From 1760, a governor represented the British East India Company in which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the Nawabs of Bengal. Robert Clive (1765-1767) was the second governor of Bengal, and established dual government in Bengal from 1765 to 1772.
Below is a list of the governors of Bengal during the British Raj:
Name | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|
William Hedges | 1680 | 1683 |
John Beard | 1683 | 1684 |
William Gyfford | 1684 | 1685 |
Job Charnock | 1685 | 1693 |
Francis Ellis | 1693 | 1693 |
Charles Eyre | 1693 | 1698 |
John Beard | 1698 | 1695 |
Charles Eyre | 1699 | 1700 |
Edward Littleton | 1705 | 1705 |
'Ruled by a council' | 1705 | 1710 |
Anthony Weltden | 1710 | 1711 |
John Russell | 1711 | 1713 |
Robert Hedges | 1713 | 1718 |
Samuel Flake | 1718 | 1723 |
John Deane | 1723 | 1726 |
Henry Frankland | 1726 | 1728 |
Edward Stephenson | 1728 | 1728 |
John Deane | 1728 | 1732 |
John Stackhouse | 1732 | 1739 |
Thomas Broddyll | 1739 | 1746 |
John Forster | 1746 | 1748 |
William Barwell | 1748 | 1749 |
Adam Dawson | 1749 | 1752 |
William Fytche | 1752 | 1752 |
Roger Drake | 1752 | 1756 |
Under the leadership of Robert Clive, British troops and their local allies defeated the nawab on 23 June 1757 at the Battle of Plassey. The nawab was assassinated in Murshidabad, and the British installed their own replacement. Clive became governor.
Under the Charter Act 1853 the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and empowered to appoint a lieutenant-governor from 1854.
# | Name (birth–death) | Picture | Took office | Left office | Appointer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert Clive | 1758 | 1760 | ||
2 | Henry Vansittart | 1760 | 1765 | ||
3 | Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive | 1765 | 1767 | ||
4 | Harry Verelst | 1767 | 1769 | ||
5 | John Cartier | 1769 | 1773 | ||
Governors of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1773–1833 | |||||
1 | Warren Hastings (1732–1818) | 20 October 1773 | 1 February 1785 | East IndiaCompany | |
2 | Sir John Macpherson (acting) (1745–1821) | 1 February 1785 | 12 September 1786 | ||
3 | Earl Cornwallis [1] (1738–1805) | 12 September 1786 | 28 October 1793 | ||
4 | Sir John Shore (1751–1834) | 28 October 1793 | 18 March 1798 | ||
5 | Sir Alured Clarke (acting) (1744–1832) | 18 March 1798 | 18 May 1798 | ||
6 | Marquess Wellesley [2] (1760–1842) | 18 May 1798 | 30 July 1805 | ||
7 | Marquess Cornwallis (1738–1805) | 30 July 1805 | 5 October 1805 | ||
8 | Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting) (1762–1847) | 10 October 1805 | 31 July 1807 | ||
9 | The Lord Minto (1751–1814) | 31 July 1807 | 4 October 1813 | ||
10 | Marquess of Hastings (1754–1826) | 4 October 1813 | 9 January 1823 | ||
11 | John Adam (acting)(1779–1825) | 9 January 1823 | 1 August 1823 | ||
12 | The Lord Amherst [4] (1773–1857) | 1 August 1823 | 13 March 1828 | ||
13 | William Butterworth Bayley (acting)(1782–1860) | 13 March 1828 | 4 July 1828 | ||
14 | Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839) | 4 July 1828 | 1833 | ||
Governors-General of India, 1833–1858 | |||||
14 | Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839) | 1833 | 20 March 1835 | East IndiaCompany | |
15 | Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting) (1785–1846) | 20 March 1835 | 4 March 1836 | ||
16 | The Lord Auckland (1784–1849) | 4 March 1836 | 28 February 1842 | ||
17 | The Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871) | 28 February 1842 | June 1844 | ||
18 | William Wilberforce Bird (acting) (1784–1857) | June 1844 | 23 July 1844 | ||
19 | Sir Henry Hardinge (1785–1856) | 23 July 1844 | 12 January 1848 | ||
20 | The Marquess of Dalhousie (1812–1860) | 12 January 1848 | 28 February 1856 | ||
21 | The Viscount Canning (1812–1862) | 28 February 1856 | 1 November 1858 | ||
Governors-General and Viceroys of India, 1858–1947 | |||||
21 | The Earl Canning (1812–1862) | 1 November 1858 | 21 March 1862 | Victoria |
Name | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|
Frederick James Halliday | 1854 | 1859 |
John Peter Grant | 1859 | 1862 |
Cecil Beadon | 1862 | 1866 |
William Grey | 1867 | 1870 |
George Campbell | 1870 | 1874 |
Richard Temple | 1874 | 1877 |
Ashley Eden | 1877 | 1882 |
Augustus Thompson | 1882 | 1887 |
Steuart Colvin Bayley | 1887 | 1890 |
Charles Alfred Elliott | 1890 | 1893 |
Anthony MacDonnell | 1893 | 1895 |
Alexander Mackenzie | 1895 | 1897 |
Charles Stevens | 1897 | 1898 |
John Woodburn | 1898 | 1902 |
James Bourdillon | 1902 | 1903 |
Andrews Henderson Leith Frazer | 1903 | 1906 |
Lancelot Hare | 1906 | 1906 |
Francis Slacke | 1906 | 1908 |
Edward Norman Baker | 1908 | 1911 |
William Duke | 1911 | 1912 |
Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael | 1912 | 1917 |
Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay | 1917 | 1922 |
Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton | 1922 | 1927 |
SirStanley Jackson | 1927 | 1932 |
SirJohn Anderson | 1932 | 1937 |
Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne | 1937 | 1938 |
SirJohn Arthur Herbert | 1938 | 1943 |
Richard Casey | 1943 | 1946 |
SirFrederick Burrows | 1946 | 1947 |
In 1947, the British Raj came to an end, and the new countries of India and Pakistan were created. Bengal was partitioned into two in anticipation of this in 1947, and following independence West Bengal joined India, and East Bengal (renamed as East Pakistan in 1955) joined Pakistan only to became independent later in 1971 as Bangladesh.
For a continuation of governors of West Bengal, see list of Governors of West Bengal, and for East Bengal, see East Bengal, East Pakistan, and finally, list of Presidents of Bangladesh.
The Governor-General of India was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1947, the representative of the Indian head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of ‘Governor-general of the Presidency of Fort William’. The officer had direct control only over Fort William, but supervised other East India Company officials in India. Complete authority over all of British India was granted in 1833, and the official came to be known as the "governor-general of India".
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