List of governors of Bengal

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From 1690, a governor represented the British East India Company in Bengal, which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the Nawabs of Bengal.

Robert Clive : Governor of Bengal during 1757–60 and again during 1765–67 and established Dual Government in Bengal from 1765 to 1772. (True founder of British Political dominion in India). Vanisttart (1760–65) : The Battle of Buxar (1764). Cartier (1769–72) : Bengal Famine (1770)

Chief agents, 1681–84

Name	Took office	Left office
William Hedges	1681	1684
John Beard	1684	1684

Presidents, 1684–94

Name	Took office	Left office
William Gyfford	1684	1685
Job Charnock	1685	1693
Francis Ellis	1693	1693
Charles Eyre	1693	1694

Chief Agents, 1694–1700

Name	Took office	Left office
Charles Eyre	1694	1698
John Beard	1698	1699
Charles Eyre	1699	1700

Presidents

Name	Took office	Left office
Charles Eyre	1700	1701
John Bead	1701	1705
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.

Governors (1758–1774), Gov Gen of Bengal (1774–1833), Gov Gen of India (1833–58)

Name	Took office	Left office
Robert Clive	1758 (NOT 1757)	1760
Henry Vansittart	1760	1765
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive	1765	1767
Harry Verelst	1767	1769
John Cartier	1769	1772
Warren Hastings	1772	1785
Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet	1785	1786
Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis	1786	1793
Sir John Shore	1793	1798
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley	1798	1805
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis	1805	1805
Sir George Barlow, 1st Baronet	1805	1807
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, The Lord Minto	1807	1813
Francis Rawdon-Hastings, The Earl of Moira	1813	1823
John Adam	1823	1823
William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst	1823	1828
William Butterworth Bayley	1828	1828
Lord William Bentinck	1828	1835
Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt	1835	1836
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland	1836	1842
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough	1842	1844
William Wilberforce Bird	1842	1844
Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge	1844	1848
James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie	1848	1856

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.

Lieutenant-Governors, 1854–1912

Name	Took office	Left office
Sir Frederick James Halliday	1854	1859
Sir John Peter Grant	1859	1862
Sir Cecil Beadon	1862	1866
Sir William Grey	1867	1870
Sir George Campbell	1870	1874
Sir Richard Temple	1874	1877
Sir Ashley Eden	1877	1882
Sir Augustus Thompson	1882	1887
Sir Steuart Colvin Bayley	1887	1890
Sir Charles Alfred Elliott	1890	1893
Sir Anthony MacDonnell	1893	1895
Sir Alexander Mackenzie	1895	1897
Sir Charles Stevens	1897	1898
Sir John Woodburn	1898	1902
James Bourdillon	1902	1903
Sir Andrews Henderson Leith Frazer	1903	1906
Lancelot Hare	1906	1906
Francis Slacke	1906	1908
Sir Edward Norman Baker	1908	1911
Sir William Duke	1911	1912

In 1911, the British reunited east and west Bengal to form a single province under a governor.

Governors, 1912–47

Name	Took office	Left office
Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael	1912	1917
Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay	1917	1922
Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton	1922	1927
Sir Stanley Jackson	1927	1932
Sir John Anderson	1932	1934
Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne	1937	1938
Sir John Arthur Herbert	1939	1943
Richard Casey	1944	1946
Sir Frederick Burrows	1946	1947

Independence, post 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 1946, and following independence West Bengal joined India, and East Bengal joined Pakistan.

For a continuation of governors of West Bengal, please see List of Governors of West Bengal, and for East Bengal, please see East Bengal.

References

http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm

External links