In 1600 Queen Elizabeth-I sent a troop to India named East India Company(EIC), and in 1765 they won the Battle of Buxar against the Shah Alam emperor, who gave them Diwani or permission to rule over. At this time, Britishers were trying hard to root themselves in India thus, for the same, they used their greatest artillery and armor, The Centralised British Body, which was made through a reporting head called ‘Governor General.’
Till 1833 Governor-General of Bengal, Warren Hastings was the supreme authority of all other state's governor general, but with William Bentinck first Governor General of India was introduced; later, in 1858, under the Government of India Act, the Governor General of India post name was changed to Viceroy of India.
What was the authority of the Governors-General or Viceroy?
Governor General or Viceroy was the supreme face of British administration in the dominion country; the post was mainly created for administrative purposes, the monarch provided executive powers to the Governor General, and most of the powers were centralized within the dominion.
Difference between Governors- general and Viceroy
A common phrase is used for Great Britain, i.e., ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’ because it had many territories; once, when the British sent its troop to the west to form its colony, the troop backstabbed them and continued their life as the west people. Therefore, the British crown decided to increase the answerability of troops to direct the British crown. Thus, EIC and governor-general posts dissolved, and British crown rule started so did Viceroys regime Both of these posts headed the state during the British rule with a subtle difference as below:-
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Governor general post was created by Regulating act of 1833 and was recruited by the court of Directors of East India Company, whereas the viceroy post was created by the Government of India in 1858 and was directly controlled by the British government under the advice of the parliament.
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India was a colony in the name of the parliament of Great Britain during the governor general regime, and during Viceroy, it was in the name of the British Crown
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Governor General rule was from 1833 to 1858, later with the first war of independence, the post was dissolved, and then came Viceroy of India from 1858 to 1948
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List of Governors-General or Viceroy In India
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Governors General or viceroys
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Duration
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Acts and work done by them
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Warren Hastings
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1773-1785
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Regulating Act of 1773 – centralized functioning, the supreme court was introduced
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Amending act of 1781
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Pitts India act 1784 – dual government system
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Lord Cornwallis
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1786-1793
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Lord Wellesley
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1798-1805
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Lord Minto
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1807-1813
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Lord Hastings
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1813-1823
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Lord Amherst
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1823-1828
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Lord William Bentinck
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1828-1835
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Lord Auckland
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1836-1842
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Lord Hardinge
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1844-1848
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Lord Dalhousie
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1848-1856
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Lord Canning
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1856-1862
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The first war of independence 1858
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Government of India act 1858 - Dissolution of EIC and crown rule started
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India council act 1861 –decentralization started
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Lord John Lawrence
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1864-1869
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Lord Lytton
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1876-1880
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Lord Ripon
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1880-1884
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Lord Dufferin
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1884-1888
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Lord Lansdowne
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1888-1894
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Lord Curzon
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1899-1905
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Lord Minto II
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1905-191O
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Lord HardingeII
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1910-1916
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Lord Chelmsford
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1916-1921
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Lord Reading
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1921-1926
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Lord Irwin
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1926-1931
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Lord Willingdon
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1931-1936
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Lord Linlithgow
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1936-1944
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Cripps mission 1942
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Quit India moment 1942
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Lord Wavell
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1944-1947
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Lord Mountbatten
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1947-1948
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Chakravarti Rajagopala
Chari
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1948-1950
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