British Administration in India (1772–1947) – Complete Notes for SSC, Railway, UPSC

These notes summarize the important Governors-General, Viceroys, Acts, Reforms, Wars, and Events mentioned in your notebook.

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Bengal Governors (1772–1833)

Lord Clive (1765–67)

• Introduced Dual Government in Bengal.
• Received the title of "Sabat Jung".
• During his period:
  • First Anglo-Mysore War preparations began.
  • Great Bengal Famine (1770) occurred.

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Warren Hastings (1772–1785)

Important Works

• First Governor-General of Bengal.
• Abolished Dual Government in Bengal.
• Established Board of Revenue (1772).
• Shifted treasury from Murshidabad to Calcutta.
• Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 (by Sir William Jones).

Important Events

• Regulating Act (1773)
• First Rohilla War (1774)
• First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82)
• Pitt's India Act (1784)

Important Fact

• Called the "Father of Civil Service in India".

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Lord Cornwallis (1786–1793)

Important Reforms

• Introduced Permanent Settlement (1793).
• Introduced Civil Service and Police Reforms.
• Separated Judiciary from Revenue Administration.

Important Fact

• Known as the "Father of Civil Services" and "Father of Police Administration" in India.

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Sir John Shore (1793–1798)

• Followed Non-Intervention Policy.
• Believed Zamindars were the real owners of land.

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Lord Wellesley (1798–1805)

Major Achievement

• Introduced Subsidiary Alliance System.

States that accepted Subsidiary Alliance

• Hyderabad (1798)
• Mysore (1799)
• Tanjore (1799)
• Awadh (1801)
• Peshwa (1802)
• Scindia (1803)

Other Events

• Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)
• Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05)
• Established Fort William College (1800)

Important Fact

• Known as the "Tiger of Bengal".

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Lord Cornwallis (Second Time, 1805)

• Returned briefly as Governor-General.
• Died shortly after arrival.

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Lord Minto I (1807–1813)

Important Events

• Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
• Charter Act of 1813 passed.

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Lord Hastings (1813–1823)

Important Events

• Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16)
• Treaty of Sugauli (1816)
• End of Maratha Confederacy (1818)

Other Reforms

• Introduced Ryotwari arrangements in some areas.
• Bengal Tenancy-related reforms.

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Lord Amherst (1823–1828)

Important Events

• First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26)
• Barrackpore Mutiny (1824)

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Governor-General of India (1833–1858)

Lord William Bentinck (1828–1835)

Major Reforms

• First Governor-General of India.
• Abolished Sati System (1829).
• Suppressed Female Infanticide.
• Encouraged English Education.

Important Fact

• Known as the "Father of Modern Western Education in India".

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Sir Charles Metcalfe (1835–1836)

• Liberated Indian Press.
• Known as the "Liberator of the Indian Press".

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Lord Auckland (1836–1842)

Important Event

• First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42).

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Lord Ellenborough (1842–1844)

Important Events

• Annexation of Sindh (1843).
• Ended slavery through Act V of 1843.

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Lord Hardinge I (1844–1848)

Important Events

• First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46).
• Treaty of Lahore.

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Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856)

Major Policies

• Doctrine of Lapse.

Annexed States

• Satara (1848)
• Jaitpur (1849)
• Sambalpur (1849)
• Udaipur (1852)
• Jhansi (1853)
• Nagpur (1854)

Major Developments

• First Railway:
  • Bombay to Thane (1853)
• First Telegraph Line:
  • Calcutta to Agra
• Wood's Dispatch (1854)
• Post Office Act (1854)
• Public Works Department established.
• Ganga Canal opened.
• Grand Trunk Road expanded.

Important Events

• Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49)
• Widow Remarriage Act (1856)

Important Fact

• Called the "Maker of Modern India".

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Viceroys of India (1858–1947)

Lord Canning (1856–1862)

Important Events

• Revolt of 1857.
• Government of India Act, 1858.
• End of East India Company rule.

Other Events

• Universities established at:
  • Calcutta
  • Bombay
  • Madras
• Indian Penal Code (1860).
• Indian Councils Act (1861).

Important Fact

• First Viceroy of India.

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Lord Elgin I (1862–1863)

• Wahabi Movement intensified.

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Sir John Lawrence (1864–1869)

Important Events

• Bhutan War (1865).
• First Submarine Telegraph Service between India and Europe.
• Punjab Tenancy reforms.

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Lord Mayo (1869–1872)

Important Events

• Financial decentralization introduced.
• First Census attempt (1872).
• Mayo College established.

Important Fact

• Assassinated in Andaman Islands (1872).

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Lord Northbrook (1872–1876)

Important Events

• Bihar Famine (1873–74).
• Foundation of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later Aligarh Muslim University).

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Lord Lytton (1876–1880)

Important Events

• Delhi Durbar (1877).
• Queen Victoria declared Empress of India.
• Vernacular Press Act (1878).
• Arms Act (1878).

Important Fact

• Known as the "Viceroy of Famine".

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Lord Ripon (1880–1884)

Important Reforms

• Repealed Vernacular Press Act.
• First Factory Act (1881).
• Local Self-Government introduced.
• Hunter Commission (1882).

Important Event

• Ilbert Bill Controversy (1883).

Important Fact

• Called the "Father of Local Self-Government".

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Lord Dufferin (1884–1888)

Important Events

• Third Anglo-Burmese War.
• Bengal Tenancy Act (1885).
• Indian National Congress founded (1885).

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Lord Lansdowne (1888–1894)

Important Events

• Second Factory Act (1891).
• Indian Councils Act (1892).
• Durand Line demarcated.

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Lord Elgin II (1894–1899)

Important Events

• Severe famine and plague.
• Famine Commission formed.

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Lord Curzon (1899–1905)

Major Reforms

• Indian Universities Act (1904).
• Cooperative Credit Societies Act (1904).
• Archaeological Survey strengthened.

Important Events

• Partition of Bengal (1905).
• Police Commission formed.

Important Fact

• Youngest Viceroy of India.

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Lord Minto II (1905–1910)

Important Events

• Muslim League founded (1906).
• Surat Split (1907).
• Morley-Minto Reforms (1909).

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Lord Hardinge II (1910–1916)

Important Events

• King George V visited India (1911).
• Delhi Durbar (1911).
• Capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi (1911).
• Partition of Bengal annulled (1911).

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Lord Chelmsford (1916–1921)

Important Events

• Home Rule Movement.
• Champaran Satyagraha (1917).
• Kheda Satyagraha (1918).
• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
• Government of India Act (1919).
• Rowlatt Act (1919).
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919).
• Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement started.

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Lord Reading (1921–1926)

Important Events

• Railway Budget separated from General Budget.
• Public Service Commission established (1926).
• Civil Services Examination held in India.

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Lord Irwin (1926–1931)

Important Events

• Simon Commission (1928).
• Lahore Session (1929).
• Complete Independence Resolution.
• Dandi March (1930).
• First Round Table Conference.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931).

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Lord Willingdon (1931–1936)

Important Events

• Second Round Table Conference.
• Communal Award (1932).
• Poona Pact (1932).
• Indian Military Academy established (1932).
• Government of India Act passed (1935).

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Lord Linlithgow (1936–1944)

Important Events

• Provincial Elections (1937).
• Second World War began (1939).
• August Offer (1940).
• Cripps Mission (1942).
• Quit India Movement (1942).

Important Fact

• Longest-serving Viceroy of India.

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Lord Wavell (1944–1947)

Important Events

• Shimla Conference (1945).
• INA Trials.
• Interim Government (1946).
• Direct Action Day (16 August 1946).
• First Meeting of Constituent Assembly (9 December 1946).

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Lord Mountbatten (1947–1948)

Important Events

• Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947).
• Indian Independence Act passed:
  • Introduced in British Parliament: 4 July 1947
  • Passed: 18 July 1947
• Pakistan became independent: 14 August 1947.
• India became independent: 15 August 1947.

Important Fact

• First Governor-General of Independent India.

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C. Rajagopalachari (1948–1950)

• Last Governor-General of India.
• First Indian Governor-General.

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SSC/Railway One-Liner Revision

• Dual Government → Clive
• Board of Revenue → Warren Hastings
• Permanent Settlement → Cornwallis
• Subsidiary Alliance → Wellesley
• Sati Abolition → Bentinck
• Doctrine of Lapse → Dalhousie
• First Railway → 1853 (Bombay–Thane)
• First Viceroy → Lord Canning
• Vernacular Press Act → Lytton
• Local Self Government → Ripon
• INC Founded → 1885 (Dufferin)
• Partition of Bengal → Curzon
• Muslim League → 1906 (Minto II)
• Capital Shifted to Delhi → Hardinge II
• Jallianwala Bagh → Chelmsford
• Simon Commission → Irwin
• Poona Pact → Willingdon
• Quit India Movement → Linlithgow
• Mountbatten Plan → 3 June 1947
• Independence Act → 18 July 1947
• India Independent → 15 August 1947
• First Indian Governor-General → C. Rajagopalachari