Establishment and Expansion of British Colonial Power in India (1757–1857) — Part 3: Governor-Generals and Key Policies
Part 3: Five Governor-Generals — Hastings (first GG, administrative chaos); Cornwallis (Permanent Settlement 1793); Wellesley (Subsidiary Alliance, Treaty of Bassein); Bentinck (Sati abolished 1829, English education); Dalhousie (Doctrine of Lapse, railways, telegraph).
Modern India — Part 2 of 5
3. Governor-Generals and Key Policies
| Governor-General | Tenure | Key Policy/Event |
|---|---|---|
| Warren Hastings | 1773–1785 | First GG; administrative reorganization; First Anglo-Maratha War |
| Lord Cornwallis | 1786–1793 | Permanent Settlement (1793); Cornwallis Code; civil service reform |
| Richard Wellesley | 1798–1805 | Subsidiary Alliance; defeat of Tipu Sultan; Treaty of Bassein |
| Lord William Bentinck | 1828–1835 | Abolition of Sati (1829); English education policy; first GG of India |
| Lord Dalhousie | 1848–1856 | Doctrine of Lapse; railways; telegraph; annexation of Punjab and Awadh |
3.1 Warren Hastings (1773–1785)
Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General under the Regulating Act of 1773, inheriting a province in administrative chaos following the Dual Government's failure. He abolished the office of Naib-Diwani, transferred the treasury from Murshidabad to Calcutta, and reorganized divisional courts for revenue and justice. He fought the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82) and the Second Anglo-Mysore War. An Orientalist by temperament, he supported the translation of Sanskrit texts and the founding of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. On returning to England, he faced a prolonged impeachment trial in Parliament on charges of corruption and misconduct; he was ultimately acquitted in 1795 after a trial that lasted seven years.
3.2 Lord Cornwallis (1786–1793): Permanent Settlement
Lord Cornwallis was appointed in 1786 with special authority to override his council. His most consequential policy was the Permanent Settlement of 1793, introduced in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The land revenue demand on zamindars was fixed permanently — the colonial state renounced the right to revise assessments in future. Cornwallis assumed that the "magic touch of property" — converting zamindars into English-style proprietors with fixed obligations to the state — would generate a class of improving landlords investing in agriculture and commerce.
The Cornwallis Code separated the judiciary from the executive, created a hierarchy of civil courts, and systematically excluded Indians from positions of authority in the covenanted civil service. Critics such as Thomas Munro found the Cornwallis System had "no regard for Indian history or experience."
3.3 Richard Wellesley (1798–1805): Subsidiary Alliance
Lord Wellesley arrived in 1798 with the avowed aim of establishing British supremacy across the subcontinent. His principal instrument was the Subsidiary Alliance: Indian rulers permanently stationed a British military contingent within their territory at their own expense (in Awadh, Rs 210,000 per month per brigade), accepted a British Resident at their court, conducted foreign relations only through the British, and did not employ Europeans without British consent. In exchange, the Company guaranteed protection against external and internal threats.
Hyderabad accepted the alliance in 1798. Tipu Sultan of Mysore refused and was killed in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), after which Mysore was restored to the Wodeyar dynasty under subsidiary terms. The Peshwa Baji Rao II accepted the alliance and signed the Treaty of Bassein in 1802, triggering the Second Maratha War (1803–05). The system transferred real power to the British while burdening Indian rulers with the costs of their own subjugation.
3.4 Lord William Bentinck (1828–1835): Social Reforms
Lord Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India (as distinct from Bengal) under the Charter Act of 1833 and was a committed Utilitarian reformer. He banned Sati by Regulation XVII of 1829, arguing that neither Hindu scriptures nor the best Hindu opinion mandated widow immolation. He suppressed Thuggee, the organized practice of ritual murder for robbery. Together with Lord Macaulay (Law Member), he issued the famous Minute of 1835 directing educational funds towards English-medium higher education — a decision that shaped the emerging Indian intelligentsia for generations.
3.5 Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856): Doctrine of Lapse
Lord Dalhousie applied the Doctrine of Lapse aggressively: any princely state whose ruler died without a natural male heir was annexed to the Company's territories, deliberately overriding the Hindu custom of adoption as a legitimate form of succession. Satara was annexed in 1848, Nagpur and Jhansi in 1854. Awadh was annexed in 1856 under Nawab Wajid Ali Shah on the additional pretext of misgovernment. Dalhousie also built India's first railway (Bombay to Thane, 1853), established telegraph lines, created the Post Office, and formed the Public Works Department — all in the Benthamite tradition of centralized, efficient governance. His annexations, however, accumulated deep resentments that erupted in the Revolt of 1857.