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21st Mar 2022
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With almost absolute power the Governor-General and viceroy played a significant role in the shaping history of the country. Following are some of these important figures and significant events and major reforms carried out by them.
Governor Generals of Bengal/India (Period)
Important events/Reforms Warren Hastings
(1773-1785)
- Regulating Act of 1773.
- First Governor-General of Bengal.
- End of the dual system of administration (1765-1772).
- Supreme Court at Calcutta.
- Wrote Introduction to the first English translation of Gita.
- Founded Madarasa Aliya at Calcutta.
Lord Cornwallis
(1786-1793)
- Separation of three branches of service: commercial, judicial and revenue.
- Permanent Land Revenue Settlement of Bengal-1793.
- Reformed, modernised and rationalised the civil service.
- Introduced the Cornwallis Code.
- Sanskrit College, Varanasi.
Lord Wellesley
(1797-1805)
- Introduction of Subsidiary Alliance System.
- Fourth Anglo-Mysore war.
- Fort William College, Calcutta.
Lord Hastings
(1813-1823)
- Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16)
- Third Anglo-Maratha War-(1817-19) and dissolution of Maratha confederacy.
- Introduction of Ryotwari System of Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras-1820.
Lord William Bentinck
(1828-1835)
- Charter Act of 1833.
- Abolition of Sati-1829.
- Resolution of 1835 and Education reforms and introduction of English as the official language.
- The annexation of Mysore-1831, Coorg, and Central Cachar-1831.
Lord Dalhousie
(1848-1856)
- Introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse and annexations of Satara-1848, Jaitpur and Sambhalpur-1849, Udaipur-1852, Jhansi-1853, Nagpur-1854 and Awadh-1856.
- Wood’s Dispatch of 1854.
- Railway Minute of 1853.
- Telegraph and Postal reforms.
- Widow Remarriage Act-1856.
Lord Canning
(1856-1857)
- Establishment of universities at Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
- Mutiny of 1857.
Governor-General and Viceroy of India (Period) Important events/Reforms Lord Canning (1858-1862)
- First Voiceroy of India.
- Transfer of control from East India Company to the Crown by the Government of India Act 1858
- Indian Councils Act-1861
Lord Mayo
(1869-1872)
- Opening of Rajkot College in Kathiawad and Mayo College at Ajmer for political training of Indian Princes.
- Statistical Survey of India was established.
- Department of Agriculture and Commerce was established.
- Introduction of state railways.
Lord Lytton
(1876-1880)
- The Great Famine of 1876 affecting Bombay, Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, Central India and Punjab.
- Appointment of Famine Commission under the presidency of Richard Strachey.
- Vernacular Press Act was passed- 1878.
- The Arms Act-1878.
Lord Ripon
(1880-1884)
- Education Commission 1882 under William Hunter-1882.
- Ilbert Bill controversy.
- Repeal of Vernacular Press Act in 1882.
- The First Factory Act in 1881 to improve labour conditions.
- Government resolution on local self government-1882.
Lord Dufferin
(1884-1888)
- Establishment of Indian National Congress.
Lord Lansdowne
(1888-1894)
- The categorisation of civil services into imperial, provincial and subordinate.
- Indian Councils Act-1892
- Durand Commission (1893) was set up to define the Durand Line between India and Afghanistan.
Lord Curzon
(1899-1905)
- Police Commission (1902) was appointed under Sir Andrew Frazer.
- University Commission (1902) was appointed and Universities Act (1904) was passed.
- Department of Commerce and Industry was established.
- Calcutta Corporation Act-1899
- Partition of Bengal (1905).
Lord Minto-II
(1905-1910)
- Popularisation of anti-partition and Swadeshi Movements.
- Split in Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907.
- Indian Muslim League was established by Aga Khan (1907)
- Morley-Minto reforms or Indian Councils Act 1909.
Lord Hardinge-II
(1910-1916)
- Transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi (1911).
- Establishment of Hindu Mahasabha (1915) by Madan Mohan Malviya.
Lord Chelmsford (1916-1921)
- Home Rule League was formed by Annie Besant and Tilak (1916)
- Lucknow session of Congress (1916).
- Lucknow Pact between Congress and Muslim League (1916).
- Champaran Satyagraha (1918), and Satyagraha at Ahmadabad (1918).
- Montague’s August Declaration.
- Government of Indian Act- 1919
- Jallianwalla Bagh massacre (1919).
- Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements were launched.
- Foundation of Women’s University at Poona (1916) and Saddler’s Commission was appointed for reforms in educational policy.
- Appointment of S. P. Sinha as governor of Bihar first Indian to do so.
Lord Reading
(1921-1926)
- The Chaura-Chauri Incident-Feb5, 1922 and withdrawal of Non-Cooperation movement.
- Moplah rebellion in Kerala (1921).
- Repeal of the Press Act of 1910 and Rowlatt Act of 1919.
- Kakori train robbery (1925)
- Establishment of Swaraj Party (1922).
- The decision to hold a simultaneous examination for ICS in Delhi and London with effect from 1923.
Lord Irwin
(1926-1931)
- Simon Commission-1928
- Appointment of the Harcourt Butler Indian States Commission (1927)
- Murder of Saunders and Bomb blast in the Assembly Hall of Delhi-1929
- Lahore session of Congress 1929 and Purna Swaraj Resolution.
- Dandi March (12 March, 1929) and launch of Civil Disobedience Movement.
Lord Willingdon
(1931-1936)
- Second Round Table Conference and failure of the conference, resumption of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- Announcement of the Communal Award (1932).
- Poona Pact (1932)
- Third Round Table Conference 1932.
- The Government of India Act, 1935.
- Establishment of All India Kisan Sabha 1936.
- Establishment of Congress Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan (1934)
Lord Linlithgow
(1936-1944)
- First general elections were held and Congress attained absolute majority (1936-1937).
- Congress ministers resigned (1937) after the outbreak of WW-II
- Subhash Chandra Bose elected as the president of Congress-1938.
- Lahore Resolution by Muslim League for the demand of separate state for Muslims.
- August Offer by the viceroy-1940.
- Cripp’s Mission to India
- Passing of the Quit India Resolution by Congress-1942
Lord Wavell
(1944-1947)
- C Rajgopalachari’s CR Formula (1944) and Gandhi-Jinnah Talks failed.
- Wavell Plan and the Shimla Conference (1942)
- Cabinet Mission and Congress accepted its plan 1946
- Observance of the ‘Direct Action Day’ (16 August 1946) by the Muslim League.
- Elections to the Constituent Assembly and formation of Interim Government by the Congress (September 1946).
- Announcement of the end of British rule in India by Clement Attlee on February 20, 1946
Lord Mountbatten
(1947-48)
- June Third Plan (June 3, 1947) announced.
- Introduction of Indian Independence Bill in the House of Commons.
- Appointment of two boundary commissions under Sir Cyril Radcliff for the partition of Bengal and Punjab.
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