Governors-General of India
Governors-General and Viceroys of India

1600, Dec 31 East India Company was given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East Indies
1608 The Company's ships arrived at the port of Surat
1615 Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I, and gained for the British the right to establish a factory at Surat.
1668 The East India Company received Bombay 
1717 EIC received a firman exempting the Company from the payment of custom duties in Bengal
1756 - 1763 Seven Years War,    Conquest of India.    (regiments.org)
1756 Black Hole of Calcutta
1757 Robert Clive, defeated the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daulah , at the   Battle of Plassey
1767 - 1799 Mysore Wars, 1st 1757 - 1771, Oudh Campaign, 1775, 2nd Mysore War, 1780 - 1781, 3rd, 1782 - 1783, 4th, 1789 - 1792 and 5th 1799.    (regiments.org)
1773 Lord North's India Bill, known as the Regulating Act of 1773, provided for greater parliamentary control over the affairs of the Company and placed India under the rule of a Governor-General
1774, and 1794 Rohilla Wars.    (regiments.org)
1776 to 1818 Mahratta Wars.    (regiments.org)
1858, Mar 29 the last   Mughal ruler   is deposed
1858, Aug 2 U.K. Act of Parliament annexes the Empire, creating British India    (effective 1858, Nov 1)
1876, Apr 28 by U.K. proclamation, the Queen takes the style "Empress of India"    (proclaimed in India 1 Jan 1877)
1947, Aug 15 British India, together with acceded states, is partitioned into Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan)

 

Governors-General of the British East India Company

Governors-General of Fort William in Bengal, (Regulating Act of 1773)
Term Name birth - death
1774, Oct 20 - 1785, Feb 1 Warren Hastings 1732 - 1818
1785, Feb 1 - 1786, Sep 12 Sir John Macpherson,   (acting) 1745 - 1821
1786, Sep 12 - 1793, Oct 28 Charles Cornwallis,    Earl Cornwallis 1738 - 1805
1793, Oct 28 - 1798, Mar Sir John Shore,    Lord Teignmouth 1751 - 1834
1798, Mar - 1798, May 18 Sir Alured Clarke,   (acting) 1745 - 1832
1798, May 18 - 1805, Jul 30 Richard Colley Wellesley,    Marquess Wellesley 1760 - 1842
1805, Jul 30 - 1805, Oct 5 Charles Cornwallis,    Marquess Cornwallis 1738 - 1805
1805, Oct 10 - 1807, Jul 31 Sir George Hilario Barlow,   (acting) 1763 - 1846
1807, Jul 31 - 1813, Oct 4 Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound,    Baron Minto 1751 - 1814
1813, Oct 4 - 1823, Jan 9 Francis Rawdon-Hastings,    Marquess of Hastings) 1754 - 1826
1823, Jan 9 - 1823, Aug 1 John Adam,   (acting) 1779 - 1825
1823, Aug 1 - 1828, Mar 13 William Pitt Amherst,    Earl Amherst) 1773 - 1857
1828, Mar 13 - 1828, Jul 4 William Butterworth Bayley,   (acting) 1782 - 1860
1828, Jul 4 - 1833 William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck,    Lord Bentinck 1774 - 1839

 

Governors-General of India, Charter Act of 1833)
Term Name birth - death
1833 - 1835, Mar 20 William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck,    Lord Bentinck 1774 - 1839
1835, Mar 20 - 1836, Mar 4 Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe,   (acting) 1785 - 1846
1836, Mar 4 - 1842, Feb 28 George Eden,    Earl of Auckland 1784 - 1849
1842, Feb 28 - 1844, Jun Edward Law,    Baron Ellenborough 1790 - 1871
1844, Jun - 1844, Jul 23 William Wilberforce Bird,   (acting) **** - ****
1844, Jul 23 - 1848, Jan 12 Henry Hardinge,    Viscount Hardinge 1785 - 1856
1848, Jan 12 - 1856, Feb 28 James Andrew Broun Ramsay,    Earl of Dalhousie 1812 - 1860
1856, Feb 28 - 1858, Nov 1 Charles John Canning,    Viscount Canning
(on Nov 1 1858 he became the first Viceroy of British India)
1812 -1862

 

Viceroys

The period 1858 to 1947 was when India was informally known as the British Raj
Term Name birth - death
1858, Nov 1 - 1862, Mar 21 Charles John Canning,    Viscount Canning 1812 - 1862
1862, Mar 21 - 1863, Nov 20 James Bruce,    Earl of Elgin,    1811 - 1863
1863, Nov 23 - 1863, Dec 2 Sir Robert Cornelis Napier,   (acting) 1810 - 1890
1863, Dec 2 - 1864, Jan 12 Sir William Thomas Denison,   (acting) 1804 - 1871
1864, Jan 12 - 1869, Jan 12 Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence,    1811 - 1879
1869, Jan 12 - 1872, Feb 8 Richard Southwell Bourke,   Earl of Mayo 1822 - 1872
1872, Feb 9 - 1872, Feb 23 Sir John Strachey,   (acting) 1823 - 1907
1872, Feb 24 - 1872, May 3 Francis Napier,    Baron of Ettrick,   (acting) 1819 - 1898
1872, May 3 - 1876, Apr 12 Thomas George Baring,    Viscount Baring of Lee,    1826 - 1904
1876, Apr 12 - 1880, Jun 8 Robert Bulwer-Lytton,    Baron Lytton,    1831 - 1891
1880, Jun 8 - 1884, Dec 13 George Frederick Samuel Robinson,    Marquess of Ripon 1827 - 1909
1884, Dec 13 - 1888, Dec 10 Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood,    Earl of Dufferin,    1826 - 1902
1888, Dec 10 - 1894, Oct 11 Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,    Marquess of Lansdowne 1845 - 1927
1894, Oct 11 - 1899, Jan 6 Victor Alexander Bruce,    Earl of Elgin 1849 - 1917
1899, Jan 6 - 1905, Nov 18 George Nathaniel Curzon
1859 - 1925
1910, Nov 23 - 1916, Apr 4 Charles Hardinge,    Baron Hardinge of Penhurst,    1858 - 1944
1916, Apr 4 - 1921, Apr 2 Frederic John Napier Thesiger,    Baron Chelmsford,    1868 - 1933
1921, Apr 2 - 1925, Apr 10 Rufus Daniel Isaacs,    Baron Reading of Erleigh,    1860 - 1935
1925, Apr 10 - 1926, Apr 3 Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer-Lytton,    Earl of Lytton,   (acting) 1876 - 1947
1926, Apr 3 - 1929, Jun 29 Edward Frederick Lindley Wood,    Baron Irwin,    1881 - 1959
1929, Jun 29 - 1931, Apr 18 George Joachim Goschen,    Viscount Goschen of Hawkhurst,    1866 - 1952
1931, Apr 18 - 1936, Apr 18 George Freeman Freeman-Thomas,    Earl of Willingdon,    1866 - 1941
1936, Apr 18 - 1943, Oct 1 Victor Alexander John Hope,    Marquess of Linlithgow,    1887 - 1952
1943, Oct 1 - 1947, Feb 21 Archibald Percival Wavell,    Viscount Wavell,    1883 - 1950
1947, Feb 21 - 1947, Aug 15 Louis Francis Mountbatten,    Earl Mountbatten of Burma,    1900 - 1979

 

INDIA Mailing Lists


INDIA-L

Topic: A mailing list for anyone who is interested in tracing their British and European Ancestors in British India.    Additional information can be found on the   Family History in India   web site.

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INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-L

Topic: The British Raj is an informal term for the period of British rule of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (previously known as Ceylon).   It lasted from 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown, until 1947, when the independence of British India was granted and Pakistan was formed.   From 1886 to 1937 it included Burma.

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Last update: January 2, 2005