Governor Generals and Viceroys in Colonial India

Introduction

The Governor – General of India was the head of the British administration in India. The office was created in 1773 with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William. Complete authority over all of British India was granted in 1833 and the official became known as the Governor-General of India.

Until 1858, the Governor-General was selected by the Court of Directors of the British East India Company to whom he was responsible. Thereafter he was appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the British government; the secretary of state for India, a member of the Cabinet was responsible for instructing him on the exercise of his powers.

Robert Clive (1757-60, 1765-67)

Robert Clive began his career in Madras on an annual salary of 5 pounds per annum. His presence in the successful siege of Arcot gained him adulation and his involvement in the conquest of Bengal made him a cynosure of the British public. He was made the Governor of Bengal twice from 1757- 1760 and 1765- 1767. During the period of 1757-1760 he made remarkable achievements. He got the monopoly of saltpeter trade in Bihar for British East India Company. In 1757 he fought the battle of Plassey and got the virtual mastery of Bengal. He defeated Dutch in 1759. Thus Clive established and maintained the supremacy of the English in Bengal. He was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1765-1767 for the second time.

In 1765 Robert Clive introduced the Dual System of Government for the Bengal province. By his dual system he made the company a great power but with no responsibility. Under this system the administration was divided between the company and the Nawab but the whole power was actually concentrated in the hands of the company. This complex system remained in practice during the period from 1765 to 1772. Under this system the company undertook the defense and left the civil administration in the hands of Nawab. The Nawab was paid Rs 53 lakhs annually for administration but after two years it was reduced to Rs 32 lakh rupees.

Robert Clive also introduced certain civil and military reforms with a view to purifying the administration of the Company. The private trade was prohibited and the extra allowance for the army in peacetime was abolished.

Warren Hastings (1772- 1786)

Under Warren Hastings the administration at the top was over hauled and the foundations for the new system based on the English pattern laid. Immediately after his taking charge as Governor in Bengal Hastings drew up a plan for the judicial reforms, the aim of which was not to do away with the existing judicial machinery but to make it more efficient and amenable to the British supervision and control.

In each district there was to be a Diwan-i Adalat civil court that was to be presided over by a collector who would be a covenanted servant of the company. The collector was to be assisted by Indian judges and other court officials. His decree was final up to the value of Rs 500.

The judges now enjoyed regular salaries. Besides each district was to have a nizamat adalat or a court of a criminal justice that was to consist of a qazi, a mufti, two maulavis and four deputy qazis in addition to its clerks and orderlies. Appeals from the district Diwani Adalat lay in the sadar diwani adalat that was to be presided over by the governor and 2 members of his council at Calcutta. It was shifted from Murshidabad to Calcutta.

Nawab’s deputy was appointed at Calcutta to fix the Nizam’s seal and signature on his behalf to the warrants issued for the execution of the sentences of the Nizamat Adalat in order to prevent the delays caused the process of sending to Murshidabad the fatwas. The dacoits who infested the whole country were to be executed in their own village and if a dacoit could not be traced out his village was to pay a hefty fine. This was the first set of reforms in the judicial department introduced by Hastings.

Lord Cornawallis (1786-1793)

• Father of civil services in India

• Codified laws –Cornawallis code. The features were as following

• It was based on the concept of separation of powers.

• The collector was the head of the revenue administration and divested him of all the judicial and magisterial powers.

• District judge was appointed as the head of the judiciary at the district level.

• A gradation of civil courts was set up.

• The distinction between revenue and civil cases was abolished.

• Changed laws of criminal justice which were patterned on Muslim Criminal Law.
• In 1920 Aligarh Muslim University was founded.
• Introduced Permanent Settlement in 1793
  
• Introduced the institution of District judge and DSP.
  
• Introduced the principle of Separation of powers by the Regulating Act of 1793.
  

Separated the revenue administration from the administration of justice.The district Faujdari adalats presided over by Indian judges abolished and in their place four circuit courts were established presided over by the European covenanted servants.
Third Anglo- Mysore War 1790-92 and Treaty of Seringapatnam.
The number of collectorship reduced from 36 to 23.
The strength of Board of Trade was reduced from 11 to 5.

Sir John Shore (1793- 1798)

• Implemented Permanent Settlement.

• Considered an authority on revenue matters.

• Charter Act of 1793 opened trade with India for private English merchants.

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

• Introduced Subsidiary Alliance system.

• Formation of Madras Presidency after annexation of the Kingdoms of Tanjore and Carnatic.

• Forced Shah Alam II to become a pensioner.

• Censorship of Press Act 1799.No newspaper was to be published at all until the manuscript of the whole paper were submitted to and approved by the Government.

• Fourth Anglo- Mysore War 1799 and defeat of Tipu Sultan.Wellesley annexed the South Kanara coast,Wynaad in the south-east ,Coimbatore and Darupuram in the south-east besides Seringapatnam.

• Treaty of Bassien with Bajirao II and second Anglo- Maratha war.The company’s territorial gains included the upper doab,all territories north of the Rajput states of Jaipur,Jodhpur and Gohud, the part of Baroach,the Fort of Ahmedabad and cuttack in Orissa.

• Established the Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800.

• Opened Administrative Training College.

• In 1794 the Board of Trade was founded.

• Christian missionaries established a printing press at Serampore.

• By a revised subsidiary treaty forced on the Nizam and later ceded to the Company the districts of Bellary and Cuddapah.

• In 1799 Wellesley took the administration of Tanjore,Surat and Carnatic.

George Barl (1798-1805)

• Sepoy mutiny at Vellore 1806
  
• Slave trade abolished in the British Empire in 1807.

Lord Minto (1807- 1813)

• Sent Mission of Malcom to Persia and the Elphinstone to Kabul.

• Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh which extended the British rule up to the river Satluj.

• End of the first stage of British relations with the Indian princes which was based on self-defence and friendly alliances.

• Charter Act of 1813.

• Importation of slaves into India was stopped.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Hastings ( 1813-1823)

• War with Nepal (1812-1823) –Treaty of Sagauli in 1816.
  Third Anglo- Maratha War .Marathas were finally crushed. Baji Rao II was removed.

• Extermination of Pindaris

• Introduction of Ryotwari settlement in Madras by Thomas Munro.

• Mahalwari system of land revenue was made in North-West province by James Thomson.

• Subordinate Isolation policy towards Indian states.

• Terminated the priorities of Magistrates.

Lord Amherst (1823-1828)

• First Anglo-Burmese war. Treaty of Yaudaboo in 1826 by which British merchants were allowed to settle in the southern coast of Burma.
  
• Acquisition of territory of Malaya peninsula.
  
• Acquisition of Bharatpur.
  
• In 1824 Barrackpore Mutiny.

Lord William Bentinck (1823-1836)

• The first governor-general of India

• Suppression of thugee through regulation.

• Abolition of sati through regulation XVII of 1829 declaring sati illegal.

• Charter Act of 1833.It opened the services for the Indians without discrimination.

• Educational reforms and introduction of English as the official language.

• Abolition of the provincial courts of appeal and circuit set up by the Cornwallis.Sadar Nizamat Adalat and Sadar Diwani Adalat set up at Allahabad.Appointments of commissioners of revenue.

• Concluded a treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjit Singh.

• Deposition of Raja of Mysore and annexation of Coorg and Central Cachar.

• Formation of Agra province.

• In 1830 annexation of Cachar took place.

• Court of Vernacular started.

• Appointed Macaulay as the President of Committee.

Lord Charles Metcalfe (1835-1836)

• Passed education resolution.
  
• Abolition of Press restrictions.
  
• Rebellion in Gumsur.

Lord Auckland (1836-1842)

In 1838 Tripartite Treaty between Shah Shuja,Ranjit Singh and the British.
Deposition and deportation of the Raja of Satara.
Forward policy
First Afghan war with British defeat.

Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)

Termination of Afghan war.
Annexation of Sindh.Imposition of humiliating treaties on Sindh and Gwalior.

Lord Hardinge (1844-1848)

• War with Nepal (1812-1823) –Treaty of Sagauli in 1816.

• First Anglo- Sikh War. Treaty of Lahore. This extended the British territory to the lands between the Beas and the Sutlej.

• Prohibition on female infanticide and suppression of human sacrifice.

• In 1844 rebellion took place in Kolhapur. English education declared as essential qualification for public services.

• In 1845 the Danish possession sold to the English.

• In 1846 the rebellion of Khonds took place.

Lord Dalhousie (1848- 1856)

• Annexation of Punjab (1849)

• Annexation of Lower Bhurma or Pegu .Second Anglo- Burmese war.

• Annexation of Sikkim in 1850.

• In 1853 a new treaty was forced on the Nizam of Hyderabad compelling him to cede Berar to Company.

• Doctrine of Lapse: Satara 1848, Jaitpur 1849, Sambhalpur 1849, Baghat 1850,

• Udaipur1852, Jhansi1853, Nagpur 1854.

• In 1856 Oudh was annexed on the pretext of misgovernment.

• Bengal was placed under the charge of Lt Governor.

• For newly acquired territories he introduced a system of centralized control known as Non-regulation system.

• Headquarters of Bengal Artillery was shifted from Calcutta to Meerut and

• gradually shifted to Shimla in 1865.

• A new irregular force was created in Punjab.

• Charles Wood the President of the Board of Control headed the committee known as Wood’s dispatch in education.

• The first railway line connecting Bombay and Thane was laid in 1853.
  Dalhousie was regarded as father of the electric telegraph in

• India.O’Shanghnessy was appointed the superintendent of the telegraph dept in 1852.Telegraph line became operational between Calcutta to Agra.

• In 1853 recruitment of the Covenanted Civil Service by competitive examination.

• A new post office act was passed in 1854.Possage stamps were issued for the first time.

• Public works dept was introduced. Ganges canal was introduced.

• IN 1855 Santhal insurrection took place. Abolition of the title of the nawab of the Carnatic.

• Widow Remarriage Act passed in 1856.

Lord Canning

Lord Canning served in India between 1856-1858 as Governor general and between 1858-1862 as Viceroy. Some of the major events during Lord Canning’s period were:

• Doctrine of lapse was withdrawn. The policy towards Indian states changed from Subordinate isolation to Subordinate Union.

• Indigo revolt 1859-1860

• White mutiny by European troops in 1859

• Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

• Indian Council Act 1861. The imperial legislative council came into existence after the act.

• Indian High court Act 1861 introduced judicial reforms and reorganized the police department.

• The recommendations of the Police Commission led to the Indian Police Act of 1861.

• Indian Civil Services Act 1861 theoretically opened the services to all subjects but exams only in London.

• 1863 Satyendra Nath Tagore became the first Indian to qualify for the Civil Services.

• Introduced the portfolio system of cabinet in the Indian Council Act of 1861.

• Set up forest dept for utilization of forest resources.

• General Service Enlistment Act was passed in 1856.

• Issued the Queen’s Proclamation at a durbar in Allahabad on Nov 1 1858 by which the British crown assumed direct responsibility for the administration of the country.

The proclamation restored the right of the Princes to adopt their heirs.

The Bengal Rent Act removed some of the defect of the Permanent Settlement.

Lord Elgin( 1862-1864)

• Wahabi movement broke out.They were defeated in 1863.

• Inauguration of High Court judicature in Bengal.

• Conferment of first MA degree from the Calcutta university.

• Transfer of Indian navy to admiralty.

• Ambala campaign of NWFP.

• Amalgamation of the Supreme Court and Sadr courts into High Courts.

Sir John Lawrence (1864-1869)

• Scholarship scheme was introduced.

• War with Bhutan in 1864.

• Indo-European telegraph from Karachi,Persia and Turkey in 1865.

• Masterly Inactivity policy was followed.

• Establishment of High courts at Calcutta,Madras and Bombay in 1865.

• Passed the Punjab Tenancy Act (1868)

• In 1868 annual grant of six lakhs of rupees to Sher Ali Amir of Afghanistan and railway opened from Ambala to Delhi.

Lord Mayo (1869-1872)

• In 1869 Suez Canal was opened.

• Ambala conference with Sher Ali.

• In 1870 Lord Mayo’s first provincial settlement.

• Wahabi and Kuka movement was active.

• Organization of Statistical Survey of India.

• Establishment of Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

• Mayo’s resolution of 1870 started the process of decentralization of finances. Evolved a proper system of budgeting as a result of which persistent deficits were converted into surpluses. The provincial governments were authorised to resort to local taxation to balance their budgets.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Northbrook (1872-1876)

• In 1872 Kuka revolt took place.

• In 1873 the Simla Conference and famine took place in Bihar.

• Trial of Gaekwad of Baroda.

• Visit of Prince of Wales in 1875.

Lord Lytton (1876-1880)

• In 1876 Treaty with Kalat took place and famine took place in Deccan.

• Imperial Darbar in 1877 to mark the assumption of the title of Empress of India by Queen Victoria.

• Proposed to constitute Imperial Privy Council comprising of princes.

• Vernacular Act passed in 1878, Arms Act 1878 repealed and Factory Act was finalized.

• Lowering Age of civil services to 19 only.

• In 1878 Stolietoff’s mission was sent to Kabul and Indian troops sent to Malta.

• Second Anglo- Afghan war in 1878

• In 1879 Treaty of Gandammak and abdication of Yakub.

• The Provincial Government was given the control of the expenditure upon all ordinary provincial services including land revenue, excise, stamps, law and justice and general administration.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Ripon (1880-1884)

• Battle of Maiwand; Robert’s march to Kandhar and Abdur Rahman recognized as Amir of Kabul.

• He became secretary of India in 1866-68.

• Repealed the Vernacular Press Act 1882.

• First Factory Act 1881.

• Financial Decentralization as the source of revenue was divided into three- Imperial,Provincial and Divided.

• Resolution on Self-Government in 1882 called the father of local self government.

• Modified Permanent Settlement .

• Appointed Hunter Commission in 1882 to review the education.

• Sir C.P Elbert was law member of the Viceroy Council introduced a bill on 2nd Feb 1883,the bill sought to abolish at once and completely every judicial disqualification based merely on racial discrimination.

• In 1883 Famine code formulated.

• First census of India in 1881 with 254 million population.

• Introduced the direct election for the first time in India.

Lord Dufferin (1884-1888)

• In 1885 two Acts passed – Bengal Tenancy Act and Bengal Local Self-Government Act.

• Third Anglo-Burmese War started in 1885.

• In 1886 Upper Burma was annexed and delimitation of Afghan Northern boundary took place.

• Allahabad University was incorporated.

• Aitchison Committee.

• Number of new taxes were introduced such as salt tax and petroleum tax.

Lord Lansdowne (1888-1894)

• In 1888 Hazara punitive expedition took place.

• In 1889 abdication of the Maharaja of Kashmir took place.

• Prince of Wales second visit in 1889.

• In 1891 Factory Act was passed.

• In 1891 military expedition against Manipur was conducted.

• In 1892 the Indian Councils Act was passed.

• In 1893 the Durand Mission was sent to Kabul.

• Foundation of Indian National Congress.

• Age of Consent Act 1891 which forbade marriage of girls below 12.

• Categorization of civil services into imperial,provincial and subordinate.

Lord Elgin( 1862-1864)

• In 1895 the Chitral Expedition took place and the Russo- Afghan Frontier was settled.

• In 1896 famine took place all over India.

• In 1897, plague broke out at Bombay.

• Afridi uprisings and Santhal uprisings in 1899-1900.

• Sir James Lyall Commission appointed.

Lord Curzon (1904-1905)

Appointment of 4 commissions and 3 missions

• Frazer Commission- Police commission recommended the establishment of CID in the provinces and central intelligence at the centre.

• Raleigh Commission-Educational commission

• MacDonell Commission- Famine commission

• Robertson Commission- Irrigation commission

• Flag Waving Mission- to Persian Gulf

• Young Husban Mission- Tibet

• Louis Dane Mission- Kabul

North West Frontier Province was created in 1900.
Punjab land alienation act was passed in 1901.

Lord Minto-II

• Father of civil services in India

• On 16th Oct 1906 Partition of Bengal came into force.

• Anti-partition and Swadeshi movements.

• Foundation of Muslim League in 1906.

• Morley-Minto Reforms in 1909 increased the number of elected members in the central and provincial legislatures, also introduced the system of communal electorates.

• In 1906 Foundation stone of Victoria Memorial Hall laid at Calcutta.

• In Oct 1906 Arundel Committee on political reforms submitted its report.

• In 1906 Lord Minto received the Muslim deportation headed by Aga Khan.

• In 1907 Indian Decentralization Committee was appointed under Sir Charles Hobhouse.

• On May 11 1907 the Seditious Meeting Act was passed.

• On June 8th 1908 , Explosives Substances Act and Newspaper Act were passed.

• In 1910 Press Act was passed.

• In 1910 Depart of Education under the separate member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council was established.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Hardinge II (1910-1916)

• Capital shifted to Delhi and Delhi Darbar on 12th December 1911.

• Annulment of the Partition of Bengal in 1911.Creation of Bengal Presidency.

• Foundation of Ghadar party in 1913,Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 by MM Malviya.

• On 23rd December 1911 bomb thrown at Lord Harding

• In 1912 Delhi was made a province.

• Islington Commission on civil services was constituted in 1911.

• In 1913 Indian Criminal Law Amendment was passed.

• In 1914 Forest Research Institute and College opened at Dehra Dun.

• In 1914 Government Commercial Institute was founded.

• In 1915 Indian independence committee formed in Germany.

• In 1916 Saddler Committee on Universities appointed- BHU was founded.

• In 1920 Women University was founded in Poona.

• In 1916 Tilak founded Indian Home Rule League.

Lord Chelmsford (1916- 1921)

• In 1916 Home Rule League was formally inaugurated by Annie Besant.

• Congress –League pact in 1916 Lucknow Session.

• In 1917 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Poona was founded.

• In 1917 Austen Chamberlain resigns and succeeded by Montagu as secretary of

• State for India.

• In 1917 J.C Bose founded Bose Research Institute.

• Rowlett Committee appointed and submitted its report in April 1918.

• Lahore High Court was founded in 1919.

• In 1919 Third Afghan War started.

• In 1919 Treaty of Peace signed with Afghanistan at Rawalpindi.

Lord Reading (1921-1925)

• Vishwabharti University was started by Rabindranath Tagore.

• In 1923 Civil Marriage Bill was passed.

• In 1924 Lee Commission on civil services submitted its report.

• In 1925 Devdasi system was abolished by an Act.

• On 22nd August 1925 V.J Patel elected the first Indian President of the Legislative Assembly.

• Chauri Chaura incident on 5th Feb 1921,Moplah Rebellion.

• Gaya session of Congress in 1922.

• Formation of Swaraj Party.

• Beginning of Indinazation of the officer’s cadre of the Indian army.

• Skeen Committee or Indian Sandhurst Committee on Army reforms in 1925.

• Young Hilton Committee on currency in 1926.

• Holding of simultaneous exams for ICS from 1923 both in Delhi and London.

Lord Irwin (1926-1931)

• In 1926 Indian school of mines opened at Dhanbad.

• Royal Commission on Agriculture was constituted in 1927.

• In 1928 Simon Commission arrives in Bombay.

• In 1929 Imperial Council of Agricultural Research set up.

• In 1929 Jinnah formulated 14 points.

• On 8th April 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeshvar Datta drop bombs in the Legislative Assembly.

• On 29th October 1929, Lord Irwin announced that the goal of the British policy was the attainment of Dominion Status by India.

• On 12th March 1930, Gandhiji started his Dandi March.

• In 1930 Chittagong Armoury was raided.

• In 1930 Simon Commission report was published.

• The first round table conference inaugurated by George V and continued upto 19th jan 1931.

• Gandhi-Irwin talks begin and concluded on 5th March.

• In 1931 Gandhiji left for London to participate in the IInd Round Table Conference.

• Poorna Swaraj Declaration in 1929 Lahore Session.

• Royal Commission on Labour in 1929 under John Henry Whitley.

Lord Willingdon (1931-34)

• 1st December 1931 Ramsay Macdonald announces the decision to constitute NWFP into a governor’s province and Sindh was made a separate province.

• In 1932 Poona Pact was signed between Gandhiji and Ambedkar.

• 7th November to 24th December 1932 the Third Round Table Conference took place.

• Government of India Act signed in 1935.

• Orissa,Sindh and Bihar were made new states in 1935.

• Foundation of Congress Socialist Party by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jai Prakash Narayan.

• Formation of All India Kisan Sabha in 1936.

• Gandhiji starts Harijan Seva in 1934.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Linlithgow (1934-35 and 1936-1937, 1938-1943)

• The longest serving viceroy of India.

• First general elections were held in 1937.Formation of Congress ministry. Resignation of the Congress ministries after the outbreak of the World War II.

• Subhas Chandra Bose resigned from Congress membership and formed the Forward Block in 1939.Escape of Bose from India and organization of Indian National Army.

• In 1934 India Government Bill was introduced in the Parliament and on 2nd August 1935 passed by the British parliament and on 4th August 1935 got royal assent.

• In June 1937, A Abbott and S.H Wood submit their report on technical education in India.

• In Oct 1937, Gandhiji formulated Wardha Educational Scheme.

• In August 1940 Congress rejected August offer.

• Individual Civil Disobedience Movement started in 1940.

• In 1942 –Cripps Mission arrived in India offering Dominion Status to India and setting up of a Constituent Assembly and in

• April 1942 C.Rajagopalachari formula was proposed.

• In August 1942 Congress session started in Bombay and on 11 August the Quit India Movement started.

• Divide and Quit slogan at the Karachi Session (1944) of the Muslim league.

Lord Wavell (1943- 1947)

• Visit of King George V.

• Shimla Conference begins on 25th June 1945.

• In January 1946 Wavell introduced Government’s intention to set up an Executive Council of political leaders.

• In February 1946 Mutiny of the Indian Naval in Bombay.

• In March 1946 Attlee announces the Cabinet Mission and it arrives in Delhi on 24th March 1946.

• On 6th August 1946, Wavell invites Nehru to form an Interim Government.

• On 16th August 1946, Muslim League begins the Direct Action Day.

• On 5th January 1947, All India Congress Committee accepts Provincial Grouping under the Cabinet Mission Plan.

• On 20th February 1947,Attlee announces end of British rule in India.

• Sir John Strachey the finance member of the viceroy council tried to equalize the rates of salt duties in the British provinces.

• The famine of 1876-1878.

• The British parliament passed the Royal Titles Act investing Queen Victoria with the title of Kaiser-i-hind or Queen Empress of India.

• Introduced the gold standard into the monetary system.

Lord Mountbatten (1947-48)

• Sworn in as viceroy on 24th March 1947.

• On 2nd June 1947 Mountbatten Plan was announced.

• On 4th June 1947 Mountbatten announced transfer on power on 15th August.

• On 4th July 1947 India Independence Bill was introduced in the House of Commons.

• On 6th July referendum took place in NWFP boycotted by Abdul Ghaffar Khan.

• On 11th August 1947, Constituent Assembly of Pakistan meets and elects Jinnah as President.

• On 15th August 1947 India became independent.

C Rajagopalachari (1948-50)

Last Governor-general of India.