar to accept the subsidiary Alliance of Lord Wellesley was

(BPSC Pre-1996)

  1. Peshwa Bajirao 2
  2. Raghuji Bhosale
  3. Daulat Rao Scindia
  4. None of the above

Ans. 1

The subsidiary Alliance system was introduced by Lord Wellesley and Peshwa Bajirao 2 was the first Maratha Sardar to accept the subsidiary alliance system.

However, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the first person or ruler to sign the subsidiary alliance in India. The Nawab of Awadh was the second ruler to accept the subsidiary alliance in India.

 

Q6. Subsidiary Alliance was implemented during the reign of?

(UPPCS Mains 2011)

  1. Lord Cornwallis
  2. Lord Wellesley
  3. Sir John shore
  4. Lord Auckland

Ans. 2

 

Q7. Who was the first Indian native ruler to accept the system of subsidiary Alliance?

(Chhattisgarh PCS pre-2013)

  1. Sindhiya of Gwalior
  2. Nizam of Hyderabad
  3. Duleep Singh of Punjab
  4. Gaikwad of Baroda
  5. Bhonsle of Nagpur

Ans. 2

The Nizam of Hyderabad was the first Indian ruler who accepted the system of subsidiary alliance in India.

 

Q8. Who introduced the subsidiary Alliance system in the administration to establish British power over the Indian states?

(UPPCS mains 2016)

  1. Warren Hastings
  2. Lord Wellesley
  3. Lord Cornwallis
  4. Lord Dalhousie

Ans. 2

The system of subsidiary Alliance was introduced in India by Lord Wellesley. He was the Governor-General of India from 1798 to 1805. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the first Indian ruler to accept the system of subsidiary alliance.

 

Q9. The revolt of Vellore occur during the regime of which governor?

(Chhattisgarh PCS Pre-2016)

  1. Lord Wellesley
  2. Lord Minto
  3. Lord Cornwallis
  4. Sir George Barlow
  5. None of these

Ans. 4

Due to the interference in the social and religious practices of sepoys the Vellore mutiny happened in 1806 this revolt occurred at the time of sir George Barlow.

Sir George Barlow was the Governor-General of India from 1805 to 1807

 

Q10. Under whose leadership was the separation of thugs achieved?

(BPSC Pre-2019)

  1. Lord Clive
  2. Captain Sleeman
  3. Lord Minto
  4. Alexander Burnes
  5. None of the above/more than one of the above

Ans. 2

 

Q11. The tomb of Lord Cornwallis is situated at?

(UPPCS Mains 2017)

  1. Ghazipur
  2. Ballia
  3. Varanasi
  4. Gorakhpur

Ans. 1

Lord Cornwallis died on the 5th of October 1805 at Ghazipur hence his tomb is situated at Ghazipur. Lord Cornwallis was the Governor-General of Bengal during the period of 1786 to 1793. He was famous for the permanent settlement, judicial code, and covenanted civil service of India

 

Q12. On the basis of alleged maladministration which Governor-General had taken the administration of Mysore state?

(UPPCS Pre-2003)

  1. Lord Wellesley
  2. Lord Hastings
  3. Lord William Bentinck
  4. Lord Harding

Ans. 3

Lord William Bentinck annexed Mysore in 1831. Lord William Bentinck is also famous for his efforts to abolish the Sati system, infanticide, and other bad social practices.