Role of Viceroys and Governors General in Political Development

The Governors-General (1773–1858) and Viceroys (1858–1947) were the highest executive authorities in British India, acting as the linchpins of political and administrative development. Initially, the Governor-General (from 1773, first Warren Hastings) oversaw the three presidencies under Company rule; from 1858, the Viceroy represented the British Crown directly after the Company’s abolition.

They implemented imperial policies, oversaw legislative and judicial reforms, managed relations with princely states, and, especially in the later period, responded to growing Indian nationalist pressures. Their individual decisions and collective legacy shaped the legal, administrative, and constitutional evolution of colonial India, laying both the institutional framework and many of ....