The Early Governor-Generals: Warren Hastings to Lord Bentinck
The Early Governor-Generals: Warren Hastings to Lord Bentinck

Overview

Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.

  1. UPSC Prelims 2020 GS Paper IWellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because
    1. a he was asked by the Board of Directors at London to do so
    2. b he wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India
    3. c he wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment
    4. d he wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India
    How to approach this Prelims question

    Question type: Single correct

    Approach: Recall Wellesley's purpose in founding Fort William College.

    Trap to watch: The college was meant to train British civilians for administration, not to revive oriental learning or to employ William Carey.

    Key facts to recall:

    • Fort William College, Calcutta, 1800
    • Founded by Lord (Richard) Wellesley
    • Purpose: train British civil servants

    Answer signal: To train British civilians for administration, so option (d).

  2. UPSC Prelims 2018 GS Paper IWith reference to educational institutions during colonial rule in India, consider the following pairs of an institution and its founder:
    1. Sanskrit College at Benaras – William Jones
    2. Calcutta Madarsa – Warren Hastings
    3. Fort William College – Arthur Wellesley

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

    1. a 1 and 2
    2. b 2 only
    3. c 1 and 3
    4. d 3 only
    How to approach this Prelims question

    Question type: Multiple statements (matching)

    Approach: Match each institution to its true founder.

    Trap to watch: Fort William College was founded by Richard (Lord) Wellesley, not Arthur; the Benaras Sanskrit College by Jonathan Duncan, not William Jones (who founded the Asiatic Society).

    Key facts to recall:

    • Calcutta Madrasa = Warren Hastings (correct)
    • Fort William College = Richard Wellesley (not Arthur)
    • Benaras Sanskrit College = Jonathan Duncan (not Jones)

    Answer signal: Only pair 2 is correct, so option (b).

The early Governor-Generals, from Warren Hastings to Lord Bentinck, were the men who built the machinery of British rule in India between 1773 and 1835. Warren Hastings laid the first judicial and revenue foundations; Cornwallis gave India the Permanent Settlement, the Cornwallis Code and a salaried civil service; Wellesley vastly expanded British power through the Subsidiary Alliance; and Lord William Bentinck was the first to turn the colonial state to social reform, abolishing Sati and reshaping education. Together they were the architects of the colonial order.

Introduction: The Architects of the Colonial State

The Men Who Built British Rule

Why this matters: behind the laws and the conquests stood the Governor-Generals, the men who actually governed India for the Company. Their personal reforms, in revenue, law, the civil service and society, gave colonial rule its lasting shape.

What is the significance of this theme: it shows the colonial state being built, not just won. From the administrative foundations of Warren Hastings to the social reforms of Bentinck, these decades created institutions that endured, as the timeline below sets out.

The Early Governor-GeneralsFrom the first administrators to the great reformer1773-85Warren HastingsJudicial and revenueorder1786-93CornwallisPermanent Settlement;the Code1798-1805WellesleySubsidiary Alliance;expansion1813-23Lord HastingsParamountcy by 18181828-35BentinckAbolition of Sati;reformThe early Governor-Generals built the state; Bentinck turned it to social reform.
Figure 1. The early Governor-Generals, 1773 to 1835.

Warren Hastings: Judicial and Revenue Reforms and the Controversies

The First Governor-General of Bengal

What is the significance of Warren Hastings: he was the first Governor-General of Bengal and the real founder of the Company's administration. He ended the disastrous Dual Government, reorganised revenue collection, and built a system of civil and criminal courts in the districts.

Distinguishing his record: a scholar and patron, he founded the Calcutta Madrasa in 1781 for the study of Muslim law. Yet his rule was dogged by controversy, the Rohilla War and other affairs, and on his return he faced a long and famous impeachment in Britain, from which he was finally acquitted, as the panel below sets out.

The Work of Warren HastingsThe first Governor-General of Bengal, 1773 to 1785Judicial reformCivil and criminalcourts in the districts;a new judicial orderRevenue reformReorganised collection;ended the DualGovernment of BengalCalcutta MadrasaFounded in 1781 tostudy Muslim lawand learningControversyThe Rohilla War anda long impeachmentin Britain (acquitted)Warren Hastings laid the first administrative foundations of British Bengal.A founder of the system, and the first to be called to account for it.
Figure 2. The work of Warren Hastings.

Lord Cornwallis: The Permanent Settlement, the Code and the Civil Service

The Organiser of the Administration

What is the significance of Cornwallis: he organised the administration that Hastings had begun. His Permanent Settlement of 1793 fixed the land revenue of Bengal with the zamindars in perpetuity, a momentous decision whose mechanism and effects are treated fully in the part on land revenue.

Distinguishing his reforms: the Cornwallis Code separated revenue and judicial functions and laid down a body of regulations, while his reform of the civil service, reserving higher posts for Europeans and raising salaries to curb corruption, earned him the name of father of the civil service in India. He also set up a district police on the thana system, as the panel below shows.

The Reforms of Lord CornwallisThe organiser of the administration, 1786 to 1793Permanent SettlementFixed land revenuewith the zamindarsof Bengal (1793)The Cornwallis CodeA code of regulations;separation of revenueand judicial powersThe civil serviceHigher posts reservedfor Europeans; salariesraised to curb graftDistrict policeA regular police undera Superintendent;the thana systemCornwallis gave the Company a settled revenue, a code of law and a salaried service.Called the father of the civil service in India.
Figure 3. The reforms of Lord Cornwallis.

Lord Wellesley: The Subsidiary Alliance and Fort William College

The Architect of Expansion

What is the significance of Wellesley: he was the great expander of British power. Through his Subsidiary Alliance system, treated in detail in the part on the conquest of Mysore and the Marathas, he brought one Indian state after another under British control, and defeated Tipu Sultan.

Distinguishing his other legacy: to train the young Britons who would administer this growing empire, Wellesley founded the Fort William College at Calcutta in 1800. It was Richard Wellesley, the Governor-General, who founded it, not his brother Arthur, the general who later became the Duke of Wellington. The Calcutta Madrasa of Warren Hastings and, later, the Benaras Sanskrit College of Jonathan Duncan, were the other notable institutions of these years.

Lord Hastings: The Anglo-Maratha Wars and British Paramountcy

The Completion of Paramountcy

Observable outcomes followed under Lord Hastings, who is not to be confused with Warren Hastings: he completed the work of expansion. During his tenure from 1813 to 1823 the third Anglo-Maratha and Pindari wars were fought, breaking the Maratha confederacy.

Distinguishing the result: by 1818 the Company stood as the paramount power over the whole subcontinent, a story told in full in the part on the Maratha wars. Lord Hastings also encouraged the Ryotwari settlement in the south and a free press, before financial pressures and a banking scandal clouded his last years.

Lord William Bentinck: Social, Educational and Financial Reforms

The First Great Reforming Governor-General

What is the significance of Bentinck: he was the first Governor-General to use the power of the state for social reform. In 1829, working with reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, he passed the regulation that abolished Sati, the burning of widows, the act for which he is best remembered.

Distinguishing his other reforms: he suppressed the Thuggee gangs of ritual murderers through Colonel William Sleeman; and, on the advice of Macaulay, his government adopted English as the medium of higher education by the English Education Act of 1835. He also cleared the Company's deficit and reformed the courts, as the panel below sets out.

The Reforms of Lord BentinckThe first reforming Governor-General, 1828 to 1835Abolition of SatiOutlawed the burningof widows in 1829,with Ram Mohan RoySuppression of ThuggeeStamped out the Thuggangs with ColonelWilliam SleemanEnglish Education ActThe 1835 Act madeEnglish the mediumof higher educationFinancial reformCleared the deficit;reformed the courtsand administrationBentinck turned the colonial state, for the first time, to social reform.Remembered above all for ending Sati.
Figure 4. The reforms of Lord Bentinck.

Significance: How the Governor-Generals Shaped British India

From Building the State to Reforming Society

Contemporary linkages run from these reforms into the structure of modern India. The revenue systems, the civil service, the codes of law and the principle of state-led social reform that these Governor-Generals established were carried forward, by Dalhousie and the Crown, and in altered form into independent India.

The larger significance is a clear shift of purpose over these decades, from simply building and expanding the colonial state under Hastings, Cornwallis and Wellesley, to using it to reshape Indian society under Bentinck. The points below gather the threads, and the next part turns to Lord Dalhousie and the machinery of modern administration.

Table 1. The early Governor-Generals and their reforms.
Governor-General Tenure Key reforms
Warren Hastings 1773 to 1785 Judicial and revenue order; Calcutta Madrasa; ended Dual Government
Lord Cornwallis 1786 to 1793 Permanent Settlement; Cornwallis Code; civil service; police
Lord Wellesley 1798 to 1805 Subsidiary Alliance; expansion; Fort William College
Lord Hastings 1813 to 1823 Anglo-Maratha and Pindari wars; paramountcy by 1818
Lord William Bentinck 1828 to 1835 Abolition of Sati 1829; Thuggee suppressed; English Education Act 1835
  • Warren Hastings founded the administration and ended the Dual Government of Bengal.
  • Cornwallis gave India the Permanent Settlement, the Cornwallis Code and a salaried civil service.
  • Wellesley expanded British power through the Subsidiary Alliance and founded Fort William College.
  • Lord Hastings completed British paramountcy by 1818.
  • Bentinck abolished Sati in 1829 and made English the medium of higher education in 1835.

Prelims MCQ practice

Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.

Q1. Who was the first Governor-General of Bengal?

  1. Robert Clive
  2. Warren Hastings
  3. Lord Cornwallis
  4. Lord Wellesley
Show answer and explanation

Answer: Warren Hastings

Explanation.

Option (b) is correct. Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act of 1773. Hence option (b).

Q2. The Permanent Settlement of land revenue in Bengal was introduced by:

  1. Lord Cornwallis
  2. Warren Hastings
  3. Lord Wellesley
  4. Lord Bentinck
Show answer and explanation

Answer: Lord Cornwallis

Explanation.

Option (a) is correct. Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793. Hence option (a).

Q3. The practice of Sati was legally abolished in 1829 during the governor-generalship of:

  1. Lord Wellesley
  2. Lord Hastings
  3. Lord William Bentinck
  4. Lord Cornwallis
Show answer and explanation

Answer: Lord William Bentinck

Explanation.

Option (c) is correct. Sati was abolished in 1829 under Lord William Bentinck, with Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Hence option (c).

Q4. Consider the following statements about Lord Cornwallis:

  1. He is often called the father of the civil service in India.
  2. He separated the revenue and judicial functions of the administration.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation

Answer: Both 1 and 2

Explanation.

Both statements are correct: Cornwallis is called the father of the civil service and his Code separated revenue and judicial functions. Hence option (c).

Q5. The Thuggee gangs were suppressed during Bentinck's rule chiefly through the efforts of:

  1. Thomas Macaulay
  2. William Sleeman
  3. William Carey
  4. Jonathan Duncan
Show answer and explanation

Answer: William Sleeman

Explanation.

Option (b) is correct. Colonel William Sleeman led the suppression of Thuggee under Bentinck. Hence option (b).

Q6. The English Education Act of 1835, making English the medium of higher education, is associated with the advice of:

  1. Thomas Babington Macaulay
  2. William Sleeman
  3. Lord Cornwallis
  4. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Show answer and explanation

Answer: Thomas Babington Macaulay

Explanation.

Option (a) is correct. The English Education Act of 1835 followed Macaulay's famous Minute. Hence option (a).

Sources and Further Reading

Editorial Disclaimer

This article is prepared for UPSC examination preparation. Verify key facts and interpretations against standard reference histories before relying on them.

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